90 Day No Rights policy, why?

Written By: Steve Pierson - Date published: 4:14 pm, July 15th, 2008 - 139 comments
Categories: national, workers' rights - Tags: 90 day policy

Why does National want to remove the right of workers to appeal against unjustifiable dismissal in the first 90 days of employment?

The reason National gives us is that workers having the right to sue for unjustified dismissal has a chilling effect on small businesses. Supposedly, they are afraid to hire workers because if they find they want to get rid of the worker they will have to go through a proper process and have a justifiable reason for dismissal. Employers avoid this risk by not hiring people. And that, we’re told, leads to less employment than would otherwise be the case.

First, employment is at record levels and the cry from employers is always ‘we want more workers’ not ‘I’m scared to hire people’. There is no evidence that the right to fair process and justified dismissal dissuades employers from hiring. The policy would not increase employment.

Secondly, a study shows there are 1.5 employment related problems per 100 workers a year in the private sector (2.9 for small businesses). The median cost was $5000 ($3,900 for small businesses). Of these ERPs, most were handled quickly and cheaply by agreements between the employer and the employee; only 5% went on to become personal grievance cases. Only 10% of disputes involved employees who had been employed for less than 3 months.

Personal disputes are rare, in most cases the employee is found to have a good claim and gets a settlement, the payouts are small, and very few involve employees employed for less than 3 months. Workers’ rights are not overly burdensome on employers and when they are used employers are usually in the wrong. Removing these rights would only give free rein to the few bad employers to threaten any workers who don’t ‘behave’ (eg work unpaid overtime, work in unsafe conditions, not join the union) with instant dismissal. Do we really want to reform the law to advantage bad employers?

National might believe its policy is good for employment and reduces a heavy burden on employers but it doesn’t. All it does is give power to coerce workers with the threat of dismissal, which some bad employers will exploit. The law ain’t broke, and that’s no reason to fix it.

139 comments on “90 Day No Rights policy, why? ”

Comments are now closed

roger nome 1

15 July 2008 at 4:30 pm

Excellent post Steve. National’s oficial rationale for this legislation truely is dead in the water.

Just to add a little more detail on the employment situation:

Unemployment is currently at 3.6%, and most of that is due to the work turnover that a modern economy creates. We know this because, of the 3.6% unemployed only 20% at any one time will have been unemployed for 6 months or more. That means that only 0.7% of the workforce (unemployed plus employed) are out of work because no employer will take them on.

What in fact National is doing with this legislation is taking away hundreds of thousands of people’s employment rights (as they did in the 1990s) to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.
Mike Collins 2

15 July 2008 at 4:39 pm

One thing you haven’t really acknowledged SP is the effect of the economy going sour.

I concede that when unemployment is running at low levels and small businesses are “crying out for more employees” then such a policy loses value.

However the current climate amongst small businesses is one of overwhelming pessimism and negative outlook. It is exactly this sort of policy which will give confidence to small businesses that they will not be burdened with poor performing employees. To get out of recession requires making it easier for the economic generators to take risks, pursue ideas and hire new staff.

Hunkering down and avoiding risks (and hiring new staff can be risky), only exacerbates recession.
Tane 3

15 July 2008 at 4:45 pm

Y’know Mike, taking a new job can be risky too. Workers have commitments like families, mortgages and bills to pay, which means losing your job without notice or redundancy can be pretty catastrophic. A person’s job isn’t just a huge part of their identity, it’s their means of economic survival.

But aside from the moral issues around being able to throw a person out on their arse with no notice and for no reason, there’s a good economic case against it too, because removing rights against unfair dismissal is likely to have a chilling effect on the mobility of labour between jobs.

Why would you take a new job if it meant risking economic catastrophe for yourself and your family if your new employer decided to take a dislike to you?

I know the right are big on the efficient allocation of labour, well don’t you think removing rights for the first three months in a new job would create perverse incentives in our labour market?

I’d certainly think twice if changing jobs meant giving up all my employment rights for three months.
roger nome 4

15 July 2008 at 4:55 pm

“I’d certainly think twice if changing jobs meant giving up all my employment rights for three months.”

Indeed, and doesn’t this run contrary to National’s “flexible labour market” rhetoric – i.e. if people are discouraged from advancing themselves in the Labour market through seeking higher paid jobs (because of the risk that carries), then you’re dampening productive incentives and stifling the “allocative efficiency” of the market. The end result is you have lower productivity growth and lower economic growth.
roger nome 5

15 July 2008 at 4:57 pm

oops – looks like tane alread said that…
Tane 6

15 July 2008 at 4:58 pm

I edited my comment bro, guess we wrote the same thing at the same time. Like minds, etc.
Mike Collins 7

15 July 2008 at 5:01 pm

Tane,

I never said taking on a new job is an undaunting prospect for new employees.

The point I was making was that SPs reasoning was based, in part, on an argument that small employers are crying out for more employees so this policy was not needed. I don’t think that is necessarily a valid observation with a recession looming (indeed we may already be in the thick of it).

That said a worker can leave at two weeks notice. This can place considerable stress on a small employer. To follow your moral compass, we should bring in legislation that protects employers from employees being able to resign. After all we wouldn’t want their business falling over and them not being able to pay their mortgages now would we?

Ok tongue in cheek aside. I think it is fair to say that a considerable amount of resources can go into training a new employee. I hardly think it is likely that there will be wholesale sackings as it is just not economic to hire and fire at will. Small business owners are typically not economically illiterate.

In fact small business owners are grateful for good employees – why would they want to fire them?
Anita 8

15 July 2008 at 5:04 pm

90 Days No Rights skews the power dynamic between the employer and the employee during the formation of the employment relationship; setting a foundation where the employer has all the power and the worker none.

Why would the business lobby want that? 😉
Steve Pierson 9

15 July 2008 at 5:04 pm

Mike. we’ll have a post tomorrow wherein everyone can contribute reasons that people may be dismissed under National’s no rights policy which are currently ‘unjustified’ grounds in law.
ants 10

15 July 2008 at 5:12 pm

Steven, enough with the lame Strawman arguments – it makes you look like a dirty sneak. No where was it claimed that the reason National wants this is so that workers can be fired without your “proper process”.

The sole reason for this is because it is near impossible to fire workers who have bullshitted/weasled their way into jobs or are not doing their jobs and costing the company thousands of dollars, without a costly legal battle, which often ends up in favour of the employee anyway (and yes, I have firsthand experience of this multiple times).

If you had some real-world experience in an SME you would realise this – you apparently don’t, so we get you dressing Nationals position up as the complete opposite of what it actually is.

How many of you morons actually have first hand experience of working in an SME and having to deal with such people?

[ants. “No where was it claimed that the reason National wants this is so that workers can be fired without your ‘proper process'”. That’s what the Bill does, it removes the right to proper process and justifible reasons for dismissal. Your tone and the fact that you state you’ve personally lost multiple personal grievance cases suggests you are one of the bad employers that National’s policy would give free licence. We shouldn’t be making policy to help out bad employers. If you want to call people morons, go to Kiwiblog. SP]
Billy 11

15 July 2008 at 5:13 pm

…in most cases the employee is found to have a good claim and gets a settlement…

I couldn’t see where the report concluded that? Or is there another link, Steve?

Settlement does not mean the employee has a good claim. It means there is an ongoing cost to the employer in maintaining the dispute. When your $400 an hour lawyer tells you it’ll take $10k (an alot of your time and resource) to give you an 80% chance of success or you can write out a cheque now for $5k it’s no wonder what employers choose.

The blind focus on the process and elevating it to the same level as the substantive reason for dismissal is the problem. This is why you guys can look forward to having a wife-beater reading your news or the state broadcaster giving him a big cheque not to.

There is no evidence that the right to fair process and justified dismissal dissuades employers from hiring.

Ballocks. Any employer will tell you you are better off having no-one rather than the wrong person. And how can you really know what a person is like before you have worked with him or her?
roger nome 12

15 July 2008 at 5:15 pm

Mike:

“That said a worker can leave at two weeks notice. This can place considerable stress on a small employer.”

Actually that depends on the employment agreement. Sometimes it’s up to 4-5 weeks.

“I hardly think it is likely that there will be wholesale sackings as it is just not economic to hire and fire at will. Small business owners are typically not economically illiterate.”

It’s a myth that business owners always act in their own economic interest. In fact studies have found that many employers hamstring themselves by being too authoritarian (power matters to employers more than money in some cases) in their management practices – resulting in higher staff turnover and lower output.

“I don’t think that is necessarily a valid observation with a recession looming (indeed we may already be in the thick of it).”

I also think that wage restraint can be necessary during a recession, so as to ensure reasonable employment figures. Having said that, the highly decentralised labour market that we currently have allows a lot of wage flexibility. We don’t need any more.

This Bill would allow nasty employers to get away without any censure (i.e. the legal institution to enforce human rights violations under this Bill would be the civil court, which will be too expensive for most employees).

So we may be back to the 1990s, when employers could literally get away without paying employees for weeks, and not face any consequences – i.e. it wasn’t economically rational for the employee to seek legal redress.
MacDoctor 13

15 July 2008 at 5:19 pm

Steve, here is your main reason why National propose this:

From the DOL report you quoted.

Even so, costs in the range of $3000-4000 could still have a large relative impact on a small business.

i.e. It’s expensive to dismiss employees. You might be rich enough to dismiss 4 grand as trivial, but I, for one, am not.

And I should point out that the statistic that only 10% are fired within the first 3 months is much more to do with the fact that it is still too hard to dismiss an employee for anything except major misdemeanors (such as theft or absenteeism). Small businesses tend to hang on to poor employees hoping they will improve, but, the reality is, if an employee is not satisfactory within a couple of weeks (barring simple mistakes from inexperience), he or she is unlikely ever to be.
Billy 14

15 July 2008 at 5:22 pm

So we may be back to the 1990s, when employers could literally get away without paying employees for weeks, and not face any consequences – i.e. it wasn’t economically rational for the employee to seek legal redress.

What are you on about ‘nome? There is really no practical difference between the dismissal regimes under the ECA and the ERA.
roger nome 15

15 July 2008 at 5:24 pm

MacDoctor – And even with this evil socialist government the world bank still says that NZ is the second easiest place to do business in the world. Who would have thought?
Steve Pierson 16

15 July 2008 at 5:24 pm

Macdoctor. Yes a $3000-$4000 claim might be large for some employers but the average small employer experiences less than one a decade(less than 20 employees/ 2.9 ERPS a year). Most ERPs are concerntrated among a few bad employers, and most go no further than an inhouse process.

Remember too, the employee usually wins. Don’t you want to see justice done?
Steve Pierson 17

15 July 2008 at 5:27 pm

Billy, in the report on mediations it says 60% found in favour of the employee (a large part of the rest there was no finding) and 50% had a payout.

Macdoctor. The 10% figure applies to Employment Related Problems, not sackings.
IrishBill 18

15 July 2008 at 5:33 pm

“There is really no practical difference between the dismissal regimes under the ECA and the ERA.”

Yes there is Billy, under the ECA avenues for doing it cheaply were not available. Under the ERA most issues are dealt with in mediation. That means no lawyers are needed and settlements are generally confidential. IMHO a lot of employers are scared of what is simple and liberal employment law. I suspect that self-interested employer lobby groups have done a good job of scaring their members out of a sensible position on this law and other perfectly manageable facets of IR law.
Draco TB 19

15 July 2008 at 5:34 pm

Why would you take a new job if it meant risking economic catastrophe for yourself and your family if your new employer decided to take a dislike to you?

This could actually be one of the reasons that National are pursuing this policy. Employees that are freely able to move to a new job are detrimental to employers. Staff turnover costs a huge amount and most businesses want to retain the staff that they have (especially the good ones). This would become a disincentive for employees to move to a better job.
burt 20

15 July 2008 at 5:35 pm

Jobs are for life and the only employer worth working for is the govt.

There I have said it – do I get my “I love ~~Corruption~~Labour” badge now?
jafapete 21

15 July 2008 at 5:37 pm

Ironically, the problems were caused by the ECA. In the old days (before 1991), only union members had the right to take personal grievances, but the unions took the cases and filtered out those lacking merit. The ECA widened coverage to all employees, including senior managers. This had two bad effects.

Because payments for lost wages and entitlements, and for loss of dignity, injury to feeling, etc, were related to pay rates, there were some spectacular decisions involving senior managers, which were widely reported. This led to perceptions that personal grievance actions are a goldmine for employees.

Worse still, lawyers got involved. Do lawyers care whether a case has merit? Maybe, but they get paid anyway (unless they’re one of the few on commission) so there’s less incentive to filter out poor cases. So, the number of PGs going to the Employment Tribunal, now Employment Relations Authority, exploded.
MacDoctor 22

15 July 2008 at 5:37 pm

Roger: NZ is the second easiest place to do business in the world. Who would have thought?

Actually, I agree with you, it is quite easy to run a business in this country. I don’t even have much problem with company tax. But I have had friends driven almost to bankruptcy by bad employees. The ERP payout was actually the least of their problems, quite frankly. It would have been better for both employee and employer if they could have said “sorry, mate, but it’s just not working out, is it?”, given them two weeks severance and go.

Steve: Remember too, the employee usually wins. Don’t you want to see justice done?

The employee usually gets paid out – this is a far cry from “wins” and has much more to do with expediency than justice.
burt 23

15 July 2008 at 5:39 pm

Draco TB

This would become a disincentive for employees to move to a better job.

A good employee has nothing to fear from this policy, a hopeless lying cheat who pretends they are something they are not in the interview has everything to fear. I note there is a lot of fear about it on this site.
IrishBill 24

15 July 2008 at 5:39 pm

Welcome back Burt.
Billy 25

15 July 2008 at 5:39 pm

IB,

I was addressing ‘nome’s apparent suggestion that the ECA allowed an employer to not pay his or her employees and there be no sanction. Patent nonsense.
Tane 26

15 July 2008 at 5:40 pm

Damn, lost my post in response to Mike, though ‘nome has largely covered it.

My point is basically that workers should not have to rely on the whims of their employer to know whether they’ll have a job tomorrow. There’s a subtext going on about how it’s really hard to fire bad workers and good workers have nothing to worry about.

I’d point out that ‘bad’ workers can already be fired, you just need to go through a fair process. It’s the fair process that National wants to scrap. And it’s in removing the fair process that ‘good’ workers with malicious employers will get caught up.

Under National’s law, being a good employee will mean nothing. If your boss takes a dislike to you then you’re out the door.

[Oh and Billy, don’t bring Veitch into this. If his employers were too stupid to put a clause in his contract about bringing the network into disrepute then it’s their own fault for failing to do so. Don’t think you can exploit public disgust with his behaviour to try and take rights off minimum wage workers.]
jafapete 27

15 July 2008 at 5:40 pm

What IrishBill said at 5.33pm

It’s not that hard to dismiss a worker who is not performing. If the job’s relatively simple — more likely to be the case in the SME sector I’m guessing — then the period for improvement after a warning could be as little as a few weeks.

PS Someone send Burt a Labour Party badge quick.
dad4justice 28

15 July 2008 at 5:48 pm

Typical sexist cartoon. What else would I expect over here in leftyland.
Steve Withers 29

15 July 2008 at 5:48 pm

Tane seems to have it nailed. This isn’t about new employees. It’s about putting fear into the ones already in jobs that they may find themselves up the creek without a paddle if they change jobs.

Also, a popular trick in the corporate world is to lure away a competitor’s key personnel asset(s)….even if you have no particular use for them. This law change would effectively let you sabotage a competitors business….and then cut your new hires loose after the damage has been done. Maybe they go back…maybe they don’t…..but you know you only have to pay them for 89 days. Period.
Tane 30

15 July 2008 at 5:49 pm

I think it’s meant to be ironic Dad. You might want to ask the PSA.

Good to see your newfound concern for feminism though, keep it up.
jafapete 31

15 July 2008 at 5:50 pm

What gets me is that the policy aims to strip these protections from the workers who most need them, and who have fewest alternatives.

Overwhelmingly it’s the lower paid and lower skilled. They’re the same workers who got hammered by the ECA. Lost their union membership and suffered pay cuts, forced to work longer hours, etc. National’s proposals just open these most vulnerable workers to further abuse.

And one study showed that these workers are the ones most likely to say that they would join a union if they could. They should be able to depend on the law providing the same protections that workers in larger organisations get, at least.
Oliver 32

15 July 2008 at 5:51 pm

Having actually worked under a probationary period in Dublin I can say that it was fantastic. In a country that is screaming out for workers like Ireland is I worked for a small family owned business. I only got the job because of the probationary period. I was a foreigner with no industry experience so the boss said that I had 90 days to prove myself. It worked a treat. When a delivery driver turned out to be a dud we were able to get rid of him when he had only lost us one customer. My colleagues there included refugees, immigrants with almost no English and a mother returning to the workplace; just the sort of people struggling to find work in NZ today. The boss was able to take a chance on these people because of the probtionary period. He wold not have hired them otherwise. If we had not been able to get rid of the delivery driver so quickly he could have cost us a quarter of our customers.
dad4justice 33

15 July 2008 at 5:54 pm

“Good to see your newfound concern for feminism though, keep it up.”

Sorry I read that Tane, as I feel rather ill now. I just brought me tea up.
James Kearney 34

15 July 2008 at 5:55 pm

“we were able to get rid of him”

“If we had not been able to”

“he could have cost us a quarter of our”

Someone’s a house slave.
burt 35

15 July 2008 at 5:55 pm

Steve Withers

Tane seems to have it nailed. This isn’t about new employees. It’s about putting fear into the ones already in jobs that they may find themselves up the creek without a paddle if the change jobs.

I think that is complete bollocks, good staff move for a combination of reasons;

* Because they can
* Because they are offered more money
* Because they want a change
* add more reasons here as you think of them….

We need to separate this homogenised thing called staff. There are staff and there are staff. Highly trained people earning lots of money, highly trained people earning stuff all (public sector health for example), there are low paid people doing mundane jobs that nobody has build a machine to do and everything in between.

The key problem I see is trying to make a “one size fits all” way to deal with them. Irrespective of how the ECA fits with your own ideology, it did provide a framework to allow the employer/employee relationship to be managed in a way that suited the particular situation.
burt 36

15 July 2008 at 5:59 pm

Oliver

Interesting to hear that perspective. I can see how that works. But you seem to have missed a key point to get along with the anon authors of the standard.

Employers are evil, they are nasty and they like spending most of their time trying to find new and exciting ways to ruin the lives of the people they hire.
Tane 37

15 July 2008 at 6:06 pm

It’s also worth noting that this isn’t just about money. Where unions are involved and where the circumstances make it viable, the preference is usually for reinstatement over a big cash payout.

Personal grievances are about putting right an injustice, not about screwing money out of small businesspeople. As Jafapete points out, the opportunistic ‘no-win, no-fee’ agents are largely a hangover from the ECA.
burt 38

15 July 2008 at 6:10 pm

Tane

I disagree, with your perspective on the preference being for reinstatement over a big cash payout.

Usually once either party reaches for the contract to see what provisions there are to cover a grievance the damage has been done. Often in employment situations trouble stems from personality clashes and/or peoples (employer or employee) inability to tolerate each others way or methods. When staff who do not have the skills are involved then reinstatement may be the preference, but this will typically be driven by fear of being unable to get another job. I don’t see why an employer suddenly becomes liable for a employees state of mind for ever.
Tane 39

15 July 2008 at 6:15 pm

Burt, do you have any experience in this or research to back up your assertions, are you just riffing off what you reckon might happen?

I can tell you for a fact that union advocates try for reinstatement where possible. It isn’t always, but that’s often due to the employer’s pride getting in the way of his or her economic self-interest.
Billy 40

15 July 2008 at 6:16 pm

But, Tane, Veitch is absolutely relevant. He is an employee who appears to have something reprehensible. And despite that, because his employer tripped up on an entirely procedural point, it’s looking like the only way to get rid of him is to write him a big fat cheque so he can profit from his wrongdoing.

This is the trap you fall into when you assume all employees are good and all meployers are bad.
burt 41

15 July 2008 at 6:17 pm

Tane

A significant portion of “our companies” revenue comes from employment disputes. God bless the ERA 🙂
Mike Collins 42

15 July 2008 at 6:20 pm

“employer’s pride getting in the way of his or her economic self-interest.”

Lucky we have union hacks telling employers what’s in their economic self interest. The fact that they have managed to create and sustain a business, when the union hack couldn’t is just an unimportant detail.
Oliver 43

15 July 2008 at 6:23 pm

Steve Kearney,

Your comment is actually quite offensive. Understanding that staff prosper when a business prospers and taking a bit of ownership in how things progress in your workplace are not negative qualities. Having some pride in your work, your achievements and the quality of your performance are not negative qualities. Showing a bit of loyalty to an employer that gives you a chance and helps you out when you are down is not a negative quality. Understanding that if the lousy employee had cost us a quarter of our customers then the whole business would have gone under costing all 13 other employees their jobs is not a negative quality. Understanding that if the business had gone under that not only would the employees lose their incomes but that the family that started the business would have been bankrupt is not a negative quality.

Identifying anyone that wishes the best for their employer as a house slave is a very negative quality that smacks of the worst kind close-minded hatred for anyone that is an employer rather than an employee or beneficiary. It is a negative quality that precludes rational constructive debate. It is a negative quality that shows a contempt for the entrepeneurs that have done so much to provide an income for us all and build our standard of living to the relatively high position that we enjoy in the world today.
Billy 44

15 July 2008 at 6:24 pm

Damn those evil meployers, meploying about the place!
Mike Collins 45

15 July 2008 at 6:26 pm

Well put Oliver!
MacDoctor 46

15 July 2008 at 6:28 pm

Steve: This law change would effectively let you sabotage a competitors business

Oh, come on, Steve. Any employer that tried anything like that would never be able to hire anyone again. Who would be stupid enough to work for them?
IrishBill 47

15 July 2008 at 6:45 pm

Billy, while most employers are fair there are still a lot who are not. Why are you advocating a law that rewards the poor ones (and would provide little gain to the good ones)?

On your point about TVNZ I would say that if there has been a failure to put a proper disrepute clause in Veitch’s agreement then he should be paid out and the HR manager who failed to properly negotiate the contract should be disciplined.

As with you “meployer” comment you seem to think that the answer to poor management should be relaxed law. That’s an answer that sends no market signal for managerial failure and rewards a lack of personal responsibility on the part of the manager/employer. In fact I would argue that there should be more responsibility for these people as they are the ones who are being particularly rewarded to “manage”. Are you sure you are a right winger?

Oliver, I would assume that the delivery driver in question was properly interviewed and had his/her references checked before s/he was employed. Or was s/he brought on without proper checks and balances based on the idea that if s/he didn’t work out then s/he could simply be sacked? If the latter is the case then the lost revenue that came from the short time that person drove for your company is the fault of your manager and a classic example of why no-rights laws damage productivity by protecting managers from the repercussions of their own bad hiring/HR behaviours.
Oliver 48

15 July 2008 at 6:56 pm

Irish Bill,

The driver was interviewed and references were checked, he blagged his way through the interview and the referees lied through their teeth to help out a mate.
Billy 49

15 July 2008 at 7:05 pm

Why are you advocating a law that rewards the poor ones (and would provide little gain to the good ones)?

I am not. I think the proposal is 180 degrees in the other direction to what you suggest. The gain to the small employer would be huge. The plumber without a dedicated manager or HR person can find out if the proposed employee is up to it. Under the present law, if the employee’s not and the plumber gets the procedure slightly wrong it will cost him or her (assuming there to be female plumbers) the “mere” $5k Steve has scoffed off. And it will probably mean he or she is less inclined to take a chance on the next potential employee.

I still doubt there is any real advantage to a bad employer employing a series of employees on 90 day trials. In my not inconsiderable experience in these matters employers are emotionally and economically invested in getting someone to actually do the job. Having found someone it’s just a pain in the arse to find someone else.

A great many employers are not managers and HR departments who need to be punished. They are plumbers, builders, farmers and shop keepers trying to get by like everyone else.
randal 50

15 July 2008 at 7:08 pm

does anyone remember the case in ashburton where the employer thought that the employment contracts act allowed him to beat up his workers because there was no provision in the bill against it?
burt 51

15 July 2008 at 7:13 pm

IrishBill

Billy, while most employers are fair there are still a lot who are not. Why are you advocating a law that rewards the poor ones (and would provide little gain to the good ones)?

This is back to the “one size fits all” mentality again. If most employers are fair then why do you want to create employment laws that work against them?

Do you really think that it is valid to make the process of employing staff so difficult that only large companies have the resources to risk it?
dad4justice 52

15 July 2008 at 7:22 pm

randal, I remember that one matey, something in the water down there, I think they call it nitrates. Talk about Joe 90 and a dry well.
IrishBill 53

15 July 2008 at 7:31 pm

“A great many employers are not managers and HR departments who need to be punished. They are plumbers, builders, farmers and shop keepers trying to get by like everyone else.”

Billy, if these people take the same care hiring workers that they would investing in tools, vehicles, stock or store frontage then they probably won’t have any worries. When you say “slightly wrong” you are being disingenuous. The mediation process is remarkable fluid and to get a payout based on a “process” error the error has to substantial and relevant to the grievance. If a small business person cannot follow the law as it stands (and it’s a very basic law) then they should consider whether they are cut out to run a business or not.

Or do you suggest we make allowances for failure to follow other basic laws? Should small grocers who can’t manage gst get released from the obligation? What about builders who find building regulations too tiresome? Or farmers who can’t manage to care for their stock or respect their neighbors’ boundaries? How about the small car sales yard owner who finds it too difficult to get his cars properly warrented? Or the electrician who wires your house but isn’t sure how to do so safely?

All of these small businesspeople have to deal with a whole lot of stuff in their businesses that is more complicated than the very simple employment law we currently have.

Oliver, if a worker is hired on false references they can be sacked already. Why do we need this law again?
Billy 54

15 July 2008 at 7:36 pm

If a small business person cannot follow the law as it stands (and it’s a very basic law) then they should consider whether they are cut out to run a business or not.

Remind me what Steve said about the percentage of mediations which ended in a payout? Are you sure it is as simple as you suggest, IB?
Oliver 55

15 July 2008 at 7:41 pm

The referees weren’t fake, it was what they chose to say. Also in the time it would have taken to sack him for that we would have lost more customers. Then, in Nz at least, if you put so much as a finger-nail wrong in the manner of sacking someone you can get burnt regardless of what the employee did.

But my first point was still valid, people were given a chance that normally would not have been given a chance, the sort of people who remain marginalised now.
Billy 56

15 July 2008 at 7:45 pm

And IB, if you want to make it hard for people to pay tax or get warrants of fitness that’s one thing. I’m just not sure what the benefit is of making it hard to employ people.
IrishBill 57

15 July 2008 at 7:52 pm

“Remind me what Steve said about the percentage of mediations which ended in a payout? Are you sure it is as simple as you suggest, IB?”

2.9% is a very low number Billy, I’d be surprised if the number of failures to follow other laws (such as builders breaching building regulations or shopkeepers failing to complete proper IRD returns) were that low. The truth is that businesses lose money in all sorts of ways due to poor management because some people are not cut out to run them. Why should workers bear the burden of their employer’s inability to practice business properly.

Edit: my point is that it is no harder to employ people properly than it is to pay taxes or invest sensibly in a work vehicle. You seem to think that it is an abomination that someone should have to pay a lawyer for employment advice (a very rare occurrence) but I doubt you would consider the same employer paying an accountant the same sort of rate to do their taxes a similar abomination. Are workers really worth less to a business than a tax return?

The problem is that the (irrational) HR behaviour of a lot of employers implies the answer is “yes”. I’ve know many small business people that would spend hours investigating and deciding on a work vehicle that might cost them $20k but spend bugger all time employing someone they might pay $40k to over a year. That’s bad management and a no-rights period will only concrete poor HR practice like that into place. That’s bad news for their productivity and our economy.
burt 58

15 July 2008 at 8:05 pm

IrishBill

If a small business person cannot follow the law as it stands (and it’s a very basic law) then they should consider whether they are cut out to run a business or not.

To that I would say:

If people in parliament can’t follow the electoral funding laws written by parliament/themselves then they should consider whether they are cut out to be in parliament.

Sadly employers can’t pass validations when they claim to have not understood the law, they live by it’s consequences.

It is a lot harder to employ people than pay taxes or invest sensibly.
Draco TB 59

15 July 2008 at 8:06 pm

Burt:

A good employee working for a good employer has nothing to fear from this policy,. Not all employers are good and this policy removes the protections people need from bad employers. After 3 years as a manager at McDs I know how frustrating it is when you can’t immediately get rid of a bad employee but I’ve also met managers that would fire people because the employee managed to show them up rather than because the employee did something wrong.

Innocent until proven Guilty – It’s an old custom we have but it’s one we put in place for a reason.
burt 60

15 July 2008 at 8:11 pm

Oliver

But my first point was still valid, people were given a chance that normally would not have been given a chance, the sort of people who remain marginalised now.

You are correct, having some ability to negotiate a trial period provides chances for employers to take some ‘risks’ in who they employ. Some candidates who don’t stack up well on paper but show ability and desire to work…

That’s the problem with one size fits all, no room for the ones who drop through the cracks.
dad4justice 61

15 July 2008 at 8:13 pm

“Innocent until proven Guilty ”

Ever experienced the Family Court and done 90 days locked up in a cell Draco TV? Any drop kick can see Helen is not up to the job and in 90 hours she can expire. Oops.
Brett Dale 62

15 July 2008 at 8:18 pm

Why won’t Labour let a hard working New Zealander who owns a business fire someone who is not working hard enough and costing them money.
Anita 63

15 July 2008 at 8:22 pm

Somewhere in all of this, there is a reasonable problem for SMEs; not everyone knows how to hire, manage, develop and exit staff. There are plenty of great business people out there who just don’t have either the skills or the confidence to do a great job of the people stuff.

National’s solution appears to be to put all the risk on the worker and destabilise them as much as possible in their first 90 days, but to make no substantive changes to anything else to actually help the SME get the best out of their staff.

So, what should the government do? What would the right policy look like?

All of us – union and employer, public and private sector – would like to see SMEs doing better at managing their staff. What would help them do that without screwing over the workers?
Anita 64

15 July 2008 at 8:43 pm

So, what should the government do? What would the right policy look like?

To answer my own question I’m going to set off the small-government brigade 🙂

1) Up the amount of effort put into small business mentoring schemes, and make sure there are mentors with good staff management skills. The existing business mentoring schemes seem to put a lot of effort into the business planning and marketing areas – but putting your business plan into action almost always means growth, and that usually means hiring new staff at a really risky time for the business.

2) Set up a SME employment law service (probably tendered out to private sector providers?) which provides some level of subsidised employment law services to SMEs – probably a few hours a year free of charge, and the rest at low cost. Perhaps tie it into the mentoring schemes, so if a mentor recognises an SME needs real help the amount of free services can be increased.

3) Provide basic employment law skills courses to SMEs (perhaps provided by either tertiary education providers or local business associations) the courses short be targeted at basic employment law safety skills for SME owners, and basic employment processes for admin staff (in lots of SMEs whoever balances the books does the employment contracts). As well as the nuts and bolts this should model good practices.

4) Create local SME employment forums where SME owners can come together (lunches or after work drinks) and maybe have a presentation about some aspect of employing staff and talk about it. This would be a good opportunity to occasionally get SME owners and unions in the same room – lots of the time they’re trying to solve the same problems (e.g. how to handle demand peaks and troughs when a business is experiencing new growth).
burt 65

15 July 2008 at 8:45 pm

Anita

I disagree that the National policy puts all the risk on the worker and destabilise them as much as possible in their first 90 days. However that’s my opinion vs yours.

However to address the possibility of rolling ‘probation’ periods it would be easy enough to modify the definition of probation period slightly. Wayne Mapp’s bill already said ‘up to 90 days or a period lesser agreed between the parties’ or something to that effect. So 90 days is the maximum.

Perhaps a simple requirement would be that during the ‘probation period’ a 10% loading is added to the salary/wage of the employee to cater for the ‘risk’ they face of being fired with no explanation. This would have a two fold effect, it would encourage employers to keep the period short and it would make it an advantage for workers to be on rolling probations.
Draco TB 66

15 July 2008 at 8:57 pm

So, what should the government do? What would the right policy look like?

Government should do what they’re already doing and the policy would look a lot like the one we already have. If the SMEs are having difficulty hiring good people because of their own lack of skills and losing money perhaps they should look at what’s available in the market:

http://www.finda.co.nz/business/c/employment-agencies/

EDIT: Ok, I’m going to say that I like your suggestions as well.

dad4justice:
Yes, I’m aware of the discrepancies in the Family Court. I have a friend who has been separated from his children for many years because of them but I still believe that it is better to have those laws there than not even if they’re imperfect and handled by a bunch of sexist bigots. The imperfections will get ironed out over time and the sexist bigots will eventually get fired.
burt 67

15 July 2008 at 9:05 pm

Draco TB

The imperfections will get ironed out over time and the sexist bigots will eventually get fired.

Not once they are hired… they are there for life and they hire more of the same sort of people as themselves. The cycle continues, no probation period is going to see a sexist bigot decide that another sexist bigot just like themselves shouldn’t work there.
burt 68

15 July 2008 at 9:10 pm

Anita

To answer my own question I’m going to set off the small-government brigade

Yes indeed. The small govt brigade solution was if employers want increased flexibility with a probation period then it has a small overhead for them when they exercise that flexibility. With direct benefit to the employee.

The big govt is good govt solution is to create an entire industry to support and control what should be a very simple process – pay somebody to do some work.
dad4justice 69

15 July 2008 at 9:11 pm

Draco TB ,yes the “sexist bigots” on the Family Court gravy train don’t have to worry about a thing as the truth doesn’t matter in the insidious court of lies. They are well paid and skilled in making male clients feel gobsmacked and poleaxed.Talk about NO RIGHTS for SEVEN YEARS, join up the fractured family business Ms Judge Maggot Brain.
Anita 70

15 July 2008 at 9:14 pm

burt,

Probation periods address a very very small amount of the employment related problems SMEs have. How do you propose the address the rest?
Bill 71

15 July 2008 at 9:15 pm

So why not have the power to fire invested in the workers?
burt 72

15 July 2008 at 9:24 pm

Anita

As I said earlier in this thread, the company I part own derives significant revenue for employment disputes, the gravy train that is the ERA. I understand this stuff quite well. I think the laws that we currently have are shit and although they provide personal benefits I think they should change. If my companies income is reliant on laws that are easily manipulated and misused then my companies imcome is not sustainable. Luckily it’s only a significant portion of the company revenue not the entire revenue stream. We (the directors) will utilise the opportunity while it exists but will be very happy to turn our mixture of skills to something more productive when it’s not available.

So what did you think of the idea of a salary/wage loading during a probation period – bit left field for a ‘right wing nut job’ eh?
johndoe 73

15 July 2008 at 9:35 pm

So let’s drop the probationary period to 30 days. That’s about how long it takes to train a McDonald’s worker. And having been in a lot of lines that were crippled by poorly functioning McDonald’s workers, if I were a franchisee I certainly would cherish the ability to give the job to someone who could actually perform it.
Anita 74

15 July 2008 at 9:35 pm

burt,

Do you think all the employment related issues SMEs have are related to the ERA? Personally I reckon there are a whole bunch of others to do with people who are not skilled at managing staff taking on risky staff management tasks at the most fragile times for their businesses.

So what did you think of the idea of a salary/wage loading during a probation period – bit left field for a â€˜right wing nut job’ eh?

It’s not dissimilar to the contracts-for-service used in many high skilled jobs. I think high skilled jobs would continue to use contracts for service, and for low skilled low cost jobs I can’t see employers being willing to pay 10% extra to new staff, even to contract out.

I also think it creates moral hazard problems and would make it very tempting to use this as a temping process while one tries to find a more perfect employeer (again a contracting model).
randal 75

15 July 2008 at 9:36 pm

cut to the chase… it is nationals policy to confuse and intimidate workers. a confused person is most controllable because as Kafka found out it is impossible to tell what the hell is going on when nobody is accountable or the rules are never made clear.
burt 76

15 July 2008 at 9:39 pm

randal

Are you are talking about our current govt or employment laws?
dad4justice 77

15 July 2008 at 9:42 pm

I think randal dropped his silly sandal again burt.
Ari 78

15 July 2008 at 9:46 pm

A good employee has nothing to fear from this policy, a hopeless lying cheat who pretends they are something they are not in the interview has everything to fear. I note there is a lot of fear about it on this site.

Right, and good employers have nothing to fear if they lose all their rights under some hypothetical Radical Socialist Greens government. The point is that IR disputes should be low-cost affairs that don’t unfairly favour either party.

Removing people’s rights to challenge their dismissal for a reason that can’t be described as “extraordinary” is exactly the sort of thing that unfairly favours one of the parties involved in the dispute.

Trial periods are well and good, but they should be contracted as such, and should last a short time- say, a couple weeks. Three months is pretty ridiculous- there are many jobs that don’t last that long, let alone need that long to establish competency.
killinginthenameof 79

15 July 2008 at 9:51 pm

Very simple solution, leave the law how it is. Currently the law allows for a probationary period, what is it with this National party, always trying to fix things with new laws! gosh youd think they were communists or something.

As the law stands if both the employee and the employer agree they can have a probationary period, why does this need changing? if a potential employee doesnt want a probationary period, they can go somewhere else, and the employer can hire some one else.

I coudl understand it being made compulsary if it was in wide spread use currently but its not.

I do ask for one consession on the proposal though, that employees under nationals proposed 90 day probationary period who are fired at the end of the 90 days are allowed to go to court for unpaid wages, as I understand under the current policy they are not.
Billy 80

15 July 2008 at 9:59 pm

randal,

Weed can be fun. I like smoking it then talking shit while eating french vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate. But seriously, you need to smoke a lot less. Or at least, stay off the blogs once you have indulged.
Steve Pierson 81

15 July 2008 at 10:07 pm

Remember what we’re talking about here – removing rights of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders, allowing bad employers to use the threat of the sack to stand over vulnerable workers, and why? because of some anacedotal evidence of a few marginal cases of employers having trouble getting rid of bad employees.

Two basics of policy

– you don’t make policy for the exceptional case or the anacedote, you make it to work well for most people most of the time and based on real evdince. If there are marginal problems, you make policy targeted specifically at those problems.

– you don’t make policy that primarily advantages the bad actors.
Leftie 82

15 July 2008 at 10:08 pm

What about the workers? What do they want? This is just catering to a minority group.
Billy 83

15 July 2008 at 10:09 pm

killinginthenameof,

The current probationary period is utterly meaningless. At the end of the “probationary period” the employer must still have a good substantive reason to terminate the employment and must still follow the same procedure he or she would have had to follow after the probationary period. Whether the employment is being terminated within or outside the probationary period makes no difference.
burt 84

15 July 2008 at 10:10 pm

Anita

Do you think all the employment related issues SMEs have are related to the ERA? Personally I reckon there are a whole bunch of others to do with people who are not skilled at managing staff taking on risky staff management tasks at the most fragile times for their businesses.

I agree with you here, the ERA has produced a larger volume of work for employment lawyers than the ECA did but it’s not the cause of the problem. The issues could easily be much like you say but building an industry around managing the interaction of the unions and the employers is IMHO bureaucracy for bureaucracy sake.

If the unions want to increase their membership then they need to add more value for their members. Not be supported by additional assistance/programs to help them achieve what they say they are good at. Personally I’m not a union guy, I was a youth rate compulsory union member when I first started work and these great things called ‘unions’ I had been told about were hopeless when I had my first employment dispute. I reckon when it was normal for 400 men to go down a mine and only 395 would came out – unions were excellent at making sure that changed. I don’t see how they can expect to have employment laws changed to accommodate their inability to provide value to their customers.

Employment laws need to be fair and reasonable and address to some degree the power balance between the employer and the employee. However they still need to recognise the golden rule. He (or She) who has the gold makes the rules. It can’t be the only rule, but we cannot forget it exists.
Steve Pierson 85

15 July 2008 at 10:13 pm

Saying that ‘good employees’ have nothing to fear from having to work without rights is premised on the idea that all employers are always fair in their dealings with all workers.

Hell, why do we need Police to have a search warrent to search your house? Only bad people need to fear getting searched, because the Police are always fair and always that their facts right.

Why do we need any rights at all? Rights only protect bad people because those actors that are restrained by rights are always behave correctly, have their facts right, and always behave fairly.
Leftie 86

15 July 2008 at 10:16 pm

One other thing. The employers here talk like they pay workers good money…such good money they can demand the best out of their workers or goodbye, meanwhile the debate rages about the wage gap between us and Australia.
Billy 87

15 July 2008 at 10:17 pm

Two basics of policy

– you don’t make policy for the exceptional case or the anacedote [sic], you make it to work well for most people most of the time and based on real evdince. If there are marginal problems, you make policy targeted specifically at those problems.

– you don’t make policy that primarily advantages the bad actors.

My point exactly.

I guess Steve thinks good employers are the “exceptional case”. Or is he suggesting that “most” employers would abuse the 90 day trial “most” of the time. If some marginal employers abused the 90 day trial policy, why could we not “make policy targeted specifically at those problems”?

And, once again, this policy would advantage the 98.9% of good employers and the employees who would not otherwise have been given a chance.
burt 88

15 July 2008 at 10:18 pm

Steve Pierson

I think you are getting confused. Where you say

Hell, why do we need Police to have a search warrent to search your house? Only bad people need to fear getting searched, because the Police are always fair and always that their facts right.

The sort of thing that seems to be being suggested is that Police should be given a search warrant for every house and every person because they need it for a few.

Of course police need that power, but only after some bad behaviour has been brought to their attention. We don’t all walk around with an arrest warrant pinned to our backs just incase one of us stuff up and breaks the law.
Steve Pierson 89

15 July 2008 at 10:19 pm

National is meant to be releasing its industrial and labour policy this week or next – the 90 Day No Work Rights policy will be the centrepiece of it… what are the odds, do you reckon, that the interests of workers will be ignored in every aspect of the policies (apart from a cursory mention) and everything will be to weaken the position of workers and give more power to employers (that power balance is central to whether workers get decent wages or not)?
Steve Pierson 90

15 July 2008 at 10:23 pm

Billy. Don’t be silly and don’t purposely misinterpret me. I’m saying National’s policy will only help out the few bad employers. The current situation works just fine, the vast majority or employees have no trouble and the few disputes there are are resolved cheap and quickly.. if it’s not always perfect every time that’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Billy 91

15 July 2008 at 10:27 pm

I’m saying National’s policy will only help out the few bad employers.

And I’m saying the proposed law will help good employers and employees who are presently less likely to have a risk taken on them. At what I consider to be the unlikely risk of bad employers arbitrarily sacking employees who can do the job in the expectation that they’ll be able to find another.
Steve Pierson 92

15 July 2008 at 10:29 pm

burt. you’ve confused the notion of rights in my examples.

Workers have the right to a fair process and justified reason for dismissal

People have the right to not have their property searched by the Police without warrant.

We don’t take away the right to be free from unreasonable search by arguing that only bad people will get searched. So, why would we take away the rights of workers to fair process by arguing that only bad employees have anything to fear?
Billy 93

15 July 2008 at 10:29 pm

And why does everyone delight in using “Billy” and “silly” together all the time? It’s not even my real name.
burt 94

15 July 2008 at 10:30 pm

Steve Pierson

Are you willing to address the question of why this needs to be a one size fits all scenario.

Why can’t employers acting in good faith employing skilled people deploy a probation period. Why should a business owner/manager not be able to consult existing staff and see how they feel about the suitability of the ‘new guy’ they now need to work with?

One of the most difficult situations I have had to deal with in a team leadership role was an existing excellent employee telling me she would leave if we didn’t get rid of the new guy who was rude and incompetent. I was powerless, senior management were powerless and a great team member resigned. Loose/loose
Anita 95

15 July 2008 at 10:33 pm

burt,

I agree with you here, the ERA has produced a larger volume of work for employment lawyers than the ECA did but it’s not the cause of the problem. The issues could easily be much like you say but building an industry around managing the interaction of the unions and the employers is IMHO bureaucracy for bureaucracy sake.

I wasn’t suggesting building an industry around managing the interaction of unions and employers. In fact I wasn’t suggesting building an industry (use existing providers and schemes) or managing the interactions of unions and employers at all.

I was suggesting that the government should invest in providing both support services and training to SMEs so that they can do the best possible job of managing their staff.

Help SMEs be effective employers, make the staff as productive as they can be, make New Zealand’s economy boom. What could be better?
Steve Pierson 96

15 July 2008 at 10:34 pm

burt. I’m just dealing with the policy that National has proposed, which is a one size fits all. All workers trying to get jobs in small businesses will have to accept a 90 day period where they could be fired for no good reason.

If there was some sophisicated approach that wouldn’t disadvantage most workers and give unwarranted power to bad employers, that would be different, but that’s not what National’s policy does.
burt 97

15 July 2008 at 10:37 pm

Steve Pierson

burt. you’ve confused the notion of rights in my examples.

I think it’s still you who is confused although I agree my point was not clearly made.

Not allowing a probation period fullstop is like saying all people will need to be arrested one day so print an arrest warrant and attach it to them now. It will be handy when we need it later.

Allowing a probation period is not comparable to not needing a search warrant, it’s comparable to presumption of innocence.
Steve Pierson 98

15 July 2008 at 10:38 pm

Billy.
“And I’m saying the proposed law will help good employers and employees who are presently less likely to have a risk taken on them”

any actual evidence (not stories – stats or studies) that the current law discourages employment? Doesn’t seem to be doing us any harm.
Anita 99

15 July 2008 at 10:39 pm

burt,

Why can’t employers acting in good faith employing skilled people deploy a probation period.

They can now, as you know.

Why should a business owner/manager not be able to consult existing staff and see how they feel about the suitability of the â€˜new guy’ they now need to work with?

They can now, as you know.
burt 100

15 July 2008 at 10:40 pm

Anita

I like the idea, I don’t see it as a govt function. However be it govt or private it will have significant benefits so therefore the ownership of the scheme is inconsequential to it’s value as a concept.

Why do you think it needs to be govt?
Anita 101

15 July 2008 at 10:44 pm

burt,

Because the problem exists now and the private sector doesn’t seem to be dealing with it.

I think one of the roles of government is to see the gaps where things are needed and make sure the gaps are filled. You will note I was suggesting that government use/encourage existing (largely private) providers to fill the gap, not that central government do it.

Ideally the private sector would take over and the government would quietly back out.
Steve Pierson 102

15 July 2008 at 10:46 pm

burt. the current law is not akin to arresting everyone and taking their fingerprints. The hypothetical you describe is not a right, it’s a restriction on freedom of individuals, forcing them to be fingerprinted.

What rights do is protect the weaker party from unreasonable use of power against them (in fact, the whole of the law can be seen as a restriction of the unreasonable use of power by the powerful to empower the rest of us) – the public is protected from unreasonable exercise of power by the Policy, the employeee is protected from unreasonable exercise of power by the employer. When you take away rights, you are opening the door for unreasonable use of power by those in powerful positions against those with less power – you should only do that with good reason.
burt 103

15 July 2008 at 10:47 pm

Anita

Why should a business owner/manager not be able to consult existing staff and see how they feel about the suitability of the â€˜new guy’ they now need to work with?

They can now, as you know.

No I don’t know, how is this achieved without a messy process when there is no probation period?
Anita 104

15 July 2008 at 10:52 pm

burt,

Involve existing staff heavily in the recruitment process. Make sure the recruitment process is effective at checking how the potential employee would interact with existing staff. Do recruitment properly!

(This is part of my point about why SMEs need support with employment processes, these things are entirely possible you just have to have the knowledge and the confidence)

Which reminds me, I’ve exited a staff member for incompetence – it’s entirely possible under the current law. I think it sucks that your organisation couldn’t work out how – again good training and support gets you a long way!!
Billy 105

15 July 2008 at 10:54 pm

Anita,

They can now, as you know.

This is just plain wrong. You can employ someone and say they are employed on a probationary period. But there is no difference to the procedure or practice when terminating an employee’s employment during or after a probationary period under the current law. If you have a 60 day probationary period, whether the employment is terminated on day 58 or day 62 makes no difference. A probationary period is utterly meaningless under the present law.

Steve, sorry, I haven’t had time to conduct any surveys into this. In fairness, I’ve been too busy managing my staff. I know quite a few employers. We talk. No one is desperate for a 90 day trial period so they have an opportunity to screw their staff. Sometimes, however, they say they’ve decided not to employ someone because they are worried they are not the right person. Maybe they were wrong. Guess we’ll never know.
burt 106

15 July 2008 at 10:58 pm

Anita

Involve existing staff heavily in the recruitment process.

Yes yes, great… everybody, stop what you are doing and come and have a chat with Jo Blogs, Jo wants to work here and we need an extra staff member because we are busy. Can you all stop what you are doing and socialise with Jo for a while. Sign-off sheets are over here once you have made an assessment.

Yep – that will work in all cases (one size fits all) – NOT!
Anita 107

15 July 2008 at 10:59 pm

Billy,

So what do you want from your probationary period if the one you’ve got now isn’t good enough?

must … go … to … bed! 🙂
Draco TB 108

15 July 2008 at 11:01 pm

However they still need to recognise the golden rule. He (or She) who has the gold makes the rules. It can’t be the only rule, but we cannot forget it exists.

That rule was outlawed 800 years ago.
burt 109

15 July 2008 at 11:09 pm

Draco TB

I like this bit….

“It required the King to renounce certain rights, respect certain legal procedures and accept that his will could be bound by the law.”

Makes me think of Darnton Vs Clark. 🙂

But seriously, do you think that the Magna Carta removes the inherent right of a person spending their own (or their companies) money to decide who should work for them and that it denies them some form of ‘testing period’ when they are spending that money?
Anita 110

15 July 2008 at 11:12 pm

burt,

“Hi, this is Jo, as you know we’re looking for a new and Jo’s our final candidate at this stage. Jenny, Shane and I think Jo’s great, but we’re not quite sure yet, and Jo’s pretty keen to work here, but she’s not sure yet either.

She’s come in for the afternoon so she can get a feel for the job, and you all can get a feel for her. She’ll be spending a while with Bill talking about the job and having a look at the workspace and running through some of the spreadsheets and the tasks she’ll need to do. Then I want her to spend maybe 15 minutes with each of you, have a chat about what you do, what you think her job will be like, and ask her anything you’d like to check out.

Could whichever of you she’s with at afternoon tea time make sure she gets a cuppa and show her the break area.

Afterwards I’ll catch up with each of you about how it went, then Jo and I will meet tomorrow lunchtime for coffee and see how we want to proceed from here.”

It’d take 20 mins from each staff member and would be a robust, fair, effective process that would be far less work than hiring her then dismissing her.

Sure it’s not going to work in a big call centre, but the problem we’re supposed to be trying to solve is an SME hiring a new employee and being concerned about making sure they perfect.
burt 111

15 July 2008 at 11:19 pm

Anita

I have interviewed like that, I have been interviewed like that.

Yes it sorts out a lot of things. But what about the guy who after he has been there a week still hasn’t had a shower since the day of the interview three weeks ago? There is still no way to get past the ‘first impression” in 20 minutes. This is the issue, if it were as simple as this in all cases it would be the norm. It might be commonplace in higher paid roles but as you say it won’t work for the call centers etc, which if I’m not mistaken is where workers rights are a bigger issue.

One size will not fit all, why must we try and work around a law that tries to make that so?
RedLogix 112

15 July 2008 at 11:37 pm

“One size fits all”… that IS kind of how most laws work.

The moment you start to make up exceptions, or complex gradations of application is the same moment the sharp men in sharp suits start working the angles.
J Mex 113

16 July 2008 at 12:10 am

At the heart of The standard’s arguement is an absurdity…

– That an employer would fire a good employee after 89 days (and 89 days of training investment), so they don’t need to give them rights, and then roll the dice in the hope that they get someone as good.

No recruiters would work with such employers. Recruiters only get paid when the employees stay for 6 months.

An employee can leave at any time (ever tried to make someone, who didn’t want to, work out their two weeks notice?), but employers are currently locked in to employees to a large extent.

Most developed countries have this law and the sky hasn’t fallen in those countries.

This is just patch protection from the EPMU and their bloggers.

[lprent: I wearily point out yet again. You are attributing an opinion to a lump of software running on some hardware. Now I realise this may come as a shock to you, but software doesn’t think.

Direct your criticism to the writer of the post, and I’d suggest that you read the About and Policy sections at the top of the site. It appears you are ignorant about how this site runs.]
Oliver 114

16 July 2008 at 2:55 am

Has anybody else commenting on this thread acutally worked somewhere overseas with a probationary period written into employment law??
Anita 115

16 July 2008 at 7:45 am

burt,

Yes it sorts out a lot of things. But what about the guy who after he has been there a week still hasn’t had a shower since the day of the interview three weeks ago?

Then you talk to him, and if that doesn’t work you run a nice short tight process and fire him if he doesn’t sort himself out. I’ve had personal hygiene conversations with staff I’ve managed; they’ve all sorted themselves out without a lot of effort on my part, they would have been gone if they hadn’t.

It might be commonplace in higher paid roles but as you say it won’t work for the call centers etc, which if I’m not mistaken is where workers rights are a bigger issue.

National’s proposal does nothing to address the issues of call centres it is explicitly about small employers. My suggested approach would work fine for them, and it would give far better outcomes than try-and-fire alone would.
Anita 116

16 July 2008 at 7:48 am

lprent,

Now I realise this may come as a shock to you, but software doesn’t think.

Now, as a professional coder, you know that’s just not true. Late at night code is a devious and vicious opponent!
Darren Rickard 117

16 July 2008 at 8:36 am

The legislation, when passed in 2009, will allow more opportunity to employers and employees alike.

Labour’s attack on employers, under the current system, make them afraid to hire new staff.
RedLogix 118

16 July 2008 at 9:02 am

Labour’s attack on employers, under the current system, make them afraid to hire new staff.

A speculation that flies in the face of the measurable FACT that under the current Labour laws New Zealand employers have employed so many of us that our unemployment rate is at a record low.

You employ a person because you hope to benefit from their efforts. This obliges the employer to meet a number of socially and professionally accepted minimum standards and codes of behaviour; exactly as is required in every other aspect of their business.

Why should the vast majority of decent New Zealanders who do an honest day’s work be placed at such an enormous power disadvantage during the first three months of working for a new employer? In my experience the first six months of ANY new role has been a learning curve; a period of heightened vulnerability while I learn not only the job, but unravel all the unwritten, unspoken politics about the place. The last thing most of us need during that initial period is the feeling that our manager could unilaterally sack us on a whim.

While this proposal might protect a minority of employers from a minority of bad employees; for the rest of us it’s bad news. (And so much for ‘one size fits all’.)
Phil 119

16 July 2008 at 9:02 am

“One size fits all’ that IS kind of how most laws work.

The moment you start to make up exceptions, or complex gradations of application is the same moment the sharp men in sharp suits start working the angles.”

For once, I actually agree with RedLogix. But s/he needs to remember that not all of us in sharp suits are ‘working an angle’. I just wear the suit ‘cos I make it look good.
Draco TB 120

16 July 2008 at 10:22 am

But seriously, do you think that the Magna Carta removes the inherent right of a person spending their own (or their companies) money to decide who should work for them and that it denies them some form of â€˜testing period’ when they are spending that money?

The Magna Carta is the base of most of our laws and it doesn’t prevent people from hiring or firing. What it does is ensure that those doing the hiring and firing do so under some rules that help ensure consistency.
slightlyrighty 121

16 July 2008 at 10:28 am

Question:

Why not regard the notion of a probationary period as part of the recruitment process?

Lets be honest. There are those out there who interview terribly. the idea that you can accurately predict who is going to be a good candidate for a given role is great if you have a large, well resourced HR department at your disposal.

Most small businesses do not. The idea that you can take a chance on an employee and that if it doesn’t work out, then no harm, no foul would be of great benefit to many small businesses looking to grow their business.

I am sure that such a trial would not, nor should not, remove the obligation of an employer to ensure that any employee, even probationary, is given every reasonable assitance to perform to the required level.

In all of this I am still reminded of my own employer, who is the most fair minded employer that I have ever worked for, having to take time out of his business, costing him money to engage legal representation, to defend himself in a PG case after he had dismissed a recently hired part time worker who had verbally abused a customer with various four letter words.

Either through settlements or legal fees, employers get nailed. Larger employers can absorb these costs. $3900 to settle a PG case for a small business could be the difference in a loss or profit situation.
roger nome 122

16 July 2008 at 10:53 am

Billy:

“I was addressing â€˜nome’s apparent suggestion that the ECA allowed an employer to not pay his or her employees and there be no sanction. Patent nonsense.”

It did. Some facts that you don’t appear to know.

1) Under the ECA parties could wait a year or more for mediation and two years for an adjudicated hearing. As a result, many people would just move on, not wanting to be bothered with having that worry hanging over their head for years.

In contrast, under the ERA the process is quick and easy with the average time spent waiting for a hearing being just 3 weeks.

2) Under the ECA a typical one day hearing would commonly involve legal costs of $5,000 for each party. So unless your claim(s) involved more than $5,000 in wages in arears it wasn’t economically rational for an employee to seek legal redress.

The result was that employers could get away without paying employees for weeks, and not face any consequences.

In contrast, under the ERA mediation is free. So that one’s a no brainer.

A probationary period would take us back to the days of the ERA, as National has stated that the ERA’s employment institutions won’t apply, and employees will have to seek legal redress for grievances through the civil courts. That means lawyers and a lot of money for low-paid workers, who are the ones who are most commonly screwed over.

If you don’t believe me, go read the following academic article:

McAndrew, I., Morton, J. and Geare. A. (2004) The Employment Institutions, in: Employment Relationships: New Zealand’s Employment Relations Act, Rasmussen, E. (ed) Auckland University Press, Auckland.
roger nome 123

16 July 2008 at 11:02 am

SR:

“Why not regard the notion of a probationary period as part of the recruitment process?”

Because it could mean being totally screwed over – i.e. not getting the money that you worked for because you employer decides they don’t want to give it to you.

“$3900 to settle a PG case for a small business could be the difference in a loss or profit situation.”

But as Steve points out in his post, that’s a very rare situation that law abiding employers don’t have to worry about.
J Mex 124

16 July 2008 at 3:51 pm

“Most developed countries have this law and the sky hasn’t fallen in those countries.

This is just patch protection from the EPMU and their bloggers.”

[lprent: I wearily point out yet again. You are attributing an opinion to a lump of software running on some hardware. Now I realise this may come as a shock to you, but software doesn’t think.

Direct your criticism to the writer of the post, and I’d suggest that you read the About and Policy sections at the top of the site. It appears you are ignorant about how this site runs.]

Sorry for the lazy typing.

In my defence, my guesss would that be that every contributer on the standard would buy into the business owners/baby eaters are mainly into this this legislation so they can strip worker of their rights and churn them every 89 days argument.

My points still stand, and I will direct them at Steve in the first instance…

1. It is uneconomic to continually churn employees every 3 months. Advertising, Interviewing and Training all cost time and money. I don’t know one employer who likes the interview and recruitment process.

2. If you churn employees for no good reason you are just as likley to end up with worse employees every time you churn. Your existing employees are going to get very tired of this very quickly, continually “helping the new guy”.

3. Recruiters are not going to work with you if you churn employees every 89 days.

4. The sky hasn’t fallen in, in countries where this has been tried. This is a little like a paid internship. My guess is that Steve would reel in horror at the idea of the overseas unpaid intership and proclaim it to be nothing more than slave labour.

5. Employees can walk away from a job whenever they feel like it (I was just talking to a friend who did that very thing), while employers have far less freedom.

6. There are large benefits to the long term unemployed and new job starters in this law. They get a chance to prove themselves in the workplace and the employer can take a calculated risk on them.
Steve Pierson 125

16 July 2008 at 4:06 pm

J mex. in reverse order.

6. There’s no evidence that people are being barred from the workforce solely by lack of a probationary period in which they can be fired for no reason (probationary periods with protection against unjustified dismissal are already legal). Incidentally, less than 0.3% of the workforce has been on the unemployment benefit for over a year.

5. Employers innately have the power in the employer/employee relationship – they own the means of production, they are the gatekeepers to employment, workers need to work to make a livable income. Workers rights law only goes some way to balancing the odds.

4. I’m not a fan of unpaid internships either – they prevent anyone who dons’t have another means of support from getting their foot in the door to many professions. In other countries the probatioanry period is not a no rights period, you still ahve protection against unjustified dismissal.

1, 2, & 3. I’m not saying that a significant number of workers will be churned every 89 days. Rather, this law gives licence to a few bad employers to exert great power over new employees (you can be fired for joining a union, refusing to do unpaid overtime, refusing unsafe work etc) and will be exploited by the same kind of people currently exploiting triangular employment relationships to avoid the costs of workers’ rights like sick pay.
Oliver 126

16 July 2008 at 5:14 pm

Hsving actuall worked in a country with a probationary period I can assure you that 99% of the negative comments about National’s policy are irrelevant. NZ unions are going to lose a lot of credibility when this becomes law and their dire predictions are shown to be nonsense.
Steve Pierson 127

16 July 2008 at 5:25 pm

Oliver. In the country you worked in, could a probationary worker be fired for refusing to work in dangerous conditions? Because that’s what the Nats are proposing.
lprent 128

16 July 2008 at 5:28 pm

J Mex: I post here on the odd occasion. I have no idea how I’d feel about trial periods, I can see good and bad points. However I have run across a few crap managers in my time. I had a look at even more case studies when I did my MBA. If you give some crappy managers a position without some redress then they will abuse it. They will do it on the most vunerable, the young elderly, and the people who have a stand-down period.

I’d be very loath to have this available if there wasn’t any type of comeback on unprofessional idiots that abuse it. For preference make it a criminal act akin to fraud with a mandatory prison sentence if convicted. Some safeguard like that would probably satisfy me.

Because you are so sure it wouldn’t be a problem, then there would be no real hassle adding abuse of this provision to the crimes act?
Oliver 129

16 July 2008 at 5:29 pm

Steve,

Bollocks, safety laws will still apply. As I said earlier you’ll look pretty silly in a year or so, just ask people with actual experience of probationary laws.
RedLogix 130

16 July 2008 at 5:47 pm

Oliver,

Safety laws may well apply; but the useful application of them still requires that both employer and employee act in good faith to make them work.

The kind of employer that worries me will pressure people to take shortcuts and take risks when they think no-one will notice. 99.99% of the time they get away with it.

It’s only when Mum or Dad doesn’t come home one night that the penny drops. But then it’s too late isn’t it?
Oliver 131

16 July 2008 at 5:52 pm

Redlogix,

I’ve been around a few workplace accidents in my time. None of them have come from fundamental safety issues, they’ve all come from worker stupidity or laziness.

Protections will still apply, if a worker is pressured to take shortcuts they can just contact OSH.
Tane 132

16 July 2008 at 6:22 pm

Oliver, re: safety laws. This is the Australian experience.
RedLogix 133

16 July 2008 at 6:35 pm

Oliver,

None of them have come from fundamental safety issues, they’ve all come from worker stupidity or laziness.

If worker ‘laziness and stupidity’ is the SOLE cause of industrial accidents; then why has the workplace death rate dropped over 60% in the last few decades since the introduction of comprehensive H&S systems? If your claim were true, then all those new safety measures and systems put in place by employers in that time would have made very little difference.

Or are you claiming that workers have gotten less lazy and stupid in that time? And if this is true would you be happy for them to be paid more as a result?

Protections will still apply, if a worker is pressured to take shortcuts they can just contact OSH.

And a week later… bye bye job.
burt 134

16 July 2008 at 11:09 pm

RedLogix

“One size fits all’ that IS kind of how most laws work.

For a few examples of where you are wrong about ‘how most laws work’ think about tax laws, Shop trading hours (I can buy petrol but not plants or alcohol on Easter Sunday!), speed limits, parking fines, postal rates, freight charges, RUC, assault laws, private property laws, drug laws.

I agree everybody should be treated equally under the law (I’m an idealist I know) but I don’t agree the law should homogenise the things it controls into as few rules as possible or just one.

Badly drafted laws or laws drafted to distort ideologically unpleasant natural orders (eg progressive tax laws) is what invites the sharp men in sharp suits to work the angles. Simple identification of different circumstances under the law IS the law reflecting the real world, which is the way it should be. No good will come from attempting to change the real world because political parties haven’t got the balls to back down on a belligerent ideological stance taken years ago to defeat the oppositions policy.
Oliver 135

17 July 2008 at 10:12 am

Redlogix,

I didn’t say that laziness and stupidity are the sole cause of all workplace accidents, only the one’s I’ve witnessed.

Links to post

Comments are now closed

Articles RSS

CommentsOpinions

FeedsPartyGovtMedia

We Are Not Listening

The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...

PunditBy Brian Easton

9 hours ago
More lawlessness from National

On Tuesday, sick of government stonewalling, the Waitangi Tribunal issued a rare court order, ordering the Minister of Health to release unredacted documents within 48 hours showing its reasoning for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority. The government's response to the lawful order of a court? Yeah, ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

9 hours ago
National’s tyrannical “foreign interference” law

Yesterday, under cover the the biggest political fight of the year, National quietly - covertly, even - introduced anti-foreign interference legislation. The bill is the product of a years-long work-program aimed at countering shit like this and this, and there's unquestionably a need to do something to counter foreign states' ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

10 hours ago
The Haka Represents The Best Of Us

A few months ago, I was in an audience watching a Haka-Kapa and as I watched children dance and sing and sway and shout and beat, I couldn’t help but think “The Haka represents the best of us.”Yes, yes - there will be a thousand voices that rush forth to ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

15 hours ago
Adding up the climate cost

St Mary’s Bay housing left hanging: Climate risk is systemically underestimated in the climate scenarios used by central banks, and a new report warns 10,000 houses are set to become uninsurable in Aotearoa. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

15 hours ago
Auckland chafing at Bishop’s housing intensification orders

One of the major problems the Government has in implementing its ‘going for housing growth’ strategy is that it isn’t giving much funding help to councils. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

16 hours ago
Weekly Roundup 15-November-2024

Happy Friday, welcome to another round-up of interesting stories about what’s happening in Auckland and other cities. Feel free to add your links in the comments! This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers ...

Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland

18 hours ago
Are We The Waiting?

And screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingAnd screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingForget me nots, second thoughts live in isolationHeads or tails and fairy tales in my mindAre we we are, are we we are the waiting unknownThe rage and love, the ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

19 hours ago
The Hoon around the week to November 15

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate news, including from COP29 this week; on the US Presidential elections, Israel vs Gaza/Iran/Lebanon, Ukraine/Nato vs Russia/North ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

19 hours ago
First Tea and Toast, now Milo — why do NZ’s best beverages need so much defending?

Only two months ago, Nicola Willis had to step in to stop Health New Zealand cutting tea and toast for post-birth parents, and now Lester Levy is riding to the rescue with a welcome message for all: our health workers can once again drink Milo, and will no longer need ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

1 day ago
Gordon Campbell on the folly of making apologies in a social vacuum.

Day One of the Treaty Principles Bill…and everyone got what they wanted, and did what they liked. Heated words were exchanged. Culturally appropriate acts of outrage were performed. David Seymour got to play the victim card. Willie Jackson got kicked out of class. A comically red-faced Mr Speaker bellowed “Order, ...

WerewolfBy ScoopEditor

1 day ago
Skeptical Science New Research for Week #46 2024

Open access notables Microbial solutions must be deployed against climate catastrophe, Peixoto et al., Nature Communications [comment]: The climate crisis is escalating. A multitude of microbe-based solutions have been proposed, and these technologies hold great promise and could be deployed along with other climate mitigation strategies. However, these solutions have ...

Skeptical Science

1 day ago
The PM gets some extremely valuable legal advice for free

You can pay a great deal of money for the services of a KC. So just what would some peerless legal writing from 40 or so of them be worth, do you reckon?Priceless, that’s what. It’s not even the half of it, but this is my favourite part of the ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

1 day ago
D-day for the government

The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

2 days ago
97% of submissions did not want no-cause evictions, Trump chooses a Russian spy for US Intelligence ...

Good morning, and I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days.I’ve been focusing on the Hikoi, and also testing out sentiment on the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s complicated, and the Treaty Principles Bill will be debated in the House today. The Government’s own lawyers have told them the ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

2 days ago
Government must vote down ACT Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights

NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to vote down an ACT Party Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights by making it easier for employers to fire workers. Last week ACT MP Laura Trask’s Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment Bill was ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

2 days ago
Seymour causes thousands of unjustified absences by forcing kids to fight for their rights instead o...

The State would like to remind you that they are in control. They manage your employment prospects, and can destroy the job market you and yours rely on by mass-cancelling construction projects, cutting funding, and firing a good chunk of our public servants. They wield the mechanisms that provide scrutiny ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

2 days ago
The Weight of the World

As the weight of the world Hangs on your shoulders The weight of the world Starts to take over again And over again All that you once loved, now you hate So slowly relearn how to meditate To have and to hold And never let go Can you feel it ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

2 days ago
Thursday 14 November 2024

The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

2 days ago
Trump’s return to White House brings the climate’s ‘find out’ phase closer

As we absorb the news of Trump's victory in the US Presidential election, here’s a wrap compiled just before the result of what it might mean for climate action: The UN Secretary General says the prospective departure of the United States would cripple the Paris Agreement, likening it to the ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

2 days ago
Time and Space in the City Centre

Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the City Centre Advisory Panel. The header image is from Walthamstow, London The city centre now has a few stretches of street where the space has been repurposed to a people and place focused design from full time traffic use. These are a great ...

Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds

2 days ago
An opportunity for a pro-growth tax switch

As the Hikoi against it swells into the tens of thousands, KCs call on National to kill off ACT’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 14: The ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

2 days ago
Dealing to the big Aussie banks

The big question hovering over the Select Committee Inquiry into banking is what the Government will do with its findings. If yesterday’s hearing is anything to go by there is a tidal wave of discontent about the four big Australian Banks crashing through the Committee which may force it to ...

PolitikBy Richard Harman

2 days ago
20 fact briefs published in collaboration with Gigafact!

In April 2024 we announced the (renewed) collaboration between Gigafact and Skeptical Science to create fact briefs, short but credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. Our initial plan had been to publish one fact brief per week on Saturdays but - as happens ...

Skeptical Science

2 days ago
Instead of axing the HRC, ACT corruptly installed a racist, transphobic “Gay Human Rights Commissi...

On November 5th, the Spinoff published a very interesting article on Stephen Rainbow, the Human Rights Commission’s latest recruitment, and how he came to get the controversial appointment. Naturally because of the excitement of the US election, it’s flown a little below the radar. https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/05-11-2024/i-didnt-get-the-hrc-job-stephen-rainbows-human-rights-commission-appointment-just-got-weirderThe article details evidence of the ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

2 days ago
Injustice for torture

Between 1950 and 1993 the New Zealand government tortured and abused up to 250,000 children in residential care facilities. Yesterday, following formal findings from a royal commission, it finally apologised for that abuse. The next step is redress and restitution - compensating the surviving victims for the appalling harm they ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

2 days ago
Voices echo

Back onto the harbour bridge I go, my happy place for protesting.And it truly is a happy place, this day.Protests can bristle a lot, but this one is all heart. The WOMAD of protest marches. Families are safe and happy and a little one is pushing the trolley her older ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

2 days ago
Hīkoi over the Harbour

Kia mau ra, kia mau raKi te mana motuhakeMe te arohaHold fast, hold fastTo your sovereigntyAnd to love and compassionLyrics: Hīrini Melbourne. “Ngā Iwi E passionately calls for unity among the peoples of the Pacific, a cause deeply cherished by Melbourne himself.”I sat at my desk this morning and thought ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

2 days ago
Western Express turns one in style

The Western Express, the precursor to a proper busway, and other changes to West Auckland bus services are now a year old and Auckland Transport says they’ve been a smashing success, with ridership up 45 per cent higher than what was expected. Auckland Transport’s (AT) new North West bus network ...

Greater AucklandBy Matt L

3 days ago
Victims of abuse want Una Jagose to go

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 13: The Lead: The Government and Opposition apologised yesterday for the abuse of hundreds of thousands of children in state care over decades. But PM Christopher ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

3 days ago
Sabin 33 #2 – Are toxic heavy metals from solar panels posing a threat to human health?

On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...

Skeptical Science

3 days ago
Peaceful Māori Hikoi Advances – In Pictures

Today the Hikoi moves from Whangarei and makes its way to Auckland Flag: McKinley Rd Creatives ShareFor official updates and information, including schedules, go to:https://toitutetiriti.co.nz/The Waitangi Tribunal Cheat Sheet:When asked what the Treaty Principles Bill contravenes these are some of the points highlighted by our judiciary:The Crown's process to develop the Bill ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

3 days ago
Media Link: “A View from Afar” on the US elections.

The latest “A View from Afar” with Selwyn Manning and I follows the lines drawn in my most recent post here at KP. Because the podcast is basically a dialogue between Selwyn and I on the subject of the day, … Continue reading → ...

KiwipoliticoBy Pablo

3 days ago
Jagose doesn’t get it

The government held a formal apology ceremony this morning to victims of child torture and abuse-in-care. One of those "apologising" was Solicitor-General Una Jagose, who had played a key role in devising and implementing the government's legal strategy of aggressively minimising its liabilities, slandering its victims, and waiting for them ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

3 days ago
Oranga Tamariki is beyond saving, and always has been

How do you continue an organisation widely known for the abuse and torture of children, for wrongfully separating them from their parents, for the neglect and death of actually vulnerable children they failed to support and uplift, and for creating a cycle of trauma that has led to multi-generational state ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

4 days ago
The Majority is Wrong

Freak outAnd give inDoesn't matter what you believe inStay coolAnd be somebody's fool this year'Cause they knowWho is righteous, what is boldSo I'm toldWho wants honey?As long as there's some moneyWho wants that, honey?Lyrics: Billy CorganJust because the majority support something doesn’t make it right. Yes, in a democracy, the ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

4 days ago
Tuesday 12 November 2024

Today Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will formally apologise to those who experienced abuse in state and faith-based care at Parliament. The apology is long overdue, and many are saying it’s not enough and are still waiting on the details of redress. There are also criticisms about the decision to give ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

4 days ago
3 Takeaways from Christopher Luxon’s Press Conference

Highlights of Chris Luxon press conference yesterday (video at end):1. Christopher Luxon maligns Newsroom’s investigative journalist Aaron Smale for what he called behavioural issues. Yesterday, it was revealed Speaker Gary Brownlee had withdrew Smale’s accreditation, preventing Smale from attending the Abuse in Care apology at Parliament today. Smale is an ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

4 days ago
The 30/30 fiscal rule that rules us all

Fonterra is selling off brands made up of decades of R&D and marketing spend. Why? Because farmers need to repay debt so banks can increase mortgage lending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

4 days ago
2024 will be the first year above 1.5°C

This is a re-post from The Climate Brink, and an excerpt from a much more detailed State of the Climate Q3 2024 report that I published over at Carbon Brief today. See that for more details on climate model/observation comparisons, sea ice extent, and other climate variables. The warmest year on record In my ...

Skeptical Science

4 days ago
150 days of rail disruption to come

Kiwirail and Auckland Transport have revealed that the rail network will be closed or partially closed for nearly 149 days between Christmas this year and the end of January 2026, almost 38% of the time, as part of what they’re calling the final push to get the rail network ready ...

Greater AucklandBy Matt L

4 days ago
How Netflix Got Cold Feet

Hi,I’m not sure if you’ve noticed recently, but discovering stuff on Netflix can be kind of hard.Sure — you’re presented with a bunch of categories like “Top 10” when you login, but outside of those initial lists, finding things that are compelling and worth your time seems close to impossible. ...

David FarrierBy David Farrier

4 days ago
Seymour is only beginning

ACT Leader David Seymour is undeterred by the likelihood that his Treaty Principles Bill will die in the House when it returns from the Select Committee sometime in the first half of next year. He believes the debate has only just begun and will continue to eventual success even though ...

PolitikBy Richard Harman

4 days ago
Gordon Campbell on the Crown’s sorry excuse for an apology

The world over, politicians are finding “sorry” to be the easiest word. Without disclosing the size and formula of the monetary compensation that the government is prepared to offer to those abused while in state care, a mere apology verges on being another form of abuse. It’s not as if ...

WerewolfBy ScoopEditor

4 days ago
Let Aaron Smale take his rightful seat, you dismal dismal people

This is Aaron Smale.Journalist Aaron Smale appearing as a witness at the Royal Commission. Newsroom Screenshot.For eight years he has covered the abuse of children and others in state institutions.For eight years he has helped to bring to light the many lies and coverups by the Crown.He has written some ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

4 days ago
Monday 11 November 2024

Today the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti set off from Te Rerenga Wairua and is making its way through the North, stopping in Whangārei for the night. In union news, it has been announced that plastic factory Sistema is likely to cut up to 100 jobs. A new report written by ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

4 days ago
National suppresses the media

The government is doing its formal apology to victims of abuse-in-care at Parliament tomorrow, along with introducing a (still secret) bill addressing restitution. It will obviously be a big media event. But Newsroom's Aaron Smale, a journalist who has played a key role in exposing crown failure and wrongdoing in ...

No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant

4 days ago
Speeding toward a lethal legacy

A few weeks ago I wrote on how the Minister of Transport Simeon Brown had misrepresented cities overseas in his crusade to make our streets and roads more dangerous. Since then, his speed rule has been finalised and signed. Also, the summary of public feedback has been released after many ...

Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp

5 days ago
Dawn Chorus for Monday, November 11

Diabetes rates are rising, yet the government remains hyper-focused on short-term cost reduction and is not considering wider prevention measures. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, November 11: Diabetes rates are ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

5 days ago
New Zealand was the training ground for the 2024 US election

Much of the internet is bots.There are more bots every day. Every site that's in any way bot-trainable has bots scraping posts and chats.We have AI. It can auto-recognise voices. It can mine text for information which it can categorise and file, but cannot process it or use to further ...

Sapphi’s SubstackBy Sapphi

5 days ago
2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #45

A listing of 33 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, November 3, 2024 thru Sat, November 9, 2024. Summary of this week's topics We asked Google's Gemini again for help categorizing the articles we shared during the week, but ...

Skeptical Science

5 days ago
The Enemy Within – Maire Leadbeater & Nicky Hager

Like so many others involved in social justice movements, Maire Leadbeater was subjected to state surveillance during a long life of activism. With the help of archival material, released SIS files, and other formerly secret material, she has been able to examine the depth of stateintrusion into the lives of ...

Fabians

5 days ago
Sympathy of Distraction

You take a mortal manAnd put him in controlWatch him become a GodWatch people's heads a-rollJust like the pied piperLed rats through the streetsWe dance like marionettesSwaying to the symphony of destructionSong: Dave Mustaine.Look over there, not here.The problem is, I told myself this morning as I contemplated that Q&A ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

6 days ago
Nicola Deflects As National Spend Big on Roads

Nicola Willis says the multi-generation i-Rex ferries were too expensive for her - and has reportedly thrown away ~$1bn of taxpayers money in the process, and offended NZ's sixth largest trading partner.But Willis and National have now committed a minimum of $3bn to build:"less than 2km of one car lane ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

6 days ago
You have to do something

A jolting moment in a movie a can stay with you for the longest, longest time. Those Hitchcock birds; human remains in Cambodia’s Killing Fields; what remains of the Statue of Liberty on the beach; Thelma, Louise, their Thunderbird.Sometimes we’re simply taking our imagination for a ride into a dark ...

More Than A FeildingBy David Slack

6 days ago
Fact brief – Is there an expert consensus on human-caused global warming?

Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is there an ...

Skeptical Science

6 days ago
Hatching (Pahanhautoja)

2022, directed by Hanna Bergholm Hatching is a movie that I can genuinely imagine being used to teach film analysis in high school English. I know it’s not actually in English, but unless the rules have changed that doesn’t disqualify it – after the comparatively insipid The Sixth Sense in ...

The little pakehaBy chrismiller

6 days ago
Making It Make Sense – What Happened, and What We Need To Look Out For With Media

Until Nicola Willis used the phrase to describe her 2024 Budget, this phrase “It’s Always Darkest Before The Dawn” was one of comfort - and often - truth.“It’s Always Darkest Before the Dawn”I think ultimately, it stands true - even if we don’t know how long a period of upheaval ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

6 days ago
We Need The Journalists & Newsrooms That Remain

This is a repost of an article I wrote on social media. It was published before this week’s announcement of TVNZ cuts.I often reflect on how much hysteria there was around Golriz Ghahraman - journalists parked outside her home for a week after she admitted fault.The hyper-attention and headlines they ...

Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui

7 days ago
Pelosi turns on Harris, low key

Like everyone else, Nancy Pelosi is looking for reasons for why the Democrats lost the election. Her preferred candidate seems to be Kamala Harris, though she disguises this by making it look like she is swiping at Joe Biden:“We live with what happened,” Pelosi said.Pelosi was speaking to the Interview, ...

Left hand palmBy lurgee

7 days ago
Happy Freedom Day

Wastee little weaselWants cheap tricksLiberty bell cracked in halfA bacon steakA perfect matchFreedom of '76Song: Ween, Ed WilsonToday is World Freedom Day, an American commemoration that began in 2001 to recognise the fall of the Berlin Wall, some 12 years earlier. Seems odd timing to start acknowledging something in late ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

7 days ago
Dawn Chorus for weekend of Nov 9/10

Here’s my top six news and other links on Saturday, November 9 for your weekend reading pleasure:Scoop: 'The risk of death is higher': What Cabinet knew when it raised speed limits on our roads NZ Herald-$$$’s Simon WilsonScoop: Five firms to review retrofit of Dunedin hospital, rather than new build ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

7 days ago
The End of Austerianism?

Does the Autumn 2024 British budget point to a change in fiscal strategies?Many countries found their fiscal position was unsustainable, following the 2008 Global Financial Crash. Their public spending was well in excess of their public revenue and they had to borrow more heavily than lenders thought prudent. Almost unanimously, ...

PunditBy Brian Easton

1 week ago
The Trump victory – do people accept democracy?

Image Credit: Council of Europe. Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People I didn’t have a dog in the fight—if I were a US ...

Open ParachuteBy Ken

1 week ago
Sifting through the wreckage.

Although I shared some thoughts about the US election on other social media platforms, here are some items that emerged from the wreckage: Campaigns based on hope do not always defeat campaigns based on fear. Having dozens of retired high … Continue reading → ...

KiwipoliticoBy Pablo

1 week ago
Sissy

2022, directed by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes You know that thing where a character just keeps on making bad decision after bad decision as everything goes to shit around them? I can’t stand that thing. Snowballing consequences can be done really well when all of a character’s choices make ...

The little pakehaBy chrismiller

1 week ago
Friday 8 November 2024

The Treaty Principles Bill has been introduced to Parliament, with its First Reading set down for next week. A large hīkoi is set to depart from Te Rerenga Wairua on Monday, with events planned as they head down the motu to Parliament. In employment news, NZDF staff have escalated strike ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

1 week ago
Just Let Them Walk All Over You

Just let them walk all over youLaugh through the punches and the painLet the life-blood drain away from youThey're right, you're wrongAnd you can see it in the way they look at youFeel it in the way they treat youAlways the last to knowAlways the first to leaveBetween Two Points ...

Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel

1 week ago
Economic Bulletin November 2024

The post Economic Bulletin November 2024 appeared first on NZCTU. ...

NZCTUBy Jeremiah Boniface

1 week ago
Weekly Roundup 7-November-2024

Happy Friday, there’s been some significant world events this week but welcome to another round-up of interesting stories about what’s happening in Auckland and other cities. Feel free to add your links in the comments! This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew ...

Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland

1 week ago
The Hoon around the week to November 8

The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate news, including how Donald Trump’s re-election and sweep of the Congress changes the equations; on the US ...

The KakaBy Bernard Hickey

1 week ago
It’s OK To Feel Shitty

Hi,For any of you panicking, Webworm is not going to become a newsletter endlessly ranting about the results of this week’s US election.We’ll get back to Luka Magnotta sending me letters from prison and Hare Krishna’s calling me “c**t face” eventually, but just bare with me as I wrap my ...

David FarrierBy David Farrier

1 week ago
Curbing the power of the Beehive

The Constitutional Lw Professor and former Prime Minister, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, yesterday pointed out an anomaly in what is supposed to be Parliament’s gold-standard legislation to empower itself.The Parliament Bill is currently before a special Select Committee chaired by the former Speaker, Adrian Ruawhe and aims to simplify the legislation ...

PolitikBy Richard Harman

1 week ago
Geoffrey Miller: Trump victory could spark New Zealand rethink at APEC in Peru

Donald Trump’s sweeping election victory has set the stage for this year’s APEC summit in Peru. At least 14 leaders have so far confirmed their attendance at the leaders’ summit in Lima from November 15-16. China’s Xi Jinping, Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Canada’s Justin Trudeau will all ...

Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller

1 week ago
Skeptical Science New Research for Week #45 2024

Open access notables Anthropogenic warming has ushered in an era of temperature-dominated droughts in the western United States, Zhuang et al., Science Advances: Historically, meteorological drought in the western United States (WUS) has been driven primarily by precipitation deficits. However, our observational analysis shows that, since around 2000, rising surface ...

Skeptical Science

1 week ago

Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope

The Green Party is voicing serious concerns over the Government’s proposal to charge for access to public conservation land, released today. ...

Greens

15 hours ago
Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill

The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...

Greens

1 day ago
Stand Up for Te Tiriti

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...

Labour Blog

2 days ago
Release: Over 15,000 sign Labour’s open letter to Luxon

As the hīkoi to Parliament continues, Labour has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in a last-ditch attempt to get him to kill the Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Labour Blog

2 days ago
Fast Track Bill threatens environment, climate and reputation

The fast-track legislation passing its second reading in Parliament is another step towards environmental ruin. ...

Greens

2 days ago
Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned

The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Greens

2 days ago
Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors

...

Labour Blog

4 days ago
Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors

Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...

Labour Blog

4 days ago
Green Party stands in support of survivors of abuse in care

Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...

Greens

4 days ago
Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill

The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Greens

4 days ago
Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect

The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...

Greens

5 days ago
Without action, an apology will be empty air

For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...

Greens

5 days ago
Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference

Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
Urgent wake-up call on climate

The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world

Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies

Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill

The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...

The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
NZ must pursue independent foreign policy

The Green Party says the need is greater than ever for Aotearoa New Zealand to pursue an independent foreign policy. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Release: Winston Peters must apologise

The Deputy Prime Minister should apologise to the public servant he named and blamed for something they did not do, and for misusing the rules of Parliament. ...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
Release: Government continues to fail small business

The Government is leaving small businesses high and dry in difficult economic times, by letting big business get away with not paying their bills. ...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
Release: Unemployment rising under National

Nicola Willis’ policies continue to slow the economy with more Kiwis out of work as a result. ...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
Near four-year high unemployment reveals dire need for new direction

Today, Statistics New Zealand’s latest labour market report revealed that unemployment has reached 4.8 per cent, the highest rate since late 2020, during the COVID pandemic. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Release: Shovels in the ground this term unlikely

National looks set to break another election promise, this time by not beginning construction on a second Mt Victoria tunnel this term, Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...

Labour Blog

1 week ago
Not too late to abandon the Bill, Christopher

The Green Party is urgently calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to abandon the Treaty Principles Bill following reports it will be introduced on Thursday. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Coalition Govt’s expensive tunnel vision for Wellington comes at the expense of the regions

A second Mount Victoria tunnel, a duplicate Terrace tunnel alongside highway widening will dump more traffic in the centre of Wellington and result in more pollution. ...

Greens

1 week ago
Release: Government’s disgrace for Christchurch homeowners

The Government is backtracking on existing commitments to do the right thing by homeowners let down by EQC (now the Natural Hazards Commission). ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Release: National’s FamilyBoost a colossal flop

Nicola Willis continues to over promise and under deliver, with most families receiving only $30 a week from National’s flagship FamilyBoost flop. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Ngarewa-Packer Demands Support for Palestine Ceasefire from New Plymouth Mayor

Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is calling on the Mayor for New Plymouth, Neil Holdom, to do the right thing. “I am shocked at his decision to disregard the petition presented by Palestine Solidarity Taranaki calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire”, said ...

Māori Party

2 weeks ago
Release: Trade deal with Gulf states welcomed

Labour welcomes the conclusion of a trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that was restarted under a Labour government after languishing for many years. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Release: Labour welcomes OAG fast track inquiry

The Government should consider the outcome of an Auditor-General report into conflicts of interest before progressing the Fast track Approvals Bill through Parliament. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Greens reignite call for free dental

A new report detailing the enormous social and economic costs of our dental system has reignited the Greens' call for free dental care. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Greens call for bottom trawling ban and call out Minister for lacklustre response

The Green Party is urgently calling on the Government to ban bottom trawling, following news a New Zealand bottom trawler caught 37kg of coral in international waters, prompting the suspension of all fishing in the area until 2026. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Mark Patterson: Farmers understand we have their backs

Spring is here which means the start of the A&P show season. Those treasured community days where town meets country. There's no rural-urban divide here, just a chance to meet up with family and old friends and celebrate all things that make rural New Zealand so special. I'm embarking on ...

NZ First Press Release

2 weeks ago
Release: Funding for Gumboot Friday should pause

The National Government should review its support for Gumboot Friday after unacceptable comments by its leader and champion Mike King. ...

Labour Blog

2 weeks ago
Louise Upston cherry-picks data to punch down on the poor

The Government has very conveniently cherry-picked data from the latest MSD projections to justify its cruel agenda and punch-down policy when it comes to people living in poverty. ...

Greens

2 weeks ago
Luxon needs to address the cow in the room

The Green Party was appalled to hear Prime Minister Christopher Luxon claim we are “doing everything we can” on climate change, while his government does nothing to address emissions in our most polluting sector. ...

Greens

3 weeks ago
Govt Must Clean Up ‘Its Shit’ From Sunken HMNZS Manawanui

Te Pāti Māori is calling out the Government and New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) for their inaction and disgraceful downplaying of the impact caused by the sunken HMNZS Manawanui in Samoa. “We demand the Government move without further delay to clean up its shit from the sunken HMNZS Manawanui in Samoa,” said co-leader Debbie ...

Māori Party

3 weeks ago
Jamie Arbuckle: Inquiry into Banking Competition

This week was the start of the bank inquiry hearings into banking competition. The inquiry was confirmed in the NZ First/National Coalition agreement. 140 submissions were received on the inquiry, and we will hear from over 60 submitters including all the major banks. ANZ, New Zealand's largest bank, was first ...

NZ First Press Release

3 weeks ago

Government and iwi work together on aquaculture

Five new Aquaculture Settlement Areas will help ensure Ngāi Tahu shares in the opportunities aquaculture offers for Southland’s economy, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. “The Aquaculture Settlement Areas (ASAs) I’m announcing today set aside space so the Crown and Ngāi Tahu can assess their potential for aquaculture development. ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

12 hours ago
Government launches review to ensure electricity market is fit-for-purpose

The terms of reference for a review of the performance of the electricity market have been released. The review, initiated by the Coalition Government during the power crisis in winter will look at whether current regulations and market design support economic growth and access to reliable and affordable electricity, Energy Minister ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

14 hours ago
Speech to Social Investment Hui: Jack and his whānau need our help

Kia ora koutou katoa. Nau mai, haere mai, piki mai. Ki te mihi atu ahau, ki te manwhenua nei, Te Atiawa, Ngāti toa rangatira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you, Andy, for your introduction. Let me acknowledge you as the new Chief Executive of the Social Investment ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

16 hours ago
Minister of State for Trade heads to Brisbane for PACER Plus meeting

Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg has travelled to Australia to attend the PACER Plus Ministers Meeting in Brisbane. “Trade plays a critical role in driving employment, economic growth, and improving the standards of living in the Pacific Region. The Government is strongly committed to supporting Pacific Island countries ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

17 hours ago
Proposals to modernise conservation released

Toitū te taiao – Our environment endures The Government is consulting on proposals to modernise New Zealand’s conservation management system, aiming to protect relevant natural areas while supporting sustainable growth in tourism and regional economies, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. “Today, the Department of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai is ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

19 hours ago
Treaty Principles Bill passes first reading

Associate Justice Minister David Seymour says all New Zealanders will now be able to have their say on the Treaty Principles Bill after it passed its first reading and was sent to the Justice Committee to be considered. “I look forward to seeing what Kiwis have to say on the ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

1 day ago
Antarctic cooperation at centre of Scott Base visit

Finance Minister and Associate Climate Change Minister Nicola Willis will travel to Antarctica next week to engage with international partners and scientists and to assess latest steps in the redevelopment of Scott Base. “New Zealand has important interests in Antarctica and our longstanding presence at Scott Base is a key ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

1 day ago
Contactless payments launching on public transport in Auckland

The Government and Auckland Council are delivering contactless payments on Auckland’s public transport network later this month which will enable commuters to tag on and off public buses, trains, and ferries travelling across the region, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says.The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

1 day ago
RIF funding supports aquaculture development

The Coalition Government is backing the development of an aquaculture centre of excellence in Southland with an investment of $2.2 million, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. South Island Industrial Fund Ltd will use the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) loan towards its $6.3m project to upgrade infrastructure at the Ocean ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

2 days ago
Safeguarding Kiwis with modern insurance law

Modernised insurance law will provide Kiwis with confidence that they will be treated fairly by insurance providers, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “A secure insurance market is integral to New Zealand’s economic success. It enables consumers and businesses to access finance and gives them the assurance to ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

2 days ago
When the going gets tough ‘Get Through’ with Farmstrong

An online hub with mental wellbeing tools and resources designed to help farmers and growers deal with the stress of adverse weather events has been officially launched by Minister for Mental Health, Matt Doocey. “Adverse weather events are an increasingly common reality for our farmers and growers. It’s vital that ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

2 days ago
Government exploring new energy source

Up to $60 million will be ring-fenced from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to invest in exploring the potential of supercritical geothermal technology which could help secure New Zealand’s future energy needs, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Science, Innovation, and Technology Minister Judith Collins say. Having a secure and resilient energy supply ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

2 days ago
Pay Gap Calculator toolkit launched

New Zealand businesses can now take meaningful action to drive down the gender pay gap with the launch of an online calculator today, Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says. “Women are paid, on average, 8.2 per cent less than men and this gap has barely moved since 2017 - which ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

2 days ago
Government launches refreshed Public Private Partnership framework

The Government has released a refreshed Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework that provides a blueprint to the market outlining how the government will approach future PPP transactions, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “Refreshing New Zealand’s PPP model is an important part of our plan to ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

2 days ago
Further decisions taken on regulating online casino gambling

Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to further details of a new system to regulate online casino gambling. “A new Online Gambling Bill will be drafted with the purpose to regulate online casino gambling to facilitate a safer and compliant regulated online gambling market. More importantly, ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Tailored support for people in emergency housing

Ka mate kāinga tahi, ka ora kāinga rua. An innovative Government trial will tailor support to people with a diverse range of complex needs to move out of emergency housing and into more permanent housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “The Government has set a target of reducing the ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Getting ready for bird flu

Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard is encouraging New Zealanders to take steps to be ready for the possible arrival of bird flu.“While high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) is still some distance from New Zealand and we’ve never had a case here, it’s important that we take a cautious approach. “If you’re one ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Harbour closure supports mussel reseeding

A two-year ban on the take of kuku/mussels from Ōhiwa Harbour in eastern Bay of Plenty will support local efforts to restore mussel beds in the area, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa requested the closure, Te rāhui kuku ki tua o Kanawa, to ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Government awards primary sector scholarships to tertiary students

The coalition Government has awarded scholarships to six tertiary students as part of efforts to boost on-the-ground support for farmers and growers Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard announced today. “We are reducing the regulatory burden on farmers and growers and providing support to adapt and innovate, ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Tax work programme focused on rebuilding the economy

Rebuilding the economy and improving fiscal sustainability is the key focus of the Government’s new Tax and Social Policy Work Programme for Inland Revenue, Revenue Minister Simon Watts says. “New Zealand has been grappling with significant economic challenges over the last few years with many businesses and households feeling the ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Omnibus Bill First Reading for Royal Commission of Inquiry National Apology

Mr Speaker, as the Minister for Children, it is my priority to ensure that children and young people in the care system are safe. The thousands of survivors who shared their experiences with the Royal Commission have been clear that the system must improve its protections against abuse and neglect. ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Clarifying the protection of disabled people in care

The Government is amending the Crimes Act to ensure the protection of disabled people in care is made more explicit, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As part of the Government’s response to the recommendations of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission, the word ‘disability’ is being added to the definition ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Oranga Tamariki Act changes a step in the right direction

Changes to the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 included in an Omnibus Bill are long overdue and a positive step in the right direction, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. As part of the National Apology today, the Responding to Abuse in Care Legislation Amendment Bill had its first reading. “I am ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Improvements to Government record-keeping in response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse ...

Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government is making changes to the Public Records Act, to improve the record-keeping practices of government agencies. “These changes will allow the Chief Archivist to audit an agency more frequently where required and will also allow the Chief Archivist to work ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

3 days ago
Minister Peters completes successful visit to Chile

New Zealand and Chile have reaffirmed their strong partnership, including on security, trade, Antarctic issues, and people-to-people links, says Foreign Minister Winston Peters. “Chile is one of New Zealand’s closest and most like-minded partners in Latin America, and it is the gateway to the region for many New Zealanders,” Mr ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
‘Foreign policy views from an Indo-Pacific neighbour’ – Speech on New Zealand fore...

Kia ora. Tēnā koutou katoa. And greetings from New Zealand. Thank you to Rector Devés and the University of Chile for hosting us today, and to Undersecretary de la Fuente and Professor López for the warm welcome and introductions. When a much younger person, walking on a bridge ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Prime Minister apologises for abuse in care

Ngā kura mōrehu, Treasured survivors, kua ngaro, haere atu rā. those that have passed, farewell. Ngā kura mōrehu, Treasured survivors E whakawhaiti nei that have gathered here. Kei ngā rangatira To the esteemed leaders Tēnā koutou katoa. Greetings. I’d like to welcome you ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Government apologises for abuse in care

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has apologised to all New Zealanders who were abused in the care of state and faith-based institutions. “This is a significant and sorrowful day in New Zealand,” Mr Luxon says. “Today, I am apologising on behalf of the Government to everyone who suﬀered abuse, harm and ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Climate Change Minister to attend COP29 in Baku

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will attend the 29th annual United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, this week. “New Zealand is fully committed to meeting our climate targets and reducing the impacts of climate change. Every country has a role to play, and New Zealand will continue ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Crown Observer appointed to Wellington City Council

Experienced local government practitioner Lindsay McKenzie has been appointed as a Crown Observer to Wellington City Council, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says.“Wellington City Council is facing significant challenges in delivering services to its community, while balancing its debt and insurance obligations,” Mr Brown says.“The decision to appoint a Crown ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Govt strengthens protection for people in state care

The Government is introducing several law changes to better protect people in state care, in response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. “The magnitude of the abuse detailed by the Royal Commission of Inquiry was heartbreaking, and as a Government we will do everything in our ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
Prime Minister to attend APEC Leaders’ Meeting

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon departs for Peru this week to attend the annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting from 15-16 November. “The APEC Summit is a key moment in the regional calendar. It’s an opportunity to meet with counterparts who are also grappling with cost-of-living challenges and choices about driving more ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

4 days ago
First kina barren special permit approved

New rules allowing local communities to take direct action against kina barrens are starting to bear fruit, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. “I’ve made kina barrens a priority, which is why I introduced a new special permit purpose this year to allow the removal and translocation of kina ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Faster 110km/h speed limit to accelerate Kāpiti from 13 November

The new 110km/h speed limit on the Kāpiti Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS) will come into effect on 13 November 2024, more than two weeks earlier than expected, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Boosting economic growth and productivity is a priority for the Government. The new 110km/h speed limit will ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Largest ever number of graduate vets to boost rural productivity and support farmers

Thirty-five graduate vets will join rural communities this year through the Voluntary Bonding Scheme (VBS) for Veterinarians, marking the largest intake in the scheme’s history, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, and Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard, announced today. “The Government is committed to enhancing primary sector productivity and delivering direct benefits ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Stalking to become illegal and jailable offence

The Government has agreed to introduce legislation this year that will make stalking illegal with a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Every New Zealander deserves to feel safe in their community and this Government is committed to making sure victims are ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

5 days ago
Nationally significant sites to be upgraded

Me mihi ngakaunui ki a Tā Robert Gillies e ngaro nei ki tōna nui o Te Rua Tekau Mā Waru. Farewell to Sir Robert Gillies of the 28th (Māori) Battalion. The Government will provide $20.3 million in funding to improve two sites that have a special place in the hearts ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

6 days ago
Unions shouldn’t get in the way of student learning

The Government is urging the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put the education of their students first. “Between 9am and 3pm, parents expect their children to be at school to learn. Our Government is relentlessly focused on ensuring the value of achievement and attendance are at the centre of ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

1 week ago
Compensation scheme levies to be risk based

The levies that banks, building societies, credit unions and finance companies pay to the new Depositor Compensation Scheme (DCS) fund will reflect the size and riskiness of the institutions, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Under the scheme, deposits up to the value of $100,000 per depositor will be protected in ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

1 week ago
New Child Centre will improve mental health outcomes in Tauranga

Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey today opened Te Waka Aorangi Child Wellness Centre at Tauranga Hospital, marking a significant milestone in the Government’s commitment to enhancing the health of children and whānau in the Bay of Plenty region. “Te Waka Aorangi is leading the way by providing a ‘one-stop-shop’ ...

BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz

1 week ago

NACC head Paul Brereton says resigning in the face of bad publicly would ‘undermine’ the commiss...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Paul Brereton, has rejected calls he resign after a finding of “officer misconduct”, declaring to do so would harm the NACC. In a spirited defence of his ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

4 hours ago
Ignoring ACT, targeting National: The lead-up to the Treaty bill

The Treaty Principles Bill dominated Parliament's week. How was it talked about in the House before it was debated, who focussed on it, who ignored it? ...

Radio NZ – political

4 hours ago
NZ’s Treaty Principles Bill haka highlights tensions between Māori tikanga and rules of Parliamen...

By Lillian Hanly, RNZ News political reporter, Craig McCulloch, RNZ deputy political editor, and Te Manu Korihi Te Pāti Māori’s extraordinary display of protest — interrupting the first vote on the Treaty Principles Bill — has highlighted the tension in Aotearoa New Zealand between Māori tikanga, or customs, and the ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

5 hours ago
Call for expanded Local Democracy Reporting scheme as NZME plans to shut community papers

RNZ News A group representing local councils in Aotearoa New Zealand is calling for the Local Democracy Reporting programme to be expanded after the media company NZME announced a proposal to close 14 community newspapers. The LDR programme funds local authority coverage at various publications and is managed and funded ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

7 hours ago
Hīkoi day five: 10,000 join as Treaty bill protest halts traffic in Rotorua

RNZ News An estimated 10,000 people have marched through Rotorua today as part of Hīkoi mō te Tiriti protesting against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. Due to the size of the group, Fenton Street was blocked temporarily as the Hīkoi went through, police said. It is anticipated that this afternoon ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

8 hours ago
Here’s what we’ll be telling COP29 about how climate change is harming young people’s mental h...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cybele Dey, Conjoint lecturer & PhD candidate in Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney Vanatchanan/Shutterstock As government representatives gather at the COP29 international climate summit in Azerbaijan, the impact of climate change on young people’s mental health needs to ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

8 hours ago
10,000 join hīkoi as Treaty bill protest halts traffic in Rotorua

Hīkoi mo te Tiriti participants have turned out in force on foot and horseback in central Rotorua. ...

Radio NZ – political

9 hours ago
Apec’s ‘elephant in the room’

As business leaders and politicians discussed the major economic issues facing the world at Apec’s annual CEO Summit, there was an unignorable “elephant in the room”, as one moderator put it.Donald Trump’s name was rarely mentioned by the speakers, yet the potential impact of his second term in power was ...

NewsroomBy Sam Sachdeva

10 hours ago
Censorship Is Alive And Well In New Zealand

“What this looks like to us is censorship of anyone who tries to disagree with this Government, which causes a chilling effect” says Cooper Legal Senior Associate, Lydia Oosterhoff. ...

Scoop politics

11 hours ago
Treaty Principles Bill haka highlights tensions between Māori tikanga and rules of Parliament

Te Pāti Māori's extraordinary display of protest interrupted the first vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...

Radio NZ – political

11 hours ago
Gladiator II features a naval battle held in the Colosseum. These brutal spectacles really happened

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Barker, Head, Public Engagement, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney Paramount Pictures It’s one of the most thrilling sequences in Ridley Scott’s new film Gladiator II, the long-awaited sequel to the 2000 Oscar-winning blockbuster. Water gushes from the ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

11 hours ago
Raw Politics: MPs face-off over the Great Divide

Parliament saw two historic days this week, one of great solemnity and unity, the other a raucous and high-stakes stand-off between political foes over the Treaty of Waitangi.Raw Politics looks first at the volatile reception for Act’s Treaty Principles Bill at its first reading, how parties performed to their voting ...

NewsroomBy Newsroom Staff

11 hours ago
APEC Summit: NZ puts best foot forward ahead of Trump taking office

Analysis - World leaders gathering for APEC are all too aware Donald Trump's election has shifted the dial on trade for exporting nations. ...

Radio NZ – political

11 hours ago
Nearly 9000 hectares to be assessed for offshore aquaculture in Southland

The government has set aside close to 9000 hectares for Ngāi Tahu and the Crown to assess for offshore aquaculture in Southland. ...

Radio NZ – political

11 hours ago
Australian police are trialling AI to analyse body-worn camera footage, despite overseas failures an...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Henne, Professor and Director, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University M. W. Hunt/Shutterstock Police departments around the world are increasingly using body-worn cameras in an attempt to improve public trust and accountability. But this has created huge ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

12 hours ago
Treaty Principles Bill: Paul Goldsmith responds to Christopher Finlayson’s comments

Former MPs sometimes feel they can chip in and tell current ones what to do, the Treaty Negotiations Minister says. ...

Radio NZ – political

12 hours ago
Developing nations are least responsible for climate change but cop it worst. Will the COP29 climate...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Imraan Valodia, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Climate, Sustainability and Inequality and Director, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand Since the Industrial Revolution, country after country has turned to fossil fuels to power their transport and industry. Now the bill is ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

12 hours ago
In Cold Water is a must-see for true crime fans

A new documentary series tells the story of a former Napier councillor accused of murder in Canada. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In 2010, New Zealander Peter Beckett was on holiday in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, enjoying a relaxing afternoon fishing on ...

The SpinoffBy Tara Ward

12 hours ago
Is it OK to use the term ‘neurospicy’ when talking about autism and other neurodivergences?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Annear, Lecturer (Teaching Specialist) Disability and Community Inclusion, Flinders University Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock Language trends change quickly at the hands of social media users. They explode into our screens, rather than slowly evolve. This can change the ways we talk about diagnoses ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

13 hours ago
Homeowners feeling the pinch amid high mortgage repayments

The average Kiwi household mortgage repayment has nearly doubled in the past 15 years. ...

Radio NZ – political

13 hours ago
Many elite women athletes don’t eat enough carbs, which can affect their performance and health

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, University of South Australia Just as a Formula 1 team wouldn’t use shoddy fuel for their cars, elite athletes shouldn’t eat poorly as they try to get the best out ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

13 hours ago
The Friday Poem: ‘FREE TRAMPOLINE’ by Sophie van Waardenberg

A new poem by by Sophie van Waardenberg. FREE TRAMPOLINE If I could, I’d praise the world— how this, how that, how the darling other— but all I do is sit down, hang on, come home. It has to be enough. On the walk from the station all the sidewalk ...

The SpinoffBy Sophie van Waardenberg

13 hours ago
Live: 10,000 join hīkoi as Treaty bill protest halts traffic in Rotorua

Hīkoi mo te Tiriti participants have turned out in force on foot and horseback in central Rotorua. ...

Radio NZ – political

13 hours ago
The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending November 15

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 Zest: Climbing From Depression to Philosophy by Daniel Kalderimis (Ugly Hill Press, $40) Kalderimis ...

The SpinoffBy The Spinoff Review of Books

13 hours ago
The rebuilding of Fazerdaze

Following the release of her sophomore album Soft Power, Amelia Murray (Fazerdaze) tells Alex Casey about heading south and rediscovering herself. Fazerdaze is back in Morningside, but everything has changed. “It’s so strange to be back, ” she says softly, gesturing out of The Spinoff’s office window at the drizzly ...

The SpinoffBy Alex Casey

14 hours ago
Live: Horsemen join hīkoi as Treaty bill protest heads south

Hīkoi mo te Tiriti participants have turned out in force on foot and horseback in central Rotorua. ...

Radio NZ – political

15 hours ago
Nicola Willis sets out vision for Social Investment Agency

The minister has delivered a speech on how she plans to replace the government's Social Wellbeing Board. ...

Radio NZ – political

15 hours ago
NZ’s Treaty Principles Bill is already straining social cohesion – a referendum could be worse

ANALYSIS: By Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Claire Breen, University of Waikato With the protest hīkoi from the Far North moving through Rotorua on its way to Wellington, it might be said ACT leader David Seymour has been granted his wish of generating an “important national conversation about the ...

Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report

15 hours ago
Watch live: Nicola Willis sets out vision for Social Investment Agency

The minister has delivered a speech on how she plans to replace the government's Social Wellbeing Board. ...

Radio NZ – political

15 hours ago
NZ’s proposed anti-stalking law is good news – but it must be future-proofed against rapidly evo...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassandra Mudgway, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Canterbury Given the ever-increasing problem of digital harm, the government’s proposed legislation criminalising stalking is welcome news. The yet-to-be-named proposed law, set to be introduced to parliament by the end of the year, ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

16 hours ago
Where does kai come from? Learning in the māra

Lucinda Bennet reflects on appreciating vegetables and learning through doing. This is an excerpt from our food newsletter, The Boil Up. When you pull a carrot from the ground, there’s a certain sound it makes, a kind of “pop” as the tip detaches from the root cap. It’s something you can ...

The SpinoffBy Lucinda Bennett

16 hours ago
Egg-shaped galaxies may be aligned to the black holes at their hearts, astronomers find

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Parkinson, Research Scientist in Astrophysics, The University of Queensland The active galaxy Centaurus A, with jets emanating from the central black hole. ESO/WFI (Optical); MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A.Weiss et al. (Submillimetre); NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al. (X-ray), CC BY Black holes don’t have many identifying features. ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

17 hours ago
The cost of being: A lawyer with two kids, a mortgage and a love of good meat

As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 42-year-old lawyer shares how he and his family approach their finances. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Male. Age: 42. Ethnicity: Pākehā. Role: Lawyer with two ...

The SpinoffBy The Cost of Being

17 hours ago
Cancer while pregnant is rare, but is becoming more common. Here’s what researchers think is behin...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Sasson, Scientia Senior Lecturer in Medicine (Immunology), UNSW Sydney PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Former winner of TV show Alone Australia Gina Chick was diagnosed with breast cancer just days after finding out she was pregnant. She describes in her recent ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

17 hours ago
35 years after The Satanic Verses controversy, newly unearthed letters reveal some uncomfortable tru...

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Smith, Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is famous for his forthright statements to other world leaders. In March 1989, Mahathir wrote a letter to then UK ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

18 hours ago
Troubled waters: how to stop Australia’s freshwater fish species from going extinct

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Lintermans, Adjunct associate in freshwater fisheries ecology and management, University of Canberra The barred galaxias is already extinct across 95% of its former streams due to trout, bushfires and droughts. Steven Kuiter Three-quarters of Australia’s freshwater fish species are found nowhere ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

18 hours ago
Pupil-free days may be tricky for parents, but they are vital for teachers and schools

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ellen Larsen, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, University of Southern Queensland Iryna Tolmachova/Shutterstock Pupil-free or student-free days may seem like an extra holiday for students and an inconvenience for parents, who are juggling work and family. This week, some ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

18 hours ago
What are tariffs?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott French, Senior Lecturer in Economics, UNSW Sydney Engineer studio/Shutterstock This article is part of The Conversation’s “Business Basics” series where we ask experts to discuss key concepts in business, economics and finance. Thanks to the decisive victory of US ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

18 hours ago
Trump’s tariffs are nothing new – NZ’s real problem is the failing free trade system itself

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Headlines following Donald Trump’s election victory focused largely on the influence of personalities, such as Elon Musk or Robert Kennedy junior, and single issues, such as how ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

18 hours ago
How Rohingya activists are using art, food and storytelling as a form of resistance

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare M. Cooper, Lecturer in the School of Architecture, Design & Planning, University of Sydney Victor Caringal for MSF Rohingya activists, advocates and health organisations in Australia have been frustrated by the lack of support provided to displaced Rohingya people. This ...

Evening ReportBy The Conversation

18 hours ago

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.

90 Day No Rights policy, why?

Related Posts

139 comments on “90 Day No Rights policy, why? ”

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

Related Posts

Related Posts

Related Posts

Related Posts

90 Day No Rights policy, why?

Share this:

Related Posts

139 comments on “90 Day No Rights policy, why? ”

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

Share this:

Related Posts

Share this:

Related Posts

Share this:

Related Posts

Share this:

Related Posts