Susan St John: Child poverty measures short-change families
‘A shameful disparity between the treatment of children in families who can work enough paid hours, and those children whose families cannot, means in practice New Zealand has two classes of low-income children. The “in work” worthy can be supported to the full extent of the social security legislation, and the children of the unworthy, the outcasts: beneficiaries, disproportionately the disabled, Maori or Pasifika, many with chronic illness, are consigned to remain in poverty.
The parents of the “undeserving children” may struggle in a casualised labour market, on low wages or with redundancies, or in the aftermath of disasters. Irrespective of the cause of low income, regardless of circumstance, all children could and should be afforded the same tax-funded child payments to ensure an adequate standard of living.’
A quick perusal of the Charities Register confirms my theory that real advocacy is better done without the fetters of government funding.
CPAG has somehow managed to keep the issue of child poverty in New Zealand at the forefront in the media…despite receiving NOTHING from the the government in the way of funding.
People DONATE, and members VOLUNTEER. Shit gets DONE.
Hi Lara. Thanks for your comments on the John Key/White Ribbon ambassador post by Kerero Pono yesterday. It was good to get a different view of the functioning of White Ribbon – the link about the “anti feminist” WR ambassador in Oz was an eye opener. What you have said has made me think differently about them.
I’m still keeping an open mind and still have an expectation about them dropping Key – they absolutely must – but your words made sense and altered how I perceive White Ribbon.
“As part of her effort to run the Red Cross more like a business, McGovern recruited more than 10 former AT&T executives to top positions. The move stirred resentment inside the organization, with some longtime Red Cross hands referring to the charity as the “AT&T retirement program.’’
McGovern laid out a vision to increase revenue through “consolidated, powerful, breathtaking marketing.”
“This is a brand to die for,” she often said.
Her team unveiled a five-year blueprint in 2011 that called for expanding the charity’s revenue from $3 billion to $4 billion. In fact, Red Cross receipts have dropped since then and fell below their 2011 level last year.”
Glad y’all like that. It may be the only original thought I’ve ever had. It was sparked a few years ago by reading a flurry of articles showing high executive pay and poor company performance were well correlated. And I suspect that’s probably true for charities as well.
I think it holds true for CEO’s of gummint partmints too.
Many years ago, we used to worry about a thing called the Peter Principle.
Now we seem to worship incompetence.
Actually, I think it holds true for Munsters of the Crown. The only thing that props them up (their invisible means of support) seems to be our MSM (who’re rules along the same lines)
Stevie Ray Joyce, Pulla Bent, Soimun ‘Learnings’ Brudgizz, N. Tolley, etc.
The underappreciated bit about the Peter Principle is that you could be confident that, once upon a time, your boss actually was good at something useful.
Margrit Kennedy has done a fair amount of work with Bernard Lietar, who specialises (decades) in the field of money and how it works.
This ebook from Ms Kennedy outlines an interest free demurrage system.
The cool thing about demurrage is it reintroduces the incentive to loan, keeps the money supply stable and ensures existing money flows faster. The historic example of Worgl in Austria (it’s in the ebook) shows how well it can work.
I like the idea of demur-rage and believe it will come in to effect some time in the future. I just think that 0% interest loans need to come in first.
I want to address this bit in the introduction of the book:
For example, if you live in a village which relies entirely on barter, and you produce works of art but there is nobody to exchange your artwork with except the undertaker, you will soon have to change your occupation or leave.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how societies work.
A society that doesn’t use money would support the artist because they appreciate the art that they get to see. They may even go so far as to build art galleries to display it along with other artworks where everyone can go and view it as they choose.
It’s of note that David Graeber in his Debt: The first 5000 years notes that no bartering economy, as postulated by the economists, has ever been found.
I should also point out that I’m working to stop people loaning out money as it results in all the money going to people who are already rich – exactly as that book points out.
What an amazing level of cognitive dissonance expressed by the author of this article. They truly think that the recent election result in Venezuela has not fundamentally changed the game in that country.
The complete failure of socialism steering Pauly in the face , the answer move on nothing to see here. How many real world case studies do you need Pauly , capitalism has it failures nothing howerver to the scale of socialism, as Churchill rightly assessed capitalism is not perfect but it sure beats anything else
Capitalism only succeeds because of socialism. Without socialism capitalism would revert to its natural state – feudalism.
And ATM capitalism is bringing about the 6thextinctionevent. Wiping out life on Earth can in no way be considered successful.
A vast chunk of space rock crashes into the Yucatan Peninsula, darkening the sky with debris and condemning three-quarters of Earth’s species to extinction. A convergence of continents disrupts the circulation of the oceans, rendering them stagnant and toxic to everything that lives there. Vast volcanic plateaus erupt, filling the air with poisonous gas. Glaciers subsume the land and lock up the oceans in acres of ice.
Five times in the past, the Earth has been struck by these kinds of cataclysmic events, ones so severe and swift (in geological terms) they obliterated most kinds of living things before they ever had a chance to adapt.
Now, scientists say, the Earth is on the brink of a sixth such “mass extinction event.” Only this time, the culprit isn’t a massive asteroid impact or volcanic explosions or the inexorable drifting of continents. It’s us.
“Capitalism only succeeds because of socialism. Without socialism capitalism would revert to its natural state – feudalism.”
Mmmmm, I must remember that (You bastard!). It’s actually very profound and exemplifies what’s gone wrong today (i.e. we’re on the ‘neo-feudal’ route).
What’s your view: Do you think capitalism always leads to ‘crony-capitalism’? ( which is what we have, and what the likes of most trolls on here are pushing, as tho’ it was some sort of new religion. )
It wasn’t that long ago (around the time of Roger and Ruth) that they were espousing the idea of competition being the be-all and end-all – you know….many players competing is beneficial to ‘the consumer’ – even in things like health and edge-a-kayshun. Now of course (aided and abetted by an utterly knobbled Commerce Commission), the tendency towards monopoly/duopoly positions is seen by the capitalists (read 1%ers and those that aspire to the 1% – such as Gosman and ilk) is somehow capitalism at work and is seen as Norman Normal.
Really … they’re so full of shit private enterprise could make a killing off a sewage farm.
What’s your view: Do you think capitalism always leads to ‘crony-capitalism’?
Yes as competition is detrimental to everyone competing whereas cooperating is beneficial to everyone cooperating. So, the capitalists cooperate to screw over the rest of us while encouraging the rest of us to compete with each other. The latter is done through government policies of high unemployment and cutting out the welfare state while lambasting us with the idea that having ‘choice’ is all that matters while hiding the fact that you don’t have a choice in who you’re actually buying from.
I think you’re probably right (correct) @ Monsieur le Bastard.
I note you use the word ‘cooperating’.
(Foreign concept to most of the trolls that come in here from time to time and according to the roster – some even claiming ‘Christian values FFS – we have anew one, if you hadn’t noticed)
And I agree with you about their justifying their position with the idea of ‘choice’ being all important – problem being that they can’t then explain the tendency towards monopoly/duopoly structures that are inevitable. (Well, actually they can offer a few weasle words)
…… but then you’re just a ‘hard left’, kinsprissy-oriented, othered, fuckwit probably. You deserve to be locked up! :p
Good craic Draco and OWT. And, OWT, keep up the kooky way of speaking. I very much enjoy reading your comments. They are often lively, and always insightful.
Because Venezuela represents the sort of ideas and policies that a large number if leftists here wish to pursue. The idea that society can somehow control markets and that you can legislate wealth and prosperity for all. If you read those more radical left wing proposals I doubt there would be many that a lot of people here would disagree with. However it us those same policies that are causing the problems the country is facing.
I want something more like the New Zealand I grew up in – which worked and was humane. Venezuela is just a whipping boy for far-right trolls – you know nothing significant about it and care even less – you just think it supports your prejudices.
The failures of socialist societies, like those of capitalist societies, are complex and not generalisable without an indepth knowledge of the context of each. Israeli kibbutzim fail for different reasons than Stalinism. Bill English’s economic failures only partially resemble Cameron’s – Cameron didn’t bet the farm on a dairy bubble.
“I want something more like the New Zealand I grew up in – which worked and was humane”
From the things you put in other posts that sounds rather as if you grew up when Keith Holyoake was PM.
Life was a bit boring but certainly quite comfortable under a four term National Government.
On that basis John Key is going to come closest to providing those times again. Doesn’t that cheer you up?
socialism as a theory has failed, a nice fuzzy and warm theory that makes you fell good, however as it has been proven time and time again it fail in practice to achieve its desired or predicted outcomes, It is thus a flawed theory and ideology and should be dispensed with. Interesting however as you demonstrate as with other flawed theories its proponents tend to hold on to them no matter what, flat earth society etc
You look back at nz with rose tinted glasses, nz at the time as a command / mixed economy is another clear example of failed socialism, nz during the 50 60 70s was pretty bleak re choice and economic freedom, likewise opportunity. We funded our way of living by selling sheep and wool to Britain , once this door was closed we where pretty rooted, we kept it going by borrowing and paying farmers to produce lambs at a guaranteed price (Supplementary minimum prices) even though the price we sold product for to world markets was less.We Kept every one employed by running a bloated non productive state sector, e.g 40000 people working for kiwi rail, trucks not going more than 100 miles to maintain a state monopoly etc. We borrowed haevily to keep our so called utopia going. Eventually the world worked out what we where doing was not sustainable, hence the tap was turned off, normally how most socialist economies fail, they run out of other people’s money. Muldoon tried to keep the party going with price freezes, currency controls, think big ( all good socialist stuff) but eventually reality caught up and thank god for the 1984 labour government
The world has problems but contrary to Draco and Paul I believe capitalism ( with better regulation where required) and human innovation released by free markets has a far better chance of solving these problems than a ideology that simply fails time after time
Socialism preceded capitalism and continues to work and flourish even within the most dysfunctional capitalist societies. Public libraries, hospitals, post offices, police all reflect a communitarian approach which is successful, a necessary balancing influence. A healthy society runs mixed economies – both social and commercial.
But you are an extremist as well as a fool – you seem to think that society, like Thatcher, doesn’t exist. and that it can and should be eliminated, more fool you. You have lost the plot – as has National. Political parties don’t get to eliminate society unless they become despotic, and a despotic party has no right to exist in a democracy. You are traitors, every one of you.
Yes, National were truly lousy economic managers back in Holyoake’s day, and that hasn’t changed at all. But you have drifted a long, long, way right since then, without even learning the most basic things about how to run an economy. And now you have no redeeming social virtues to recommend you.
Run along and play on kiwiblog with the rest of the parasites – and dream of an economy financed by selling Auckland houses to one another indefinitely.
NZ has an abundance of natural resources, but none are as vast as the stupidity of National supporters.
No one is saying government should not provide public goods, I am simply saying they have no part in prouctive sector, as is well demonstrated with the bulk of econonic activity now produced by the private sector and corporates globally, replacing the state over the last 50 years. the facts are the facts, capitalism has trumped socialism wether you like it or not, even so called Marxist states are going the same way
Paul when some one starts a response with you ignorant turd (which tends to say more about the sender than the receiver) can you please advise how I should respond, I can’t use your tried and true method any more, I thought I was been polite in simply highlighting Stuart may have some anger issues , I also note nor you or Stuart really countered anything I said. I guess it’s hard when you are trying to deny facts with a washed up idealogy and some mythical past where Santa existed all year round or the favourite default response “troll”
States and commercial providers are both perfectly capable of providing public goods if scrupulously monitored & regulated.
Equally, both are capable of screwing up by the numbers if left to themselves or small interest groups.
Take Auckland housing. Could’ve been fixed by a state housing program. Could’ve been fixed by a well designed PPP model. Hasn’t been fixed by the clusterfuck Key kleptocracy.
As you say, facts are facts, and $105 billion worth of debt proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this so-called government doesn’t have a clue.
Why you should think I, or anyone else on here is especially attached to Marxism I do not know – I guess your education never got much beyond Muldoon’s Reds under the Beds ad campaign. But just to put the record straight, extremes of capitalism, as practised post Reagan Thatcher etc, consistently underperform the mixed model that preceded it.
Stop lying to yourself and for gods sake learn a smattering of economics you ignorant sack of shit.
No it couldn’t as there’s no such thing as a good PPP model. Or, to put it another way, no commercial enterprise will sign up to a PPP model that actually does what’s needed for the right price as they’re be little or no profit in it.
Virtually all ppps in the UK, Oz, and here are out and out rorts. In Korea however (where I spent most of the last decade) companies exist at the sufferance of the state and the worst ones will be broken up and their principals jailed if they play too fast and loose. My understanding is that not all Korean law is codified so that egregious wrongdoing gets you in trouble even if legislators did not anticipate it. Apart from the party linked companies, some of whose directors go to jail with every change of government, the larger companies negotiate with the state to avoid unpleasantness and for the most part actually perform as required. Serco is kind of the opposite of this. If Serco were in Korea the directors would not find prison radio gags especially entertaining, but of course they would not be able to listen to them, being behind bars.
My understanding is that not all Korean law is codified so that egregious wrongdoing gets you in trouble even if legislators did not anticipate it.
Recalls to mind the MPs manual that John Key dismissed with the wave of his hand and the pronunciation that it was just a set of guidelines rather than law when he broke those guidelines in an immoral manner and declared it legal.
Basically, what I’m getting at here is that people look for ways, that are often immoral, to do things that aren’t covered by law that will net them a quick profit. Despite them knowing that doing it that way is immoral they’ll do it any way as it benefits them and they just don’t care who’s harmed. The actions of this guy spring to mind.
We need laws and, IMO, we need a general set of principles that the law is set upon that will catch immoral behaviour even if there isn’t a law covering a specific action. I believe that we’ve gone too far in specificity in our laws.
I am simply saying they have no part in prouctive sector, as is well demonstrated with the bulk of econonic activity now produced by the private sector and corporates globally, replacing the state over the last 50 years
No mention of the private frameworks which skewed the odds in their favour. Global rape of human & environmental resource exploitation
Finance and legal would be the two frameworks you’re either ignoring, or are ignorant of
“Eventually the world worked out what we where doing was not sustainable, hence the tap was turned off, normally how most socialist economies fail, they run out of other people’s money.”
The number of times I have heard similiar shit about socialist are good at spending others money.
Please enlighten us how does that equate to the Double Dipping Dickhead from Dipton borrowing now over a 100 billion dollars just to waste on the likes of tax cuts for the rich and social welfare for the likes of Warners, Jackson Reo Tinto and money wasting stupid flag referendum. as I never classed that prat as a socialist
If the US could cause such economic dislocation as occurring in Venezuela right now then it should make people think twice before alienating them. Of course the problems faced by Venezuela are homegrown not caused by the US. However that won’t stop leftists like you trying to shift the blame.
The US is not responsible for the oil price: I’m not surprised that you’d suggest such a thing and you’re a fool if you think that’s what I’m referring to.
You cannot possibly know that Venezuela’s problems are 100% homegrown, because the aforementioned US foreign policy exists and has been implemented. Who knows where Venezuela would be without it?
Oh yes, the Venezuelan Government lost around $36 billion in export revenue in a year because somehow Venezuela has the power to set the world oil price… Damn that left wing government. A right wing dictatorship would of course still be riding high..
You seem to have a preoccupation with Venuzuela. It serves your cause of course – in this case taking an example where something has turned to shit, and trying to use it as an example of how those who disagree with that ‘centre-right-sensible’ ideology are stupid.
It’s a bit like taking a small minority of feral beneficiaries and using it as a weapon to bash all (they’re SO not like you). Classic CT, classic Nact, classic MSM.
What is with the preoccupation with Venuzuela by the way? Does it stem from when Key & Co (those bizniss ‘leaders’) visited Sth America and left with most Sth Americans seeing Him as a complete dolt? (Snubbing the funeral et al). What’s come of hopes of a ‘free trade agreement’ btw? About the only thing I can see is Air NZ Sth American route additions – and that’s on their own initiative.
(Shudda cudda wudda treated Brazilian students a bit better)
Hey Gosman How’s the economy going in that right wing cot case called the Ukraine.?
Oh I forgot things are looking up as the IMF have told them to forget about paying the money they owe to Russia. Pity the IMF does not apply the same rules to Greece.
By doing so, it announced its new policy: “We only enforce debts owed in US dollars to US allies.” This means that what was simmering as a Cold War against Russia has now turned into a full-blown division of the world into the Dollar Bloc (with its satellite Euro and other pro-U.S. currencies) and the BRICS or other countries not in the U.S. financial and military orbit.
What should Russia do? For that matter, what should China and other BRICS countries do? The IMF and U.S. neocons have sent the world a message: you don’t have to honor debts to countries outside of the dollar area and its satellites.
Why then should these non-dollarized countries remain in the IMF – or the World Bank, for that matter. The IMF move effectively splits the global system in half,between the BRICS and the US-European neoliberalized financial system.
Should Russia withdraw from the IMF? Should other countries?
My bold.
The present global system is designed to keep the US pre-eminent but it can’t as change happens.
The socialism (health, education, jobs etc) of the last Venezuelan government was very good for the poor. Unfortunately many took their new middle class wealth and security for granted and started believing the lies of capitalism. They went to the polls to vote out those who had rescued them. Much the same as the new middle classes in New Zealand drove from their new state houses to the polling booths in 1949 in their new cars to vote out the first Labour Government which had done so much for them.
“Welcome to the “1099 economy”: The only things being shared are the scraps our corporations leave behind
In the aftermath of the economic collapse in 2008, a significant factor in the decline of the quality of jobs in the United States, as well as in Europe has been employers’ increasing reliance on “non-regular” workers — a growing army of freelancers, temps, contractors, part-timers, day laborers, micro-entrepreneurs, gig-preneurs, solo-preneurs, contingent labor, perma-lancers and perma-temps. It’s practically a new taxonomy for a workforce that has become segmented into a dizzying assortment of labor categories. Even many full-time, professional jobs and occupations are experiencing this precarious shift.
This practice has given rise to the term “1099 economy,” since these employees don’t file W-2 income tax forms like any regular, permanent employee; instead, they receive the 1099-MISC form for an IRS classification known as “independent contractor.” The advantage for a business of using 1099 workers over W-2 wage-earners is obvious: an employer usually can lower its labor costs dramatically, often by 30 percent or more, since it is not responsible for a 1099 worker’s health benefits, retirement, unemployment or injured workers compensation, lunch breaks, overtime, disability, paid sick, holiday or vacation leave and more. In addition, contract workers are paid only for the specific number of hours they spend providing labor, or completing a specific job, which increasingly are being reduced to shorter and shorter “micro-gigs.”
Exactly as has been happening in NZ starting back in the 1990s with the Employment Contracts Act. All the expenses shifted on to the workers while the bosses get all the benefits. The workers have been getting shafted as the amount that the bosses pay the workers isn’t enough to buy and maintain the tools that the workers need, any holiday or sick pay or pretty much anything at all. ACC then make it harder by making it almost impossible for the contractors to get it despite the fact that they’ve been paying both the employer and employee parts of the ACC levy.
New Zealand farming practice responsible for the massive Indonesian fires.
This is another consequence of our do nothing climate polices.
‘Palm kernel imports jump
Palm kernel imports picked up sharply last month
Imports of the controversial livestock feed supplement, which is used extensively in the dairy industry, came to 222,413 tonnes last month, up from 138,763 tonnes in October and 178,381 tonnes in November last year, according to Statistics NZ data.
Palm kernel became popular in 2007 when a drought sent North Island farmers looking for new feed sources.
Imports of palm kernel, a byproduct of the palm oil industry, went from 96,000 tonnes in 2003 to a record 2 million tonnes last year.’
Intensive dairy farming is increasingly looking like an industry that is not compatible with the sensible management of our planet and our country.
Destroying our rivers
Responsible for the destruction of pristine Indonesian rainforest
Animal cruelty, as exposed by SAFE and Farmwatch
Dairy is one of the most inflammatory foods in our modern diet, second only to gluten.
And it looks lie our government, rather than deal with its poor environmental record, engages in climate fraud.
‘Dealing with criminals in climate fraud
The Government’s plan for meeting our Kyoto Protocol commitment and 2020 emissions reduction target was released this month.
It reveals a shocking truth: New Zealand has been a willing participant in a wholesale climate fraud.
We’ve been dealing with criminals and fraudsters in order to meet our international obligations. If our reputation wasn’t shot to pieces after Paris – where we revealed our weak kneed 2030 target – it will be now.’
This kind of monkey business is why I think a straight up fossil carbon (and other greenhouse gas) tax is by far the best “market mechanism” to reduce emissions. Any kind of cap-and-trade system will inevitably be open to these sorts of frauds.
I don’t see the opportunity to line the bastards up against a wall coming anytime soon. Not even if Sanders becomes Prez and Corbyn becomes PM. Do you? And to be honest, the way revolutions played out in the past, I’d be worried about being lined up with the rest of them, being educated and well-off and all that.
So the tools of the system we’ve got now are pretty much the only tools we’ve got to play with.
If it comes to “lining the bastards up”, you can be pretty certain that anyone who fights for democracy will be the next against the wall. (Maybe third, after the academics, poets and musicians have been purged).
Governments, particularly revolutionary ones, can and often do far worse to their people than the rampant corruption, incompetence and theft that we currently labour under.
Yep, laws against corruption with Proceeds of Crime acts that are fully enforced are a much better idea. Gets rid of the capitalists on one hand while also returning the wealth to the nation.
While your generalisation is pretty sound, Frank Bainimarama managed to supplant a government without a very high butcher’s bill. It could be done here too – we are not some eastern European badlands with a tradition of mass murder going back to Attila.
Personally I think enthusiastic prosecution of public asset frauds would suffice, though of course it would see 90% of the incumbents doing porridge, so they will try to suppress investigations of things like CERA.
Are you suggesting that for real change to happen we must have a violent revolution? That is the bit I disagree with if I understand you correctly (please do point out if I’ve interpreted this wrongly).
Non voilent revolution is actually more effective. See this TED talk by Erica Chenoweth.
And I don’t think we even need a revolution to achieve real change. With an MMP system if we get enough people voting for parties that represent real change (which IMO would be Greens and Mana) then we may well get it. Peacefully and democratically.
IMO it is money; how it is structured, how it works, and who creates it most specifically that is the key to real change. If we change how our money works then we change our society.
Money has a big influence on our behaviour. Because we need money to survive; most of us can’t provide our shelter and food necessities without access to some money, and so to obtain money which buys us necessities of life we will do many things which we would rather not do. It drives much of our behaviour at an individual level and at a society wide level.
Change how money is structured and you change our behaviour at an individual level and at a society wide level.
If a new government was elected which had the balls to change our monetary system then we’d have the foundation of real change in NZ.
But that’s the problem. Most MPs don’t understand how our current monetary system works, nor how important it is, nor that there are alternatives. And they lack the balls to change it even if they did understand.
Because there are powerful interests that don’t want change.
Good luck with doing it that way. I’ll be cheering for you, no sarcasm, but I really doubt you’ll get any traction beyond “margin-of-error-in-the-polls”. And in the meantime I’ll put my efforts towards things that look to me like they have a chance of actually making improvements.
Ok, poor choice of words on my part about bastards and walls. Lesson learned, anything I say can and will be wilfully misinterpreted and used against me. Avoid hyperbole.
I advocated a simple carbon tax. Coz I want to see positive changes actually happen. A carbon tax is the kind of tool that is well known and easily adjusted to drive changes in behaviour.
I don’t want to just dream about the way things should be, though I do plenty of that too. And the kind of fundamental, radical societal changes on the scale you’re talking about has either taken generations or violent revolutions to come about. When it comes to climate change, we don’t have generations of time to play with, nor do I want to see violent revolution (although I’m very afraid it’s coming anyway). So it’s a case of getting the best results we can with the tools we have now.
The Lange-Douglas government is about the only example I can think of where that kind of radical change actually did happen non-violently. Although, metaphorically, it actually was pretty violent. While a lot of those changes were needed, a lot of the rest were not needed, and have turned out pretty negative for the vulnerable parts of our society. So looking back on how things have played out over the last 25 years I would rather the changes had been introduced incrementally.
One final general thought – when large holes get ripped into any complex system, say a natural ecosystem or a societal structure, it’s the quick opportunists that tend to fill the holes. Weeds. Fast buck artists. And once they get established they are pretty difficult to dislodge. So to my mind, the kind of change in the structure of money that Draco talks about, and it seems to me that you’re looking for, that’s a disruption bigger than Lange-Douglas and will invite all kinds of unintended consequences. Whereas things like a carbon tax or UBI are just an incremental change from what we have now and can be easily adjusted to get the desired effect.
@Andre
Am of a similar mind though probably less confident….revolutionary without the guillotine,using your example of Lange/Douglas but to the power of 10….and thats why the bulk of it will need to be government led (driven) although not this government obviously. A groundswell (bottom up if you prefer) is needed to establish that administration but the changes needed will need to be enforced, transitioned, supported in many instances….the alternative is anarchy (revolution) and as history has taught, while quick to tear down revolutions are slow to rebuild….and time hasn’t been on our side for a while .
Andre, there was no “wilful” in my misinterpretation. I made it very clear that it was my interpretation and I can only interpret what you wrote. I also asked to be corrected if I had gotten it wrong.
I agree with you that a carbon tax is a possible solution.
I am pointing out that carbon trading is unlikely to work. So far that is true.
And I am pointing out that it is the structure of our monetary system (which discounts the future) that is the root problem. And that I don’t think we need a revolution to change it.
So we actually agree, I’m just trying to take it one step further.
You are so right there, we visited a lake where many many many years ago we used to go sailing. This would be over 30 years ago. the kids used to swim and play in the lake. I was utterly disgusted this lake is now has a reddish colour about it and warning notices about unsafe to expose your skin to the water as it has a toxic algae in the lake. Shit the number of times I got wet in this lake I doubt if I would have survived the day in today’s conditions.
No one was sailing on this lake the day we were there. but I give it the benefit of the doubt as it was the holiday season, but I suspect the opposite, people are now wary of the condition this lake is in.
Lovely HUGE herds of cows in the neighborhood though. no doubt being fed that Palm kernel crap.
The cynic in me thinks that Fonterra is using this as both a PR and pre-emptive action. There are many in NZ that think our dairy cows are fully pasture or hay fed, it comes as a surprise to find out this is not the case.
As more look local, the transparency of supply chains for food become easier to collate and view.
However, without giving farmers direction on how to achieve profitability on their overstocked, climate-change prone farms, this directive is of little use to farmers.
Brings to mind my partner’s work in heavy industry where workers are told to “work safe” and then also told that production needs to increase to a certain level, and they have to find a way to make it happen. Often the responsibility for ensuring work safe practices belongs with the workers themselves, but few have the personality type or assurance that allows them to challenge conflicting messages from upper management.
Our complacency in damaging other countries environments while simultaneously damaging our own in our pursuit of white gold, does us no credit. And it seems to enrich very few in return – Amy Adams notwithstanding.
You are right to be cynical.
The article in the Herald looks like a PR exercise for Fonterra.
There are at least 4 specific mentions of how well Fonterra are doing.
The link to the WWF is revealing though, as this is one of the dodgiest charities around.
“However, without giving farmers direction on how to achieve profitability on their overstocked, climate-change prone farms, this directive is of little use to farmers.”
Completely agree Molly. If Fonterra gave a shit in real life they’d be supporting organics and sustainably production. It’s all going to be spin that works for the profit of the few and the expense of others.
The only way that less will be used by NZ farmers is if the government bans food importation for animal feed. This would mean that the animals raised in NZ will have to be done so sustainably on NZ’s resources.
This government won’t do it and I’m pretty sure that a Labour led one won’t either and for the same reason – free-market trade.
Good call. Red Delusion is obviously from the Youth Wing of the trolls – either that or it hasn’t the capacity to learn, think critically, or experience (going forward).
I ‘spose even the ‘hard-right’ are trying to scrape up enough specimens these days to comment, attempt diversions, pepper a few comments with semi-intelligent utterings – what’s the fucking point I sometimes think. CT can’t be ‘across’ everything even tho’ I see one is about to get a Cameron knighthood.
I wonder who does their roster.
It’d be nice if they understood some basic methmetuks – the natives will eventually (and are) getting restless – even tho’ the cynicism with politics and an alternative that’s still desperately trying to feed from the trough in order to preserve their comfort.
(Did someone say James Shaw and Andrew Little ???? SURELY not!!!!)
Palm kernel tend to agree not good, not sure of solution barring Indonesia sorting it out and or nz regulation ( re dairy intensification) or consumers rising up
Ukrain, complicated, no easy answer
El Salvador, not across it
capitalism destroying planet, disagree, I agree human activity and population growth is detrimental to planet, capitalism, well not so much capitalism but free markets with corporates of multiple forms of ownership are more likely to find answers though releasing innovation than innovation stifling state based socialism, wastage and poor regulation
“capitalism destroying planet, disagree, I agree human activity and population growth is detrimental to planet, capitalism, well not so much capitalism but free markets with corporates of multiple forms of ownership are more likely to find answers though releasing innovation than innovation stifling state based socialism, wastage and poor regulation”
what is capitalism if not free markets with corporates of multiple forms (and in the absence of regulation, lassiez faire) pray tell?
The fact that palm kernel is a buy product makes me think you’re being at best mischievous blaming Indonesian forest fires on kiwi farmers.
Any products on your shopping list with vegetable/palm oil in them by chance.
Exactly. Palm kernel is a by-product of the palm oil business. NZ dairy farmers are no more “responsible” for forest fires in Indonesia than are the people promoting the replacement of animal fats with vegetable ones.
Before anyone starts: the stupidity of intensifying dairy production to the point where we need to import animal feed (not that dairy cows ought to be eating this stuff) is a separate issue.
I know that’s the theory (and it’s certainly the industry and Fonterra’s PR), but is there evidence that stopping all palm kernal exports would not affect the economics of what is happening in Malayasia/Indonesia and that the kernal would be dumped?
Let’s think this through. Selling PKE increases the profitability of growing palm oil. So maybe the least profitable forest clearance to palm plantation projects might not go ahead without the PKE sales. Kind of like fewer dairy conversions happen when the milk payout is low. So there’s at least a tenuous link between kiwi farmers buying PKE and forest fires in Indonesia.
Whom do folks think should be responsible for ensuring that New Zealand Councils, are held accountable to the ‘Rule of Law’ regarding citizens and ratepayers LAWFUL rights to ‘open, transparent and democratically accountable’ local government?
I wonder how this will impact on our future, whether planetary or individual:
“Google claims the D-Wave 2X is 100 million times as fast as any of today’s machines. As a result, this quantum computer could theoretically complete calculations within seconds to a problem that might take a digital computer 10,000 years to calculate. That’s particularly important, given the difficult tasks that today’s computers are called upon to complete and the staggering amount of data they are called upon to process.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11567032
2015 Smashes Global Temperature Records
“According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), by mid-December, 25,242 high-temperature records had been set across the country for just the last year.
“Given that 2015 easily remains on track to become the hottest year ever recorded for the globe, record-high temperatures continue to be recorded across the planet.
“In the Arctic, the latest NOAA data shows that temperatures there in 2015 were up to 3 degrees Celsius above the long-term average, and that the warmth had caused so much melting of the sea ice that 70 percent of the ice pack was made up of first-year ice. These temperatures are the highest ever recorded there, and the minimum ice cover for this year was the fourth-smallest ever recorded.” (emph added) http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34090-gop-candidates-receive-failing-grades-on-climate-as-2015-smashes-global-temperature-records
Predictions for 2016.
1. Opinion polls for 2016 will all (RoyMorgan excluded) have National support greater than Labour+ Greens.
2. Greens will cuddle closer to National
3. At least two national MP’s will leave parliament.
4. There will be a by election.
5. Moves will be made to deselect certain longstanding Labour MP’s
6. There will be a Cabinet reshuffle and some talented MP’s elected in 2014 will be promoted.
7. An MP will die.
8. [RL: Deleted] will be rampant on the Standard.
9. Celtic will qualify for the Champions League
10. Tourism revenues for NZ will exceed dairy earnings again
[RL: Take a week off for repeating boring derivative crap when warned yesterday not to.]
1. the right will continue to lie about the Green Party as cosying up to National in an attempt to lessen the GP vote.
2. trolls will troll the standard, but increasingly find it harder to do anything other rely on the CT spin memos, because we’re now in the year of ‘everyone knows Key and National are corrupt so let’s stop pretending’.
3. real conservatives will speak out more about the problems with National, simply from embarrassment.
4. NZ will have several severe weather events that scream climate change (one of which will be flooding in Dunedin).
5. 2016 will see a quantum increase in awareness of the seriousness of climate change.
6. The Standard will go from strength to strength, including gaining new authors to help spread the load.
7. Moves will be made to deselect certain longstanding Labour MP’s (we can hope anyway).
8. a certain website (no not that one, the other one) will implode from too much beige exposure from trying to sue PG.
9. Andrew Little will continue steady as she goes with Labour, which will both build good standing for the 2017 election and frustrate/disappoint leftist lefties.
10. Key will make at least 3 rape culture political gaffs because despite some pretty pricey PR and advice he just can’t help himself.
If anyone comments on Mike Sabin on the Standard in 2016 will you include that in your no.8? Seven of the predictions are about politicians but none about him.
The public sector deficit – the difference between what the government spends and what it receives in revenues – rose to $5.1bn usd
[RL: Some of your comments are going into moderation because your user name is appearing with extra characters at the end. I’d check to see your user name is being entered properly. Cheers.]
The claim that economic inequality is justified based on the differential value of people’s contributions to society is no less ideological. It is not an objective weighing on Platonic scales that leads us to think that a doctor should earn more than a mechanic, or that a hedge fund manager should earn more than a teacher. If we accept such inequalities, it is because our thinking about what constitutes a valuable contribution has been shaped by the impression management of occupational groups and by a capitalist culture that would have us equate social value with money-making prowess. The conflation of money with value performs another ideological trick: it implies that wealth is the best indicator of the deservingness of wealth.
This is, of course, the main problem with today’s socio-economic system.
There is still no escaping first principles. My brief for equality rests on asserting the values of democracy, self-realization, empathy, dignity, and mutuality. Other people might reject these values. To this I offer a consequentialist rejoinder: only a society built on values consistent with equality will allow everyone to enjoy what the vast majority of human beings have sought from life throughout history. No society organized to enrich a ruling few at the expense of the many can produce such a result.
I note that the emphasis is on economic equality and almost the whole piece is set within an economic framework. The starting point or primary argument is that we are all equal and should therefore get an equal portion/part of the available (including man-made, I assume) but not necessarily unlimited resources and services: ”meaning that, yes, everyone should get pretty much the same”.
Side-stepping that all people are not equal, not in terms of needs or wants, not in terms of ability ”to join effectively in community decision making”, and not in utilising their capacities to the fullest (assuming they have equal capacities in the first place), this piece seems to advocate almost (?) absolute equality and to reject anything less as inferior!?
That said, striving for equality, for equal rights, is an almost Utopian ideal that I personally strongly subscribe to. The question remains, though, how to get closer to this ideal. To incentivise the people through materialism is out, by definition. To forcibly make people to treat one and another as equals also is an oxymoron. So, this only leaves the moral or ideological ‘reasoning’ as the way to achieve itself! I may have knotted myself into a circular argument here [bad metaphor, I know] and butchered the writing by Kolakowski on a different topic.
In any case, I don’t see an easy way (!) forward out of the neo-liberal quagmire unless we all get suddenly infected by a mind-altering virus that radically changes our thinking and attitudes. Unlikely.
And what replaces it Draco that will work better without massive unintended consequences and result in the efficient allocation of resources ( including human capital) , correct price discovery etc
Reading the Press today,I almost choked on my weetbix. One of the most avid supporters of our beloved leader giving him and his government one right in the groin with a number 10 toe cap.
Here was the Press holding the Prime Minister, Government ministers and the Health Ministry up for a dose of good old fashioned ridicule over their treatment of mentally ill people in Canterbury.
I am still in shock at the ferocity of the attack
yes but only 1000 of 12000 were moved enough to return their vote, so approx 800 of 12000 (or roughly 7%) actively support what National are doing…looked at in those terms pretty low level support…..my experience of most farmers in recent times is they are unimpressed with National but that in no way equates for support of Labour or the Greens, there may be some support for Winston but to vote left goes against genetic programing
They probably know they can be scathing because everyone is on holiday mode and the public just aren’t going to care (more so than normal). And you’ve got to feign criticality on your masters just to pretend to everyone you can still do a proper job.
David Farrar was also on the news tonight, being “critical” of the goverment rushing through legislation. Won’t see him on there again for at least another 6 months.
That’s grim reading. Not that it’s news to anyone that has been paying attention to what’s happened to Chch, which is why this is shame on NZ as a whole. It’s going on in our front yard.
As years of weariness, stress and anxiety continue taking a toll across Canterbury, the Ministry of Health is refusing to accept there is an issue when it comes to the extent of the region’s mental health problems.
Now Canterbury police district commander Superintendent John Price has added his concerns to the mix, revealing a huge increase in the number of attempted suicides around the region. Since 2011, suicide-related emergency calls have almost doubled and are now likely the highest in the country, Price says.
Such compelling and frightening statistics should be more than enough to spur into action a decent-minded, caring Government.
Instead, the ongoing issue is being met with tepid indifference by the ministry, which continues its “dogged determination” – according to the Canterbury District Health Board and the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority – to deny the problem exists and to provide any extra mental health support.
Hard to imagine a more succinct summation of the neoliberal ethos. Come on all you righty regulars on TS, do tell us how this is right and proper in the scheme of things.
Nah it’s only a small minority of losers who aren’t ‘resilient’ enough to cope. No point in wasting good money on them when there’re plenty of lucrative, criminal carbon credits to spend it on.
(I went through about a decade of mild PTSD after the Edgecumbe quake in 1988, so I’m not in the least surprised by this … just how long it’s taken for our media to say anything about it.)
Well, if you’re looking through a neoliberal lens, the real question is not whether or not Christchurch has experienced a spike in the number of people suffering from mental health issues, but whether or not someone can make money out of it.
Capitalism and particularly the neo-liberal mind-set explicitly restricts the use of capital to only those ventures which are able to generate profit.
This in turn prevents inquiry into the most efficient use of capital; collectively funding the basic services upon which everybody relies (health, education, housing, access to water et al.).
The other lie I see often is the assertion that only capitalism and the capitalists lust for profit drives innovation. And that it is socialism, or my personal preference, social democracy that stifles innovation.
It’s easy to see this lie. Most of us grew up already knowing the answer: Necessity is the mother of invention.
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New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
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Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertson’s valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
Opinion: It has been announced that nine percent of roles at Oranga Tamariki will be disestablished, presumably to help fund the tax cuts promised by the coalition Government. I am reminded of the graphics used to illustrate pandemic events, where five thousand people are standing in a field and then ...
After more than two sleepless days, running through savage terrain, Greig Hamilton didn’t know if he was going to finish one of the most gruelling psychological assaults in sport. He was metres away from the finish line, a yellow gate made famous in a Netflix documentary; a race he’d dreamed ...
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The following interview with former Green Party MP Sue Kedgley came about because she features in the new memoir Hine Toa by activist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku; the two knew each other at the University of Auckland in the early 70s, when they were both took on leadership roles in the ...
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is seen some as its ‘silicon shield’ against invasion – but how will overseas expansion affect that protection? The post The state of Taiwan’s silicon shield appeared first on Newsroom. ...
There’s relief for building owners bending under the weight of earthquake strengthening rules – and costs – that came into force seven years ago. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced a scheduled 2027 review of the earthquake-prone building regulations will now start this year. Owners will also get ...
COMMENTARY:By Murray Horton New Zealand needs to get tough with Israel. It’s not as if we haven’t done so before. When NZ authorities busted a Mossad operation in Auckland 20 years ago, the government didn’t say: “Oh well, Israel has the right to defend itself.” No, it arrested, prosecuted, ...
NEWSMAKERS:By Vijay Narayan, news director of FijiVillage Blessed to be part of the University of Fiji (UniFiji) faculty to continue to teach and mentor those who want to join our noble profession, and to stand for truth and justice for the people of the country. I was privileged to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
The government's plan to reintroduce a three strikes regime is being strongly opposed by lawyers, who argue there is no evidence it reduces crime or helps people rehabilitate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor specialising in Internet law, Bond University Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask ...
Susan St John: Child poverty measures short-change families
‘A shameful disparity between the treatment of children in families who can work enough paid hours, and those children whose families cannot, means in practice New Zealand has two classes of low-income children. The “in work” worthy can be supported to the full extent of the social security legislation, and the children of the unworthy, the outcasts: beneficiaries, disproportionately the disabled, Maori or Pasifika, many with chronic illness, are consigned to remain in poverty.
The parents of the “undeserving children” may struggle in a casualised labour market, on low wages or with redundancies, or in the aftermath of disasters. Irrespective of the cause of low income, regardless of circumstance, all children could and should be afforded the same tax-funded child payments to ensure an adequate standard of living.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11567240
https://www.register.charities.govt.nz/CharitiesRegister/ViewCharity?accountId=ddac582a-0c8a-dc11-98a0-0015c5f3da29&searchId=6842f25b-61b2-494d-9423-fe367ccec538
A quick perusal of the Charities Register confirms my theory that real advocacy is better done without the fetters of government funding.
CPAG has somehow managed to keep the issue of child poverty in New Zealand at the forefront in the media…despite receiving NOTHING from the the government in the way of funding.
People DONATE, and members VOLUNTEER. Shit gets DONE.
Just like it used to be.
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/sacs/pdf-files/Fears-constraints-and-contracts-Grey-and-Sedgwick-2014.pdf
I am always wary of charities that get large amounts of corporate money.
There is usually a hook attached.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/01/green-ngos-big-business-naomi-klein
https://www.facebook.com/nopinkwashing
http://ethicalnag.org/2011/01/07/sugarwashing-unicef-cadbury/
Thing is, if our economic system actually worked we wouldn’t need charities.
That is the thing not one reporter has ever said when doing a touchy feely piece about charities.
Totally predictable.
Neo-liberalism needs charities to patch up its gaping holes.
And it’s still sinking.
When corporate ‘marketers’ take over charities…
“The corporate takeover of the Red Cross: How a former AT&T exec gutted America’s most recognizable charity”
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/27/how_att_execs_took_over_the_red_cross_and_hurt_its_ability_to_help_people_partner/
Reminds me of other charities that sacrifice their principles for money
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/292654/pm-to-keep-anti-violence-role-despite-radio-rape-joke
I’m not sure their principles are actually what they say they are.
I think they really are more about taking money for a cushy job that involves very little work.
Hi Lara. Thanks for your comments on the John Key/White Ribbon ambassador post by Kerero Pono yesterday. It was good to get a different view of the functioning of White Ribbon – the link about the “anti feminist” WR ambassador in Oz was an eye opener. What you have said has made me think differently about them.
I’m still keeping an open mind and still have an expectation about them dropping Key – they absolutely must – but your words made sense and altered how I perceive White Ribbon.
You’re welcome Rosie!
May you have a lovely New Years.
“As part of her effort to run the Red Cross more like a business, McGovern recruited more than 10 former AT&T executives to top positions. The move stirred resentment inside the organization, with some longtime Red Cross hands referring to the charity as the “AT&T retirement program.’’
McGovern laid out a vision to increase revenue through “consolidated, powerful, breathtaking marketing.”
“This is a brand to die for,” she often said.
Her team unveiled a five-year blueprint in 2011 that called for expanding the charity’s revenue from $3 billion to $4 billion. In fact, Red Cross receipts have dropped since then and fell below their 2011 level last year.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/27/how_att_execs_took_over_the_red_cross_and_hurt_its_ability_to_help_people_partner/
If you want the best people you have to pay top dollar
😉
Pay peanuts, get monkeys. Pay more peanuts, get bigger monkeys.
“Pay peanuts, get monkeys. Pay more peanuts, get bigger monkeys.”
I like it I have put that in my file of quotable quotes.
Very good Andre.
😈 😆
Glad y’all like that. It may be the only original thought I’ve ever had. It was sparked a few years ago by reading a flurry of articles showing high executive pay and poor company performance were well correlated. And I suspect that’s probably true for charities as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
I think it holds true for CEO’s of gummint partmints too.
Many years ago, we used to worry about a thing called the Peter Principle.
Now we seem to worship incompetence.
Actually, I think it holds true for Munsters of the Crown. The only thing that props them up (their invisible means of support) seems to be our MSM (who’re rules along the same lines)
Stevie Ray Joyce, Pulla Bent, Soimun ‘Learnings’ Brudgizz, N. Tolley, etc.
The underappreciated bit about the Peter Principle is that you could be confident that, once upon a time, your boss actually was good at something useful.
I bet on her first day she told the staff
“Things are gonna change around here. We need to be more business like cos. we are not a cbarity.”
Running NFP is NOT as simple as bringing i FP successes
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11567126
Add $200 billion private debt to $100 government debt and you end up with $66k of debt per child woman and man. (Hopefully I got enough zeros in my calculations)
Where does it end?
Under the present financial system – it doesn’t. Just keep adding those zeros.
The only way to fix it is for the government to, essentially, write off the present system and replace it with one that actually works.
Draco, have you read this one?
Margrit Kennedy has done a fair amount of work with Bernard Lietar, who specialises (decades) in the field of money and how it works.
This ebook from Ms Kennedy outlines an interest free demurrage system.
The cool thing about demurrage is it reintroduces the incentive to loan, keeps the money supply stable and ensures existing money flows faster. The historic example of Worgl in Austria (it’s in the ebook) shows how well it can work.
I like the idea of demur-rage and believe it will come in to effect some time in the future. I just think that 0% interest loans need to come in first.
I want to address this bit in the introduction of the book:
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how societies work.
A society that doesn’t use money would support the artist because they appreciate the art that they get to see. They may even go so far as to build art galleries to display it along with other artworks where everyone can go and view it as they choose.
It’s of note that David Graeber in his Debt: The first 5000 years notes that no bartering economy, as postulated by the economists, has ever been found.
A society that doesn’t use money would potentially support the artist because they appreciate the art that they get to see.
I don’t see any guarantees with this. Some artists may be supported, others not.
I do as it would be a cooperating society rather than a competitive one.
are there any things that wouldn’t be supported within this cooperating society?
That would be up to the society via democratic means.
what if this society, via democratic means, decided to be competitive rather than cooperative – would you accept that
Sure, but that would necessitate the return of money.
I should also point out that I’m working to stop people loaning out money as it results in all the money going to people who are already rich – exactly as that book points out.
What an amazing level of cognitive dissonance expressed by the author of this article. They truly think that the recent election result in Venezuela has not fundamentally changed the game in that country.
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/11790
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I’m honestly curious, Gosman. What’s with the Venezuela fetish?
Yes, we never hear about Saudi Arabia, Turkey or El Salvador.
Venezuela will be the line he is fed – I don’t think he comes up with his nonsense independently.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz to the power of 10 to the hundred
The complete failure of socialism steering Pauly in the face , the answer move on nothing to see here. How many real world case studies do you need Pauly , capitalism has it failures nothing howerver to the scale of socialism, as Churchill rightly assessed capitalism is not perfect but it sure beats anything else
Capitalism only succeeds because of socialism. Without socialism capitalism would revert to its natural state – feudalism.
And ATM capitalism is bringing about the 6th extinction event. Wiping out life on Earth can in no way be considered successful.
“Capitalism only succeeds because of socialism. Without socialism capitalism would revert to its natural state – feudalism.”
Mmmmm, I must remember that (You bastard!). It’s actually very profound and exemplifies what’s gone wrong today (i.e. we’re on the ‘neo-feudal’ route).
What’s your view: Do you think capitalism always leads to ‘crony-capitalism’? ( which is what we have, and what the likes of most trolls on here are pushing, as tho’ it was some sort of new religion. )
It wasn’t that long ago (around the time of Roger and Ruth) that they were espousing the idea of competition being the be-all and end-all – you know….many players competing is beneficial to ‘the consumer’ – even in things like health and edge-a-kayshun. Now of course (aided and abetted by an utterly knobbled Commerce Commission), the tendency towards monopoly/duopoly positions is seen by the capitalists (read 1%ers and those that aspire to the 1% – such as Gosman and ilk) is somehow capitalism at work and is seen as Norman Normal.
Really … they’re so full of shit private enterprise could make a killing off a sewage farm.
Yes as competition is detrimental to everyone competing whereas cooperating is beneficial to everyone cooperating. So, the capitalists cooperate to screw over the rest of us while encouraging the rest of us to compete with each other. The latter is done through government policies of high unemployment and cutting out the welfare state while lambasting us with the idea that having ‘choice’ is all that matters while hiding the fact that you don’t have a choice in who you’re actually buying from.
I think you’re probably right (correct) @ Monsieur le Bastard.
I note you use the word ‘cooperating’.
(Foreign concept to most of the trolls that come in here from time to time and according to the roster – some even claiming ‘Christian values FFS – we have anew one, if you hadn’t noticed)
And I agree with you about their justifying their position with the idea of ‘choice’ being all important – problem being that they can’t then explain the tendency towards monopoly/duopoly structures that are inevitable. (Well, actually they can offer a few weasle words)
…… but then you’re just a ‘hard left’, kinsprissy-oriented, othered, fuckwit probably. You deserve to be locked up! :p
Good craic Draco and OWT. And, OWT, keep up the kooky way of speaking. I very much enjoy reading your comments. They are often lively, and always insightful.
Happy NY.
Capitalism has its failures, including the minor issue of destroying the planet.
You are assuming a lot about my own philosophy, btw.
And the word is ‘staring.’
Are you educated?
Now now Pauly everybody hates a corrector
Where you bullied at school because of this affliction
yawn
That is at least a change from the repeated use of a letter that will get you banned.
Alwyn your trolling is very dull.
Some more zzzzzzzzz, you have run out it seems
Because Venezuela represents the sort of ideas and policies that a large number if leftists here wish to pursue. The idea that society can somehow control markets and that you can legislate wealth and prosperity for all. If you read those more radical left wing proposals I doubt there would be many that a lot of people here would disagree with. However it us those same policies that are causing the problems the country is facing.
Research El Salvador
This should concern you.
https://www.hrw.org/americas/el-salvador
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/americas/el-salvador/report-el-salvador/
http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/reported-abuses-by-el-salvador-security-forces-up-official
Thanks. That helps me see where you’re coming from.
Even though I still think you’re misinterpreting comments and opinions here. Except maybe Draco.
He’s misinterpreting me as well. It seems to be purposeful as he simply doesn’t want to believe that there’s a better way.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CXaxnbtWsAAS-Bz.jpg:large
I’m not misrepresenting your views at all. Have a look at the more left wing proposals in that article and tell me which ones you disagree with.
It’s a one-commodity wonder. Without the wonder.
But the one to watch is Brazil. Nasty fall ahead.
Personally, I see 2016 being pretty brutal for the whole world economy.
And here are my sources for that opinion.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/27/living-dangerously-2016-light-fuse-impending-explosion-global-economy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/recession/china-economic-slowdown/11980218/Financial-Talking-Points-how-bad-will-it-get-for-China.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/12/27/morgan-stanleys-bloodcurdling-economic-forecast-global-gdp-to-shrink-by-5-next-year/
Bullshit.
I want something more like the New Zealand I grew up in – which worked and was humane. Venezuela is just a whipping boy for far-right trolls – you know nothing significant about it and care even less – you just think it supports your prejudices.
The failures of socialist societies, like those of capitalist societies, are complex and not generalisable without an indepth knowledge of the context of each. Israeli kibbutzim fail for different reasons than Stalinism. Bill English’s economic failures only partially resemble Cameron’s – Cameron didn’t bet the farm on a dairy bubble.
“I want something more like the New Zealand I grew up in – which worked and was humane”
From the things you put in other posts that sounds rather as if you grew up when Keith Holyoake was PM.
Life was a bit boring but certainly quite comfortable under a four term National Government.
On that basis John Key is going to come closest to providing those times again. Doesn’t that cheer you up?
John Key is rapidly taking us back to the 19th century or earlier and all of the ills that existed then.
My family knew Holyoake – I had lunch with him once. And we wouldn’t have scum like Key on the porch, mate.
No Stuart the bs is all yours
socialism as a theory has failed, a nice fuzzy and warm theory that makes you fell good, however as it has been proven time and time again it fail in practice to achieve its desired or predicted outcomes, It is thus a flawed theory and ideology and should be dispensed with. Interesting however as you demonstrate as with other flawed theories its proponents tend to hold on to them no matter what, flat earth society etc
You look back at nz with rose tinted glasses, nz at the time as a command / mixed economy is another clear example of failed socialism, nz during the 50 60 70s was pretty bleak re choice and economic freedom, likewise opportunity. We funded our way of living by selling sheep and wool to Britain , once this door was closed we where pretty rooted, we kept it going by borrowing and paying farmers to produce lambs at a guaranteed price (Supplementary minimum prices) even though the price we sold product for to world markets was less.We Kept every one employed by running a bloated non productive state sector, e.g 40000 people working for kiwi rail, trucks not going more than 100 miles to maintain a state monopoly etc. We borrowed haevily to keep our so called utopia going. Eventually the world worked out what we where doing was not sustainable, hence the tap was turned off, normally how most socialist economies fail, they run out of other people’s money. Muldoon tried to keep the party going with price freezes, currency controls, think big ( all good socialist stuff) but eventually reality caught up and thank god for the 1984 labour government
The world has problems but contrary to Draco and Paul I believe capitalism ( with better regulation where required) and human innovation released by free markets has a far better chance of solving these problems than a ideology that simply fails time after time
Capitalism is destroying the Earth.
Your belief system isn’t going to save the planet.
You ignorant turd.
Socialism preceded capitalism and continues to work and flourish even within the most dysfunctional capitalist societies. Public libraries, hospitals, post offices, police all reflect a communitarian approach which is successful, a necessary balancing influence. A healthy society runs mixed economies – both social and commercial.
But you are an extremist as well as a fool – you seem to think that society, like Thatcher, doesn’t exist. and that it can and should be eliminated, more fool you. You have lost the plot – as has National. Political parties don’t get to eliminate society unless they become despotic, and a despotic party has no right to exist in a democracy. You are traitors, every one of you.
Yes, National were truly lousy economic managers back in Holyoake’s day, and that hasn’t changed at all. But you have drifted a long, long, way right since then, without even learning the most basic things about how to run an economy. And now you have no redeeming social virtues to recommend you.
Run along and play on kiwiblog with the rest of the parasites – and dream of an economy financed by selling Auckland houses to one another indefinitely.
NZ has an abundance of natural resources, but none are as vast as the stupidity of National supporters.
Calm down Stuart
No one is saying government should not provide public goods, I am simply saying they have no part in prouctive sector, as is well demonstrated with the bulk of econonic activity now produced by the private sector and corporates globally, replacing the state over the last 50 years. the facts are the facts, capitalism has trumped socialism wether you like it or not, even so called Marxist states are going the same way
Sheeeeeeesh what an angry we fella you are
Another meme
angry…
Can you actually debate a subject properly?
Troll.
Paul when some one starts a response with you ignorant turd (which tends to say more about the sender than the receiver) can you please advise how I should respond, I can’t use your tried and true method any more, I thought I was been polite in simply highlighting Stuart may have some anger issues , I also note nor you or Stuart really countered anything I said. I guess it’s hard when you are trying to deny facts with a washed up idealogy and some mythical past where Santa existed all year round or the favourite default response “troll”
I can’t be bothered debating with you.
Hence the sleep symbols.
You only come here to stir.
Please go home.
Then you’re even more of a fool.
States and commercial providers are both perfectly capable of providing public goods if scrupulously monitored & regulated.
Equally, both are capable of screwing up by the numbers if left to themselves or small interest groups.
Take Auckland housing. Could’ve been fixed by a state housing program. Could’ve been fixed by a well designed PPP model. Hasn’t been fixed by the clusterfuck Key kleptocracy.
As you say, facts are facts, and $105 billion worth of debt proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this so-called government doesn’t have a clue.
Why you should think I, or anyone else on here is especially attached to Marxism I do not know – I guess your education never got much beyond Muldoon’s Reds under the Beds ad campaign. But just to put the record straight, extremes of capitalism, as practised post Reagan Thatcher etc, consistently underperform the mixed model that preceded it.
Stop lying to yourself and for gods sake learn a smattering of economics you ignorant sack of shit.
Happy new year to you to Stuart, [RL: Deleted. Reference to mental health and death insinuation not needed. ]
Very few kiwis will have a happy new year thanks to the Key kleptocracy, but I’m sure your insincere good wishes make all the difference.
No it couldn’t as there’s no such thing as a good PPP model. Or, to put it another way, no commercial enterprise will sign up to a PPP model that actually does what’s needed for the right price as they’re be little or no profit in it.
Government doesn’t need the profit.
Virtually all ppps in the UK, Oz, and here are out and out rorts. In Korea however (where I spent most of the last decade) companies exist at the sufferance of the state and the worst ones will be broken up and their principals jailed if they play too fast and loose. My understanding is that not all Korean law is codified so that egregious wrongdoing gets you in trouble even if legislators did not anticipate it. Apart from the party linked companies, some of whose directors go to jail with every change of government, the larger companies negotiate with the state to avoid unpleasantness and for the most part actually perform as required. Serco is kind of the opposite of this. If Serco were in Korea the directors would not find prison radio gags especially entertaining, but of course they would not be able to listen to them, being behind bars.
Recalls to mind the MPs manual that John Key dismissed with the wave of his hand and the pronunciation that it was just a set of guidelines rather than law when he broke those guidelines in an immoral manner and declared it legal.
Basically, what I’m getting at here is that people look for ways, that are often immoral, to do things that aren’t covered by law that will net them a quick profit. Despite them knowing that doing it that way is immoral they’ll do it any way as it benefits them and they just don’t care who’s harmed. The actions of this guy spring to mind.
We need laws and, IMO, we need a general set of principles that the law is set upon that will catch immoral behaviour even if there isn’t a law covering a specific action. I believe that we’ve gone too far in specificity in our laws.
I am simply saying they have no part in prouctive sector, as is well demonstrated with the bulk of econonic activity now produced by the private sector and corporates globally, replacing the state over the last 50 years
No mention of the private frameworks which skewed the odds in their favour. Global rape of human & environmental resource exploitation
Finance and legal would be the two frameworks you’re either ignoring, or are ignorant of
Ignore , ignorant. Same same
“Eventually the world worked out what we where doing was not sustainable, hence the tap was turned off, normally how most socialist economies fail, they run out of other people’s money.”
The number of times I have heard similiar shit about socialist are good at spending others money.
Please enlighten us how does that equate to the Double Dipping Dickhead from Dipton borrowing now over a 100 billion dollars just to waste on the likes of tax cuts for the rich and social welfare for the likes of Warners, Jackson Reo Tinto and money wasting stupid flag referendum. as I never classed that prat as a socialist
Gosman wants everyone to acknowledge that no amount of democracy can withstand sustained attack by the United States.
If the US could cause such economic dislocation as occurring in Venezuela right now then it should make people think twice before alienating them. Of course the problems faced by Venezuela are homegrown not caused by the US. However that won’t stop leftists like you trying to shift the blame.
The US is not responsible for the oil price: I’m not surprised that you’d suggest such a thing and you’re a fool if you think that’s what I’m referring to.
You cannot possibly know that Venezuela’s problems are 100% homegrown, because the aforementioned US foreign policy exists and has been implemented. Who knows where Venezuela would be without it?
Not you, that’s for sure.
Oh yes, the Venezuelan Government lost around $36 billion in export revenue in a year because somehow Venezuela has the power to set the world oil price… Damn that left wing government. A right wing dictatorship would of course still be riding high..
You seem to have a preoccupation with Venuzuela. It serves your cause of course – in this case taking an example where something has turned to shit, and trying to use it as an example of how those who disagree with that ‘centre-right-sensible’ ideology are stupid.
It’s a bit like taking a small minority of feral beneficiaries and using it as a weapon to bash all (they’re SO not like you). Classic CT, classic Nact, classic MSM.
What is with the preoccupation with Venuzuela by the way? Does it stem from when Key & Co (those bizniss ‘leaders’) visited Sth America and left with most Sth Americans seeing Him as a complete dolt? (Snubbing the funeral et al). What’s come of hopes of a ‘free trade agreement’ btw? About the only thing I can see is Air NZ Sth American route additions – and that’s on their own initiative.
(Shudda cudda wudda treated Brazilian students a bit better)
Hey Gosman How’s the economy going in that right wing cot case called the Ukraine.?
Oh I forgot things are looking up as the IMF have told them to forget about paying the money they owe to Russia. Pity the IMF does not apply the same rules to Greece.
http://thesaker.is/the-imf-forgives-ukraines-loan-to-russia/
Some info for Gosman.
https://www.hrw.org/europe/central-asia/ukraine
http://yubanet.com/world/Ukraine-Reduction-of-hostilities-but-serious-human-rights-concerns-persist-UN-report.php#.VoL3Sfl97cs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Ukraine
Great article:
My bold.
The present global system is designed to keep the US pre-eminent but it can’t as change happens.
The socialism (health, education, jobs etc) of the last Venezuelan government was very good for the poor. Unfortunately many took their new middle class wealth and security for granted and started believing the lies of capitalism. They went to the polls to vote out those who had rescued them. Much the same as the new middle classes in New Zealand drove from their new state houses to the polling booths in 1949 in their new cars to vote out the first Labour Government which had done so much for them.
Well put Sirenia The two bob millionaires
Yep, the success of socialism allows the capitalists to lie more and for more people to believe those lies.
“Welcome to the “1099 economy”: The only things being shared are the scraps our corporations leave behind
In the aftermath of the economic collapse in 2008, a significant factor in the decline of the quality of jobs in the United States, as well as in Europe has been employers’ increasing reliance on “non-regular” workers — a growing army of freelancers, temps, contractors, part-timers, day laborers, micro-entrepreneurs, gig-preneurs, solo-preneurs, contingent labor, perma-lancers and perma-temps. It’s practically a new taxonomy for a workforce that has become segmented into a dizzying assortment of labor categories. Even many full-time, professional jobs and occupations are experiencing this precarious shift.
This practice has given rise to the term “1099 economy,” since these employees don’t file W-2 income tax forms like any regular, permanent employee; instead, they receive the 1099-MISC form for an IRS classification known as “independent contractor.” The advantage for a business of using 1099 workers over W-2 wage-earners is obvious: an employer usually can lower its labor costs dramatically, often by 30 percent or more, since it is not responsible for a 1099 worker’s health benefits, retirement, unemployment or injured workers compensation, lunch breaks, overtime, disability, paid sick, holiday or vacation leave and more. In addition, contract workers are paid only for the specific number of hours they spend providing labor, or completing a specific job, which increasingly are being reduced to shorter and shorter “micro-gigs.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/29/the_sharing_economy_partner/
Exactly as has been happening in NZ starting back in the 1990s with the Employment Contracts Act. All the expenses shifted on to the workers while the bosses get all the benefits. The workers have been getting shafted as the amount that the bosses pay the workers isn’t enough to buy and maintain the tools that the workers need, any holiday or sick pay or pretty much anything at all. ACC then make it harder by making it almost impossible for the contractors to get it despite the fact that they’ve been paying both the employer and employee parts of the ACC levy.
New Zealand farming practice responsible for the massive Indonesian fires.
This is another consequence of our do nothing climate polices.
‘Palm kernel imports jump
Palm kernel imports picked up sharply last month
Imports of the controversial livestock feed supplement, which is used extensively in the dairy industry, came to 222,413 tonnes last month, up from 138,763 tonnes in October and 178,381 tonnes in November last year, according to Statistics NZ data.
Palm kernel became popular in 2007 when a drought sent North Island farmers looking for new feed sources.
Imports of palm kernel, a byproduct of the palm oil industry, went from 96,000 tonnes in 2003 to a record 2 million tonnes last year.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11567302
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/73843284/indonesian-forest-fires-fuel-row-over-palm-kernel-purchases
And yet Fonterra is telling suppliers to use less…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/72361968/Fonterra-PKE-bombshell-bewilders-farmers
Which is weird because some years ago, Fonterra was telling suppliers to use more PKE as it boost the fat content of the milk.
Somewhere there is research that indicates this increase in fat content was not necessarily a good thing…
Intensive dairy farming is increasingly looking like an industry that is not compatible with the sensible management of our planet and our country.
Destroying our rivers
Responsible for the destruction of pristine Indonesian rainforest
Animal cruelty, as exposed by SAFE and Farmwatch
Dairy is one of the most inflammatory foods in our modern diet, second only to gluten.
“Intensive dairy farming is increasingly looking like an industry that is not compatible with the sensible management of our planet and our country.”
That would have to be the understatement of the year 😉
We can have one of two things: a clean environment and sustainable economy, or industrial dairying. We can’t have both.
And it looks lie our government, rather than deal with its poor environmental record, engages in climate fraud.
‘Dealing with criminals in climate fraud
The Government’s plan for meeting our Kyoto Protocol commitment and 2020 emissions reduction target was released this month.
It reveals a shocking truth: New Zealand has been a willing participant in a wholesale climate fraud.
We’ve been dealing with criminals and fraudsters in order to meet our international obligations. If our reputation wasn’t shot to pieces after Paris – where we revealed our weak kneed 2030 target – it will be now.’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/75315901/Dealing-with-criminals-in-climate-fraud
a pity this article was buried in a Boxing day edition
That does not happen by accident.
no, I suspect you are right….. it will be back to the ABs, house prices and the Kardashians when everyone is back on deck.
This kind of monkey business is why I think a straight up fossil carbon (and other greenhouse gas) tax is by far the best “market mechanism” to reduce emissions. Any kind of cap-and-trade system will inevitably be open to these sorts of frauds.
It never did look like a good idea to try and use the tools of the very system which caused the problem, to try and fix the problem.
I don’t see the opportunity to line the bastards up against a wall coming anytime soon. Not even if Sanders becomes Prez and Corbyn becomes PM. Do you? And to be honest, the way revolutions played out in the past, I’d be worried about being lined up with the rest of them, being educated and well-off and all that.
So the tools of the system we’ve got now are pretty much the only tools we’ve got to play with.
If it comes to “lining the bastards up”, you can be pretty certain that anyone who fights for democracy will be the next against the wall. (Maybe third, after the academics, poets and musicians have been purged).
Governments, particularly revolutionary ones, can and often do far worse to their people than the rampant corruption, incompetence and theft that we currently labour under.
Yep, laws against corruption with Proceeds of Crime acts that are fully enforced are a much better idea. Gets rid of the capitalists on one hand while also returning the wealth to the nation.
While your generalisation is pretty sound, Frank Bainimarama managed to supplant a government without a very high butcher’s bill. It could be done here too – we are not some eastern European badlands with a tradition of mass murder going back to Attila.
Personally I think enthusiastic prosecution of public asset frauds would suffice, though of course it would see 90% of the incumbents doing porridge, so they will try to suppress investigations of things like CERA.
Nope. I disagree vehemently.
Are you suggesting that for real change to happen we must have a violent revolution? That is the bit I disagree with if I understand you correctly (please do point out if I’ve interpreted this wrongly).
Non voilent revolution is actually more effective. See this TED talk by Erica Chenoweth.
And I don’t think we even need a revolution to achieve real change. With an MMP system if we get enough people voting for parties that represent real change (which IMO would be Greens and Mana) then we may well get it. Peacefully and democratically.
IMO it is money; how it is structured, how it works, and who creates it most specifically that is the key to real change. If we change how our money works then we change our society.
Money has a big influence on our behaviour. Because we need money to survive; most of us can’t provide our shelter and food necessities without access to some money, and so to obtain money which buys us necessities of life we will do many things which we would rather not do. It drives much of our behaviour at an individual level and at a society wide level.
Change how money is structured and you change our behaviour at an individual level and at a society wide level.
If a new government was elected which had the balls to change our monetary system then we’d have the foundation of real change in NZ.
But that’s the problem. Most MPs don’t understand how our current monetary system works, nor how important it is, nor that there are alternatives. And they lack the balls to change it even if they did understand.
Because there are powerful interests that don’t want change.
Good luck with doing it that way. I’ll be cheering for you, no sarcasm, but I really doubt you’ll get any traction beyond “margin-of-error-in-the-polls”. And in the meantime I’ll put my efforts towards things that look to me like they have a chance of actually making improvements.
Righto.
You continue with your idea of violent revolution then.
Apparently that’s the only way we’re going to get change.
Apparently.
And if that’s what everyone thinks… then that’s what we’ll fucking get.
You might want to take a look at what the results from violence gets you though.
Just sayin’
Ok, poor choice of words on my part about bastards and walls. Lesson learned, anything I say can and will be wilfully misinterpreted and used against me. Avoid hyperbole.
I advocated a simple carbon tax. Coz I want to see positive changes actually happen. A carbon tax is the kind of tool that is well known and easily adjusted to drive changes in behaviour.
I don’t want to just dream about the way things should be, though I do plenty of that too. And the kind of fundamental, radical societal changes on the scale you’re talking about has either taken generations or violent revolutions to come about. When it comes to climate change, we don’t have generations of time to play with, nor do I want to see violent revolution (although I’m very afraid it’s coming anyway). So it’s a case of getting the best results we can with the tools we have now.
The Lange-Douglas government is about the only example I can think of where that kind of radical change actually did happen non-violently. Although, metaphorically, it actually was pretty violent. While a lot of those changes were needed, a lot of the rest were not needed, and have turned out pretty negative for the vulnerable parts of our society. So looking back on how things have played out over the last 25 years I would rather the changes had been introduced incrementally.
One final general thought – when large holes get ripped into any complex system, say a natural ecosystem or a societal structure, it’s the quick opportunists that tend to fill the holes. Weeds. Fast buck artists. And once they get established they are pretty difficult to dislodge. So to my mind, the kind of change in the structure of money that Draco talks about, and it seems to me that you’re looking for, that’s a disruption bigger than Lange-Douglas and will invite all kinds of unintended consequences. Whereas things like a carbon tax or UBI are just an incremental change from what we have now and can be easily adjusted to get the desired effect.
@Andre
Am of a similar mind though probably less confident….revolutionary without the guillotine,using your example of Lange/Douglas but to the power of 10….and thats why the bulk of it will need to be government led (driven) although not this government obviously. A groundswell (bottom up if you prefer) is needed to establish that administration but the changes needed will need to be enforced, transitioned, supported in many instances….the alternative is anarchy (revolution) and as history has taught, while quick to tear down revolutions are slow to rebuild….and time hasn’t been on our side for a while .
Andre, there was no “wilful” in my misinterpretation. I made it very clear that it was my interpretation and I can only interpret what you wrote. I also asked to be corrected if I had gotten it wrong.
I agree with you that a carbon tax is a possible solution.
I am pointing out that carbon trading is unlikely to work. So far that is true.
And I am pointing out that it is the structure of our monetary system (which discounts the future) that is the root problem. And that I don’t think we need a revolution to change it.
So we actually agree, I’m just trying to take it one step further.
You are so right there, we visited a lake where many many many years ago we used to go sailing. This would be over 30 years ago. the kids used to swim and play in the lake. I was utterly disgusted this lake is now has a reddish colour about it and warning notices about unsafe to expose your skin to the water as it has a toxic algae in the lake. Shit the number of times I got wet in this lake I doubt if I would have survived the day in today’s conditions.
No one was sailing on this lake the day we were there. but I give it the benefit of the doubt as it was the holiday season, but I suspect the opposite, people are now wary of the condition this lake is in.
Lovely HUGE herds of cows in the neighborhood though. no doubt being fed that Palm kernel crap.
The cynic in me thinks that Fonterra is using this as both a PR and pre-emptive action. There are many in NZ that think our dairy cows are fully pasture or hay fed, it comes as a surprise to find out this is not the case.
As more look local, the transparency of supply chains for food become easier to collate and view.
However, without giving farmers direction on how to achieve profitability on their overstocked, climate-change prone farms, this directive is of little use to farmers.
Brings to mind my partner’s work in heavy industry where workers are told to “work safe” and then also told that production needs to increase to a certain level, and they have to find a way to make it happen. Often the responsibility for ensuring work safe practices belongs with the workers themselves, but few have the personality type or assurance that allows them to challenge conflicting messages from upper management.
Our complacency in damaging other countries environments while simultaneously damaging our own in our pursuit of white gold, does us no credit. And it seems to enrich very few in return – Amy Adams notwithstanding.
You are right to be cynical.
The article in the Herald looks like a PR exercise for Fonterra.
There are at least 4 specific mentions of how well Fonterra are doing.
The link to the WWF is revealing though, as this is one of the dodgiest charities around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJPK4FpTjCA
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x105tsl_wwf-silence-of-the-pandas_news
http://www.naturalnews.com/047517_World_Wildlife_Fund_corporate_practices_PandaLeaks.html
http://www.amazon.com/PandaLeaks-The-Dark-Side-WWF/dp/1502366541
“However, without giving farmers direction on how to achieve profitability on their overstocked, climate-change prone farms, this directive is of little use to farmers.”
http://grazinginfo.com/freestuff.php
It is not a sustainable solution if it is merely to tinker within the constraints of neo-liberal ideology.
Completely agree Molly. If Fonterra gave a shit in real life they’d be supporting organics and sustainably production. It’s all going to be spin that works for the profit of the few and the expense of others.
Fonterra’s enthusiastic use of coal shows its views on being a responsible global citizen.
The Herald is acting as its PR machine.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/element-magazine/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503340&objectid=11536799
The only way that less will be used by NZ farmers is if the government bans food importation for animal feed. This would mean that the animals raised in NZ will have to be done so sustainably on NZ’s resources.
This government won’t do it and I’m pretty sure that a Labour led one won’t either and for the same reason – free-market trade.
Zzzzzzzzzz
[RL: The ‘zzz’s’ are not needed. You and anyone else repeating them will earn a ban.]
Now go away and play
Good call. Red Delusion is obviously from the Youth Wing of the trolls – either that or it hasn’t the capacity to learn, think critically, or experience (going forward).
I ‘spose even the ‘hard-right’ are trying to scrape up enough specimens these days to comment, attempt diversions, pepper a few comments with semi-intelligent utterings – what’s the fucking point I sometimes think. CT can’t be ‘across’ everything even tho’ I see one is about to get a Cameron knighthood.
I wonder who does their roster.
It’d be nice if they understood some basic methmetuks – the natives will eventually (and are) getting restless – even tho’ the cynicism with politics and an alternative that’s still desperately trying to feed from the trough in order to preserve their comfort.
(Did someone say James Shaw and Andrew Little ???? SURELY not!!!!)
Don’t be like that Paul, it’s all robust debate,
A truce 😀
I do not call trolling robust debate.
Nor are ad hominems.
Would be great to hear your views on palm kernels
or the Ukraine
or El Salvador
or the clash between capitalism and saving the planet…..
Palm kernel tend to agree not good, not sure of solution barring Indonesia sorting it out and or nz regulation ( re dairy intensification) or consumers rising up
Ukrain, complicated, no easy answer
El Salvador, not across it
capitalism destroying planet, disagree, I agree human activity and population growth is detrimental to planet, capitalism, well not so much capitalism but free markets with corporates of multiple forms of ownership are more likely to find answers though releasing innovation than innovation stifling state based socialism, wastage and poor regulation
Have you read Naomi Klein’s book on Climate Change?
No, but I don’t deny climate change
“capitalism destroying planet, disagree, I agree human activity and population growth is detrimental to planet, capitalism, well not so much capitalism but free markets with corporates of multiple forms of ownership are more likely to find answers though releasing innovation than innovation stifling state based socialism, wastage and poor regulation”
what is capitalism if not free markets with corporates of multiple forms (and in the absence of regulation, lassiez faire) pray tell?
Interesting.
When it comes to the state of the economy of Venezuela, it is all the fault of the socialist system that has failed and will always fail.
When it comes to that other cot case but right wing Ukraine, it is ” complicated, no easy answer”
Apologies I just picked this up , understood, I will now z up
The fact that palm kernel is a buy product makes me think you’re being at best mischievous blaming Indonesian forest fires on kiwi farmers.
Any products on your shopping list with vegetable/palm oil in them by chance.
Exactly. Palm kernel is a by-product of the palm oil business. NZ dairy farmers are no more “responsible” for forest fires in Indonesia than are the people promoting the replacement of animal fats with vegetable ones.
Before anyone starts: the stupidity of intensifying dairy production to the point where we need to import animal feed (not that dairy cows ought to be eating this stuff) is a separate issue.
I know that’s the theory (and it’s certainly the industry and Fonterra’s PR), but is there evidence that stopping all palm kernal exports would not affect the economics of what is happening in Malayasia/Indonesia and that the kernal would be dumped?
Let’s think this through. Selling PKE increases the profitability of growing palm oil. So maybe the least profitable forest clearance to palm plantation projects might not go ahead without the PKE sales. Kind of like fewer dairy conversions happen when the milk payout is low. So there’s at least a tenuous link between kiwi farmers buying PKE and forest fires in Indonesia.
That’s what I’m thinking. Plus Fonterra etc will be supporting the best price and not the best practice so they’re culpable that way too.
A serious question.
Whom do folks think should be responsible for ensuring that New Zealand Councils, are held accountable to the ‘Rule of Law’ regarding citizens and ratepayers LAWFUL rights to ‘open, transparent and democratically accountable’ local government?
The Council’s elected representatives?
The Council’s CEO?
The Auditor-General?
Citizens and ratepayers?
Kind regards
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
Council CEOs and people who pay their rates
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
[RL: The ‘zzz’s’ are not needed. You and anyone else repeating them will earn a ban.]
I shall have to think of others ways of indicating Reddelusion’s system of trolling is very dull.
*yawn* is traditional.
I wonder how this will impact on our future, whether planetary or individual:
“Google claims the D-Wave 2X is 100 million times as fast as any of today’s machines. As a result, this quantum computer could theoretically complete calculations within seconds to a problem that might take a digital computer 10,000 years to calculate. That’s particularly important, given the difficult tasks that today’s computers are called upon to complete and the staggering amount of data they are called upon to process.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11567032
SBW: “See how children live”
https://twitter.com/UNICEFNZ/status/674113821393354752
There are now more displaced persons in the world than ever before. More than 60,000,000
“Indications from the first half of the year suggest 2015 is on track to see worldwide forced displacement exceeding 60 million for the first time. In a global context, that means that one person in every 122 has been forced to flee their home.” http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/677031-number-of-people-forced-to-flee-war-violence-to-hit-record-in-2015.html
https://news.vice.com/article/there-are-more-displaced-people-in-the-world-than-ever-before
http://www.unhcr.org/5672c2576.html
2015 Smashes Global Temperature Records
“According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), by mid-December, 25,242 high-temperature records had been set across the country for just the last year.
“Given that 2015 easily remains on track to become the hottest year ever recorded for the globe, record-high temperatures continue to be recorded across the planet.
“In the Arctic, the latest NOAA data shows that temperatures there in 2015 were up to 3 degrees Celsius above the long-term average, and that the warmth had caused so much melting of the sea ice that 70 percent of the ice pack was made up of first-year ice. These temperatures are the highest ever recorded there, and the minimum ice cover for this year was the fourth-smallest ever recorded.” (emph added) http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34090-gop-candidates-receive-failing-grades-on-climate-as-2015-smashes-global-temperature-records
Predictions for 2016.
1. Opinion polls for 2016 will all (RoyMorgan excluded) have National support greater than Labour+ Greens.
2. Greens will cuddle closer to National
3. At least two national MP’s will leave parliament.
4. There will be a by election.
5. Moves will be made to deselect certain longstanding Labour MP’s
6. There will be a Cabinet reshuffle and some talented MP’s elected in 2014 will be promoted.
7. An MP will die.
8. [RL: Deleted] will be rampant on the Standard.
9. Celtic will qualify for the Champions League
10. Tourism revenues for NZ will exceed dairy earnings again
[RL: Take a week off for repeating boring derivative crap when warned yesterday not to.]
#7 ???
Various Gnat trolls have predicted Winston’s demise for several terms.
‘Demising’ can take a life time 😉
1. the right will continue to lie about the Green Party as cosying up to National in an attempt to lessen the GP vote.
2. trolls will troll the standard, but increasingly find it harder to do anything other rely on the CT spin memos, because we’re now in the year of ‘everyone knows Key and National are corrupt so let’s stop pretending’.
3. real conservatives will speak out more about the problems with National, simply from embarrassment.
4. NZ will have several severe weather events that scream climate change (one of which will be flooding in Dunedin).
5. 2016 will see a quantum increase in awareness of the seriousness of climate change.
6. The Standard will go from strength to strength, including gaining new authors to help spread the load.
7. Moves will be made to deselect certain longstanding Labour MP’s (we can hope anyway).
8. a certain website (no not that one, the other one) will implode from too much beige exposure from trying to sue PG.
9. Andrew Little will continue steady as she goes with Labour, which will both build good standing for the 2017 election and frustrate/disappoint leftist lefties.
10. Key will make at least 3 rape culture political gaffs because despite some pretty pricey PR and advice he just can’t help himself.
#s 4 – 6, Yes, totally agree
That is Sir CT
😉
lol.
Off with their heads!
If anyone comments on Mike Sabin on the Standard in 2016 will you include that in your no.8? Seven of the predictions are about politicians but none about him.
yawn
My prediction:
1. All RWNJs, such as Fisiani, will continue to talk out their arse
2. All RWNJs will continue to think that the sun shines out of John Key’s arse
We really do waste a lot of time on these useless trolls.
I like it
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0TR25D20151208
Disney doubles stake in Vice to $400 million
That’s how to control ‘independent media’
The agendas pushed through Vice have become highly visible in recent years, the site filled with articles containing blatant misstruth
Is this better or worse than NZ
The public sector deficit – the difference between what the government spends and what it receives in revenues – rose to $5.1bn usd
[RL: Some of your comments are going into moderation because your user name is appearing with extra characters at the end. I’d check to see your user name is being entered properly. Cheers.]
A Brief for Equality
This is, of course, the main problem with today’s socio-economic system.
A very interesting find, thank you!
I note that the emphasis is on economic equality and almost the whole piece is set within an economic framework. The starting point or primary argument is that we are all equal and should therefore get an equal portion/part of the available (including man-made, I assume) but not necessarily unlimited resources and services: ”meaning that, yes, everyone should get pretty much the same”.
Side-stepping that all people are not equal, not in terms of needs or wants, not in terms of ability ”to join effectively in community decision making”, and not in utilising their capacities to the fullest (assuming they have equal capacities in the first place), this piece seems to advocate almost (?) absolute equality and to reject anything less as inferior!?
That said, striving for equality, for equal rights, is an almost Utopian ideal that I personally strongly subscribe to. The question remains, though, how to get closer to this ideal. To incentivise the people through materialism is out, by definition. To forcibly make people to treat one and another as equals also is an oxymoron. So, this only leaves the moral or ideological ‘reasoning’ as the way to achieve itself! I may have knotted myself into a circular argument here [bad metaphor, I know] and butchered the writing by Kolakowski on a different topic.
In any case, I don’t see an easy way (!) forward out of the neo-liberal quagmire unless we all get suddenly infected by a mind-altering virus that radically changes our thinking and attitudes. Unlikely.
And what replaces it Draco that will work better without massive unintended consequences and result in the efficient allocation of resources ( including human capital) , correct price discovery etc
Democracy.
Elegant.
Unchallenged.
Reading the Press today,I almost choked on my weetbix. One of the most avid supporters of our beloved leader giving him and his government one right in the groin with a number 10 toe cap.
Here was the Press holding the Prime Minister, Government ministers and the Health Ministry up for a dose of good old fashioned ridicule over their treatment of mentally ill people in Canterbury.
I am still in shock at the ferocity of the attack
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/75497858/editorial-shameful-denial-of-canterburys-growing-mental-health-issues
will be interesting to see if the teflon retains its properties
84% of fed farmers support key and think is govt is great. Big surprise huh.
yes but only 1000 of 12000 were moved enough to return their vote, so approx 800 of 12000 (or roughly 7%) actively support what National are doing…looked at in those terms pretty low level support…..my experience of most farmers in recent times is they are unimpressed with National but that in no way equates for support of Labour or the Greens, there may be some support for Winston but to vote left goes against genetic programing
They probably know they can be scathing because everyone is on holiday mode and the public just aren’t going to care (more so than normal). And you’ve got to feign criticality on your masters just to pretend to everyone you can still do a proper job.
David Farrar was also on the news tonight, being “critical” of the goverment rushing through legislation. Won’t see him on there again for at least another 6 months.
That’s grim reading. Not that it’s news to anyone that has been paying attention to what’s happened to Chch, which is why this is shame on NZ as a whole. It’s going on in our front yard.
As years of weariness, stress and anxiety continue taking a toll across Canterbury, the Ministry of Health is refusing to accept there is an issue when it comes to the extent of the region’s mental health problems.
Now Canterbury police district commander Superintendent John Price has added his concerns to the mix, revealing a huge increase in the number of attempted suicides around the region. Since 2011, suicide-related emergency calls have almost doubled and are now likely the highest in the country, Price says.
Such compelling and frightening statistics should be more than enough to spur into action a decent-minded, caring Government.
Instead, the ongoing issue is being met with tepid indifference by the ministry, which continues its “dogged determination” – according to the Canterbury District Health Board and the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority – to deny the problem exists and to provide any extra mental health support.
Hard to imagine a more succinct summation of the neoliberal ethos. Come on all you righty regulars on TS, do tell us how this is right and proper in the scheme of things.
opps, that last paragraph is mine not the editorial’s 😉
Nah it’s only a small minority of losers who aren’t ‘resilient’ enough to cope. No point in wasting good money on them when there’re plenty of lucrative, criminal carbon credits to spend it on.
(I went through about a decade of mild PTSD after the Edgecumbe quake in 1988, so I’m not in the least surprised by this … just how long it’s taken for our media to say anything about it.)
Well, if you’re looking through a neoliberal lens, the real question is not whether or not Christchurch has experienced a spike in the number of people suffering from mental health issues, but whether or not someone can make money out of it.
Capitalism and particularly the neo-liberal mind-set explicitly restricts the use of capital to only those ventures which are able to generate profit.
This in turn prevents inquiry into the most efficient use of capital; collectively funding the basic services upon which everybody relies (health, education, housing, access to water et al.).
The other lie I see often is the assertion that only capitalism and the capitalists lust for profit drives innovation. And that it is socialism, or my personal preference, social democracy that stifles innovation.
It’s easy to see this lie. Most of us grew up already knowing the answer: Necessity is the mother of invention.
Like this expression of understanding of mental health
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30122015/#comment-1113413
God forbid anyone mention nazis but calling left wingers loonies or commies is all good
Reddelusion — how much was your average monthly power bill in, say 1980?. Phone line rental? Rent? How much did you have to pay to go to the doctor?
Because….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjqdEfRW0j4