Business claims crisis as country approaches full employment and wages increase

Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, July 12th, 2022 - 124 comments
Categories: Economy, employment, jobs, uncategorized, unemployment, workers' rights - Tags:

Anyone else getting tired of the media presenting the fact that New Zealand essentially has full employment is a very bad thing?

The country is in a situation it has not been in since the 1970s where it is approaching full employment and the repercussions are totally predictable.  It is harder for employers to fill jobs and the pressure is meaning that wage rates are increasing.

Sounds great doesn’t it.  Everyone has a job and they are earning more.

What could possible be bad about this?

Judging from the extreme positions taken by some in the media lots.

Heather Du Plessis-Allan expressed the thoughts of many small business owners when she said this:

The labour shortage is now so bad that everyone who wants a job has a job. Employers are now stealing workers off each other. For every business that finds a worker, another one loses a worker. It’s a pass the parcel of pain.

It says a lot that ANZ’s CEO Antonia Watson called on the Government to let workers in. She voiced her concern during the PM’s trip to Australia. It apparently went down like a lead balloon with the PM’s office. Watson was supposed to be a cheerleader not a truth talker.

But she’s right. We do “want a more productive economy” but it “will take years and investment” and “in the meantime… people are just crying out for staff”.

The Aussies have realised they need to do both at once: start to invest now in a longer term fix, while importing more crucial skills immediately.

We can’t let this carry on for years while productivity slowly catches up.

We all want Kiwis’ wages to lift. But for them to have wages, they need to have jobs. And for them to have jobs, there need to be thriving businesses creating jobs.

That’s now being prevented by the immigration reset.

Heather’s statement is of course internally contradictory.  We have to increase immigration so that businesses can create more jobs and wages can then increase so that we can counter the current situation where … pretty well everyone has a job and wage rates are increasing.

Heather’s solution will increase unemployment and thanks to market forces drive down wages.  It is weird that right wingers hate market forces when they improve the plight of ordinary workers but are fine with them when they cause misery.

And Heather’s doom and gloom analysis for the country’s economy?  The latest Treasury data where tax revenue is greater and crown spend and debt levels are below what was anticipated would suggest that things are better than Heather is claiming.

This is not an exclusively a New Zealand phenomenon.

And there has been a whole stream of negative comment about how bad it all is.

But here is the thing.  There has been no balance in the presentation of the issue and I am looking at you Radio New Zealand.

For every business owner complaining that their business has been adversely affected they should also interview a worker who now has a greater ability to pay their bills or a family whose children now have better living conditions so their ability to benefit from education has improved.

And these businesses are the very same ones who complained about Covid restrictions affecting their bottom line.  Now that Covid is wide spread and many workers are taking time off to recuperate they are complaining about not having enough workers.  Massive own goal there business owners.

These wall to wall tales of woe without any counter stories of the decency of earning a living wage is class war.

Currently the country is enjoying something that is very good for ordinary people.  The media should present both sides of this story not just tales of woe from employers who in the past have benefited from employing cheap imported labour.

124 comments on “Business claims crisis as country approaches full employment and wages increase ”

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  1. Sanctuary 1
    12 July 2022 at 8:42 am

    It shouldn't surprise anyone to discover the MSM is basically a servant of capitalism.

    • Patricia Bremner 1.1
      13 July 2022 at 10:50 am

      yes Yes Sanctuary, and so Business and MSM "Sing from the same song sheet".

    • Scotty 1.2
      13 July 2022 at 3:54 pm

      Found this gem in a sea of Nat/Act voters.

      HT, gnx |interest .co 12th Jul 22, 3:13pm

      It’s looking like we not only built an economy around borrowing money to buy each other’s houses….. we built an economy around borrowing people from overseas.

      not the most resilient in hindsight

      I see the EMA and Business NZ is cranking up the advocacy around staff shortages and the need to bring back immigration. At what point do staff start to push back and say where is the training, the career pathways and commitment to local staff.

      And what's the point of working for a company if you can’t buy a house…..the whole thing is a bloody mess.

      At what point do member companies start to ask what has been going on with these organisations to allow this….?

      I read the other day that sealord can’t get staff and will be short a few hundred this season for hoki….and at the end of the article it said they could invest in automation but it would cost $100m and they don’t want to spend the bucks. And there’s your problem….we are just sweating old assets. It’s not really enticing to a new generation of workers who could be more productive.

      and then the ceo of ANZ comes out and parrots the same rubbish and says in the long run we will need to invest in productivity….but it will take time and money…..but hey let’s just get some immigrants quickly and we can go back to bidding up our houses off each other and put off the investment side.

      i know everyone here bags the government but from my experience the business organisations have been corrupted by the banks, corrupted by the National party and have been taking the easy options….they have been ripping their members off and now the chickens are coming home to roost.

      Look at the Chamber as well….what would Simon Bridges know about business ffs? He’s never worked in one, started one or owned one. And now he’s the CEO?

      Kiwis are too naive. Time to start asking some hard questions of where we are heading with all of this.

      • KJT 1.2.1
        14 July 2022 at 8:34 am

        Why invest capital in making a business more productive, effeciant or innovative, when you can make money more easily by screwing down staff wages, or even better, simply by hoarding land.

        Low wage economies don't succeed. There is no incentive to ensure staff are well trained and productive.

        A foolish own goal for businesses. Employees are also customers.

        Kicking the "can down the road". "Lets not invest in employees and productivity now, later". The same argument farmers gave against cleaning up rivers and AGW mitigation. It is always too hard, right now.

  2. PsyclingLeft.Always 2
    12 July 2022 at 8:48 am

    Nats and croni……SUPPORTERS are well conflicted. Must be a terrible thing to have a Booming Economy..AND Full Employment…under a Labour/Green Govt. Nice.

    • DavidJ 2.1
      13 July 2022 at 7:40 pm

      That tends to happen when you borrow/print tens of billions of dollars, pump it into the economy, and virtually close the borders. There will be a day of reckoning, it's coming soon and it won't be pretty.

      • joe90 2.1.1
        13 July 2022 at 8:20 pm

        There will be a day of reckoning, it's coming soon and it won't be pretty.

        Do tell.

        • DavidJ 2.1.1.1
          13 July 2022 at 9:21 pm
          1. Inflation is currently running at a shade under 7%. That is the highest in 30 years. This eroding asset values, and the purchasing power of wages and salaries.

          2. In response to the rise in inflation, the RB has been hiking interest rates, which will (further) reduce disposable incomes and suppress economic activity.

          2. According to the ANZ, "The economy is transitioning from domestic demand that was overstimulated (with the benefit of hindsight), to a rapid withdrawal of monetary stimulus in order to tame the inflation beast. "

          3. The economy shrank 0.2% in the March quarter, with real disposable incomes falling 0.5%. The significance is not the result as much as it is that this fall went against prevailing economic predictions. ANZ economist Miles Workman said that Domestic economic momentum was starting to slip. Quote "Interest rates are lifting, house prices are falling, inflation is eroding household incomes, migration is negative, and consumer confidence has tanked,"

          4. The impact of more recent increases will cause further contraction.

          5. Higher interest rates will make put some mortgage lending into an 'at risk' category. Given the substantial climb in house prices over a prolonged period, some mortgage holders will find themselves unable to sustain mortgage payments, leading to mortgagee sales. That part of the property cycle significantly disadvantages lower income/net worth individuals.

          None of this ends well.

          • joe90 2.1.1.1.1
            13 July 2022 at 10:28 pm

            Inflation is currently running at a shade under 7%.

            And Australia is closing in on 6%, the UK, Euro Area, and the US are all running at over 8%. It's what happens during global calamities.

            the RB has been hiking interest rates,

            As is most every other Central bank so hardly unique.

            The economy shrank

            As is every other economy in the world so again, hardly unique.

            The impact of more recent increases will cause further contraction.

            Your reckons don't count.

            Higher interest rates will make put some mortgage lending into an 'at risk' category.

            We've turned property into a commodity and now you're complaining about the greater fools being caught with their pants down. Grow up.

            But I'm sure the sewer pigs would appreciate your 20/20 hindsight whinge about the actions of a government who gave a rats and decided to prioritise the well being of people.

            • PsyclingLeft.Always 2.1.1.1.1.1
              13 July 2022 at 11:41 pm

              Exactly. Some would have had us with Covid Plan B. And Thousands dead. They can fuck off.

            • DavidJ 2.1.1.1.1.2
              14 July 2022 at 9:35 am

              And the countries you're referring to have central banks who made the same mistakes ours did. This is not unique to NZ. It won't end well for them either.

              "We've turned property into a commodity and now you're complaining about the greater fools being caught with their pants down. Grow up."

              Who are these 'greater fools'? Young couples who have clawed their way into a home? Families who have stretched themselves to achieve home ownership to get out of paying the landlords mortgage? As I said, "That part of the property cycle significantly disadvantages lower income/net worth individuals."

            • DavidJ 2.1.1.1.1.3
              14 July 2022 at 10:26 am

              Right on cue:

              Tony Alexander: Businesses are going to fail – but who’s to blame?, All things property, under OneRoof

              'None of us truly felt that our central banks would take such an irresponsible attitude towards inflation risks last year. Only in the past few months have central banks admitted they should have started taking away excessively loose monetary conditions last year and now they are playing catch-up and driving an interest rates shock through the world economy."

              "If your business is failing or soon to fail, be aware that it is not all your fault. You have been caught in a maelstrom of factors including the incompetence of our own central bank."

          • KJT 2.1.1.1.2
            14 July 2022 at 8:37 am

            If you think this is bad, imagine the clusterfuck if National/ACT had been in power during covid.

            But. You don't even have to imagine. Bungling Boris, in the UK, graphically showed us the bullet we dodged, by not having the entitled Tory twits in charge here during covid.

            • DavidJ 2.1.1.1.2.1
              14 July 2022 at 9:40 am

              It's not a competition KJT. The reality is we'll never know whether the RB would have behaved any differently under different political circumstances, or how a different set of politicians would have responded. It’s easy to pontificate in opposition, far more difficult to actually make the hard decisions when your in the hot seat.

              • KJT …
                14 July 2022 at 10:05 am

                We have ample evidence of how NZ's right wing would have responded to COVID, from their own statements. And past actions.

                And we already know their ideas on bringing in as much cheap labour as possible, and keeping wages down.

                You really think they would change their spots.

                A narrow thinking corporate stooge as PM, obligated to the idiots in ACT, will make things much much worse.

                • pat …
                  14 July 2022 at 10:18 am

                  Migration has been apolitical

                  https://www.stats.govt.nz/topics/migration

                  Indeed it peaked just prior to Covid under Labour.

                • DavidJ …
                  14 July 2022 at 10:19 am

                  What statements? I would prefer to look at what other political parties actually did when in government. NZ's response to the 2008 GFC saw NZ have a shallow recession and a solid economic rebound.

                  • KJT …
                    14 July 2022 at 10:48 am

                    In the GFC, Loosened monetary policy, didn't they?

                    The opposite of what you want.

                    However current National MP'are not as pragmatic as Key and English were.

                    “What statements”. Where have you been the last two years?

                    • DavidJ …
                      14 July 2022 at 11:05 am

                      "The opposite of what you want."

                      No, it's not. It's a matter of degrees. Loosening monetary policy is a legitimate policy tool when done properly.

                    • KJT …
                      14 July 2022 at 12:15 pm

                      Showing your true colours.

                      "Fine if National does it, but not if Labour does it".

                    • DavidJ …
                      14 July 2022 at 1:35 pm

                      ""Fine if National does it, but not if Labour does it"."

                      It's not necessarily political. It can come back to to the actions of the central bank. NZ's central bank have got it wrong, and we'll pay the price.

                    • KJT …
                      14 July 2022 at 3:44 pm

                      It is the reserve Bank Act that requires the RBNZ to kill our economy, when it shows signs of revival.

      • PsyclingLeft.Always 2.1.2
        14 July 2022 at 7:14 am

        There will be a day of reckoning, it's coming soon and it won't be pretty.

        Riiight. Where have I seen that right wing shite before? Really channelling that Nactional mind aren’t you.

        • DavidJ 2.1.2.1
          14 July 2022 at 9:39 am

          Do you think that a substantial increase in debt, rising inflation and interest rates, and a negative growth rate are good things? I happen to see them as the natural consequence of our central bank running a monetary policy that was too loose. Along with many other central banks.

          • KJT 2.1.2.1.1
            14 July 2022 at 10:12 am

            We don't have to have rising interest rates.

            That is a consequence of the Neo-liberal abomination the Reserve Bank Act. At least now the reserve Bank has to consider other factors in economic health before they have to apply the wrecking ball.

            Tighter monetary policy during COVID would have caused recession and multiple business failures and unemployment.

            As it will now.

            You are still living in cloud cockoo land, like most of the Deficit Hawks. Ignoring the economic lessons of the last century.

            • DavidJ 2.1.2.1.1.1
              14 July 2022 at 10:17 am

              "Tighter monetary policy during COVID would have caused recession and multiple business failures and unemployment."

              Depends what you mean by 'tighter'. There is a balance and we exceeded it, as did many other central banks BTW. That will lead inevitably to an adjustment, how hard will depend on a range of factors, and that 'adjustment' will likely cause recession, business failures and unemployment.

              • KJT …
                14 July 2022 at 12:18 pm

                The results show the balance was not exceeded.

                However the too fast tightening by reserve banks, now, are going to cause an inivitable crash.

                Using demand side solutions to supply side inflation is going to crash the entire world economy. But the banks will do it anyway.

                • DavidJ …
                  14 July 2022 at 1:32 pm

                  "The results show the balance was not exceeded."

                  The results show the balance WAS exceeded.

                  https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/tony-alexander-businesses-are-going-to-fail-but-whos-to-blame-41826

                  • KJT …
                    15 July 2022 at 7:07 am

                    How about finding a more credible source than a internally contradictory word salad, real estate article. From an “economic commentator” whose main conclusion is that he basically doesn’t have a clue what is going to happen. ?
                    https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/18589-the-modern-conservative-is-engaged-in-one-of-man-s-oldest

                    Are you saying Labour should have let those businesses fail during covid?

                    Instead of propping them up.

                    Or the reserve bank, and the Government should have completed covid’ s destructive path through the NZ economy, by causing a deep recession.

                    • DavidJ …
                      15 July 2022 at 7:51 am

                      Tony Alexander is a reputable source, even if you don't like what he says.

                      You are seeing this as a binary, when it simply isn’t.

                  • KJT …
                    15 July 2022 at 7:55 am

                    If that incoherent rambling, and opinion without supporting evidence, is your idea of a a "reputable source" then I can see why you have a problem.

                    One of his opinions agree with yours.
                    Doesn’t make either of you right. Then he contradicts himself. If it is all “unpredictable”, then how can anyone, including him, predict the results. Or say what approach was correct.

                    • DavidJ …
                      15 July 2022 at 8:55 am

                      It's not incoherent. He's very clear about what he's saying, and he's not alone in his comments. Former RBNZ Chairman Arthur Grimes warned in late 2020 that "…asset price inflation is taking off. People are using cheap debt to pile into the property market, chasing yield there, as well as in the share market". “It’s a real danger that the Reserve Bank is just destabilising asset prices, which is going to come home and really hurt the economy down the track,” What he said then was right on the money. House prices rose on the back of artificially cheap money, and those with wealth became wealthier.

                      Then in early 2021, Grimes urged the RB to begin to gradually tighten money supply, saying "The RBNZ loosened monetary policy too much through 2020, causing soaring house prices (as well as other asset prices) which is very damaging for disadvantaged New Zealanders and for the next generation."

                      Edit: Here’s an article from Feb 2021 that claims the RBNZ warned the government ‘repeatedly’ about precisely those impacts.
                      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300223358/reserve-bank-repeatedly-warned-government-money-printing-would-lead-to-house-price-inflation

                    • KJT …
                      15 July 2022 at 4:14 pm

                      The house price inflation has been occurring for a long time. It even occurred in the 80's despite sky high interest rates.

                      Interest rates were a small part of the drivers of land prices.

                      Both are totally neglecting what would have occurred if monetary policy had been tightened during covid. An inivitable recession and disastrous numbers for business failures and unemployment.

                      As relevent now as it was back then..

                      KJT. Random musings on all sorts of things.: The Reserve Bank, Debt and the Property Market (kjt-kt.blogspot.com) "Now, every time the New Zealand productive economy struggles off its knees, the reserve bank delivers another knockout".

                      Then there is the question of how effective interest rate rises will be in curbing inflation, which is almost entirely driven from outside NZ.

                    • pat …
                      15 July 2022 at 4:53 pm

                      Interest rates are but one tool….credit availability and for what purpose, tax incentives and regulation are others….as stated earlier the 3 arms have to coordinate…..and they have (in the main) for the past (roughly) 3 decades.

                      Real estate inflation has run well ahead of general inflation over that period hence the increasingly stretched ratio to median incomes since the 1980s

                    • DavidJ …
                      15 July 2022 at 5:13 pm

                      "Both are totally neglecting what would have occurred if monetary policy had been tightened during covid. An inivitable recession and disastrous numbers for business failures and unemployment."

                      Again, you're seeing this only as a binary. The tap is not simply either on or off. The flow can be controlled. The alternative is what we're seeing now, a sharp rise in interest rates that will hit the people who can least afford it the hardest.

                  • DavidJ …
                    15 July 2022 at 5:19 pm

                    "Interest rates are but one tool….credit availability and for what purpose,"

                    That's a great point, Pat. For what purpose. IMHO business assistance should have been in the from of grants that were then assessed at a later time to establish whether or not they had been a) required and b) applied to maintaining jobs. If not, the grants should have crystallised into loans that were repayable. To be fair, the government had some tough decisions to make, and often were making those decisions in an information vacuum (not of their own making).

  3. James Simpson 3
    12 July 2022 at 9:02 am

    a worker who now has a greater ability to pay their bills or a family whose children now have better living conditions so their ability to benefit from education has improved

    Do you have any evidence to show that is correct?

    Any modest wage increases have been more than eaten up with fueling the car to get to work and paying for the groceries.

    • Puckish Rogue 3.1
      12 July 2022 at 1:44 pm

      If we ignore it then maybe it will go away

      • James Simpson 3.1.1
        12 July 2022 at 1:56 pm

        It just to seems to be devoid of all reality.

        Due to the imported inflation, there is no one who has a greater ability to pay their bills now than they did 2 years ago.

        • Puckish Rogue 3.1.1.1
          12 July 2022 at 2:01 pm

          They know this, they just want power more than they want to help the people that vote for them.

        • Stuart Munro 3.1.1.2
          12 July 2022 at 4:13 pm

          Not quite true – those who've been able to return to full-time work now that the market is not altogether saturated with migrants, though hardly rolling in it, have at least got out from under the Umbridge types at Winz – a huge improvement in quality of life.

        • mickysavage 3.1.1.3
          12 July 2022 at 7:36 pm

          Que? When wages go up workers ability to pay their bills increase. Some other event may mean that their ability to pay their bills decreases but this does not affect the beneficial effect of them receiving a wage increase.

        • KJT 3.1.1.4
          14 July 2022 at 8:40 am

          If National/ACT were in power.

          We would still have the imported inflation.

          With pay cuts, and another 300 000 imported workers filling up the jobs.

    • Patricia Bremner 3.2
      13 July 2022 at 11:12 am

      That is pure exaggeration.

      The difference between being on unemployed money,( in the face of competing overseas cheap labour), and being fully employed in a climate of increasing wages would need inflation to be in the order of 30% not 6.9%. to make those families as badly off as you point out.

      This kind of misleading hyperbole is common. Further the Government is compensating the most affected with a payment in August. Granted Benefits should automatically rise to cover inflation, but the reverse happened under National. Every one on a benefit except pensioners, was hit by Paula's cuts.

      No one in National seems to have tied huge corporate and bank mortgage profits plus landlords' higher rentals as drivers of inflation…. "No no! It must energy costs workers wages or the Government's Health strategy.

      Like kids with jam all over their faces they cry "Not me !! I didn't do it It's them!.

      Just look at their profits!! Huge!! They used the Government assistance to enrich themselves, complaining all the way.
      Never waste a crisis.!!

      • Patricia Bremner 3.2.1
        13 July 2022 at 11:42 am

        I got called away and missed putting. These huge profits should provide room for training retention payments and innovation costs. … Waiting!!devil

      • RedLogix 3.2.2
        14 July 2022 at 10:56 am

        landlords' higher rentals as drivers of inflation

        Just a good moment to point out that for many landlords fixed costs are rising too – rates, insurance, R&M are now frequently accounting for somewhat more than 50% of the rental income. A large chunk of your rental goes straight to those costs – the same costs you would be paying if you owned the place. And that is before any mortgage payments.

        Most landlords would be lucky to be making $5 – 10k pa pre-tax profit on an asset worth the thick end a $1m. The idea that your landlord pockets your whole rent and lives the life of Riley on it doesn't stack up in reality.

        At most you can point to the capital gains but then that is a different business model which depends on constantly buying, borrowing and selling property – which is emphatically not what you want for the long term residential rental sector.

        • KJT 3.2.2.1
          14 July 2022 at 12:24 pm

          Doesn't explain why rents have been steadily increasing around 6 to 8% year on year, despite more recent lower mortgage interest rates. And cost inflation about 2%.

          Pure profit taking by landlords expecting tenants to buy their houses for them.

          • RedLogix 3.2.2.1.1
            14 July 2022 at 3:05 pm

            The relevant cost increases are rates, insurance and maintenance. Not to mention govt mandated improvements.

            The fixed cost inflation I am seeing is a lot higher than 2%.

            You can imagine pure profit taking all you like, my real world data says otherwise.

            • KJT 3.2.2.1.1.1
              14 July 2022 at 3:48 pm

              My real world data shows that rents were rising by similar amounts when costs were going down.

              In the last couple of months rent rises decreased, despite all the moaning about increased costs. Which suggests, along with the above inflation increases over several decades, that costs have little relationship with rent rises.

              • RedLogix …
                14 July 2022 at 6:32 pm

                when costs were going down.

                I have hard evidence that says that fixed costs are going up:

                Rates for example.

                Insurance up 150% in a decade, 5.6% in a year

                And these are just the big two. Maintenance and mandatory improvements increase every year by similar amounts. Combined these are now consuming more than 50% of the rental income. And this is before the variable costs of the mortgage – which in case you have not noticed have also increased this year.

                And one of us has skin in this game.

                  • RedLogix …
                    14 July 2022 at 10:33 pm

                    You claimed fixed costs had been going down and yet when I provide clear evidence to the contrary you shift the goal-posts rather than honestly acknowledge the point.

                    Do you imagine I have not seen this before?

                    • KJT …
                      15 July 2022 at 6:39 am

                      No. I said that the rate of rent rises had decreased recently despite, supposedly, costs going up.

                      Read.

                      And that rents were steadily rising even when costs were, (‘were’ meaning, in the past) low or dropping.
                      Which leads to the obvious conclusion, that like so much of the present rises in food and other costs, rent rises are driven by excessive profit taking, not costs!

                    • KJT …
                      15 July 2022 at 6:53 am

                      And are.

                      You arguing against something I have clearly not said, “Strawman”.

                      Where have I seen this before?
                      https://effectiviology.com/straw-man-arguments-recognize-counter-use/#:~:text=A%20strawman%20is%20a%20fallacious%20argument%20that%20distorts,that%20stance%2C%20which%20their%20opponent%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20necessarily%20support.

                      In fact arguing against a mythical “Left” of your own creation seems to be your favourite form of debate.

                    • RedLogix …
                      15 July 2022 at 8:10 am

                      And that rents were steadily rising even when costs were, (‘were’ meaning, in the past) low or dropping.

                      Which costs? Rates? Insurance? Maintenance and improvements?

                      I produced two references. It is not unusual to see rates rise well above inflation, often in the range of 5 – 10%. Insurance has risen 150% in a decade. Together with R&M these are not minor items and form the bulk of the fixed costs.

                      You are claiming these have been very low or falling which frankly seems delusional to me.

                    • KJT …
                      15 July 2022 at 8:26 am

                      I said rents were still rising even at the times, in the past! when costs were falling.

                      If you are not going to bother to read what I wrote, and going to continue to argue against things I haven't said, as you usually do, there is not much point in talking to you.

                    • RedLogix …
                      15 July 2022 at 8:34 am

                      You claim rental costs were falling. Which ones?

                      You seem incapable of answering even the simplest question,

                  • RedLogix …
                    14 July 2022 at 10:42 pm

                    So I looked at your referenced article. The highlighted text box the author has chosen to highlight reads:

                    The classic example of rent-seeking is that of a feudal lord who installs a chain across a river that flows through his land and then hires a collector to charge passing boats a fee (or rent of the section of the river for a few minutes) to lower the chain. There is nothing productive about the chain or the collector. The lord has made no improvements to the river and is helping nobody in any way, directly or indirectly, except himself. All he is doing is finding a way to make money from something that used to be free.

                    In this context this can only mean that residential rentals are simply a way of making money from houses that should be free.

                    Or if not – what is your point?

                    • RedLogix …
                      15 July 2022 at 8:01 am

                      Again you evade the question. You linked to an article whose central point in this context was that houses should be free. Do you agree with this or not?

                      If you think I am straw manning this then now is a good moment to make your point.

                    • KJT …
                      15 July 2022 at 8:41 am

                      The central point is that someone should be adding something productive for the common good, before they make a profit on it,

                      Rentiers do not add anything. They simply hoard assets so they can charge rents on them.

                      If landlords built houses specifically to rent, which some do,, I don't have a problem with them. They are adding to the stock, which will ultimately decrease rents.

                      Our society has a problem with speculators buying up existing assets. Pushing the price up beyond what most can pay, so they can then rent them back to the same people they have shut out of the market. Morally no different from hoarding toilet paper and reselling it at $100 a roll. Then the same people expect others, who pay taxes on all their income, to support with rents, infrastructure and subsidies their largely tax free profit, sorry, capital gains.

                      Because you are one of them, you seek out a moral justification for something that is basically immoral.

                      My other point, which you strawmanned by saying I claimed costs were currently going down, when I said nothing of the sort, is that rent rises over a long time period, according to the graph I supplied, have been constantly increasing by amounts exeeding general inflation, independently of any cost fluctuations. A characteristic of a market driven by profit taking, not “cost plus”.

                    • pat …
                      15 July 2022 at 8:48 am

                      Could I suggest this is a pointless argument?….the conditions that have been in place over the past few decades were what drove real estate/rent inflation, it was by design and some were in a position to benefit from them (not all by design, some were accidental beneficiaries) and most people given the opportunity would seize those benefits…..the actions of individuals didnt create the problem, it was systemic and there is no going back and changing the past however so we have to address the problem that exists today.

                    • RedLogix …
                      15 July 2022 at 8:55 am

                      If landlords built houses specifically to rent, which some do,, I don't have a problem with them.

                      Well this is precisely what we did. An apology is in order.

                      As I have seen so often before you consistently fail to make the distinction between property speculation and residential rental businesses. I have already made this point above at 3.2.2:

                      At most you can point to the capital gains but then that is a different business model which depends on constantly buying, borrowing and selling property – which is emphatically not what you want for the long term residential rental sector.

                      We run a residential rental business that we heavily funded, built (hands on) and operates long-term rental units. In 20 years of doing this we have not sold a single unit for capital gain.

                      But nonetheless you claim our profits are tax free. Maybe we need a better accountant – because each year he sends us an IRD tax bill in error it would seem.

                    • RedLogix …
                      15 July 2022 at 9:06 am

                      Rentiers do not add anything. They simply hoard assets so they can charge rents on them.

                      I recall that you potter about in boats for a living; maybe quite big ones that charge for their service. I think their owners just hoard these ships, do not add anything of value, and they really should be provided free.

                      Or am I missing something here?

                    • KJT …
                      15 July 2022 at 9:09 am

                      As I said, I don't have an issue with those who are in the business of building and supplying additional housing.

                      So. You have the apology.

                      However you have been defending the speculators, which is nowadays most landlords in NZ.

                      I have continually here and elsewhere criticised our national over reliance, on capital gains tax "farming".

                      In housing, farming and other businesses, that are not in the business of producing anything, but simply in the business of constantly bidding up the prices of existing assetts. This is destroying our economy and country.

                      And more to the point. Destroying any chances of a sustainable "circular economy" when increasing monetary wealth is so dependent on the "greater fool" principle.

                    • KJT …
                      15 July 2022 at 9:16 am

                      @Pat. ."the actions of individuals didnt create the problem".

                      It is the actions of individuals. Individuals lobbied against capital gains taxes. Individuals chose to add to their houses instead of investing in a real business. Individuals decided to decimate our social housing and subsidise private landlords instead.

                      I made a personal choice. To create a productive business, instead of leveraging a dozen houses, which I could have easily done. I didn't want to be part of the problem.

                      To say it is not individuals, when we all have choices to act morally and socially responsibly, is not accurate.

                    • pat …
                      15 July 2022 at 9:22 am

                      @KJT

                      Individual's actions WITHIN the system….ultimately real estate inflation is driven by the availability of credit to the sector….something controlled by banks, central banks and government policy (in collusion).

                    • RedLogix …
                      15 July 2022 at 9:23 am

                      I have continually here and elsewhere criticised our national over reliance, on capital gains tax "farming".

                      Well finally something we can agree on. Indeed this is exactly why I strongly supported the ideas TOP were promoting that tackled this exact issue head-on with a CCT and major taxation reform to shift investment from capital to production.

                      You are free to quibble the details of their policy, but there is no denying their intention and my support on it.

                      As for property price inflation – from my perspective it is nothing but a pain in the arse. It means our ROI is ridiculously low and the margins have become wafer thin. With fixed costs now consuming 50% or more of the income, it means there is little room to move if interest rates continue to rise.

                    • KJT …
                      15 July 2022 at 10:29 am

                      @Pat.

                      Which consists of individuals, do they not?

                    • pat …
                      15 July 2022 at 10:38 am

                      @KJT

                      Lol..everything boils down to individuals…but they are not the individuals you are seeking to nominate.

                      The reality is those 'individuals' have changed over the period of the system…consider how many RBNZ governors there have been, bank ceo's and politicians…and yet the system remained in place largely unchanged.

  4. RedLogix 4
    12 July 2022 at 9:10 am

    An economy requires multiple inputs to function well. Labour, technology, security, energy and capital are the big broad categories that come to mind. If any one of these is insufficient then productivity will fall creating real poverty.

    Labour and capital also have the odd property that if they exist in a surplus then other perverse effects come into play – low wages and inequality, or hyper-inflation for example.

    NZ right now is in the odd situation of having a bit too much capital (from the COVID binge) which is pushing the inflation button, while running low on labour (also from the COVID immigration reset) which is hitting the productivity brake. This is pushing us into what has been called the stagflation zone, where the tension between falling productivity and and rising inflation has no easy, immediate solution. Importing more workers merely suppresses wages and sharpens the impact of inflation, while constraining capital raises interest rates and that directly hits costs.

    It is my sense, and I stand to be corrected, is that no nation has worked out how to handle this scenario in a painless fashion. The only good news is that stagflation seems to be an unstable state and after a messy, unhappy period – it resolves itself.

    • mpledger 4.1
      12 July 2022 at 12:18 pm

      It's not too much capital fueling inflation, it's world events. Inflation is pushing up the cost of living everywhere. If it were the settings particular to NZ then it would only be happening here. We can't control the energy and food crisis that the war in the Ukraine, and the second order effects, have created.

      • RedLogix 4.1.1
        14 July 2022 at 10:28 am

        It's not too much capital fueling inflation, it's world events.

        Well yes – that is certainly driving the component of inflation we import. I also had in mind the rise in property that been happening domestically for some time now. In addition the retirement of the boomer generation is pushing hard on labour costs everywhere.

        If you drill down into the weeds there is a complex tangle of cause and effect going on – but in one short comment above I was stepping back and looking longer term.

        • Nic the NZer 4.1.1.1
          15 July 2022 at 11:50 am

          Can you elaborate on why 'too much capital' could be fueling inflation?

          One would think that increased capital (if the term has any meaning) is associated with high productivity and would therefore lower inflation. Or by capital do you just mean a short hand for money or credit, though clearly technically they are quite separate concepts.

          • RedLogix 4.1.1.1.1
            15 July 2022 at 12:45 pm

            You are quite right to pull me up on that. I was using the word capital loosely as a shorthand for credit.

  5. Sanctuary 5
    12 July 2022 at 9:34 am

    NewsTalk ZB in particular is increasingly an ambient proto-Fascist space.

    The presentation of selected voices of capitalist interests by ZB dollar store media demagogues like Du Plessis-Allan as that of "the voice of the people" reminds me of Umberto Eco's seminal 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism" in which he observed that:

    "…Ur-Fascism is based upon a selective populism, a qualitative populism, one might say. In a democracy, the citizens have individual rights, but the citizens in their entirety have a political impact only from a quantitative point of view – one follows the decisions of the majority. For Ur-Fascism, however, individuals as individuals have no rights, and the People is conceived as a quality, a monolithic entity expressing the Common Will. Since no large quantity of human beings can have a common will, the Leader pretends to be their interpreter. Having lost their power of delegation, citizens do not act; they are only called on to play the role of the People. Thus the People is only a theatrical fiction. To have a good instance of qualitative populism we no longer need the Piazza Venezia in Rome or the Nuremberg Stadium. There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People…"

  6. higherstandard 6
    12 July 2022 at 9:41 am

    I must be missing something as the MSD figures don't support a position that we're approaching full employment.

    https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/2022/benefit-fact-sheets-snapshot-march-2022.pdf

    I can also confirm the current situation in primary and secondary care in NZ is shambolic not due to covid and winter respiratory illnesses per se but due to the disastrous lack of HCPs (doctors, nurses and paramedics) – the government and its ministries continue to pretend that they have matters in hand, they are either misinformed or they are lying.

    • Descendant Of Smith 6.1
      12 July 2022 at 12:58 pm

      I suspect a few reasons why that is a contradiction.

      1. The labour market has grown and is larger than pre-COVID

      1,060,195 jobs May 2019
      1,131,220 jobs May 2022

      71,025 more jobs

      This means that even if the number of unemployed remained the same the percentage would drop slightly

      2. Some/many of those jobs have been taken by people returning to NZ during COVID-19 and are often skilled jobs e.g. growth in web-site building as businesses developed an on-line presence, increased number of medical staff (hospital or otherwise), increases in the building industry or jobs have been filled through migration from places like Auckland to regions leaving locals still unemployed.

      3. Regional differences are quite spread – those producing food are less affected than those dependent on tourism

      4. Part of the economy such as low paid tourism and low paid cafe work has yet to recover.

      5. It is the off season for low-paid seasonal work.

      6. People who are caring for children are risk averse due to COVID-19 so are not seeking work whereas they might have been previously e.g. parents with disabled children. Labour force survey excludes those not looking for work by only counting those who have applied in the last four weeks as unemployed.

      https://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/

    • lprent 6.2
      12 July 2022 at 6:59 pm

      I must be missing something as the MSD figures don't support a position that we're approaching full employment.

      Of course you are. But really you just need to learn to read more carefully.

      Once you remove the people who significant disabilities for work, ie solo parents, people taking care of their elderly, and people with Jobseeker with a health condition or significant disability, then the % of the population who are available for work is hitting somewhere between 3 and 4% and closer to 3% than 4%. This is the traditional area where employer start having to hunt for staff.

      Then lok at the maps and you will find that the places with least percentage of people on benefits of any kind are – well they are where the jobs are. Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Southern – which coincidentally are where all of the whining employers seem to be as well.

      What this dumbarse pamphlet doesn't show is the important information, like residence time on Job-seekers for people who are 'work ready'. Some of that can be gleaned from the excel spreadsheets.

      https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/2022/quarterly-benefit-fact-sheets-national-benefit-tables-march-2022.xlsx

      and

      https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/2022/quarterly-benefit-fact-sheets-regional-council-tables-march-2022.xlsx

      Where you will find a precipitous drop in people on benefits who have been on them for less than a year in areas with work, as lower drop in people who have been on benefits for longer in those areas, and limited changes in other areas.

      It is pretty obvious what is going on.

      People who are ready and able to work and who are in areas with work are getting jobs. People who have been on benefits for longer periods have adapted to living on a pittance, and aren't willing to move to more expensive housing where there is work or don't have the capability (ie a car or pubic transport) to go to poorly paid jobs to work – so they don't.

      Employers aren't raising wages high enough to tempt people to increase their costs to work at jobs in a different town or different area where there is work. They also don't want to work on improving productivity with plant, training, or better management.

      Plus of course there is that stupid punitive stand down period that WINZ still has. That massively increases the risks for people starting new jobs because the economically rational course of action is to not take jobs that carry any risk of losing them in the short-term.

      That bit of policy stupidity is only there to satisfy right fools like yourself who get their jollies from hitting people while they're down with moralistic ignorance (and a lack of ability to read numbers).

      • dv 6.2.1
        12 July 2022 at 7:45 pm

        Good analysis Lpent

        Thank you

      • Patricia Bremner 6.2.2
        13 July 2022 at 11:35 am

        Thank you Iprent. Expressed as I never could. yes

      • higherstandard 6.2.3
        13 July 2022 at 5:02 pm

        Good Lord Lynn – did it take you all day to come up with that just so you could have a dig at me, how sad.

        I think this article in stuff from earlier in the year covers matters quite succinctly,

        https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/300535840/theres-a-5year-unemployment-low-and-a-5year-welfare-high-what-is-going-on

        Instead of the government and opposition spouting spin at each other it'd be a pleasant change if someone presented a coherent plan for getting different sectors up and running again.

        I'm most interested in health where there are long term structural issues and immediate staffing problems that require more attention than flippant nonsense from whomever is the current Minister and/or Director General of Health.

        • Descendant Of Smith 6.2.3.1
          13 July 2022 at 11:18 pm

          Part of the reason for the shortage is the growth in health-care and social assistance jobs since COVID-19.

          234,321 jobs pre-COVID
          261,265 jobs now.

          So more people are employed but demand continues to increase. It hasn't helped that DHB's were filled with English managers putting in the same time and motion, just in time type practices that they had previously instigated in UK hospitals – which they complain about as turning into rubbish while at the same time implementing in NZ the very same policies that deteriorated the UK hospitals.

          Which sectors do you think aren't up and running.

          Agriculture has gone from 96,007 jobs to 99,000 and was as high as 113,487 at seasonal peak.

          Manufacturing has gone from 232,878 pre-COVID-19 to 236,067.

          Construction from 171,566 to 201,457 jobs in May. Even wholesale trade has lifted by 4,000 jobs and retail trade by 10,000 jobs.

          Professional science and technical services has gone from 168,464 jobs to 191,391 jobs.

          The losses are in the food industry and then only 3,000 jobs, transport another 3,000 jobs, media and telecommunications 1,000 jobs, admin 2,000 jobs, and arts and recreation 3,000 jobs.

          Out of 19 sectors that stats NZ use only five have less jobs now than pre-COVID and the many of that five are low paid – something that has been warned about for years as contributing to keeping productivity down.

          I'd trade the extra 23,000 professional jobs for the 3,000 food jobs any day. Isn't that what we want to happen – a move to better paying jobs.

          • Descendant Of Smith 6.2.3.1.1
            13 July 2022 at 11:34 pm

            "National Party leader Christopher Luxon blamed the rise on “the subtle prejudice of low expectations”."

            I'd also say Luxon is almost right on this but he's pointing the fault in the wrong direction. It is a prejudice of low expectations by employers – their unwillingness to (re)employ Maori, women, Pacific Peoples and those with disabilities let alone pay them the same wages.

            This was evident in the recovery after the GFC and history is repeating with the after COVID period. The employers will try and blame the people but it is them, the employers, own failings to employ and train these different groups that is the problem.

          • Ad 6.2.3.1.2
            15 July 2022 at 7:31 am

            Good post DoS keep it coming.

    • Craig H 6.3
      13 July 2022 at 11:23 am

      There are some excellent replies already posted, and to add to those, Stats NZ have done some work on the relationship between unemployment statistics and benefit numbers using their own surveys, government data from the Integrated Data Infrastructure and MSD data. To quote Stats NZ:

      We found that levels of unemployment and JS-WR should not be assumed to indicate a single pool of unemployed JS-WR recipients, even when at a similar level or moving in the same direction, as many unemployed people are not in receipt of JS-WR, and many JS-WR recipients are not unemployed.

      JS-WR = Jobseeker Support – Work Ready i.e. beneficiaries.

      A further quote from the summary:

      Linked HLFS-benefit receipt data consistently shows no more than a third of unemployed people are in receipt of JS-WR, even as benefit numbers swelled during COVID-19. As such, we should not assume there is a single group of unemployed JS-WR recipients, even when at a similar level or moving in the same direction.

      HLFS = Household Labour Force Survey.

  7. Adrian 7
    12 July 2022 at 10:24 am

    There is a world- wide shortage of doctors and nurses because modern health practices can solve many, many more conditions than ever before. If the Us and Europe need to import nurses from Asia and Africa, where arguably they are needed much more then the local problems need a local solution but “ encouraging “ young people into medicine by dickheads who should know better by “ selling “ the career as “ overwhelmed, hellish, burnt out and chaotic “, that is stupid in the extreme.

    You are right Mickey, it is our success that is causing the labour shortage, here in Marlborough there is a company building electric, AI guided tractors from the ground up, others developing high tech components and materials for battery technology and others developing all sorts of products including complete engines for vintage aircraft. Nationally it is the same, NZ has a spacecraft in Moon orbit, not a failed NASA satellite but the NZ RocketLab vehicle that got it there has taken over the role of testing the orbit for a manned space station in the future. These are incredible successes but we hear bugger all about them because the fucking media is operating like a wartime Fifth Column and that is disgusting and treasonous.

  8. Reality 8
    12 July 2022 at 11:19 am

    The rampant negativity on all issues in most media would make one think NZ is on a par with Ukraine or Sri Lanka. Covid is causing many difficulties, but business and opposition parties are the ones who do not want any public health restrictions so yes, many more people are getting sick with Covid or flu. They can't have it both ways.

    Spent several hours at Wellington Hospital yesterday. Everything functioned extremely well. No complaints whatsoever, even though again the media makes out health is totally collapsing.

    • Visubversa 8.1
      12 July 2022 at 11:52 am

      New Zealand has always been part of an international market for health professionals. We train a lot of overseas students here in medicine etc as well as Kiwis who may or may not take their talents offshore. We may be getting more health professionals from the USA with the removal of "Roe" and as the Philippines exists on remittences from their biggest export which is the labour of their diasphora, we get their nurses etc. There has been a pandemic sized spanner in the works of this market over the last couple of years and it will take some time to resolve.

    • mpledger 8.2
      12 July 2022 at 12:20 pm

      Unfortunately, business has learned that if they are squeaky wheel then they will get hand-outs. So, they are squeaking for all they are worth.

      • Christopher Randal 8.2.1
        12 July 2022 at 1:09 pm

        That's what they are used to under a National government. The public complaining is getting louder because they are not getting their way.

    • Mike Bond 8.3
      14 July 2022 at 1:48 pm

      Glad that you think everything is working just fine at Wellington hospital. You fail to mention that all elective surgery has been canceled. You fail to mention the 6 hour minimum waiting time at ED. You fail to mention the hundreds of outpatient clinics that have been cancelled. But glad it went well for you.

      [Only when you use your pre-approved e-mail address will your comments appear here – Incognito]

  9. Poission 9
    12 July 2022 at 12:06 pm

    Immigration constraints due to covid ,( and subsequent high international travel costs) have seen significant falls in unemployment in developed countries,and significant wage growth in the US at the blue collar end.

    The blue collar wage growth was higher in non white,and lower educated (high school level) as participation rates grew.The elasticity in the US jobs market,will also dampen recessionary layoffs (due to unfilled positions,remaining unfilled) a similar position we will see here (as jobs decrease and disappear in the service and low productive sectors)

    https://twitter.com/LizAnnSonders/status/1512371151904948227?cxt=HHwWhoC-3Zfjgv0pAAAA

    • KJT 9.1
      12 July 2022 at 2:01 pm

      Funny how all those who used to insist that immigration and temporary visa's, didn't affect local employment and wages, have gone quiet.,

      • Poission 9.1.1
        12 July 2022 at 2:05 pm

        Housing costs,rents etc.

      • Craig H 9.1.2
        13 July 2022 at 11:52 am

        The Productivity Commission inquiry into immigration settings found that "On average, immigration is not driving down wages nor displacing local workers."

        In the actual report, they acknowledge that won't necessarily be the case at all times in all regions or sectors (another point in the summary was "The use of Labour Market Tests, Skill Shortage Lists and tying migrants to employers can suppress wages and productivity"), but on average across the economy and labour market, not so much.

        • Stuart Munro 9.1.2.1
          13 July 2022 at 3:52 pm

          Yeah but – how objective were they really.

          Many of us know a large employer with few or no kiwi employees, paying rock bottom (or less), and constantly whining about a labour shortage, that kiwis don't want to work, and generally wailing and gnashing their teeth.

          And why wouldn't they – this profitable fiction has worked for them for decades.

        • Poission 9.1.2.2
          13 July 2022 at 4:42 pm

          Nah the PC inquiry was mostly word salad,citing mostly their own reports,and with little rigor such as models etc. ( writing a 123 page report to provide very little is an unproductive exercise)

          The US fed also looked at this and provided some clear evidence that it does affect wages at the bottom end of town.

          Taken together, Charts 3 and 4 suggest that the reduced supply of foreign labor caused employers to raise wages to attract workers. These trends align with previous studies showing a non-positive relationship between immigration and wages (Card 1990; Borjas 2003). As immigration declines, wages rise, as the reduced labor supply drives employers to raise wages to attract more workers.

          https://www.kansascityfed.org/research/economic-bulletin/immigration-shortfall-may-be-a-headwind-for-labor-supply/

          • Craig H 9.1.2.2.1
            13 July 2022 at 5:43 pm

            The USA is somewhat different to NZ, with different immigration laws and employment laws and standards (or lack of). Do you have any examples of NZ research showing that?

            • Poission 9.1.2.2.1.1
              13 July 2022 at 6:03 pm

              The US does have access to high quality data (often over very short times),it also does have some strong employment laws ( overtime mandated for incomes under 60k at rate 1.5) Immigration is always part of the US economy,and where forced restrictions such as Covid did occur we did see increases where there were inverse demand constraints.

              The best other demand shock in NZ was over the period post the CHCH eq,where International students and temporary migrants left town,and both participation and wage growth in Canterbury were around twice the level of the rest of NZ (rbnz study) some internal migration for skilled labour,but the participation rate increase ( outside of construction) was in the older part of town in both PT and FT employment (over 55).

        • KJT 9.1.2.3
          13 July 2022 at 5:33 pm

          On average.

          Then COVID came along and showed graphically that the idea that immigration doesn't affect local wages and job opportunities is nonsense. Which working people knew all along.

  10. barry 10
    12 July 2022 at 1:07 pm

    The problem with immigration is that the immigrants require services, and that requires more labour. Instead we need more training and higher productivity.

    Successive governments have created an environment where there is not incentive to raise productivity, which in turn has kept GDP growth down, and meant that we are a a low age economy.

    We learned last year that there were 200 000 people here with houses, jobs, schools etc who had no reasonable expectation of PR or citizenship. The government has allowed them to stay. Now the employers want to get back to the situation where we invite in another 60 000+ every year.

    We will need them to build enough houses for all the immigrants to live in.

    The answer is not unconstrained immigration (some is necessary and good), but training and investment in technology to help people become more productive (and better paid).

    • KJT 10.1
      12 July 2022 at 1:23 pm

      Never happen, while New Zealand businesses are so wedded to competing to see who can pay the lowest wages, fed by Governments who use imported labour to give an illusion of growth, rather than investing in training, efficiency, capital machinery and innovation!

    • foreign waka 10.2
      12 July 2022 at 1:43 pm

      Perhaps some of the companies should start sharing the benefit (profits) and providing training, higher wages, provide infrastructure that mostly benefits them anyways. There are reports of unprecedented profits since the pandemic begun and of cause the shareholder wants ever improving returns. This has started with the billion dollar payout at the start of the pandemic with the return curve going bananas. Corporate welfare at its finest, the unabated greed and dishonesty by far to many (not all), the ruthlessness being worn like a badge of honor whilst those who have to actually pay for it all are once more taken to the cleaners. Surprised? Not really, because underneath a thin veneer the beast is easy to see.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018849004/is-the-inflation-in-nz-because-of-profits

      • Patricia Bremner 10.2.1
        13 July 2022 at 2:48 pm

        yes the missing link. Training retention payments and profit share to encourage productivity.

    • Craig H 10.3
      13 July 2022 at 11:54 am

      Absolutely right. Something that usually gets ignored by employers complaining about labour shortages is that migration is normally a poor solution to a general labour shortage because migrants also create additional demand and therefore jobs in the form of their spending.

  11. Descendant Of Smith 11
    12 July 2022 at 1:09 pm

    We've been here before.

    https://history.wustl.edu/news/how-black-death-made-life-better

    In its entry on the Black Death, the 1347–50 outbreak of bubonic plague that killed at least a third of Europe’s population, this chronicle from the English city of Rochester includes among its harrowing details a seemingly trivial lament: Aristocrats and high clergymen not only had to pay triple wages to those toiling in their fields, but, even worse, they themselves had to perform manual labor.

    Beware the capitalist though.

    Yet there was a great deal of deliberate (in)action behind these developments. Rather than supply some of the needed labor themselves, landowners turned to solutions that might produce the kind of world they were capable of imagining. In England they created first the Ordinance (1349) and then the Statute (1351) of Labourers, which froze wages at pre-plague levels, compelled workers not otherwise engaged in fixed, long-term employment into year-long contracts with the first employer who demanded it, and established penalties to ensure compliance.

  12. Jenny how to get there 12
    12 July 2022 at 1:16 pm

    It is a crisis profits (oops), growth could be seriously affected.

  13. Mat Simpson 13
    12 July 2022 at 2:16 pm

    " Heather’s solution will increase unemployment and thanks to market forces drive down wages. It is weird that right wingers hate market forces when they improve the plight of ordinary workers but are fine with them when they cause misery.

    Greed and control ?

    Neo liberal policies don't allow for pandemics and other crises that capitalism has created when it comes to pay the serf's more and an increase in employment.

    The sooner the flood of slaves are admitted to Aotearoa and the inevitable drop of the pittance paid to working people who are expected to survive on miserable wages the happier Heather and the bulk of business in little ole neo liberal non union paradise of NZ will be

  14. Binders full of women 14
    12 July 2022 at 5:48 pm

    Urgently need more DJs and less nurses.

  15. DB Brown 15
    13 July 2022 at 7:09 am

    In a world where people are going full postal more and more often, these puppets of the press pay no heed to the mobs surrounding them. No, indeed they fancy themselves above such affray…

    They'd boil babies if there was money in the fat.

    And simultaneously, they look down their noses at those trying to help.

    It's not going to end well.

  16. Ad 16
    13 July 2022 at 10:47 am

    +1000 Mickey

  17. Obtrectator 17
    13 July 2022 at 5:34 pm

    " ….we will need to invest in productivity….but it will take time and money…..but hey let’s just get some immigrants quickly and we can go back to bidding up our houses off each other and put off the investment side …. "

    Same old story with any course of action known to be necessary but distasteful: "yes, great idea, but …. not in my lifetime, O Lord".

  18. Scotty 18
    14 July 2022 at 8:44 am

    I doubt this establishment has trouble attracting staff.

    Some Queenstown Businesses should take note!

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-drink/129264329/top-auckland-restaurant-cassia-to-open-seven-days-to-help-staff#comments

  19. Corey Humm 19
    14 July 2022 at 5:06 pm

    Its great that we're nearing full employment and employers have to compete for employees not the other way around, and seeing major wage increases, I desperately wish this had of happened before COVID and global inflation apocalypse because, if we lose the next election, we'll lose millennials and gen z to this neoliberal experiment, because they'll think full employment always leads to inflation.

    Today , if they interviewed a worker for every business owner, the workers would complain angrily about the cost of living and how they feel they are going backwards.

    Many would say they struggle to buy food, they can't fill up their tank and are struggling to keep the lights on and or find a house to rent outside of Auckland.

    It wouldn't be a ringing endorsement, the cost of living crisis is the major crisis facing this government, it will be the cost of living that decides the next election, it won't be COVID, the health system, environment, Maori issues, abortion, it'll be about the cost of living in NZ.

    Right wing neoliberal policies will not help a damn bit and make everything worse but the fall out will just be blamed on labour.

    I hope the left are ready , for the first time in my entire lifetime, to fight an election based on economics and class.

    Next year looks set to be a battle royal between left wing economics and right wing economics.

    Can Jacinda Arderns Labour fight an election based on progressive economic policy? In 2017 she argued for making the existing neoliberal system fairer and mostly coloured between the lines, in 2020 she campaigned on practically nothing, she didn't need to, the most left wing thing she did was argue for a pathetic 3% increase to the top tax after ruling out things like capital gains taxes and wealth taxes.

    I think she could. I think she can win if she runs a campaign that looks beyond the status quo of which she is apart of based on universalism and getting out the vote of the worker, the unemployed, the middle class out.

    But she'll have to be more exciting economically, we need the "capitalism has failed " Jacinda of 2017 not the "I categorically rule that out" Jacinda of 2019- present

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Recent Posts

  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 27

    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 mins ago
  • Ticket To Anywhere

    You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    53 mins ago
  • Stories of varying weight

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 hours ago
  • Balancing External Security and the Economy

    New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    18 hours ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: The unravelling of the offsets

    The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    24 hours ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
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    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
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    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
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    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
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    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
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    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
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    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
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    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
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    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
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    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
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    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
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    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
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    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
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    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
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    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
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    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
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    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
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    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
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    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
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    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
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    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
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    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
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    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
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    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
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    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
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    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
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    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
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    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
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    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
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    7 days ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
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    1 week ago
  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
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    1 week ago
  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

    New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
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    1 week ago
  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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