Open mike 30/06/2015

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 30th, 2015 - 49 comments
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openmikeOpen mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

49 comments on “Open mike 30/06/2015 ”

  1. b waghorn 1

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11473094
    Key has a let them eat cake moment
    “but said if that argument was about price then water was free from the tap”

  2. Tracey 2

    I note the media focus last night on Prime and in the headlines on stuff and herald, regarding Greece, is the impact it is having on our and world sharemarkets and currencies. Quite a simple way to show people what the MSM sees as our priorities,

    • Skinny 2.1

      I hope the Greeks reject paying back the loan sharks. Germany can suck it up their economy is robust enough to handle it. Sharemarket panic attacks Is typical of the greedy investors. It is good news for China to counter the effects of the looming TPPA agreement which has seen their sharemarket drop 20% in the last 6 months.

      • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1

        I hope the Greeks reject paying back the loan sharks.

        Yep. So do I. It’s necessary to try and bring the banksters to heel.

  3. greywarshark 3

    More on HT (herbicide tolerant) swedes following on from studies into the reason for cow deaths after feeding on them last winter.
    30 June 2015 – http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/69788509/more-research-still-needed-for-ht-swederelated-deaths

    Although some farmers were severely affected by ill stock last spring, the total number represented a small proportion of farmers that sowed HT swedes and other swede varieties in the south, he said. (General Manager of PGG Wrightson Seeds).
    “It was a very, very difficult scenario last spring … we were aware people had used the [HT swedes] the previous three years and had no issues whatsoever.”
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/67524880/toxins-killed-southland-cows-ministry-says.html

    It would be wise if farmers used the other swede varieties, if they are the good ‘husbands’ of the land they are always citing.

    June 9 2015 – http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/69224494/dairynz-use-caution-with-ht-swedes-and-fodder-beet
    Southland farmers are being urged to be cautious transitioning dairy cows onto crops after reports of cows again becoming ill and dying after eating HT swedes.
    This follows the deaths of about 300 ewes and at least 200 Southland dairy cows last year after feeding on crops including HT [herbicide tolerant] swedes, with hundreds more becoming ill.
    (What about us? When we eat swedes or drink milk in the belief that it is healthy and good for us, there must be something that is left that goes through our bodies. And it is unnecessary to use HT except that it can offer bigger crops. But it distorts the natural features of the vegetables and the soil they are in. Would bees visit the flowers, they should be able to utilise healthy crops for their needs?

    • Tracey 3.1

      grey, who supplied the swedes tot he farmers? Do you know if agrisearch has done a report/study?

      • Colonial Rawshark 3.1.1

        “It was a very, very difficult scenario last spring … we were aware people had used the [HT swedes] the previous three years and had no issues whatsoever.”

        This is a silly comment. Obviously something had changed. But they are talking like nothing had changed. And of course, they don’t know that but also seem singularly disinterested.

      • greywarshark 3.1.2

        @Tracey
        I keep seeing PGG Wrightson come up in the news as suppliers. I did some looking up when I wrote earlier about what has been done in research. Havn’t time to search now. I think one of the links I put says they are still looking into it. But I would expect that it might be hard to get accuracy about how much herbicide has been put on, as it would be in the interests of the farmer to fudge, and give a lower than the actual level. And it also depends on whether conditions as to how much of whatever stays in the leafy tops. All quite unsatisfactory really. To say the least.

        And I think that a well-known seed company also sold the seed that was contaminated with some nasty unwanted grass weed, which spilled out here and there along the road as it was being transported back to the company after the contamination was found. Such companies probably have on their logo that they have been serving the nation since the year dot. Who knows how many of our pests and problems they have wittingly introduced.

        • Chooky 3.1.2.1

          PGG Wrightson is largely owned by the Chinese I think…51%

          http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10875679

          • greywarshark 3.1.2.1.1

            Thanks Chooky. That piece about the Chinese is very interesting and raises many questions.
            This is a basic.
            Agria [Seeds] holds 51 per cent of the iconic New Zealand rural services firm.
            It initially bought into PGG Wrightson when the debt-ridden company was caught short after the global financial crisis.

            1 If companies buy up or into other companies on a leveraged basis and there is a downturn in the market, then their ability to pay for their new investment out of revenue. drops like a stone and leaves them vulnerable needing input. I wonder if that is why PGG-W was debt-ridden. This area of business has always been fairly solid, dependable and profitable surely.

            2 The proposed new giant company wants to compete with Monsanto and others. Giant companies fighting each other to have the newest most productive vital crop seed, that can gain dominance so that it lays its own GE profile on all other pollen? And probably using Monsanto measures of suing for wrongful use of intellectual property used against any farmers whose produce shows patented gene evidence, whether inadvertent or not.

            Will it mean we will have this GE regime forced on us inevitably, with pollen blown by wind. Will we lose any chance of holding onto healthy, sustainable, earth-nurturing measures.?
            The Chinese have big plans.
            Lai shared his vision for the seeds business at an interview in Auckland. “In three years we could be in the top 10 seeds companies in the world . That is our vision. In 10 years we want to be US$10 billion turnover.”

            3 What effect will this have.
            But it’s not just all about selling grass (pasture) seeds. PGG Wrightson Seeds is strong in forage.
            And with China rapidly building huge mega-dairy farms (Lai knows of at least 40 with more than 10,000 cows on each farm), he believes there is a big opportunity to grow forage in China to cut-and-carry to the animals….
            Now 95 per cent of the modern dairy farms in China are buying forage from overseas….

            PGG Wrightson Seeds is spearheading a Primary Growth Partnership programme with Grasslanz Technology Limited to deliver innovative forages for New Zealand farms.
            The full programme is valued at $14.6 million, with PGP funding contributing $7.15 million over six years.
            The company says the Seed and Nutritional Technology Development programme aims to develop new technologies that improve animal productivity and animal health, while overcoming adverse environmental impacts….

            Lai said Agria was prepared to adjust the 51 per cent (in the PGG Wrightson Seeds business) to bring more benefit back to the New Zealand firm. He notes the New Zealand side is relatively quite large (it has operations in New Zealand, Australia and Latin America). China Seeds is smaller but has sported 50-60 per cent annual growth in the later three years with profit growing at 30 per cent – a “few million US dollars’ profit”.

            That’s giant growth for China Seeds, they must dominate our NZ company whether they adjust the shareholding. And our milk production industry swamped by Chinese production. What will we grow, GE seeds for the world? China will be able to grow their own forage. Once the science and method is established there won’t be much else to do.

            At present the government is cutting down on pure science, and I have heard it is directing investments to areas such as agriculture. Yet that would limit our growth as a supposedly developed nation with diverse exports. As for national production of our non-agricultural goods and the jobs we hope for and a living wage and life at middle class level? Who knows, but we haven’t done well so far.

            • Tracey 3.1.2.1.1.1

              I’ve been thinking recently about the implications of GE stuff under the TPP when this government forces it on us. Surely Monsanto and others can sue us for not allowing their seeds etc into our market?

              • greywarshark

                @Tracey
                I reckon. Corporates don’t like it if people start asserting themselves and ask annoying questions about product.

                And it has been pointed out that they are faceless entities. They are great armies of mercenaries pillaging the countries they reside in or pass through. There is no one person or family at the top, no human running the show with his or her own vision, they are a man-made machine, an entity that has been produced from within our culture and morphed over and over run on a mathematical paradigm of profit and numeral manipulation.

                Jeez must stop letting thoughts get into my head. Thinking drives you mad I have heard.

                This Qatar? business is an early example of how we can be jerked into line and elbowed into action for doing what we think is the correct and moral thing.

            • Chooky 3.1.2.1.1.2

              +100 greywarshark….seems like this needs a full post….maybe you or the Greens?

    • Chooky 3.2

      +100 greywarshark ….thanks for the investigative journalism and keeping us up to date on this mysterious case of the cow killing swedes

      ( personally i never buy swedes anymore, especially Southland swedes !)

  4. Save NZ 4

    Something we don’t hear from the ‘taxpayers union”

    Auckland’s privatised rail operations costs $70m per year more than Wellington’s (for a similar numbers of passengers carried). In contrast to Auckland, where the train services are managed by the French company Transdev, Wellington’s operation is public sector. Run by state-owned KiwiRail. – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/06/30/guest-blog-mike-lee-that-budget-and-why-i-voted-for-it/#comment-291410

    Oh yes privatisation is so efficient, NOT.

    Where is the media on this, NOT something Granny herald wants to report, only the $1200 ‘party’ from councillors. The blogs need to call this constant mis reporting out!

    Sweating the small stuff from elected councillors and letting the private companies like law firms and off shore transport companies get away with taking millions from ratepayers.

  5. RTM 5

    Dylann Roof’s massacre of black churchgoers in Charleston has reminded the world of the legacy of the Confederacy and slavery. But what about the slavery that flourished in the 19th century Pacific, thanks partly to the influence of displaced Confederates?
    http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/savage-garbage-gatherers-new-zealand.html

  6. Charles 6

    Reposting this topic, plus further summary aspects, originally posted by Tautoko Mangō Mata last night in Daily review. It’s important people know.

    Some interesting excerpts from the recommendation to allow Police to charge people for their services. Some are awfully suggestive. From the recommended new bill:

    “The Law and Order Committee has examined the Policing (Cost Recovery) Amendment Bill and recommends, by majority, that it be passed with the amendments shown…”

    They say it was a majority, but it was never not going to be one. A majority of one.

    “79B Policing services that may be subject to cost recovery
    (1)The Minister may recommend a regulation under section 102A only if the Minister is satisfied that the policing service in question is a demand service.
    (2)For the purposes of this section, demand servicemeans a service that

    (a) constitutes policing; and
    (b) is provided only on the request of an individual or organisation; and
    (c) is provided to the individual or organisation requesting it for the direct
    benefit of a particular person or organisation (even though there may be
    indirect benefit to the public as a whole).

    (2) For the purposes of this section, demand service —
    (a) means a service that—
    (i) constitutes policing; and
    (ii) is provided only on the request of an individual or organisation;
    And (iii) is provided to the individual or organisation requesting it and is of
    direct benefit to that individual or organisation (even though provision of the service may also be of indirect benefit to the public
    as a whole); but
    (b) does not include—
    (i) the response of the Police to calls for service relating to potential
    offending:
    (ii)the conduct of criminal investigations:
    (iii)the prosecution of criminal offences.”

    Under the section titled “Labour Party minority view”:

    “…We also heard that the Police budget since 2010 has in real terms been cut by more than $90 million. Faced with having to do more with less, the Police have been told they can try to bridge the gap by charging for more of their services. The specific service which will be the first to be charged for is police vetting. Government justifies this on the grounds of the private benefit to service users…”

    “…This legislation has not been well thought through, is unclear in its application, and unfair in its likely impact. It represents a dangerous new direction and ideology in Police charging for basic services. We [Labour Party] are strongly opposed to it.”

    It was good of the Labour Party to remind people who already knew about the funding shortfall, otherwise they would’ve completely forgotten. Busy lives, anti-gay activities, $68.4million of property to look after, dinner parties, you know how it is, people forget stuff. As mentioned earlier by Tautoko Mangō Mata: So the incumbent government cuts police funding, then their core service supporters wail there is not enough funding, and the government agrees, and suggests they start charging charities and community groups, or almost anyone?

    Under the section “Green Party minority view”:

    “…We are told that the Police Commissioner will have the power to grant waivers or ex-emptions to fees, but nowhere are we told what the criteria or parameters for such consideration might be…”

    “The bill specifies that “demand services” do not include the response of Police to calls for service relating to criminal offending; the conduct of criminal investigations; the prosecution of criminal offences. This leaves open to potential charging most other services provided by Police, including crime prevention activities (e.g. in commercial or residential areas, where a “private benefit” might accrue to householders or business owners); education or advisory services to private or public organisations; search and rescue activities; and much else. The Green Party opposes this bill, and recommends that it not proceed.”

    So there is ambiguity over who is a private interest or not, although the paper suggests “people who help out in the community” aren’t targeted. However some community organisations who help out are targeted with police vetting fees, like Cancer Society, Salvation Army, Foundation for the Blind etc etc. Unions pickets might also be “private interests” too, but don’t worry, The Police Commissioner can waive fees.

    Did I say Commissioner of Police? That’s how it is right now, but section 79D of the new bill has been changed to remove the “Police” from “Police Commissioner”, and will say that simply a “Commissioner” will be in charge of decisions to recover cost. Also, who the costs are recovered from is open to interpretation. If you are part of a group and are deemed to have benefitted as an individual, you incur costs, but also individuals in the group could also incur costs. It’s a nice way to make sure the Commissioner knows where you are, I guess.

    Under the section “NZ First Party minority view”:

    “Community groups, NGO’s and other community organisations who rely on volunteers and are not well resourced financially may well be prevented from going through the vetting process because of the costs imposed upon them. When that happens, children, women, the elderly and other vulnerable members of our society may well be put at risk due to caregivers and others working with these vulnerable citizens not being vetted…”

    and

    “…it is the state that requires that all paid and unpaid staff in schools undergo a police check. Paying for the service will increase compliance costs which will have a negative impact on the operational budgets of schools, particularly small schools. New Zealand First does not support this bill…”

    So who was on the Committee?

    “…Committee process

    The Policing (Cost Recovery) Amendment Bill was referred to the Law and Order Committee on 4 November 2014. The closing date for submissions was 5 February 2015. We received and considered 132 submissions from interested groups and individuals. Of these, 25 submitters gave oral presentations to the committee. We received advice from the New Zealand Police. The Regulations Review Committee reported to the committee on the powers contained in clause 4.

    Committee membership:
    Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi (Chairperson) [National Party MP]
    Todd Barclay [National MP]
    Mahesh Bindra [NZ First MP]
    David Clendon [Green party MP]
    Kelvin Davis [Labour MP]
    Hon Phil Goff [Labour MP]
    Ian McKelvie [National Party MP]
    Lindsay Tisch [National Party member, assistant speaker of the house]
    Jonathan Young [National MP]”

    So, no way that was going to end by not being recommended. So who do we pay to tender for Police services? We pay a newly made bank account:

    “Departmental bank account.
    We recommend that new subsection 79F(2) be amended by deleting “a Crown Bank Account” and substituting “ a Departmental Bank Account”. The activities for which Police will be seeking to recover costs are all departmental, and the fees or charges
    will need to be available to meet the costs of providing the services…”.

    Readily available cash required, to fund the police doing something you want. Sounds familiar.

    • greywarshark 6.1

      Thanks about this horrid policing law.
      It is another example of National using its time in government to withdraw from their job of providing services, ensuring healthy business activity, advancing opportunities for increased wellbeing and stability in the country. What do they do – destroy the public systems of the country, destroy the diverse economy, and diminish the value of a universal government, and turn it into a grace and favour arrangement, like the owners of islands in Britain who probably establish rules for the people who are tenants to them.

      We voted these so and sos in with the help of lacklustre Labour too concreted in their individualistic superiority to utilise sharp political ploys and maneouvring. We might have lost still but even if like some NZ sports teams, playing well but falling away at the end, we would have put up a decent showing with feelings of pride instead of this sadness and fear that Labour has lost its mojo irretrievably.

      • Charles 6.1.1

        It is odd, isn’t it. I’m all for central government being as small as practical, and not poking their noses into people’s private lives, for example, except to assist wider freedoms/correct economic imbalances, but when our current crowd thinks of “small government” it means to take the same amount of funding from the public, but neglect their core duty, and remove themselves from assisting anything close to personal freedoms and instead abdicate power to control the population to private interests. Same funding, lower out-going costs. As you say: they’re just Corporate Robber Barons.

        • greywarshark 6.1.1.1

          @Charles
          We see the Beehive, we have elections. we get bullied to pay our taxes, we have information gathering, statistics supplying Treasury, advice from deep thinkers with deep pockets at the OECD, it’s all for a good purpose we have been told and believe but what do we get?

          Bette Midler gives us the message – Is that all there is, then let’s keep dancing.
          Put the usual youtube prefix.
          com/watch?v=Fpn_xu81ySo

    • Draco T Bastard 6.2

      That would open up the space for private police forces. How much longer will it be before corporations have standing armies?

  7. Clemgeopin 7

    Mihingarangi Forbes’ last programme , Native Affairs, was on Maori TV last night.

    Flavell, Turia, Peters and Mahuta were present.

    In spite of being invited, no buggers from the disgraceful National, ACT or UF bothered to show their face or had the intellectual fortitude or guts to turn up to face some very important questions! Useless pricks that do not deserve to be in parliament as people’s representatives.

    The video clips are here if you are interested:
    http://thestandard.org.nz/watch-native-affairs-tonight/#comment-1036572

  8. Bill 8

    Winter’s nice…

    ~ 2500 people dead in India’s recent heatwave.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Indian_heat_wave#Affected_areas

    ~ 1300 dead so far in Pakistan’s current heatwave.
    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-heatwave-claims-26-more-toll-nears-1300/articleshow/47853754.cms

    Spain and Portugal issuing health alerts as temperatures exceed 40 degrees C.
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33316985

    Then there’s Canada and the US…
    http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/records-broken-heatwave-hits-northwest-150629104554904.html

  9. Clemgeopin 9

    Is Milk Bad for You? Diabetes and Milk.

    I don’t know. Don’t know what to believe either!

    http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/is-milk-bad-for-you-diabetes-and-milk/

  10. Clean_power 10

    Who told D. Shearer to make the price comparison between milk and Coke? The former leader is ridiculing himself and Labour. He should keep his mouth shut, or is he playing dirty again?

    [we’re used to a higher standard of trolling here, Cp. Lift your game or, even better, talk to the issues in the poverty post. TRP]

  11. adam 11

    I know it’s a link to advertising/marketing – but it’s a good link well worth looking at.

    Plus I think Mr Sanders has made a very clever use of colour.

    https://store.berniesanders.com/collections/all?sort_by=best-selling&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Bernie2016&utm_campaign=store_150629_3&utm_content=Bernie_shirt

  12. Ergo Robertina 12

    Yet more bad news for those gleefully anticipating the end of newspapers – The Herald’s taking its subbery back in-house.
    At present it’s outsourced to an outfit called Pagemasters, and Gavin Ellis on Nine to Noon today admits he got it wrong earlier, by predicting the next step would be sending the subbing to Vietnam!
    So this is significant given the expected trajectory was very different.
    What a waste of time – so many lives disrupted by this nonsense.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201760464/media-commentator,-gavin-ellis

  13. Draco T Bastard 13


    $4.2b plan to improve Auckland transport

    The NZ Transport Agency has announced details of a $4.2 billion, three-year programme to improve Auckland’s transport system.

    Regional director Ernst Zöllner says investment for 2015-18 includes $1.175b for public transport, $960 million to maintain state highways, and $91m to improve cycling and walking.

    – more to come

    Given those figures I’m guessing that means about $2.2 billion dollars on more fucken roads which is going to increase congestion and thus make Aucklands’ transport problems even worse.

    Decades of building more roads only to get more congestion and they haven’t learned a dammed thing.

  14. Rumours abounding that Ron Mark is trying to roll Tracey Martin for NZ First’s deputy leader position. I’d say that would be a backward step for the prospects of a progressive coalition Government next election.

    • Puckish Rogue 14.1

      What the left really need to consider when it comes to Winston Peters is that he really, really, really likes the baubles of office so what can the Left offer Winston (who has also said his preference is to support the largest party) vs what the Right can offer

      Ambassador maybe but really what Winston wants the most is (imho of course) a title, the Right can offer him the title of Sir Winston Peters

      Can anyone here really say, hand on heart, that Winston doesn’t want a knighthood?

    • adam 14.2

      I thought it odd that Ron Mark would roll Tracey Martin. I thought Tracey was doing a great job connecting to people. Were as Ron, not so much.

      Interesting to see if NZ could survive post Winston.

  15. Atiawa 15

    The stark difference between Labour and National is on display in the public arena in respect of Saturdays super rugby final.

    Little says the government should put a halt to scalping (tickets now selling for $500) by utilising legislation already in place to declare the event one of national significance.

    National are downplaying the event and refuse to utilise the legislation

    Individual greed and profiteering at the expense of fairness and the collective good.

  16. Ergo Robertina 16

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11473471

    Otago University academics advocating a teen or pre-teen (age hasn’t been specified) long-acting contraception programme, on an opt-out basis.
    A rather bizarre suggestion. For one thing, it would increase STI rates.

    “For a programme to be effective you need to get as many people involved as possible and an opt-out programme seems to be more effective. You still get the right to say no and in terms of justice it treats everybody the same.”

    • Colonial Viper 16.1

      Otago University academics advocating a teen or pre-teen (age hasn’t been specified) long-acting contraception programme, on an opt-out basis.
      A rather bizarre suggestion. For one thing, it would increase STI rates.

      Gosh, sounds like an argument by the Catholic Church.

      • Ergo Robertina 16.1.1

        My argument is based on health effects, unintended consequences, resource use, and academic myopia, none of which relate to the misogynist dogma of the Catholic Church.

        • Colonial Viper 16.1.1.1

          Increased use of contraception by teenagers will increase STI rates.

          The Catholic Church would likely approve of that statement IMO. They would probably also approve of your statement that the scientific evidence backs the position, too.

          • adam 16.1.1.1.1

            Joy, more Catholic bashing.

            Anymore prejudices you’d like to get out in the open?

            Feel free, because you know I really enjoying reading twatish posts, here on the standard.

            • Colonial Rawshark 16.1.1.1.1.1

              I’m not Catholic bashing, mate, and I apologise if I have offended you Adam.

              • adam

                I’m not offended Colonial Rawshark, just tired.

                I just see many Catholics, struggling, stressed and having it as hard as everyone else. It’s just painful to read these comments – not offencive, just painful.

                I just wish I could write up more things here on standard which I’m doing, but I have to keep confidentiality. And in many cases, people have just given up.

                There is a reason I loath the Tory scum, and hate when people who oppose them get stuck into side track arguments.

                It’s also why I give the labour party a hard time – I don’t dislike the activists. Thanks Lynn for bashing me on the head with that one, you were right. I just see a dysfunctional parliamentary wing, tethered to a structure which no matter what the activist do – enforces the labour party to stop being the ally to working people. Bureaucracy and Structures, are those villainous things, we would do well to destroy every now and then.

                So again, back to painful I suppose, and being tired. Just one of those days – I get to see people get hammered, and then there is bugger all I can do. And in many cases faith is all people have left, and it gets them out of bed the next day. When they would otherwise give up.

                I just see it as I another point the left fail at – respecting diversity. The nice words are there, but sometimes the other words slip in. I know you have copped some of that Colonial Rawshark, same as Stephanie Rodgers, and so have others.

                What I don’t understand why people can’t see that their freedom relies on respecting other people’s freedom. That their liberty is the liberty they must offer everyone else, and that through togetherness – we do get a better society.

            • vaughan little 16.1.1.1.1.2

              colonial viper is nuanced on religion. so he’s maybe some times bashing, other times supportive.

              if i were you i’d try not to bother being negative about negativity. christians are better off doing the work of jesus than wasting their precious time worrying about what the liberals are waffling on about. and they’re so miseducated/callous they wouldn’t be able to take in what you were on about anyway.

              on the other hand, christians are getting their arses kicked in an arm-long list of countries, and it’d be kind of lovely if “‘liberal’ ‘democracies'” were as jumpy about that stuff as they were about gay rights. maybe if christians HAD done a bunch of screaming and shouting over the past 30 years in these countries, then the christians in those countries would enjoy more attention from the governments of these countries.

              it’s good you’re speaking up, in a way, cos it shows you care and you’re tired, like i am, of the unceasing, generations-long drone of put-downs. i’d say strategically, it’d be better to organically connect your christian work (orphanages/foodbanky stuff etc) with your vocal opposition to christian bashing. some liberals out there might have reasonably functioning consciences and might might have their horizons expanded by what you’re saying. i fear that simply speaking out on fora like this is insufficiently christoform.

    • Charles 16.2

      Unusual that academics would take that line, because I am pretty sure that safe sex advocates in NZ do not endorse chemical contraception in isolation, for the very reason you say – possible increase in STI through youngins thinking that contraception keeps them safe from disease. Then I read the reasoning in the article. Turns out it’s a “Solo mums cost too much” kind of research thing. Oh Herald, when will you disappear behind a paywall?

      • Ergo Robertina 16.2.1

        What? Isn’t the story just quoting the academics?
        Here’s the press release: http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago113426.html

      • Draco T Bastard 16.2.2

        Unusual that academics would take that line, because I am pretty sure that safe sex advocates in NZ do not endorse chemical contraception in isolation,

        I didn’t see the academics taking that line either.

        Turns out it’s a “Solo mums cost too much” kind of research thing.

        Well, I suppose that the academics could be RWNJs but, then, they do have a point or two. Young solo mothers do cost and their offspring don’t do as well but I think that the solution to those is actually to have a better society rather than one that punishes people.

        Other than that, I’m in favour of freely available contraceptives and better sex education.

  17. Ron 17

    What was the item on today’s news about the attempt to roll the Deputy Leader of NZ First Tracey Martin. It also seemed to suggest that the Ron Mark had something to do with it.
    Any ides what is happening. I was under the impression that Martin was the only sensible person in the NZF and a possible contender to replace Winston. Maybe that is the problem

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    1 hour ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    8 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
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