Archive for May, 2012
Performance pay for ministers to be introduced
Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, May 17th, 2012 - 10 comments
In a surprising pre-Budget u-turn, Prime Minister John Key has announced the Government will drop its policy of incrementally introducing performance pay for teachers and, instead, introduce it for ministers. “Listening to Hekia Parata fluff her way through her spin lines on the teacher cuts, I had a kind of epiphany” said Key. “Any fool […]
Talley’s Group: Arsehole managers – bad faith and bullshit
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, May 17th, 2012 - 41 comments
Today there was the characteristic signature of a Talley’s Group company spin that I’ve observed over the last five years on this site with their worker relationships. They lie, prevaricate, and fracture the truth. They appear to be completely untrustworthy and incapable of good faith bargaining. In my view they are the absolute arseholes of NZ managers and companies.
Pride cometh
Written By: - Date published: 10:47 am, May 17th, 2012 - 52 comments
Judith Collins has finally filed defamation action against Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little. She’s waited until close to the Budget so that the story would be quickly overshadowed and then forgotten. You see, Collins had foolishly got herself between a rock and a hard place. Suing wasn’t the optimal choice but she’s too prideful for the alternative.
Nats to cut 500 teachers
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, May 17th, 2012 - 156 comments
If there was any doubt that National has an anti-teacher, anti-education agenda, it’s gone. Increasing class sizes will ‘save’ $43m a year by reducing the number of teachers that would otherwise be required by 500. National standards will be used for performance pay. It’s a cut to the frontline, a cut to our kids’ learning. And Parata’s comments suggest more to come.
Open mike 17/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 17th, 2012 - 101 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
The smell of corruption
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 pm, May 16th, 2012 - 32 comments
The Jackal raised the issue of corruption in relation to John Banks in a comment here and has written more about it on his blog. It appears on the evidence of DotCom’s lieutenant that when he was a Member of Parliament Banks was offering to accept a financial consideration in respect of any act to be done by him in his capacity as a member of Parliament. This makes Philip Field look like a Good Samaritan. Banks has to go.
Countdown: 36 days to go
Written By: - Date published: 3:36 pm, May 16th, 2012 - 11 comments
There are 72 days to the Olympics, which is what many people are counting down to – but the planet will be much more interested in the Rio+20 conference in 36 days. This is the chance for world leaders to put global society on a sustainable path.
Why we should save TVNZ7
Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, May 16th, 2012 - 36 comments
TVNZ7, in its current form, will stop broadcasting on the 30th of June and will be changed to a plus one channel along the same lines as TV3 Plus One. Now I don’t know about you, but I could live without seeing another repeat of Come Dine with Me.
Emails reveal Key & Banks’ Dotcom links
Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, May 16th, 2012 - 102 comments
John Key might be regretting his moan about the media yesterday. His reward has been to be shown to be lying in the banks.com affair. Key has previously claimed he first heard of Dotcom the day before he was arrested. A new email, however, shows Dotcom’s staff met with Key personally months earlier over his attempt to purchase the Crisco mansion.
Better late than never
Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, May 16th, 2012 - 27 comments
His policies (such that they are) aren’t working, his government is now being questioned, his economy is stuck in the doldrums, so naturally Key is looking for someone to blame. The media!
Open mike 16/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 16th, 2012 - 66 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Brooks charged with perverting justice
Written By: - Date published: 10:03 pm, May 15th, 2012 - 19 comments
Rebekah and Charlie Brooks have been charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to the News International phone-hacking affair. Now it’s in the courts, this albatross will hang around Cameron’s neck through to the next election.
Much ado about nothing
Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, May 15th, 2012 - 39 comments
So, Cunliffe was invited on The Nation. He said, yup but not if leadership nonsense is raised. Garner agreed. Then the leader office said it should be Parker as Finance spokesperson this close to the Budget. Cunliffe agreed. And this is meant to be some huge ado? Get real.
Life is what happens
Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, May 15th, 2012 - 21 comments
A short, poignant guest post.
Wage cuts for doing your job?
Written By: - Date published: 9:48 am, May 15th, 2012 - 10 comments
Sometimes during union bargaining that has hit a wall, workers will vote to ‘work to rule’ – ie not do extras beyond the terms of you contract. It’s perfectly legal. In fact, it should be what we all do every day. Working beyond rule is gifting time and effort to the boss for no compensation. But National wants employers to be able to cut your pay for doing your job.
Brighter future (still) just around the corner
Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, May 15th, 2012 - 12 comments
Unemployment’s up, wages are flat, retail and export prices in freefall. Last budget National promised 4% this year – it’s 1%. But never fear, the brighter future is just around the corner – again. Key says growth will be strong in 2013/14 -2 years from now. Does anyone still believe him?
I’d love to see wages drop
Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, May 15th, 2012 - 125 comments
Remember when John Key said he’d love to see wages drop? Yep? How about when Bill English claimed our low wages were our competitive advantage. Uh-huh.
Well the changes they’re bringing in to undermine working Kiwis’ bargaining power will do exactly that.
The only growth industry
Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, May 15th, 2012 - 29 comments
I guess we should give credit to National, in this time of economic stagnation, for the one and only growth industry that they have accomplished.
Open mike 15/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 15th, 2012 - 91 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
True ‘cost’ of Mondayisation deliberately hidden
Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, May 14th, 2012 - 8 comments
An interesting press release from David Clark, sponsor of the “Mondayisation” bill. It looks like the process of constructing the official advice on this matter was deliberately biased. Why?
Why are you leaving for Aussie?
Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, May 14th, 2012 - 75 comments
1 in 80 New Zealanders left for Australia last 12 months. Emigration so far this year is 15% higher than the same months in 2011. 6,000 people attended the 3rd Aussie jobs expo in Auckland in 18 months this weekend. The question is becoming not ‘would you go to Aussie’ but ‘what was the final straw for you to decide to leave Aussie’. Here’s a few reasons.
Gay marriage – what is wrong with us
Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, May 14th, 2012 - 38 comments
Gay marriage looks set to become a “key election issue” in the Obama vs Romney presidential contest. How utterly depressing.
$2 billion borrowed for tax cuts, so far
Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, May 14th, 2012 - 11 comments
Remember National’s ‘fiscally neutral’ tax cuts? Turns out they’ve cost $2 billion in their first 18 months. Now, the Right’s story changes, of course. Without those reckless tax cuts, we wouldn’t be facing zero budgets. They were never meant to be fiscally neutral, they were stimulus spending – right, cause this economy is so stimulated.
The zero growth agenda
Written By: - Date published: 6:43 am, May 14th, 2012 - 68 comments
I chuckled to read Fran O’Shillivan on Sunday: “John Key has made a strategic decision to burn some political capital and front-foot major Government decisions” – yeah, all those major decisions: $1m for contraception, ‘tackling cyber-bullying’, a petty pokies for convention centre deal, even their centrepiece policy – asset sales – won’t benefit the economy a jot.
Open mike 14/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 14th, 2012 - 83 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Warming to Shearer
Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, May 13th, 2012 - 88 comments
Labour has gambled on Shearer’s broad real-world experience and appeal to the electorate. Over time the contrast with Key, who is now well and truly just “another bloody politician”, will be more and more pronounced.
Open mike 13/05/2012
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 13th, 2012 - 82 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Compulsory vaccination for shareholders’ children
Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, May 12th, 2012 - 12 comments
In a shock new announcement the Prime Minister has confirmed recipients of corporate welfare will be forced to vaccinate their children.
Compulsory vaccination
Written By: - Date published: 2:48 pm, May 12th, 2012 - 341 comments
It is the Nats’ belief that those on a benefit have fewer human rights than the rest of us. They can simply be told what to do. So now we have a compulsory vaccination debate.
Saveloy Soup! Anyone?
Written By: - Date published: 6:17 am, May 12th, 2012 - 58 comments
Seems as though Dicken’s Oliver character was an ungrateful little ingrate who actually had it pretty good, all things considered. Gruel has to beat left over savaloy water, no?
- It Ends With Us ends with drama
Is the feud between the co-stars of It Ends With Us a genuine clash of creative minds or simply a clever marketing strategy that’s spiralled out of control?The highly anticipated film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel hit cinemas last month and as soon as the cast stepped onto the ...3 days ago - A gal’s first hoedown
Last Friday at 7pm, Auckland’s ‘first annual’ hoedown began at the Grey Lynn RSC. Gabi Lardies was there to attempt a line dance. My pink cowgirl hat waited patiently in the lounge all week, quietly anticipating Friday night from her perch atop the couch’s arm rest. When I saw her, ...3 days ago - The Weekend: When an email changes your life
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week (and 10 years) that was. A lot of big things have happened in my life thanks to my motto of “just do one thing”. As a teenager, I was perfectly content at the high school all my older sisters went to, but my mum ...3 days ago
- ‘My approach was just to scream quite a lot’: Antonia Prebble’s many TV births
The star of Double Parked takes us through her life in television, including a quest to find Play School pens and a glitter disaster on The Tribe. She’s best known for Outrageous Fortune, Westside and Double Parked, but Antonia Prebble also holds a unique television accolade: most onscreen births performed ...3 days ago
- ‘Messy in the most joyful and satisfying way’: Molly Payton’s perfect weekend playlist
Indie darling Molly Payton shares her perfect weekend playlist. Tāmaki Makaurau’s Molly Payton is close to wrapping up a tour across the UK and Europe, off the back of her debut album, Yoyotta. The 10-track record, inspired by the stylings of Big Thief, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, sees Payton ...3 days ago
- The slow and painful process of falling in love with my son
A lockdown birth, an abortion, and an excruciating back injury: Annie Wolfe traversed three hospital rooms on her hard road to motherhood. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members. Mum dropped me off at the ...3 days ago
- Review: Home Truths by Charity Norman is an all-too-believable Covid thriller
Sam Brooks reviews the latest novel from one of NZ’s modern crime queens. It’s 2024, and we’re officially in the era of Covid art. After the deaths, after the lockdowns, after the vaccines, it was sort of inevitable. The entire world went through something, and now the artists have the ...3 days ago
- Podcast: What drove the RBNZ’s surprise cut to the official cash rate?
The Reserve Bank hopes high frequency data will better equip the central bank to see the road ahead more clearly – but warns we’re not ready to relax into cruise control just yet. The Reserve Bank’s recent pivot to cut the official cash rate, despite weeks earlier stating that ...3 days ago
- Universal Road User Charges Needed To Future-Proof Transport Funding
Interim Chief Executive Dom Kalasih says while paying fuel excise at-the-pump was convenient for drivers, changes in vehicle technology and variability in fuel consumption meant it wasn’t an effective way of vehicle users paying a fair contribution towards ...3 days ago - Government’s Plans For Infrastructure Are “Promising” – Templer
Now, Templer is hopeful these initiatives will help projects get started soon and that there will be consistent management of the pipeline of infrastructure projects and workforce needed to ensure their delivery. ...3 days ago
- West Papuan independence advocate seeks NZ support against ‘genocide, ecocide’
SPECIAL REPORT: By Te Aniwaniwa Paterson of Te Ao Māori News West Papuan independence advocate Octo Mote is in Aotearoa New Zealand to win support for independence for West Papua, which has been ruled by Indonesia for more than 60 years. Mote is vice-president of the United Liberation Movement for ...3 days ago - Fast-track Approvals Bill Still Fundamentally Flawed, Despite Welcome Changes
Fast-track Approvals Bill Still Fundamentally Flawed, Despite Welcome Changes ...3 days ago
- Waitangi Tribunal findings on customary marine title changes no surprise to iwi leader
The Waitangi Tribunal has hit out at the government for blindly adhering to its coalition agreement by making it harder for Māori to get customary marine title. ...3 days ago - Get set for more extreme weather across Australia this spring and summer
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew King, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, The University of Melbourne Australia is no stranger to extreme weather. From heatwaves and droughts to flooding rains, hailstorms or fire weather, our continent experiences it all. To help Australians prepare for these hazards, ...4 days ago
- Are you ready for it? What a Taylor Swift endorsement means for Kamala Harris
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Shortis, Adjunct Senior Fellow, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University As the US Presidential debate wrapped up on Wednesday, commentators and journalists regrouped and drew breath. But then, enter Taylor Swift. The pop superstar posted her endorsement ...4 days ago
- What the government’s home care changes mean for ageing Australians
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracy Comans, Executive Director, National Ageing Research Institute; Professor, Centre for Health Services Research, The University of Queensland pikselstock/Shutterstock The Albanese government has this week announced it will introduce one of the largest reforms to Australia’s aged-care sector to date. The ...4 days ago
- Government exploring ‘all options’ to deal with demand for aged care – Minister
Minister for Seniors Casey Costello insists the government is not considering any spending cuts. ...4 days ago
- A billionaire and an engineer have completed the first private spacewalk. But this isn’t just a va...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gail Iles, Associate Professor – Physics, RMIT University Two astronauts have carried out the first-ever commercial spacewalk, using new less-bulky spacesuits designed by SpaceX. Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman (who also funded the mission) and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis together spent almost ...4 days ago
- Samoan journalists blast ‘ridiculous’ media restrictions at Commonwealth summit
By Harry Pearl Restrictions on journalists covering an upcoming summit of Commonwealth nations in Samoa are “ridiculous” and at odds with a government that purportedly values democracy, says the Pacific island country’s media association. The Samoa Observer newspaper in an editorial also condemned the government’s attempt to limit coverage of ...4 days ago
- The Week in Politics: David Seymour’s dragon soon to be unleashed
Analysis - David Seymour's Treaty Principles Bill is a step closer to Parliament, and Chris Hipkins' hints his party could go into the next election with a radical tax policy. ...4 days ago
- Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke wins young world politician of the year award
Maipi-Clarke says the award is an honour, as is her day job. ...4 days ago
- Your gas stove might be making your asthma worse. Here’s what you can do about it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nusrat Homaira, Senior Lecturer, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Sydney Kwon Junho/Unsplash We may think of air pollution as an outdoor problem, made up of car exhaust and smog. But if the air inside our homes is polluted, this can also ...4 days ago
- The death of printed newspapers has long been predicted – but there are still some pleasing signs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, 2024 Oxford University visiting research fellow RIJS; Professor of Political Communication., La Trobe University Shutterstock This piece is part of a series on the Future of Australian media. You can read the rest of the series here. When ...4 days ago
- Needs Not Race Directive Threatens Progress We’ve Made As Country
The Government has taken a decision based on ideology which fundamentally impacts Māori without consulting Māori. There’s a clear pattern here of a government again setting out to divide New Zealand. No-one voted for that. ...4 days ago
- Crown knew it legally had to pay midwives better, court hears
Health ministers' comments prove the Crown knew it breached legally binding agreements to improve midwives' pay and contracts, a lawyer has told the court. ...4 days ago
- Local Government Freshwater Protections Must Not Be Hamstrung By Anti-nature Government
Successive Govts have failed to regulate NZ’s worst freshwater polluter - the intensive dairy industry, who pollute lakes, rivers and drinking water with contaminants like E coli and nitrate. And now, Luxon’s govt is removing the only effective freshwater ...4 days ago
- New plan shows Australia’s hydrogen dream is still alive. But are we betting on the right projects...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Reeve, Deputy Program Director, Energy and Climate Change, Grattan Institute Producing hydrogen remains vital to Australia’s prosperity through the net-zero transition, according to a major strategy that lays a national pathway to becoming a global leader in the low-emissions technology. The ...4 days ago
- A new law aims to tackle online lies – but it ignores expert advice and doesn’t go nearly far en...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Angus, Professor of Digital Communication, Director of QUT Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology The federal government this week introduced a new bill into parliament aimed at cracking down on the spread of misinformation and disinformation on the internet. ...4 days ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘Beige Thoughts’ by Sherry Zhang
A poem by 2024 Young Writer in Residence Sherry Zhang. My favourite beige activity is 2048. I started playing on a 12 hour long flight before my 24th birthday. These transient spaces become forced group meditation. I usually let my death anxiety spiral. This time, I let my arms ...4 days ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending September 13
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Make It Make Sense by Lucy Blakiston & Bel Hawkins (Moa Press, $37) The bright brains ...4 days ago
- The psychology of retirement: why do so many athletes struggle to call time?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Tillott, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University Think back to when you met someone for the first time. One of the first questions you asked, or were asked, was likely: “what do you do for work?” It’s a polite, ...4 days ago
- Principles or raw power: 3 steps NZ can take to resolve its confused stance on Gaza
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images The Gaza crisis is a major moral and legal challenge for New Zealand’s sense of national identity, and to its worldview based on rules and principles rather than ...4 days ago
- Need medicine in hospital? Our study finds how often IT flaws lead to the wrong drug or dose
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Johanna Westbrook, Professor of Health Informatics and Patient Safety, Macquarie University Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Every time you are prescribed medicine in hospital a computer will prompt your doctor about the appropriateness of the medicine and its dose. Every time health professionals update patient ...4 days ago
- What one climate scientist wants everyone to know
‘The fight for a habitable planet is on right now, and we need everyone to show up.’ Ellen Rykers gets a reality check from climate scientist Joëlle Gergis. This is an excerpt from our environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. In the summer of 2019, an acrid fug of smoke ...4 days ago
- Watch: ACT Party leader David Seymour announces policy directive on ‘need, not race’
Cabinet ministers have issued a directive to the public sector, reminding them all services must be delivered based on need rather than race - and that contracts be awarded on value. ...4 days ago
- Waitangi Tribunal finds failings in government’s handling of Marine and Coastal Area Act chang...
Changes to customary marine title showed a blind adherence to pre-existing political commitments at the expense of Māori, the Waitangi Tribunal has found. ...4 days ago
- Ngāti Kahungunu Hits Back At The Government’s Stop To Māori Targeted Health Funding
Targeting services to Māori and Pasifika is not a racist agenda, it is simply acknowledging that there are communities that do not access the appropriate primary health services they need when they need them. ...4 days ago
- A hole lot of fun: Behind the scenes of Celebrity Treasure Island
Tara Ward travels to the Coromandel to watch the reality show’s first day of filming. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s a warm, grey day in March, and Duncan Garner is up to his elbow in a hole. The well-known broadcaster ...4 days ago
- The real NZ Fashion Week ran out of cash – so these uni students made their own
Te Wiki Āhua o Aotearoa, the rangatahi-led, do-it-yourself fashion week, opened its first show on Monday. Lyric Waiwiri-Smith reports from the runway. When New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) was cancelled for 2024, it seemed to some the death knell of an industry buckling under financial pressure. To others, a gap ...4 days ago
- Labour MP Lemauga Lydia Sosene diagnosed with breast cancer
Māngere MP Lemauga Lydia Sosene says she will take leave to undergo surgery. ...4 days ago
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