A target we can celebrate missing

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, July 16th, 2016 - 72 comments
Categories: benefits, class war, human rights, national, welfare - Tags: , , , ,

Here’s one missed target we can celebrate:

Government’s benefits target ‘very aspirational’

Anne Tolley has effectively conceded that National is unlikely to meet its objective of moving 65,000 people off the benefit within the next two years.

The Minister for Social Development revealed that while the Government is “working hard to meet the target”, it was merely an “aspirational” ambition – and she also admitted to being “not too worried” by the number of people coming off welfare support. …

The article carries on with “aspirational” Nat psychobabble designed to lipstick over some pig ugly facts – namely the methods that the Nats have used to get numbers down. They have demonised beneficiaries. They have cast the need for a benefit as an illness. They have made WINZ as dysfunctional as possible, made benefits as inaccessible as possible, applied pressure until they got extreme outcomes. Of course numbers on benefits have fallen – for all the wrong reasons. Thank goodness they haven’t fallen further.

Only half of the people who leave benefits get jobs. What happens to the rest? Does any Nat know or care? Perhaps the rapidly increasing numbers of homeless give a clue to the answer.

Reducing the number on benefits is the wrong goal. It is a mean, demeaning, punitive goal. We should have a goal of creating jobs. We should have a goal of getting people healthy. We should have a goal of educating and enabling people. Then the number on benefits would take care of itself.

72 comments on “A target we can celebrate missing ”

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  1. One Anonymous Bloke 1
    16 July 2016 at 8:48 am

    Address the causes by all means. How do you intend to prevent the National Party?

    • Paul 1.1
      16 July 2016 at 8:56 am

      The eradication of neo-liberalism would solve that.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1.1
        16 July 2016 at 1:45 pm

        They’d stop needing to drag people down to provide themselves with a sense of superiority? I doubt it.

        • Chris 1.1.1.1
          17 July 2016 at 3:40 am

          You try to provide yourself with a sense of superiority almost every time you post a comment.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1.1.1.1
            17 July 2016 at 6:55 am

            If so, at least the objects of my contempt aren’t homeless families.

  2. Sacha 2
    16 July 2016 at 8:51 am

    “They have cast the need for a benefit as an illness. ”

    Insanity imported from the UK. https://wellcome.ac.uk/press-release/first-research-paper-hubbub-unemployment-being-rebranded-psychological-disorder

    • One Anonymous Bloke 2.1
      16 July 2016 at 8:56 am

      There is no clause in the Hippocratic oath that excuses this disgusting betrayal. “I was just following National Party orders” doesn’t cut it either.

      Strike the fuckers off the medical register and broadcast their crimes to the world.

  3. Paul 3
    16 July 2016 at 8:55 am

    This is how you get people off the benefit when there are no jobs.
    Why are we copying the UK’s flawed neoliberal model?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahWgxw9E_h4

  4. Nic the NZer 4
    16 July 2016 at 9:18 am

    The government works within a framework where the presumption is there is no such thing as involuntary unemployment. The presumption is that if people have exited a benefit system then they are gainfully (and happily, yes this is implied) engaged in another economic activity of their choosing.

    The implications of this framework are that people are on benefits not because insufficient jobs are available (which never happens in the framework because the jobs market clears and is in equilibrium). The implication is that people are on benefits because the benefits are too generous and this is causing them to prefer ‘leisure’ to work due to the relative rewards of each.

    A future Labour government must reject this framework and accept that the economy does not always produce sufficient jobs for the jobs market to clear (and therefore everybody who wants a job to be able to find one). On this basis it would be justified in creating a govt job guarantee scheme, allowing all those who want a job to have a guarantee of being able to find an employer. Then as Anthony Robins points out, the numbers on benefits will simply take care of themselves.

  5. North 5
    16 July 2016 at 9:43 am

    Ha ! John Key’s infamous “aspirational”. Take the word apart and look what we have –

    “asp” – a small viper with an upturned snout, the Egyptian cobra, a large predatory freshwater fish of the carp family –

    “irational” – irrational, not logical or reasonable, as in “a stroke of my ministerial pen and thus it is so [or should be so].”

    The Weak Man has seriously damaged New Zealand.

  6. keith ross 6
    16 July 2016 at 9:53 am

    I think that moving to a system that removed the responsibility for work to a totally separate dept where they could concentrate on that aspect of the problem and have another dept that is only concerned with the health and well being of the unemployed so that they can have a positive environment to look for work or up skill.
    this would give people the support that they need rather than having someone who every time you speak they are looking for the opportunity to deny you anything that you are entitled to.One dept that tells you what you can apply for and help you without badgering .This would cost less in the long term and would have a positive effect on society where people are no longer scared to lose their job because of the welfare dept.Where the staff were helpful and offered freely the different options and grants available to you.
    What I am saying is like the old model but with a lot of compassion and the idea that everyone is not trying to rip off the govt for the pittance that they offer.Peoples mental health would be much bettor making healthier workers and stronger bargaining power than now. Employers know how terrible the situation is for people on the benefit and use it in a take it or leave it ,that’s the job kind of way.Punishing people who are down on their luck is not right,economically or morally.Unlike the right wing thought line that people who are poor are lazy the truth tells another story,of hard work and still not making it to pay bills and feed the kids.have a heart.

    • ianmac 6.1
      16 July 2016 at 10:05 am

      Surely the staff at Work and Income must get really stressed at the tide of genuine people getting knocked back again and again. Sorry for the “clients” and the staff.

  7. Draco T Bastard 7
    16 July 2016 at 10:03 am

    We should have a goal of creating jobs. We should have a goal of getting people healthy. We should have a goal of educating and enabling people. Then the number on benefits would take care of itself.

    QFT

    If the government supported the population rather than multi-national corporations then there would be no unemployment. Instead people would be either employed or in training.

    Throwing people on the unemployment benefit and then throwing them off that for spurious reasons degrades the country’s capabilities. All the high level skill that a modern society needs is lost under the present system.

  8. Ad 8
    16 July 2016 at 10:14 am

    +100 Anthony. Heartfelt.

  9. Keith 9
    16 July 2016 at 10:14 am

    Their goal was a simple one, just get these losers off any benefit. Whether they had jobs or not was irrelevant. Hence the growing homeless population.

    But here’s some aspirational goals;

    Make business pay their fair share of tax and rates, not the discount they currently enjoy
    Make sure overseas companies pay their fair share of tax, Google, Uber, Compass spring to mind
    Cut all benefits for property speculators, no more tax breaks, just tax payments, lots of tax payments.
    End NZs tax haven status, yes John Key, I dont believe your bullshit!

    Aspirational for a moral etical government, not National or the Maori Party or ACT or Peter Dunne!

  10. Colonial Viper 10
    16 July 2016 at 10:17 am

    The NATs recently admitted that they would miss their social housing targets. Now they are admitting that they will miss their beneficiary reduction targets.

    Clearly, they are going to use the rest of Q2/Q3 2016 to get any bad news they have left out of the way.

    • BM 10.1
      16 July 2016 at 10:28 am

      Do you honestly think the voter cares about this stuff or blames National because xxxx amount of people don’t have the skills to get a job or accommodation?

      • Nic the NZer 10.1.1
        16 July 2016 at 10:48 am

        Exhibit A, a view from inside the National party framework. Clearly the presumption is there are enough Jobs or Houses for people to be provided for, and their predicament is their fault because clearly the Market provides.

        Labour must reject the framework for the unemployed, as they have started to reject it for the homeless.

      • Draco T Bastard 10.1.2
        16 July 2016 at 12:21 pm

        So, what you’re saying is that you think that all voters are as blindly faithful to the National Party and their delusional ideology as you are?

      • One Anonymous Bloke 10.1.3
        16 July 2016 at 1:49 pm

        The unemployment rate was ~3% in 2007. Why did eight years of the National Party reduce people’s skills so drastically? You have two choices: notice that your hate-speech has no basis in reality, or that the National Party is a bludger-production line.

        You are incapable of grasping this.

      • maninthemiddle 10.1.4
        16 July 2016 at 5:35 pm

        I would go further. Somehow AR considers it desirable that people remain on a benefit. Weird.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 10.1.4.1
          16 July 2016 at 5:40 pm

          What’s weird about a right wing troll putting words in someone’s mouth? What would be weird is if you engaged in a discussion in good faith.

          It’s beyond you.

          • maninthemiddle 10.1.4.1.1
            18 July 2016 at 11:08 am

            The Headline reads “A target we can celebrate missing”. The ‘target’…getting people off welfare. I’m putting words exactly where they came from. As a nation we should want people off welfare. This government is doing a grand job at exactly that.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 10.1.4.1.1.1
              18 July 2016 at 11:12 am

              Thank you for illustrating my point: the message of the OP is quite clear. Your feeble cherry-picking only obscures its meaning to you.

              • maninthemiddle …
                19 July 2016 at 10:14 am

                Cherry picking? The Headline? hahahaha

                • One Anonymous Bloke …
                  19 July 2016 at 11:20 am

                  🙄

                  Yes. The headline is not the body of the article, which lays out the author’s viewpoint. Your deliberately dishonest misrepresentation of that viewpoint says something about you, and nothing whatsoever about the viewpoint.

                  Do you think you’re being clever?

      • dv 10.1.5
        16 July 2016 at 5:43 pm

        Yes BM I do.

  11. North 11
    16 July 2016 at 11:02 am

    If you’re ‘the voter’ BM, no of course not. But that’s predictable and hardly the point.

    The point is the moral, social, financial destruction is happening so broadly and deeply now that civil unrest is on the horizon.

    Your pathetic answer is to heap pejorative and blame onto the victims. Finger pointing and blame directed at the least powerful by anti-social, psychotic wahanui may be a buzz for them but it has not worked. What do you do then BM ? Become more shrill and authoritarian ? You’re so Gower.

    • mac1 11.1
      16 July 2016 at 11:43 am

      Blaming the victims is the only way that a person with a modicum of decency can attempt to justify what is happening. Otherwise, there’s some serious thinking to be done. Like, shit, I’ve got that wrong, Bugger me, I’ve been deceived. Some bastard has deliberately fiddled figures, misrepresented, misled the public, and me.

      Lat night I watched a recording of Stone’s history of America. Amongst all the lies and deceptions one stands out. One which President George Bush Snr often quoted as an horrific example of Saddam’s brutality.

      A young woman told tearfully a story of how she worked in a hospital where invading Iraqi troops callously left babies on the floor to die. She had never been in the hospital. She was actually a daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador. According to Oliver Stone, she lied, Bush lied, the full propaganda machine lied.

      Like the Vietnam War, like the Iraq invasion, like the Falklands, lies, deception, corruption.

      How do they get away with it? Because people will believe them.

      To make war first you must demonise the enemy, dehumanise them. This is done by techniques such as blaming the target group, by accusations, by lying.

      It’s the history of the World, writ small in BM’s case of blaming the jobless and the homeless, whereby corrupt power acts corruptly against ordinary people.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Stone%27s_Untold_History_of_the_United_States

      • Draco T Bastard 11.1.1
        16 July 2016 at 12:28 pm

        +1

      • maninthemiddle 11.1.2
        19 July 2016 at 10:17 am

        Ever heard of a parallel universe? Look it up, you live in one.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Saddam_Hussein%27s_Iraq

        Of course you’d rather believe Oliver Stone, and remember Sadam as a nice man, with perfect manners.

        • mac1 11.1.2.1
          19 July 2016 at 12:34 pm

          Don’t put words into my mouth, maninthemiddle.

          Suggesting I live in a parallel universe does not help any discussion we might have.

          • maninthemiddle 11.1.2.1.1
            19 July 2016 at 4:11 pm

            I’m not putting words in your mouth, I’m calling you on your love affair with Sadam Hussain. Your faith in a movie producer for your information is pathetic.

            • mac1 11.1.2.1.1.1
              19 July 2016 at 10:40 pm

              All you have got to do, my man, is tell me where I have made any comment on Saddam Hussein (get the spelling right for a start) of any sort. Because I haven’t. You say I have, and that is what is called putting words in my mouth.

              Your misspelling of Saddam Hussein puts me in great recollection of that well-known man of American Intelligence, Lt-General Michael Flynn, former head of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, who in commenting on Fox News referred to Khomeini as needing to speak out on what happened in Nice, when the man had been dead since 1989- a mistake repeated more than once. Flynn had been considered as a potential V-P by Donald Trump!

              And you talk about living in a parallel universe.

              And, by the by, any evidence for your assertion about Oliver Stone’s information?

              Because I have the following to back up the quality of this university-educated, Vietnam war decorated veteran, from that great and well-known Leftie conspiratorial source, Wikipedia.

              “In 2012, the documentary miniseries Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States premiered on Showtime. Stone co-wrote, directed, produced, and narrated the series, having worked on it since 2008 with co-writers American University historian Peter J. Kuznick and British screenwriter Matt Graham.

              The 10-part series is supplemented by a 750-page companion book of the same name, also written by Stone and Kuznick, released on October 30, 2012 by Simon & Schuster.

              The project received positive reviews from former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, and reviewers from IndieWire, San Francisco Chronicle, and Newsday.

              Hudson Institute adjunct fellow historian Ronald Radosh accused the series of historical revisionism, while journalist Michael C. Moynihan accused the book of “moral equivalence” and said nothing within the book was “untold” previously.

              Stone defended the program’s accuracy to TV host Tavis Smiley by saying “This has been fact checked by corporate fact checkers, by our own fact checkers, and fact checkers [hired] by Showtime. It’s been thoroughly vetted…these are facts, our interpretation may be different than orthodox, but it definitely holds up.”

              • maninthemiddle …
                20 July 2016 at 10:22 am

                Oh, I see, you are a tin foil hat wearer. I wouldn’t have bothered if I’d known. Stone is a movie producer, and a very good one, but his presentation of history is frequently bs. Your love affair with Sadam is obvious in your willingness to believe a movie producers story over the butcher of Baghdad.

  12. jcuknz 12
    16 July 2016 at 11:24 am

    I think BM gave you the truth of the matter that the voters do not care despite it being a sad reflection on society today, if it was ever different.

    I’m remembering the BeniBashers from thirty or more years ago when their numbers were much less than today ….I think for example the one who goes ‘bush’ on the west coast living on the dole was doing others a favour by not competing for what jobs were available even then.

    The answer to me is the UBI and the fool Labor Party seem to have dumped that idea for fear of loosing votes? Instead of seriously working out how it would work without a massive increase in taxation as the RWNJs would have us believe.

    • BM 12.1
      16 July 2016 at 12:23 pm

      One thing I think that’s really hardened attitudes towards the less well of is the poor pimping the left has been involved over the last few years.

      Especially when practically in every case it soon becomes apparent that the poor person who’s getting pimped has made some rather poor life decisions and that’s the reason they find themselves in their current predicament.

      Sympathy withers and dies rather rapidly x that by multiple instances and sympathy becomes nonexistent.

      Well done Labour/Greens.

      • marty mars 12.1.1
        16 July 2016 at 12:33 pm

        propaganda from a right wing nutjob – believe me says bm I am just like you and want to tell the truth so that you will believe my hero jonnykey. The only pimping is you pimping your mate key – you’d be a sellout if you’d ever believed anything worthwhile – you haven’t.

      • North 12.1.2
        16 July 2016 at 10:00 pm

        Where’s your evidence of this ‘pimping’ BM ? I think you’re just colourfully ruminating after a big fattie.

      • reason 12.1.3
        16 July 2016 at 11:58 pm

        National hates on the unemployed and treats them like criminals ……

        But people like John Key who builds tax havens is supposed to be the guy we’d like to have a beer with …….

        “the toxic global “shadow banking” system that led to the global financial crisis. For example, hedge funds would typically be listed in Dublin, managed in London and domiciled in a classic tax haven like the Cayman Islands.”

        And Aussie banks with the help of john shewan attempted to steal $2.2 billion of tax payers money …………. “The settlement sees the banks collectively paying around 80% of the full amount of tax and interest in dispute, and the IRD levying no penalties. ”

        “In the Westpac case, the Crown produced memos from a senior tax adviser, now chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers in New Zealand, John Shewan, advising Westpac it should declare tax at a rate that would meet public relations objectives: ….

        “the 4 big accountancy firms based here (PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC), KPMG, Deloitte and EY) who assist multinationals in evading tax. ” ( from an Irish article )

        Does BM think Building tax havens and helping the rich steal will make national popular ?????

        $2.2 billion is roughly 100 years worth of what the benefit fraud unit recovered at the same time as the greedy banks were found guilty in the High courts …..

      • maninthemiddle 12.1.4
        19 July 2016 at 10:20 am

        BM I spent time working (voluntarily) amongst the less well off, and I agree with you 100%. Virtually every case I encounter is due to poor decision making, and the area I specifically work in is with a program designed to turn that around. The media and left wing politicians are a disgrace in the way they exploit these people.

    • Pat 12.2
      17 July 2016 at 8:41 am

      “I’m remembering the BeniBashers from thirty or more years ago when their numbers were much less than today ….I think for example the one who goes ‘bush’ on the west coast living on the dole was doing others a favour by not competing for what jobs were available even then.”

      How old are you jcknz?

      There gave been couple of articles recently noting that anyone born after 1970 has only ever known neoliberalism and it explains a lot about their mindset….I am increasingly inclined to agree with that observation.

      By the way, unemployment was far higher as a percentage through the late 80s early 90s in NZ…i can recall “job seeker” stats of 20% in Christchurch in that period though you are correct bene bashing still occured ( though not as much as government bashing) and the west coast opt out was disparaged and possibly a little later if my memory serves.

  13. Lloyd 13
    16 July 2016 at 11:52 am

    BM, “the voter” may not realise how badly neo-liberal thinking is affecting hi/her. Just like the frog in the warming pot of water “the voter” may no realise how seriously their children/grand-children’s choices of a life without poverty and desperation are being reduced by the idiots in government.
    The main stream media never set out alternatives to the present stupid/corrupt/immoral economic decisions being taken by the gnats, and never mention that the basic economic neo-liberal theories that our country is being run under are an ideology based on untruths and flim-flam. The clearest analogy I can compare this to is Lysenkoism. The end result of basing your economy on flim-flam is you end in the crap. Russians starved because of the crazy theories of Lysenko on producing grain, and New Zealanders are starving and will increasingly starve because of neo-liberalism.
    Eventually we will end up with a handful of really rich New Zealanders, with the rest of us living out of their rubbish bins, while most of our economic wealth will be exported to overseas corporations. Even the few rich New Zealanders remaining will be left questioning if they would have a better life if things were a little more economically equal.
    “The voter” who is apathetic now may not care if he is getting screwed, but I suspect the average New Zealander will eventually wake up to the disaster sequence we are currently living through, caused by the gnats. When the frog eventually jumps out of the hot water the results for the gnats will likely be very nasty. Longer it takes, the nastier it will get.

  14. Sabine 14
    16 July 2016 at 12:06 pm

    of course the National Voter don’t care……

    until its their kids that move away overseas or elsewhere cause there are no houses where they currently live
    until its their kids that move away overseas or elsewhere cause their are no jobs where they currently live
    until its their Nana that can’t get the hip replacment or knee surgery cause funds are being cut and who really cares about old people needing ‘surgery’
    until its their dad / mum / uncle / aunty that is being told by Winz to get a job cause having cancer is not reason to go on the sickness benefit
    until its their house that gets raced to make way for a motorway or something and they can’t find a replacement house
    until its their kid with a mental health issue that can’t get the health cause funds are cut
    until its their daughter / son who is a ‘single’ parent after death, divorce, separation that now has to run the WINZ obstacle course to receive help raising a child or four on their own.

    when all budgets are cut, when the homeless and beneficiaries of yesteryear are all purged from the books whom will the National Party find to vilify? And what services will the National led Government cut in order to hand out Tax Cuts to themselves and those in their income group. Maybe Working for Families? 🙂

    And i think what we see now is that National voters from the last two elections are coming to understand that without credit lines and ‘equity’ they are like the rest of the country only one / two pay cheques away from defaulting on their mortgage, their car payments, their school donation plans and so on and so on and then they too have no value for the National Party and are themselves just some lazy arses bludging in on Paula Bennetts Generosity and they should just try harder to pull themselves up with the aid of the Bootsraps while wearing Gumboots.

    Oh yea…..no National Voter will have ever voted something else then National. Thats why National has been in power for ever and ever and ever and ever…..oh hang on…….They don’t.

    • Observer Toke 14.1
      16 July 2016 at 5:06 pm

      .
      Hi Sabine

      . I liked you comment above (14).
      .
      . There is good reason for people voting National. Because Regan and Thatcher and Ayn Rand, with the devoted support of Allen Greenspan, promised everyone that the way ahead was to ignore your family, brother and sister and take up Greed.

      GREED iS GOOD was the their catchcry. Rand even had visions of families deliberately never assisting one another. Self and self only. The most vile writer of the past century.

      But the Americans adopted this cruel mantra as a replacement for Decency and Community.

      New Zealand being a bit behind the other nations has hung on to the Mantra and has been rewarded by having their house prices reach for the sky. Greed works.

      The Greed got so big, that people praised it as a cult, and found cult leaders like John Key. Wonderful Greed. All money being sent to the wealthy. A major Global collapse of wealth in 2007 -8 (worse than that of the 1920s) has not been lesson enough.

      Greed without any restrictions. Fraud; evasion of tax and stealing from the poor became holy pursuits. Riding redneck and roughshod over the younger generation has been the hallmark of life since the late 1970s.

      So, by ignoring their responsibilities to the up and coming generations, who will never own a house nor afford rental housing, the scandalous parents will beg to become the destroyers of hope of their offspring.

      All previous generations of Parents, have wanted their offspring do well even better than themselves. Not however this generation of dark diseased Parents.

      • Sabine 14.1.1
        16 July 2016 at 5:21 pm

        i agree with you that Rand was vile, but never forget she did claim social security.

        And that is why a few if not many so called National Voters will either vote NZF, Labour or even Greens every now and then. When all is said and done, no matter how happy they were with the free market they do want their ‘social security’ as much as every one else.

        So they to eventually will abandon ship, like rats the first ones to leave the drowning vessel to swim to brighter shores for a few years and then the whole cycle rinse repeat.

      • seeker 14.1.2
        16 July 2016 at 5:58 pm

        @Oberserver Toke @5.06pm

        Like your personification of ” The Greed “.

        Bryan Gould also tells how this came about in his blog from about the fourth paragraph onward:

        http://www.bryangould.com/how-did-it-come-to-this/

        • North 14.1.2.1
          16 July 2016 at 10:53 pm

          Excellent from Bryan Gould !

          I remember about three decades ago there was a Bryan/Brian Edwards chap who expressed similarly. Whatever happened to him ? Heard he fell into a bad crowd of neo-libs……mmm……sad.

    • North 14.2
      16 July 2016 at 10:44 pm

      Nice Sabine….nice.

  15. The Fairy Godmother 15
    16 July 2016 at 4:59 pm

    Anonymous caller rings and makes accusations against a solo mother on a benefit. These are not substantiated but the children are removed and put into care suddenly and without a proper handover of medication etc. The minute the children are taken the benefit is stopped and she is advised she will need to apply for a different type of benefit but can’t get an appointment for a week. In the meantime she has rent to pay and is in danger of being thrown out onto the streets but for an Aunty who agrees to pay the rent. If she loses her house and goes on the streets she won’t be able to get her kids back. Moreover the whanau take a month of negotiations with cyfs to get the kids out of care into whanau care. The state care is not all that good . Yes I can see how benefit numbers could go down. It makes me ashamed to be a new Zealand citizen having this stuff going on in my name.

  16. indiana 16
    16 July 2016 at 5:19 pm

    Here’s a hint… Stop using the neoliberal meme. The people you want to help don’t stand under that flag. If the Nats have missed a target on reducing beneficiary numbers, does Labour-Green have a target to increase numbers? is that what New Zealanders want, more people making a living from state handouts? So how’s Venezuela going again?

    • Sabine 16.1
      16 July 2016 at 5:25 pm

      the point of difference is

      National has a plan to ditch beneficiaries, Labour/Green has a plan to look after people that need a hand up to get them back on track so that they can live their lives humanly.

      But your concern is noted.

    • Observer Toke 16.2
      16 July 2016 at 5:47 pm

      .
      .Hi Indiana

      . Go for the Greed. Don’t worry about a thing.

      > Just always remember you ignored everything except money. And the money you have will be handed on to the really wealthy people at the first opportunity.. Do you know how few people own most of the world’s wealth ?

    • One Anonymous Bloke 16.3
      16 July 2016 at 5:54 pm

      Have you engaged your wibble-wobble? Is that what New Zealanders want, more wingnuts going wibble-wobble?* So how’s homeless families living in cars in New Zealand under National going again?

      *if your only excuse for your homelessness-factory is to tell fucking stupid lies about other party’s policies, expect ridicule, and other less palatable outcomes.

    • The New Student 16.4
      17 July 2016 at 6:25 pm

      It would be nice if the social security ladder had no ceiling on how high one can climb. At the very least, it should exist to limit how far one can fall. Neither of these is the case.

  17. Sabine 17
    16 July 2016 at 5:32 pm

    Phil Twyford updating from Tauranga,

    Nationals plans to sell all ALL 1200 State Houses in Tauranga.
    Cause nothing says housing challenge better then continuing a fucked up plan that leaves people homeless, but lines the pockets for investors and speculators.
    I am sure the house owning generation living in Tauranga will have no issues seeing their kids move elsewhere in search of a roof over their heads. Kids or profits……surely the National Voter will know that children are replaceable but Profits!!!!!! they are awesome. All that value on paper with high rates (and rising )to pay once a year and no cash in the bank. Profits!!!!!!!! Smart National Voters!!!!!

    Yeah, National has a plan to get beneficiaries of the books, don’t ya all find it funny that the Accommodation Supplement is not classified a ‘benefit’ it is a ‘supplement’ as i was educated by one of the Winz Drones. Some beneficiaries are more equal and deserving then other beneficiaries and none are as deserving as house speculators and slum land lords. They are the most deserving of them all. OH and dear National Voter, the Supplement (all 2 billion of it) are paid for with your Taxes. Feel better now?

    • North 17.1
      16 July 2016 at 10:29 pm

      Sabine that is the grossest amalgam of Vaudeville/Monty Python. “Smart National Voters!!!!! ” Ha Ha Ha !

  18. Roland Askew 18
    16 July 2016 at 7:28 pm

    I spoke to someone who used to work in the Hamilton Call centre. I agreed to not reveal who they are or details about them, for safety and legal purposes.

    After taking a call centre position, they were pressured to meet a quota for betting people on the benefit – NOT OFF, BUT ON.

    And they were required to hang-up upon existing beneficiaries regardless of their situation. Even people at risk or in emergency situations.

    The pressure to meet the take-on quota came from up high – regional managers or even from the ministry itself, though the exact source was unclear. It was done to raise funding for WINZ, either nationally or regionally – because the funding model means if the overall beneficiary levels drop enough, the overall funding gets cut, regardless of funds needed for big programmes such as Mainstream, or for small actions such as seminars.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 18.1
      17 July 2016 at 6:53 am

      So the doubling of the unemployment rate under National is WINZ empire building. Sounds plausible*. How do WINZ get people to leave their job in the first place so that they can sign up?

      *terms and conditions apply.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #39
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 24, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 30, 2023. Story of the Week We’re not doomed yet’: climate scientist Michael Mann on our last chance to save human civilisation The renowned US ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 hours ago

  • Clusterf**ck of Chaos.
    On the 11th of April 1945 advancing US forces liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald near Weimar in Germany. In the coming days, under the order of General Patton, a thousand nearby residents were forced to march to the camp to see the atrocities that had been committed in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    9 hours ago

  • The party of business deals with the future by pretending it isn’t coming
    Years and years ago, when Helen Clark was Prime Minister and John Key was gunning for her job, I had a conversation with a mate, a trader who knew John Key well enough to paint a helpful picture.It was many drinks ago so it’s not a complete one. But there’s ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    10 hours ago

  • 2023 More Reading: September (+ Old Phuul update)
    Completed reads for September: The Lost Continent, by C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne Flatland, by Edwin Abbott All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque The Country of the Blind, by H.G. Wells The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    23 hours ago

  • Losing The Left.
    Descending Into The Dark: The ideological cadres currently controlling both Labour and the Greens are forcing “justice”, “participation” and “democracy” to make way for what is “appropriate” and “responsible”. But, where does that leave the people who, for most of their adult lives, have voted for left-wing parties, precisely to ...
    Bowalley Road
    24 hours ago

  • The New “Emperor’s New Clothes”.
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    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • BRYCE EDWARDS: The vested interests shaping National Party policies
      Bryce Edwards writes – As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: A conundrum for those pushing racist dogma
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – The heavily promoted narrative, which has ramped up over the last six years, is that Maori somehow have special vulnerabilities which arise from outside forces they cannot control; that contemporary society fails to meet their needs. They are not receptive to messages and ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER:  The greater of two evils
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 30
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Labour presented a climate manifesto that aimed to claim the high ground on climate action vs National, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • The ‘Recession’ Has Been Called Off, But Some Households Are Still Struggling
    While the economy is not doing too badly in output terms, external circumstances are not favourable, and there is probably a sizeable group of households struggling because of rising interest rates.Last week’s announcement of a 0.9 percent increase in volume GDP for the June quarter had the commentariat backing down ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change: The wrong direction
    This week the International Energy Association released its Net Zero Roadmap, intended to guide us towards a liveable climate. The report demanded huge increases in renewable generation, no new gas or oil, and massive cuts to methane emissions. It was positive about our current path, but recommended that countries with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • “Racism” becomes a buzz word on the campaign trail – but our media watchdogs stay muzzled when...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Oh, dear.  We have nothing to report from the Beehive. At least, we have nothing to report from the government’s official website. But the drones have not gone silent.  They are out on the election campaign trail, busy buzzing about this and that in the hope ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Play it, Elvis
    Election Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t have time for. You’re welcome, etc. Let us press on, etc. 1.  What did Christopher Luxon use to his advantage in ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Pure class warfare
    National unveiled its fiscal policy today, announcing all the usual things which business cares about and I don't. But it did finally tell us how National plans to pay for its handouts to landlords: by effectively cutting benefits: The biggest saving announced on Friday was $2b cut from the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Ask Me Anything about the week to Sept 29
    Photo by Anna Ogiienko on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour, including:duelling fiscal plans from National and Labour;Labour cutting cycling spending while accusing National of being weak on climate;Research showing the need for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 29-September-2023
    Welcome to Friday and the last one for September. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt highlighted at the latest with the City Rail Link. On Tuesday, Matt covered the interesting items from Auckland Transport’s latest board meeting agendas. On Thursday, a guest post from Darren Davis ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago

  • Protest at Parliament: The Reunion.
    Brian’s god spoke to him. He, for of course the Lord in Tamaki’s mind was a male god, with a mighty rod, and probably some black leathers. He, told Brian - “you must put a stop to all this love, hope, and kindness”. And it did please the Brian.He said ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Labour cuts $50m from cycleway spending
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • The Greater Of Two Evils.
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    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2023
    Open access notables "Net zero is only a distraction— we just have to end fossil fuel emissions." The latter is true but the former isn't, or  not in the real world as it's likely to be in the immediate future. And "just" just doesn't enter into it; we don't have ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Chris Trotter: Losing the Left
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    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
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    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
    Labour’s  Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the  leaders’ debate  on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of  the pundits  rated  him the winner against National’s  Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New  Zealanders  start casting their ballots? The problem  for  Hipkins is  that  voters are  all too ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago

  • Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?
    The D&W analysis Michael Grimshaw writes –  Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?
    Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes-  Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
    This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
    This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Try A Little Kindness.
    My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • What makes NZFirst tick
    New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • September AMA
    Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Old habits
    Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
    Real ClimateBy rasmus
    4 days ago

  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    5 days ago

  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    5 days ago

  • Always Be Campaigning
    The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push back
    The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Competing on cruelty
    The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
    Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan  – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
    As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
    Voters  are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris  Hipkins’  valiant  rearguard  action.  So  where  are they  heading?  Clearly  not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that  the  outcome  will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a  few weeks  ago  was ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
    Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes –    With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
    As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
    ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • September-23 AT Board Meeting
    Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
    Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Big money brings Winston back
    National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
    As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    6 days ago

  • A night out
    Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • A pallid shade of Green III
    Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
    Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
    Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Letter To Luxon.
    Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.   Brian Easton writes –  Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • CRL Progress – Sep-23
    It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago

  • Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
    We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
    Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
    The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW:  It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Safeguarding Tuvalu language and identity
    Tuvalu is in the spotlight this week as communities across New Zealand celebrate Vaiaso o te Gagana Tuvalu – Tuvalu Language Week. “The Government has a proven record of supporting Pacific communities and ensuring more of our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated,” Pacific Peoples Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Many ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago

  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
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