housing
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Too much too far?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 23rd, 2021 - 97 comments
As we lead up to Budget 2021, there’s much more shape to the whole direction of this government.
National’s housing policy
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, April 16th, 2021 - 30 comments
National has released its housing policy and the proposals are predictable. Free up more land, loosen up the RMA, and require Councils in high growth areas to urgently review their district plans.
About Grant Robertson’s bright line tax statement
Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, March 28th, 2021 - 217 comments
Media has been abuzz with comment about how last election Grant Robertson has backtracked on a promise on not extending the bright line test. Should politicians stick to their pronouncements no matter what? Or should they change their minds if circumstances demand a change in course?
The housing crisis and the Government’s response
Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, March 25th, 2021 - 163 comments
The Government’s housing policy announcements have been attacked by the right and landlords as being an attack on rights and business, and by elements of the left for being too timid. Which suggests that the announcements are quite well pitched.
Government announces plan to help first-home buyers maintain the housing crisis
Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, March 23rd, 2021 - 226 comments
Labour disappoints again. Individual investment rights trump collective responsibility for people having homes.
Something big but not like that
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, March 23rd, 2021 - 41 comments
I am going out on a limb here but I think that Comrade Chris Trotter suggesting that Jacinda Ardern may resign as Prime Minister may be overhashed.
National and the Greens on how to solve the housing crisis
Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, March 17th, 2021 - 71 comments
Over the past week National and the Greens have released housing policy designed to address the country’s current housing crisis. National’s are tired and either reflect what is already happening or reinforce their doctrinal view of the world. The Green’s proposals are more radical and reflect steps that Micky Savage and the First Labour Government took in 1935.
The Unbearable Lightness of the Bright-Line Test
Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, March 13th, 2021 - 96 comments
The bright-line test is a red herring and does nothing to deter housing speculation.
So, You Want To Buy Your First Home?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 7th, 2021 - 75 comments
Money does not grow on trees, it grows on houses. It is pure magic!
No Right Turn: One way of fixing the housing crisis
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, January 14th, 2021 - 63 comments
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation
The Government’s finances are in very good shape
Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, December 17th, 2020 - 66 comments
The Government’s finances are in remarkably good shape. Who would have predicted that dealing properly with a global pandemic would have had better results for the economy than timidly dealing with it and trying to ensure that economic activity continued? But by international levels our Government debt is already low and maybe now is the time to spend on vital areas such as poverty, climate change and the housing crisis.
How can NZ incomes be lifted to match housing costs?
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, December 12th, 2020 - 68 comments
Not a vague let’s raise wages and benefits explanation, but an in-depth, number crunching, evidence-driven explanation. Where is it?
Tranquillum
Written By: - Date published: 7:28 pm, December 6th, 2020 - 134 comments
Don’t expect a jellyfish to grow a spine, they just bob along on the current and keep moving, gently, slowly, kindly.
National’s gonna National
Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, December 2nd, 2020 - 73 comments
On two issues, pill testing at music festivals and tax changes to address the housing crisis, National yesterday indicated that it will do what conservative parties do and oppose any meaningful change.
The Speech From The Throne
Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, November 27th, 2020 - 21 comments
I’m sure one needs a particular depth of political nerdiness to give a flying fig about such things, but since I am one of those, these are my highlights from the speech from the throne to Parliament this week.
No Right Turn: the obvious question
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, November 23rd, 2020 - 20 comments
One in four property speculators aren’t paying the bright-line tax.
Time’s up Labour
Written By: - Date published: 4:50 pm, November 20th, 2020 - 114 comments
It’s not possible to resolve New Zealand’s housing and poverty crises from within a neoliberal frame. Change is going to have to be driven from outside of parliament.
Capitalism’s end game
Written By: - Date published: 8:07 am, November 13th, 2020 - 145 comments
In Aotearoa New Zealand we are facing a new crisis. Not Covid, although the recent case of community spread is deeply concerning. The crisis is the value of houses.
Blood sucking leeches blame young for blood supply crisis
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, November 3rd, 2020 - 118 comments
The Property Investor Federation’s executive officer has expressed the opinion that every time a first home buyer buys a house it makes the housing crisis worse.
Why Can’t The Ministry of Works Just Build Houses Like 1935?
Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, October 23rd, 2020 - 32 comments
We don’t have a government like the Labour government that formed in 1935.
NZ election 2020: Labour win is a watershed moment in the country’s history
Written By: - Date published: 12:27 am, October 20th, 2020 - 47 comments
The 2020 election was more than just a victory for Labour and more than a crushing defeat for the National Party (New Zealand’s main centre-right political party). This result marks a significant watershed in New Zealand politics which will likely have implications long after this parliamentary term.
Landlord lobby group hopes National Government will ditch warm flat requirement
Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, September 7th, 2020 - 56 comments
The NZ Property Investors Federation has proposed to its members they should hold off on making flats warmer and drier just in case there is a change of government.
What progressive housing policy for renters looks like
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, September 4th, 2020 - 17 comments
Currently your politicians do NOT represent people who rent. But you all have a choice to vote for solutions that do!
Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Government: Style over substance or a guiding light for progressive politics?
Written By: - Date published: 8:42 am, August 10th, 2020 - 33 comments
Critics have dismissed the Jacinda Ardern government as being one of style over substance. This is unfair given the challenges this government has faced and the policy achievements it has had. However, it is a government that has much work to do if it wins a second term. And its over-reliance on Jacinda as party leader is a huge strategic risk, especially when the governments front bench is perceived, rightly or wrongly, to be lightweight.
New Zealand for the win!
Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, June 25th, 2020 - 107 comments
$100,000 a year in capital gains.
What the Greens did
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 15th, 2020 - 39 comments
A round up of the Green Party’s achievements in the 2020 Budget: funding for nature, the commitment to ending violence, and public housing and insulation. And a look at the pragmatics of what the Greens can currently accomplish.
His work here is not yet done
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 1st, 2020 - 71 comments
Former Prime Minister John Key has said that under current conditions employers are going to sack 20 per cent of their workers even if the company is doing well and that employers should never waste a crisis.
Are the Vultures Already Circling Above?
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 14th, 2020 - 116 comments
We cannot go back to business as usual after the lockdown but can we shape the way things will be for the greater good?
No Right Turn: Ghost homes should be used to house the homeless
Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, March 14th, 2020 - 100 comments
Idiot/Savant writes about empty houses and the homeless.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out
Written By: - Date published: 12:27 pm, March 7th, 2020 - 163 comments
Changes to the Residential Tenancies Act have a few landlords threatening to quit the business.
The real cause of New Zealand’s failing housing system
Written By: - Date published: 3:16 pm, February 23rd, 2020 - 139 comments
Simon Wilson has set out in a Herald article historical data which suggests that the cause of the housing crisis can be dated back to decisions made generations ago. But Steven Joyce thinks that the cure is actually the cause of the problem.
- Developing Separately – Or Together?
'He iwi tahi tātou'? Should Maori poverty be addressed as a manifestation of the economic and social injustices inherent in free-market capitalism; or, is it the inevitable consequence of colonial oppression, white privilege and institutional racism? If it’s the former, then Maori and Pakeha can tackle the problem together. If ...3 hours ago - “A Rare Misstep from Simeon Brown”: Once more playing the Useful Idiot of the National Party?
Overall, MP Simeon Brown is someone to poke fun at with his asinine takes, clearly. He can, like Collins, just not help himself to save himself. But never let yourself get seriously worked up and actually worn out over it. He’s simply not worth it, sad as it ...4 hours ago - NZ Politics Daily: 6 May 2021
Parliament’s Speaker Trevor Mallard Henry Cooke (Stuff): National v Mallard: That atrocious late-night debate is the reason people hate politicians Barry Soper (Herald): Trevor Mallard’s outburst this week questions whether he understands what a serious sexual assault is Claire Trevett (Herald): The unedifying spectacle of the Speaker v National in Parliament (paywalled) Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Mallard using his power to attack ...13 hours ago - Reducing tobacco retail availability: how could this be achieved and what evidence supports the NZ G...
Lindsay Robertson, Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards, Frederieke Petrović-van der Deen, George Thomson, Louise Marsh (*Author details) The NZ Government has published a Discussion Document outlining an Action Plan for the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal. This blog is one of a series examining key aspects of the plan to help inform ...13 hours ago - Ardern says China differences ‘becoming harder to ignore’; promises to work harder on ignoring t...
Ardern has been crystal clear that New Zealand “must step up” its efforts if it is to successfully dodge questions about genocide in China. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the Auckland Business Chamber on Monday that differences between New Zealand and China on human rights were “becoming more difficult” to ...1 day ago - covid-19 infection and how the spike protein is involved in doing harmJust this morning a journalist sent me a link to a press release about a new paper looking at how SARS-Cov-2 affects the vascular system, & asked to comment on it for a article. If you’d like to read the actual paper you can find it here, but be ...1 day ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #18, 2021
Bringing more certainty to uncertainty communications For the armchair dilettante observer of scientific progress a solid literature review is something akin to going to Disneyland. It's almost too much stimulation. When a review covers a salient, hot topic, so much the better. This week we're pleased to feature a vast review ...1 day ago - Punishing our saviours again
Last year public servants saved our lives, working overtime in the middle of a pandemic to stand up a response which kept out Covid and kept kiwis alive and employed. The government rewarded them with a pay freeze. And now they're extending that for another three years: Public servants ...1 day ago - Hard News: A picture of official callousness and detachment
Last night, the New Zealand Herald posted a story from its political reporter Derek Cheng which bundles together a number of current issues around medicinal cannabis. The most alarming is that of Katy Thomas and her epileptic son Eddy, which has recently been taken up by Green MP Chloe Swarbrick. Their ...1 day ago - Samoa’s dodgy dissolutionSamoa's tied elections took a turn for the worse last night, with the O le Ao o le Malo purporting to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections in what looks awfully like a self-coup. The "justification" for this was the uncertainty created by the hung parliament - a situation the ...1 day ago
- 12,000 unemployed under LabourThe quarterly labour market statistics have been released, and once again outperformed expectations, with unemployment dropping to 4.7%. So there are now 135,000 unemployed, 12,000 more than when Labour took office. Its not all good news though: the underutilisation rate is up, suggesting that more jobs are part-time. Still, compared ...1 day ago
- Labour refuses to condemn genocide in XinjiangBut they will condemn "possible severe human rights abuses". What a pack of snivelling, grovelling chickenshits. Refusing to call the crime what it is for fear of offending the criminal. But maybe this is Labour's "kindness"? Fuck the poor. Fuck the kids. Fuck immigrants. But be kind to génocidaires. But ...1 day ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 5 May 2021He Puapua document and the National Party Henry Cooke (Stuff): Whose race card is this anyway? Judith Collins and David Seymour both appear to have found the same wedge issue Graham Adams (Stuff): Ardern on a hot tin roof over He Puapua plan to share power with Māori Claire Trevett (Herald): Judith Collins’ has grabbed the agenda on ...2 days ago
- Collins warns Government is planning separatist New Zealand with special car parks and gender segreg...The Government is accusing National of scaremongering over a proposal to establish separate Māori governance in New Zealand, pointing to its long history of ignoring recommendations. National Party interim leader Judith Collins has deepened her attacks on the Government’s proposed Māori Health Authority this week, alleging that Prime Minister Jacinda ...2 days ago
- #PLURV – the German #FLICC – getting popular in GermanyLongtime readers of what we are up to at Skeptical Science will be well aware of the FLICC taxonomy first suggested by Mark Hoofnagle in 2007, written about in Diethelm & McKnee (2009) and since then greatly enlarged by John Cook: A much simpler FLICC-taxonomy first started out to be utilized ...2 days ago
- https://sciblogs.co.nz/?p=276367Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz I’ve heard the gravity changes when Antarctica melts will lower ...2 days ago
- The Greens worry about morality, Labour worries about tradeThe Greens have done what was expected of them, and agreed to back ACT's motion on genocide in Xinjiang tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Labour Party is worrying about trade: Trade Minister Damien O'Connor has warned a parliamentary debate on whether Beijing is committing genocide in Xinjiang would damage trade with ...2 days ago
- Why we remember more by reading – especially print – than from audio or videoNaomi S. Baron, American University During the pandemic, many college professors abandoned assignments from printed textbooks and turned instead to digital texts or multimedia coursework. As a professor of linguistics, I have been studying how electronic communication compares to traditional print when it comes to learning. Is comprehension the ...2 days ago
- Shaken and Stirred: The Left Reacts To Judith Collins’ Race-Based Politicking.Extremely Moderate: That was the “problem” with Judith Collins’ address to the National Party’s Northern Regional Conference on 1 May 2021: its totally unexpected moderation. This was no bilious outpouring of racial hate – quite the reverse. With a degree of political subtlety and tactical agility that did both Collins and her ...2 days ago
- Labour adopts NZ First’s racismNew Zealand First were a nasty pack of racists. One of the ideas they pushed was that immigrants - which in NZ First-ese means "non-white people", not those lovely people from the UK or South Africa - are coming here to steal the pensions of "hardworking" (white) New Zealanders by ...2 days ago
- Redefining Democracy.The Dead Hand Of Privilege: To be white, male, heterosexual, well-educated, and – of course – wealthy, is to enjoy a high degree of “privilege” in a culture where such distinctions are generally esteemed. Formal democratic equality, it is asserted, actually serves to mask this privilege and, by doing so, ...2 days ago
- The police’s “emissions-free fleet” strategyLast year, just as the government was announcing plans for a carbon-neutral public service, the police announced they were buying new petrol-powered patrol cars. But they weren't ignoring the government's requirements, with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster quoted as saying "we are committed to reducing our carbon emissions and have outlined ...2 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 4 May 2021China and New Zealand Bryce Edwards (The Guardian): Ardern’s speech was not an attack on China, or even a shift away from Beijing Justin Giovannetti (Spinoff): Nanaia Mahuta’s China dilemma and the future of New Zealand diplomacy Geoffrey Miller (Democracy Project): Something for everyone in Ardern’s speech on China Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Political, economic China perspectives collide at summit Michael Neilson ...3 days ago
- Report: All new cars and trucks in U.S. could be electric by 2035This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Thinking ahead to what (and whether?) you may be driving – may have parked in your garage or driveway or parking lot – a few years from now? Like, for instance, in 2035? Only with “robust” public policy initiatives as yet not on ...3 days ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Something for everyone in Ardern’s speech on ChinaJacinda Ardern’s speech at the China Business Summit was a crowd-pleaser. Geoffrey Miller explains its role in the “rebalancing” of New Zealand’s orientation to China and the West. For critics who believed she had gone soft on China, Jacinda Ardern’s line that differences between China and New Zealand were ...3 days ago
- Climate Change: Cut methane nowFarmers are our biggest source of climate pollution, being responsible for 48% of our emissions. Three quarters of their emissions come from methane, caused by burping cows and rotting cowshit. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, but short-lived; its impact on global temperature over 20 years is 84 times higher ...3 days ago
- Hard News: The drumbeat for reform gets louderIt should have come as no surprise after the narrow referendum defeat last year of a bill to legalise and regulate cannabis that its loudest and best-funded opponents should have wandered off to find a new culture war. The people behind SAM-NZ, Family First and Say Nope to Dope have ...3 days ago
- Press Release 27 April 2021 – Congratulations to Minister Little and the Government on the Health ...
Peter Malcolm for Income Equality Aotearoa New Zealand Inc. – Closing the Gap The recently announced changes to the way health is administered in New Zealand are long overdue. We do not need 20 separate health authorities in New Zealand as the responses to the pandemic has illustrated. The current ...3 days ago - Government of kindness?Remember John Campbell's "Feed the kids" campaign? Free school lunches are one of the most effective education policy interventions we can make, boosting attendance and improving learning outcomes. Currently the government funds them for the 25% of children living in the poorest areas of New Zealand. But poor kids whose ...3 days ago
- Speaker: test post with picsFollowing the storming of the US capitol building in January, Twitter cracked down on accounts that were using the site to promote false narratives about the US election, in particular accounts associated with the Qanon conspiracy theory. The mass removal of accounts included a number of New Zealanders. Many of ...3 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 3 May 2021National Party: “Separatism” and He Puapua Matthew Hooton (Herald): Judith Collins’ speech raises important issues for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern(paywalled) Graham Adams (Democracy Project): Ardern in the gun over He Puapua Luke Malpass (Stuff): Judith Collins issues race relations warning, says Labour planning ‘two systems by stealth’ Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Echoes of the past in Judith Collins’ speech Lara Greaves and Ella ...4 days ago
- Graham Adams: Ardern in the gun over He PuapuaA covert 20-year plan to establish Maori sovereignty is political dynamite. Graham Adams argues it represents a real threat to the Prime Minister’s reputation as open and transparent. Judith Collins made no effort to hide the cat-with-the-cream expression on her face when she answered journalists’ questions after a National ...4 days ago
- Improving NZ Government Communication about COVID-19: Five Suggestions Including a Proposal for Depo...Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Jennifer Summers, Dr Leah Grout, Dr Amanda Kvalsvig The high quality communication by the NZ Government for much of the COVID-19 pandemic has been remarked on. But given that the pandemic situation is very far from over, in this blog we consider five areas in which ...4 days ago
- Crackpot Theory: Ar-Pharazôn’s Sexuality (or the lack thereof)
Some time ago, I presented my completely unprovable hypothesis that Rhaegar, from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, had Asperger’s Syndrome. It’s a crackpot theory, of course – one that involves taking certain elements of the text, and running with them in accordance with wilder imagination. ...4 days ago - 2021 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #18Listing of articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Apr 25, 2021 through Sat, May 1, 2021 In no particular order the following articles lead to the most interactions during the last seven days: Points of no return, What Skepticism Reveals About Science, The ...4 days ago
- A Night in the Witherlands: Published
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Issue #48 (May-July 2021) is now out:http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/?p=3442 And my 6.400-word sword and sorcery piece, A Night in the Witherlands, is out with it:http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/?p=3400 As noted previously, this one is a follow-up to A Breath Through Silver:http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue849/breath_silver1.html Please check out the Bibliography page for my other ...4 days ago - A year ago today
A year ago today, my partner and I “properly” began the journey to become parents. We’d been on the path for a very long time: first trying, and trying, and trying, and failing, then trying to get help, and facing some pretty gross obstacles to that; and finally being in ...4 days ago - Judith Collins goes whistle shopping
Having taken an enforced break for a number of weeks with ideas drying up faster than a Canterbury river, MyThinks has had a sudden burst of prefrontal brain activity and brings you a random number of thinks related to recent political happenings. Enjoy. National Leader Judith Collins is walking through ...4 days ago - Central Bank Independence?
I have never understood why the independence of the central bank (in our case, the Reserve Bank) is thought to be so important and beneficial. The practice – and doctrine – were pioneered in New Zealand, and hark back to the era of Rogernomics, monetarism and the priority given to ...4 days ago - Pork-Barrels Out of Bond: Subsidising the Amazon LOTR TV series
Time for another wee rant. This time, it’s the sight of our Government prostituting itself to Amazon. Never mind money (or national dignity), all they care about is ensuring Our Corporate Overlords continue production of the upcoming Tolkien television series in New Zealand: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/the-detail/300287112/the-detail-governments-golden-handshake-to-secure-amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series That rebate is not ...5 days ago - Side-Stepping Safeguards, Data Journalists Are Doing Science NowBy Irineo Cabreros News stories are increasingly told through data. Witness the Covid-19 time series that decorate the homepages of every major news outlet; the red and blue heat maps of polling predictions that dominate the runup to elections; the splashy, interactive plots that dance across the screen. As a ...5 days ago
- April ’21 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking
Image credit: Blog Writing For Business NZ I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or the numbers seem very low please check this out. ...5 days ago - Centralising the Public Health System
The proposed health redisorganisation seeks to markedly centralise the health system. Is this grab for power justified; will it work?The Cabinet paper’s justification of the proposed changes is sevenfold. The first two are about Maori issues. One is constitutional, arguing that the ‘public health system does not meet the Crown’s ...6 days ago - People have had a hard time weighing pandemic risks because they haven’t gotten information they n...Kathleen H. Pine, Arizona State University; Kathryn Henne, Australian National University, and Myeong Lee, George Mason University The decision to pause and then restart the Johnson & Johnson vaccine underscores how hard it is even for experts to gauge health risks. It’s been still harder for everyday people, most of ...6 days ago
- Inside the world of tiny phytoplankton – microscopic algae that provide most of our oxygenAbigail McQuatters-Gollop, University of Plymouth Phytoplankton are microscopic algae living throughout the ocean’s surface waters. They can’t swim and are at the mercy of the currents and tides. Despite their small size, phytoplankton enable life in the oceans – and throughout the planet – to exist. There are two types ...6 days ago
- Can Judith Collins Make Don Brash’s ‘Nationhood Soufflé’ Rise Twice?Can She Raise It A Second Time? The question is: Can National’s current leader, Judith Collins, rely upon Don Brash’s Nationhood Soufflé recipe to produce an equally dramatic rise in her party’s fortunes? Or, in the intervening years, has the ideology of “Treatyism” persuaded enough New Zealanders to renounce the ideas ...6 days ago
- 2021 Reading Log: April (+ Writing Update)
Completed reads for April: His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleLost Horizon, by James HiltonFlashman and the Tiger, by George MacDonald FraserGoodbye, Mr Chips, by James HiltonA True Story, by Lucian of SamosataOn the Syrian Goddess, by Lucian ...6 days ago - Climate Change: The young win in GermanyOver the past few years there has been a spate of court cases over climate change, as young people have turned to the courts to protect the future. And in Germany, they've just won, with the constitutional court ruling that climate measures need to be strengthened to protect future generations: ...6 days ago
- Reducing nicotine in smoked tobacco products: A pivotal feature of the proposals for achieving Smoke...Richard Edwards, Janet Hoek, Nick Wilson, Chris Bullen * The NZ Government has published a discussion document outlining an Action Plan for the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal and has invited submissions on its proposals. This blog is one of a series examining key aspects of the plan to help inform ...6 days ago
- After Four Years In Office …They Did This: On March 27th 1939, Michael Joseph Savage opened the new Social Security building. Built in just 7 weeks, the new structure replaced the half-completed Social Security headquarters destroyed in an arson attack on 2 February 1939. In his book The Quest For Security, W. B. Sutch recalled ...7 days ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 30 April 2021Housing crisis Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government’s fix for its housing problems are just a game of whack-a-mole(paywalled) Amelia Wade (Newshub): Even if house prices fell 20 percent, three-quarters of renters still couldn’t afford one Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Govt crunches numbers to reveal property investors’ incomes Vita Molyneux (Newshub): ‘I feel ill’: 1995 Wellington house prices nauseate distressed millennials Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Increasing housing ...7 days ago
- Geoffrey Miller: New analysis of Nanaia Mahuta’s statements offers clues to her foreign policy age...A new analysis by the Democracy Project of Nanaia Mahuta’s public statements and tweets over the past six months provides some intriguing initial insights into her foreign policy agenda. By the end of Wednesday this week, Nanaia Mahuta had made 31 formal statements or speeches on foreign affairs in her ...7 days ago
- Geoffrey Miller: Nanaia Mahuta’s foreign policy reset: the first six monthsThis Sunday marks the six-month anniversary of Nanaia Mahuta’s appointment as foreign minister. Geoffrey Miller looks at how she is grappling with some fundamental geopolitical challenges. In just her first six months, Nanaia Mahuta has already achieved something remarkable. She is arguably New Zealand’s highest-profile foreign minister in decades – ...7 days ago
- Major parties’ climate programs are miles apartThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections President Biden on Earth Day, April 22, unveiled America’s aggressive new climate target: a 50-52% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2030, on the way to the pledge of net zero emissions by 2050. That ambitious target would deliver America’s ...1 week ago
- Winston's Comeback: A Strategy.On The Comeback Trail? Having followed it all the way to the Deputy Prime Ministership and a coalition with National in 1996, Winston Peters is well aware of right-wing populism’s advantages and disadvantages. Few New Zealand politicians possess a better appreciation of how well anti-Maori and anti-Asian messages are received ...1 week ago
- The Adventures of Annalax: Volume XXII
(Bringing our D&D write-ups up-to-date…) Session forty-five. The time had come for saving this dingbat town once and for all. With the townspeople sent through to the Dreamland dimension, the party and helper NPCs arranged themselves in defensive positions. Annalax was in an abandoned building. And thus we ...1 week ago - Meet 5 of Australia’s tiniest mammals, who tread a tightrope between life and death every nightAndrew Baker, Queensland University of Technology Australia has a rich diversity of mammals, with around 320 native, land-based species, 87% of which are found here and nowhere else. Many of these mammals are secretive, only active at night, and small, weighing less than one kilogram. Mammals are “endotherms”, which means ...1 week ago
- Speaker: New Zealand’s far-right hate preachers and the platform YouTube gave them to build a move...Following the storming of the US capitol building in January, Twitter cracked down on accounts that were using the site to promote false narratives about the US election, in particular accounts associated with the Qanon conspiracy theory. The mass removal of accounts included a number of New Zealanders. Many of ...1 week ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 29 April 2021Health reforms: Māori Health Authority Jo Moir (Newsroom): Collins ignores facts for political point-scoring Tova O’Brien (Newshub): National leader Judith Collins’ ‘segregation’ remark earns her Māori Party rebuke RNZ: Collins says her party won’t stand for ‘racist separatism’ New Zealand Michael Neilson (Herald): Judith Collins calls Māori Health Authority ‘segregation’ from last century Zane Small (Newshub): National leader Judith Collins likens Māori ...1 week ago
- vEGU21 – EOS7.10 – Science to ActionOn Tuesday, April 27 2021 I participated in session EOS7.10 at the virtual General Assembly of the Eurogeosciences Union (EGU) titled Science to Action: Communication of Science and strategies to fight misinformation - Practice, Research and Reflection This session was convened by Sam Illingworth, Heidi Roop, Mathew Stiller-Reeve, Kristin Trimm, Laure Fallou, Irina ...1 week ago
- How bad are the police at the OIA?Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission published their updated OIA statistics last month, showing that most public agencies were meeting the basic timeliness requirements of the Act. One of the weird features of these statistics is that the police regularly report amazing timeliness - 95.3% on time, from 36,440 requests! ...1 week ago
- How crowdfunding campaigners market illness to capture the attention of potential donorsTom Baker, University of Auckland; Ann E. Bartos, University of Auckland; Caitlin Neuwelt-Kearns, University of Auckland; Octavia Calder-Dawe, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, and Susan E Wardell Liam’s* crowdfunding campaign page is direct: his “sole purpose is to survive”. Before his diagnosis with inoperable brain cancer, Liam ...1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17, 2021"CO2 is plant food." No. Despite propaganda to the contrary CO2 isn't "plant food," any more than sugar is "food" for us humans. CO2 is a metabolic requirement for plants, an input among many to a complex metabolism evolved and tuned to work with what it "knows." Plants are adapted ...1 week ago
- US policing is a crime against humanityUS Police kill around a thousand people a year. Roughly half of them are black, a rate three times that of their proportion of the population. US policing is racist and murderous. And that makes it a crime against humanity: The systematic killing and maiming of unarmed African Americans ...1 week ago
- Correcting propaganda containing 8 false claims about COVID-19 vaccinesThis is a short blog addressing a list of falsehoods being posted widely by people committed to allowing COVID-19 to spread across Aotearoa New Zealand. The flyer claims ‘8 important covid vaccine facts you probably haven’t heard’. Actually, these are 8 of the most common myths about Covid-19 vaccines. Some ...1 week ago
- Will Labour condemn genocide in Xinjiang?ACT is planning to introduce a motion to parliament condemning genocide in Xinjiang: The ACT party will ask Parliament to debate a motion declaring China’s oppression of the Uyghur minority an act of “genocide”, a move that could compel the Labour Government to consider symbolically admonishing Beijing for ...1 week ago
- White privilege in actionThree weeks ago the Māori Party was rightly referred to the police for prosecution for failing to declare over $320,000 in donations just before the last election. The Electoral Commission commented at the time that they were also looking at an undeclared donation to the National Party (from a real ...1 week ago
- Pandemic prioritiesPrior to Covid, successive governments’ approaches to public health meant that we had central government ready and able to command District Health Boards to stop the sale of soda at hospital cafeterias, but unable to tell whether hospital staff were vaccinated during a measles outbreak caused by failure to make ...1 week ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 28 April 2021Housing crisis Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Emergency housing costs weigh on Government books, costing hundreds of millions a year Jane Patterson (RNZ): Government ‘ducking for cover’ over emergency housing – National Rotorua Daily Post: Millions spent weekly in Rotorua on supplements to help pay rent (paywalled) Sophie Cornish (Stuff): Immigration NZ looking into complaints migrant sex workers operated in former Wellington emergency housing ...1 week ago
- vEGU21 – EOS3.2 – Climate LiteracyA somewhat rocky start On Monday, April 26 the 2nd week of vEGU21 - the all virtual General Assembly of the Eurogeosciences Union (EGU) - started into the scientific programs which were all held in the vPico format. The initial week had seen a much more relaxed schedule with mostly Great ...1 week ago
- Treated like dirt: urban soil is often overlooked as a resourceRoisin O’Riordan, Lancaster University When you think about soil, you probably think of rolling fields of countryside. But what about urban soil? With city dwellers expected to account for 68% of the world’s population by 2050, this oft forgotten resource is increasingly important. City-based agriculture is on the rise. But ...1 week ago
- Kicking English nukes out of Scotland?Scotland is going to the polls on Thursday in parliamentary elections which look likely to be won by the SNP. The most obvious outcome is likely to be another independence referendum and the potential breakup of the UK. But there's something else at stake: the UK's nuclear weapons: Trident ...1 week ago
- No one is mourning the end of district health boards, but rebuilding trust in the system won’t be ...Tim Tenbensel, University of Auckland This week’s announcement that all district health boards (DHBs) would be abolished and replaced with a centralised health agency took a lot of people by surprise. Most key health sector interest groups appear to support the proposed agency, provisionally known as Health NZ. But the ...1 week ago
- Access: The case for a Royal Commission into Accident Compensation, Disability and Income SupportIn 1967 Owen Woodhouse proposed a principles-based comprehensive no fault compensation scheme. The principles were: Community responsibility,Comprehensive entitlements,Complete rehabilitation,Real compensation,Administrative efficiency.It was a world-leading vision but one which has never been fully implemented. The Accient Compensation Commission was established in 1973, but has only ever partially addressed the Woodhouse principles.Previous Labour ...1 week ago
- NZ Politics Daily: 27 April 2021NZ-China-Australia relations Luke Malpass (Stuff): New Zealand isn’t ‘sucking up’ to China by learning from countries’ mistakes Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Outrage over Nanaia Mahuta’s speech is really about Jacinda Ardern Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Where’s the real criticism of NZ and Five Eyes coming from?(paywalled) Thomas Manch (Stuff): The Five Eyes bluster will blow over, but beneath ...1 week ago
- A full-on six months: Our record since the 2020 election
New Zealanders voted for stability and security at the last election. In the six months since, we’ve worked hard to keep Kiwis safe from COVID-19, while accelerating our economic recovery and tackling long-term challenges like housing affordability, child poverty, and climate change – and we’ve made good progress. ...6 hours ago - Greens welcome US support for People’s Vaccine
The Green Party strongly supports today’s commitment by the United States joining the call to waive the morally indefensible pharmaceutical patents on the COVID-19 vaccine in order to make it accessible to Developing World communities. ...10 hours ago - Public sector pay restrictions are unacceptableThe Government’s decision to restrict the wages of many essential public sector workers for another two years does a disservice to those who have kept our communities safe during COVID-19, the Green Party said today. ...1 day ago
- The Green Party is putting reasonable renting rules on the agendaThe Green Party is launching its Reasonable Rents campaign to start a national conversation about the high cost of rents for the more than 1.4 million Kiwis who live in a rental home. ...4 days ago
- Keeping Kiwis snug this winterWe believe everyone deserves a warm, dry place to call home. One way we’re making this a reality is through our Winter Energy Payment, which helps around a million people with their heating bills through the colder months and ensures whānau stay healthy with less stress. ...6 days ago
- Our tamariki Maōri should not suffer any more: GreensThe Green Party welcomes the Waitangi Tribunal report that recognises mulitple breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi by the Crown. ...6 days ago
- Eight times Labour proved it has workers' backsOur name says a lot about our priorities, but so does our history. We’ve consistently fought for workers’ rights – from when our Party first formed in 1916, to now, when we’ve placed workers’ rights and health at the centre of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ...6 days ago
- Greens call for amnesty programme in open letter to immigration ministerThe Green Party is calling on the Government to create a broad amnesty programme for people who overstay their visa, and for temporary visa holders to be granted residency in an open letter to the Minister for Immigration. ...1 week ago
- Local government review must centre Te Tiriti o Waitangi and empower young peopleThe future of local government must empower the young people who will live with the decisions made today, by enabling them to vote, and strengthen our national commitment to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Green Party said today. ...2 weeks ago
- The Greens welcome whānau centred initiatives for PrisonsToday the Government announced a new whānau-centred Māori pathways programme in the Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison. ...2 weeks ago
- Looking ahead this Earth DayIt’s Earth Day today and here at Labour, we’re deeply committed to protecting our environment – not just today, but every day. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens welcome protections for Kiwis’ savingsThe Green Party is welcoming the Government’s announcement that bank deposits up to $100,000 will be protected under new rules. ...2 weeks ago
- Former Govt spies should be stopped from private spyingFormer employees of Government security and intelligence agencies should face at least a five-year stand down period before taking up private sector security contracts, the Green Party said today. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party welcomes major healthcare reforms with a call for moreThe Green Party welcomes the major healthcare reforms announced today by the Minister of Health, including the creation of a Māori Health Authority – Manatū Hauora Māori as we call it. ...2 weeks ago
- What do New Zealand's health reforms mean? Your questions answeredWe’re committed to ensuring that our health system works for all New Zealanders – so we’re taking big steps to improve health outcomes, support our frontline workers, and promote equitable access to healthcare across the country and across communities. ...2 weeks ago
- A health system that works for everyoneWe believe all New Zealanders should have equitable access to a truly national healthcare system. ...2 weeks ago
- Labour's record: Creating better health outcomes for allWe’re committed to improving healthcare in New Zealand. And we have the record to prove it. ...2 weeks ago
- Tinkering around the edges won’t cut it for families struggling to surviveResearch released today reinforces the need for significant changes to our social safety net, the Green Party says. ...2 weeks ago
- E karanga ana Te Pātī Kākāriki mo te waihangatanga o tētahi Manatū Hauora MāoriI tēnei tau i Waitangi, I whakahua ake te Tira o Te Mātāwaka o te Pātī Kākāriki i tā rātau aronga matua, ki te waihanga I tētahi Manatū Hauora Māori, mā Māori te kawe, mā Māori ngā whakahaere. Ko tā te tira; Kua rongohia ngā karanga a ngā Tangata Whenua, ...3 weeks ago
- The Greens call for an empowered independent Māori Health AuthorityDuring Waitangi this year the Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka caucus announced their priority for an independent Māori Health Authority. We have heard the call from Tangata Whenua wanting any authority to be independent, and properly resourced. ...3 weeks ago
- Picton ferry terminal upgrade consent fast-tracked
The planned upgrade of the Waitohi Picton Ferry terminal has been approved under the fast-track consenting process. Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the decision by the expert consenting panel to approve the Waitohi Picton Ferry Precinct Redevelopment Project. The project will provide a significant upgrade to the ferry facilities ...3 hours ago - Quarantine Free Travel with New South Wales pausedCOVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has announced his intention to pause Quarantine Free Travel from New South Wales to New Zealand while the source of infection of the two cases announced in Sydney in the last two days is investigated. Whole genome sequencing has linked the case yesterday to a recent ...3 hours ago
- Covid-19 immigration powers to be extendedThe passing of a bill to extend temporary COVID-19 immigration powers means continued flexibility to support migrants, manage the border, and help industries facing labour shortages, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said. “Over the past year, we’ve made rapid decisions to extend visas, vary visa conditions and waive some application requirements ...5 hours ago
- Building consent numbers at an all-time highA record 41,028 new homes have been consented in the year ended March 2021 March 2021 consent numbers the highest since the 1940s Record number of new homes consented in Auckland The number of new homes consented is at an all-time high, showing a strong and increasing pipeline of demand ...6 hours ago
- Whānau-centred support for parents and tamarikiUp to 60 whānau in Counties Manukau will be supported through the first three years of their parenthood by a new whānau-centred model of care, said Associate Health Minister, Hon Aupito William Sio. “Providing this support to young parents is something we have to get right. It’s a priority both ...7 hours ago
- NZ backs moves to improve global access to COVID vaccinesNew Zealand welcomes and strongly supports the announcement made by the United States Trade Representative to work for a waiver of IP protections on COVID-19 vaccines at the WTO, Trade Minister Damien O’Connor said. “New Zealand supports equitable access to COVID vaccines for all. No one is safe from the ...7 hours ago
- Tourism communities: support, recovery and re-set planTIHEI MAURI ORA Tuia te whakapono Tuia te tumanako Tuia te aroha Tuia te hunga ora Ki te hunga ora Tihei Mauri ora Ka nui te mihi ki a koutou Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Thank you, Hilary and thank you, Chris, and everyone at TIA for this ...10 hours ago
- Support, recovery and re-set plan for tourism communitiesFive South Island tourist communities targeted for specialist support Pressure on Māori tourism operators and Conservation facilities recognised Domestic and international-facing tourism agencies put on more secure footing Long-term plan to re-set tourism with a focus on sustainability, industry standards and regional economic diversification A plan to ensure the immediate ...10 hours ago
- Speech on NZ Rail PlanCheck against delivery E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karanga maha o te wa, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. Ki ngā mana whenua o Taranaki Whānui anō nei aku mihi ki a koutou. Nōku te hōnore kia haere mai ki te whakanuia tēnei huihuinga whakahirahira. Nō ...10 hours ago
- Government hits massive milestone in Violence Prevention & EliminationMinister for Family and Sexual Violence Marama Davidson announced a major milestone at a hui in South Auckland today, with the launch of the national engagement process on the prevention and elimination of family and sexual violence. “There is no room for violence in our lives – there is no ...10 hours ago
- Fee waiver extended for conservation tourism businessesTourism businesses operating on public conservation land will have another six months of fees waived to help them adjust to the downturn in international visitors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Acting Minister of Conservation Dr Ayesha Verrall has announced. "We acknowledge it has been a difficult year for ...10 hours ago
- ‘Lua Wave’ to future-proof Pasifika Festivals in AotearoaPasifika festival organisers will receive additional support to adapt to the COVID-19 environment thanks to the Government’s newly launched ‘Lua Wave’ component of the Pasifika Festivals Initiative, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “This initiative has not only been to support festival organisers to recover from ...10 hours ago
- Crown accounts show confidence in Govt economic planThe Government’s financial accounts continue to reflect the resilience of the economy and confidence in the Government’s economic recovery plan. The Crown accounts for the nine months to the end of March 2021 show both OBEGAL and the operating balance remain better than forecast in the Half Year Economic and ...11 hours ago
- Energy Trusts of NZ Autumn ConferenceIt’s a pleasure to be here today. Thank you Karen [Sherry] for the introduction and thanks to the Energy Trusts Executive for inviting me to speak at tonight’s event. It is an exciting time to come to speak to trustees of distribution companies. For many decades the electricity industry was ...11 hours ago
- New partnership to grow Māori success in STEMA new partnership with the Pūhoro STEM Academy will support thousands more rangatahi Māori to participate and succeed in the fields of science, technology, and innovation, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Since 2016, Pūhoro has worked with Māori students to build their capability and create pathways to employment ...11 hours ago
- Rail builds platform for economic recoveryTransport Minister Michael Wood and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dr David Clark today released the Government’s long term vision for a sustainable rail network that supports our economic recovery. New Zealand Rail Plan lays out how the Government is building a resilient, reliable and safe network, as well as the indicative ...13 hours ago
- NZ and UK agree to lift the pace of free trade talksNew Zealand and the United Kingdom have agreed to rapidly lift the tempo of talks, as the two countries enter a new phase in free trade negotiations, Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, and I spoke today about ...24 hours ago
- Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill passes first readingThe Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill has passed its first reading and will now be considered by Parliament’s Justice select committee. “The Bill updates and improves New Zealand’s counter-terrorism legislation and ensures that the right legislative tools are available to intervene early and prevent harm,” Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi said. “The ...1 day ago
- Statement on The Speaker and Annual Review Debate“The serious issue of alleged sexual assault and harassment at Parliament was poorly managed and inappropriately politicised last night. The tone of the debate did not reflect well on Parliament as a whole,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “Any investigation of claims of sexual assault should be in a manner ...1 day ago
- Govt motoring towards zero-carbon buses and protecting drivers’ conditionsTransport Minister Michael Wood is seeking feedback on options for the next phase of the Public Transport Operating Model (PTOM) review to better protect bus drivers’ pay conditions, and also achieving the Government’s target of fully decarbonising the public transport bus fleet by 2035. Michael Wood said investing in our ...1 day ago
- Drop in unemployment shows Govt economic plan is workingThe Government’s economic recovery plan continues to be reflected in the labour market, with more people in work and unemployment falling. Stats NZ figures show employment rose by 15,000 in the March quarter, with 14,000 more women in work. The unemployment rate fell from 4.9 percent to 4.7 percent. This ...1 day ago
- Government sets pay and workforce expectations for the Public SectorThe Government’s Workforce Policy Statement issued today sets out its expectations for pay and employment relations in the Public Sector, the Minister of Finance and Minister for the Public Service say. “New Zealand has had an exceptionally successful health and economic response to COVID-19. This has been supported by the ...1 day ago
- Author Ben Brown is New Zealand’s first Te Awhi Rito Reading AmbassadorLyttleton writer Ben Brown (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Koroki, Ngāti Paoa) will be New Zealand’s first Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador, promoting the value of reading for children and young people, Internal Affairs Minister Jan Tinetti announced today. A poet and award-winning author, Ben Brown writes books, non-fiction and short stories ...2 days ago
- Celebrating New Zealand’s firefighters this International Firefighters’ dayWith two fire stations already complete, and building underway on 16 fire stations around the country, today we celebrate International Firefighters’ Day for the important role firefighters have in keeping communities across the country safe, says Minister of Internal Affairs, Jan Tinetti. The work is progressing due to Government funding ...2 days ago
- Ron Brierley knighthood to goRon Brierley has written to the Clerk of the Executive Council to tender his resignation as a Knight Bachelor. The Queen has been informed. The forfeiture follows the Prime Minister initiating the process to remove his Knighthood. The Clerk of the Executive Council wrote to him on 6 April 2021 ...2 days ago
- Employment boost for rural communitiesThe Government is continuing to create opportunities for at-risk rangatahi overcome barriers to employment, education or training with the next tranche of He Poutama Rangatahi programmes, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “We’re focused on supporting rangatahi to get what they need to progress in the ...2 days ago
- Pre-Budget speech to Wellington Chamber of CommerceThank you for the invitation to speak today, it is great to be here. I mean that both sincerely and literally. For this equivalent speech last year I took part virtually, beaming in from the Beehive Theatrette with only a socially distanced press gallery bearing silent witness. You are a ...3 days ago
- Budget 2021 reprioritises nearly $1 billionThe Government’s strong pandemic response and the better than expected economic recovery means not all the money allocated in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund has been spent, Grant Robertson said in his annual pre-Budget speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce this morning. “As part of Budget preparation I ...3 days ago
- Speech on Digital Identity Trust FrameworkI'd like to start by thanking Graeme, David and Ben from NZTech and Digital Identity New Zealand for inviting me to speak to you. I’m so sorry I can’t be there in person, but I want to acknowledge those of you who are, including some of this country’s top tech ...3 days ago
- NZ Cook Islands travel bubble significant step in COVID-19 recoveryNew Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown have today announced that, pending final confirmation by New Zealand’s Director-General of Health and the Cook Islands Secretary of Health, two-way quarantine-free travel will commence between the two countries on 17 May (NZT). “Two way quarantine-free travel ...3 days ago
- Minister for State Owned Enterprises saddened by passing of KiwiRail ChairMinister for State Owned Enterprises, David Clark is deeply saddened to hear about the passing of KiwiRail Chairman, Brian Corban. “I know Brian was seen as a transformative leader within KiwiRail, well respected for his wisdom, honesty and sense of humour,” said David Clark. Mr Corban served as Chair of ...3 days ago
- Speech to the China Business Summit by the Minister for Trade and Export GrowthDistinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tena koutou katoa. Good morning. It is my pleasure to join you today for this China Business Summit – my first as Minister for Trade and Export Growth as well as Minister of Agriculture – and to have the opportunity to speak to you ...3 days ago
- Productivity Commission inquiry into immigration settingsThe Productivity Commission will hold an inquiry into immigration settings to ensure New Zealand’s long term prosperity and wellbeing, Grant Robertson and Kris Faafoi say. This inquiry, the first under the new Productivity Commission chair, Dr Ganesh Nana, will focus on immigration policy as a means of improving productivity in ...3 days ago
- Speech to China Business SummitLadies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, ate marie, tena koutou katoa, good morning. I am very happy to be here with you once again at my fourth China Business Summit. Thanks again to you, Fran, for being the driving force behind this event. As ever, I’m very pleased to see such ...4 days ago
- Speech to Te Taumata Wahine Toa Hui, KerikeriI would like to begin by acknowledging a few people here today. Firstly, Chris Karamea Insley for his hard work and commitment to the vision of Te Taumata. I’d also like to acknowledge Minister Nanaia Mahuta, New Zealand’s first Maori wahine Minister of Foreign Affairs, whom you have just heard ...5 days ago
- Jobs for Nature to boost employment in the SouthA suite of significant Jobs for Nature projects will boost conservation efforts and create jobs across the southern South Island, Acting Minister for Conservation Dr Ayesha Verrall announced from Te Anau today. “The Government’s Jobs for Nature programme is investing in the future of the area’s stunning environment, with projects ...6 days ago
- Regional economic potential unlocked as Bay of Plenty project gets underwayA milestone for jobs, businesses and regional economic development in Bay of Plenty is being marked as construction gets underway on the multi-million dollar Ōpōtiki harbour infrastructure project. Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash has joined Whakatōhea iwi, local councils and representatives of the aquaculture and marine industry at ...6 days ago
- New Pilot to unlock cultural potential in communitiesArts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni today announced Manatū Taonga (Ministry for Culture and Heritage) is now accepting applications from cultural sector organisations to host cultural activators in eight communities around Aotearoa. “This pilot, as part of Te Tahua Whakahaumaru (Creative Arts Recovery and Employment Fund), aims to build ...6 days ago
- Supporting New Zealanders Through Winter MonthsFrom tomorrow, 1 May, over one million New Zealanders receiving either a Main Benefit or New Zealand Superannuation will get more money each week through the Winter Energy Payment. “The Winter Energy Payment started as part of the Government’s December 2017 Families Package designed to help older New Zealanders and ...6 days ago
- New Zealand to donate 250,000 courses of COVID-19 vaccines to FijiNew Zealand has offered, and Fiji has accepted, sufficient doses of AstraZeneca for 250,000 people from New Zealand’s domestic vaccine portfolio, New Zealand Associate Minister of Health and Foreign Affairs Aupito William Sio and Fiji Health and Medical Services Minister Ifereimi Waqainabete announced today. “New Zealand and Fiji are working together closely to support ...1 week ago
- The Handmaid’s Tale recap: No use crying over spilt milk
June’s on the run again, but how far will she get this time? Tara Ward recaps episode two of season four of The Handmaid’s Tale. Everyone has bad days, but June Osborne has the worst days of all. One minute she’s enjoying a lovely pash with her boyfriend on a bridge, ...17 mins ago - Where will NZ stand in rising tensions between China and other allies?
ANALYSIS: By Jane Patterson, RNZ News political editor Rising tensions between Australia and China have raised the question of where New Zealand would stand if things escalate further. Close trans-Tasman friend and ally Australia is taking a more aggressive stance against China – with South China Sea and Taiwan potential ...30 mins ago - Rail funding plan rubbished by trucking lobby and opposition
The government's plans to rejuvenate rail are being rubbished by the opposition and the trucking lobby as ideologically motivated and wasteful that will take resources away from badly needed road safety improvements. ...2 hours ago - PODCAST: Buchanan and Manning on Microlateralism – Is This How New Zealand Becomes Relevant on the...A View from Afar: In this week’s podcast Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan debate: How recently New Zealand Government confirmed its intention to be defined as an independent Pacific Island state, where its foreign policy should be considered against the collective values that its peoples share, and its diplomacy ...3 hours ago
- The government has pledged over $800m to fight natural disasters. It could be revolutionary — if d...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Barnes, Research Fellow (Disaster & Urban Resilience), UNSW To help Australia adapt to climate change and manage the disasters that come with it, the federal government this week pledged A$600 million towards establishing the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, and $210 ...3 hours ago
- Parliament human rights vote 'gross interference in China's internal affairs'China has issued a statement that has strongly criticised Parliament's declaration of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. ...3 hours ago
- What are waterspouts, and how do they form? An expert explainsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dean Narramore, Senior meteorologist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology Waterspouts are extraordinary, impressive weather events. Observers describe them as looking like “the start of an alien invasion” and post their snaps across social media. But what are these enigmatic offshore twisters, and what ...3 hours ago
- COVID has made one thing very clear — we do not know enough about Australians overseasSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By George Tan, Research Fellow, Charles Darwin University The COVID-19 crisis has thrust a largely unseen part of Australia’s population firmly into the national spotlight. These are the Australians who live and work abroad — our diaspora. For more than a year, we ...3 hours ago
- How do we actually investigate rare COVID-19 vaccine side-effects?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Wood, Associate Professor, Discipline of Childhood and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney Investigations are under way to determine whether the deaths of two people in New South Wales who developed blood clots are linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine. We’ve also heard ...4 hours ago
- A helping hand from the State for a range of causes, from the tourist industry (some operators, anyw...
A bundle of statements and speeches has emerged from the Beehive in the past 24 hours. We can’t closely examine all of them but suggest public servants whose pay is being frozen or subject to a stiff test before it is increased might take a look at some of the ...4 hours ago - Media alliance calls in Jokowi’s pledge to allow foreign journalists into PapuaBy Achmad Nasrudin Yahya in Jakarta The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is calling in a pledge made by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2015 over press freedom in Papua that has never been fulfilled over the past five years. AJI trade union advocacy division head Erick Tanjung said that ...4 hours ago
- Fiji’s Lautoka hospital plunges into lockdown over new covid caseBy Timoci Vula in Lautoka, Fiji Fiji’s Lautoka Hospital is now closed to members of the public after a new positive case announced last night was that of a patient who was admitted for a surgical procedure at the hospital. Health Secretary Dr James Fong said all medical services would ...4 hours ago
- Single Asian Female: A reflectionREVIEW: By Sherry Zhang Last week, writer Sherry Zhang was at the opening night of Auckland Theatre Company’s production of Single Asian Female. She’s waited to see it since 2019 and now, having finally seen it on New Zealand shores, she reflects on the play and what it means to ...4 hours ago
- ABC’s new arts show walks the line between high and low brow — and it worksSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University Review: Art Works hosted by Namila Benson. Critically discussing art in the contemporary era is like walking across a minefield blindfold while juggling bowling balls and lugging an anvil. So, so many ways to ...5 hours ago
- A mission to halve NZ’s disadvantaged youth numbers is starting in InvercargillThe Vodafone Foundation wants to cut the number of youth facing exclusion and disadvantage in Aotearoa in half – and it’s starting with Invercargill. George Driver travelled to the deep south to meet the organisations that are helping transform the future for local rangatahi. How do you achieve an impossible ...5 hours ago
- COVID virus fragments have been detected in sewage in my area. What does that mean and what should I...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cobus Gerber, Associate Professor, University of South Australia If you’ve heard COVID-19 virus fragments have been detected in sewage in your area, you might be wondering: does that mean someone in my suburb has COVID-19? What should I do? Firstly, the most ...5 hours ago
- Hamish Coney: Toi Tū Toi Ora – How may we learn?
Toi Tū Toi Ora, currently nearing the end of its run at the Auckland Art Gallery - Toi o Tāmaki (until May 10) is the blockbuster for these times. Although conceived well before the Covid Pandemic, the timing of this bustling exhibition seems pre-ordained for the period of deep introspection ...7 hours ago - Public service pay will get scant lift from Robertson – but let’s see if the Budget can keep gov...
The Ardern government is cruising along with poll ratings still far above those of its opponents and a leader enjoying almost cult status. Her deputy, Grant Robertson, wears a matching suit of political armour, although one-time Labour Minister (and then ACT leader) Richard Prebble contends he is the worst finance ...7 hours ago - Maritime Union Says Coastal Shipping Must Complement Rail And Road
The Maritime Union says the Government’s announcement today of major investment in rail is a positive move, and is urging more action on coastal shipping. Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says the Government’s approach ...7 hours ago - Furious feedback: Bulletin readers respond to public sector wage freezeThis morning’s edition of The Bulletin called for feedback on the pay freeze coming for huge chunks of the public service. The reaction has been one of almost unanimous rage. Public servants don’t often get the chance to share their unfiltered views with the media. So the response this morning to ...7 hours ago
- The Government’s No Test For Forestry Conversions Is Destroying The ProvincesLobby group 50 Shades of Green prediction that regional New Zealand will be covered in exotic pine is coming to fruition before our very eyes. The wholesale removal of productive land for exotic forestry continues at pace as sales of farmland to ...7 hours ago
- Budget 2021: Found Billion Dollars A “Second Chance” To Build Back BetterGreenpeace is calling on Finance Minister, Grant Robertson to use the recently uncovered $926 million of unspent Covid Recovery funds to make good on Labour’s election promise to ‘Build Back Better’. The funds could provide a much-needed boost to ...7 hours ago
- Free speech in Parliament challenged: Maori Party MPs press the Speaker to bar questions they rega...
The Speaker was reprimanded by the PM yesterday, in the aftermath of the furore generated when he accused a former parliamentary staffer – to whom he had previously apologised for claiming he was a rapist – of sexual assault. Then he was chided by Maori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer for ...8 hours ago - A sideways appreciation of the NZ Chinese Growers Monthly typefaceKerry Ann Lee looks at the enduring appeal of Chinese typeface and letterpress design in the digital age.In 1952, a slow boat from Hong Kong arrived in New Zealand carrying one metric tonne of lead type. This would be used by the Dominion Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial Growers ...8 hours ago
- Save The Children Says New Government Approach To Tackle Family And Sexual Violence Must Include Chi...Save the Children New Zealand welcomes today’s announcement by Government of an inclusive multi-agency approach and consultation to challenge the country’s horrendous rates of family and sexual abuse. "Family violence and child abuse rates in ...9 hours ago
- “Disheartened And Dispirited” Educators Upset, Uncertain Following Public Sector Pay Res...Educators across the country are shocked that the Government has chosen to restrict public servants' pay for a further three years, says education union NZEI Te Riu Roa. Teachers, principals and support staff, and a huge range of other education ...10 hours ago
- BNZ Backing New Zealand’s Business-led RecoveryBank of New Zealand (BNZ) has today released its half year result to 31 March 2021 and is focused on supporting businesses large and small to lead New Zealand’s economic recovery. BNZ announced its statutory net profit increased by $293 million (or 80%) ...10 hours ago
- Police, post-primary teachers unions join criticism of government's public sector pay freezeThe teachers and police associations have come out hard against the government's pay freeze for the public sector, with the move being called a "kick in the guts". ...10 hours ago
- If it doesn’t sell, you’re screwedA few weeks back all three of Catherine Robertson’s Gabriel’s Bay novels made the Nielsen top 10 charts. But the series, about a small town full of hard cases, very nearly didn’t happen. She rips back the veil. I wrote Gabriel’s Bay because I was on thin ice with my publisher ...10 hours ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – May 6 2021Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Click here to subscribe to Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup and New Zealand Politics Daily. Today’s content Parliament’s Speaker Trevor Mallard Henry Cooke (Stuff): National v Mallard: That atrocious late-night debate is ...11 hours ago
- The Future Is MāoriWith Māori values becoming an increasingly integral part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s society, the future of our economy is Māori, and it is bright, Reserve Bank Assistant Governor Christian Hawkesby says. Mr Hawkesby was speaking on a panel at the Institute ...11 hours ago
- NZ To Follow Biden Decision To Back WTO Waiver For A People’s VaccineIt’s Our Future* welcomes a tweet by Trade Minister Damien O’Connor noting support for the proposal of a WTO waiver for Covid vaccines, having initially sat on the sidelines. This follows the decision by the Biden administration to back the WTO ...11 hours ago
- Mother: “Why Is Labour Harming My Child?”Video: https://www.instagram.com/tv/COeX04Fj-Xc/?igshid=13wg6ospiv38m "I don't understand how the government can be so cruel" says mother of two Katy Thomas, "they are sitting by on an issue that is more urgent than ever. They are definitely ...11 hours ago
- Dunne Speaks: Mallard Has To Go...11 hours ago
- 54% Brits Say Jacinda Ardern Most Successful Pandemic Leader...11 hours ago
- The brilliant and perverse absurdity of Labour’s austerity budget of 2021By freezing most state sector wages, cutting $926m of Covid spending plans and strangling transport projects, Labour is pivoting to budget austerity and public debt reduction too soon after a crisis, argues Bernard Hickey. This story was originally published in Bernard Hickey’s email newsletter The Kākā and is republished with permission.The Labour ...12 hours ago
- Why we should take a women-centred approach to diagnosing and treating iron deficiencySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Badenhorst, Lecturer at Massey University, Massey University Iron deficiency is a common nutritional disorder worldwide, and pre-menopausal women are most at risk of being diagnosed with it. New Zealand’s most recent nutritional survey (from 2008/09) shows 12% of women may suffer ...12 hours ago
- A cave site in Kenya’s forests reveals the oldest human burial in AfricaSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Crowther, Senior Lecture in Archaeology, The University of Queensland Africa is often referred to as the cradle of humankind – the birthplace of our species, Homo sapiens. There is evidence of the development of early symbolic behaviours such as pigment use ...12 hours ago
- ‘See What You Made Me Do’ will change the way we think about domestic violence. Here’s what ne...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Associate Professor, Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT University It may be a familiar statistic, but it is still shocking and unacceptable. In Australia, almost every week a woman dies at the hands of her partner or ex-partner. In a much-anticipated ...12 hours ago
- ‘Fit for service’: Why the ADF needs to move with society to retain the public trustSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Damian Powell, Historian and Principal, Janet Clarke Hall, The University of Melbourne The Australian Defence Force has faced a reckoning in the past few months. First came the shocking Brereton report exposing alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan. Then, in recent weeks, ...12 hours ago
- Here’s why the planned NDIS reforms discriminate against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peo...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Gilroy, ARC Research Fellow in Indigenous Health, Disability and Community Development, University of Sydney The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is one of the greatest human services reform in Australia’s history, and holds great promise in improving the lives of hundreds ...12 hours ago
- Australia’s states are forging ahead with ambitious emissions reductions. Imagine if they worked t...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Nelson, Associate Professor of Economics, Griffith University The NSW transport minister said this week that rolling out a distance-based tax on electric car owners (as the state treasurer flagged) would make them the “laughing stock of the world”. Instead, he proposed ...12 hours ago
- Is your kid studying a second language at school? How much they learn will depend on where you liveSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mairin Hennebry-Leung, Lecturer in Languages and TESOL, University of Tasmania People learn a second language for many reasons, including work, to better understand the world, an interest in the culture of the language itself, and love. Learning a language has many benefits. ...12 hours ago
- A Belgian farmer moved a rock and accidentally annexed France: the weird and wonderful history of ma...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Imogen Wegman, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania This week, a farmer in the Belgian town of Erquelinnes caused an international ruckus when he moved a stone standing in his tractor’s path. This stone marked the boundary between Belgium and France. By ...12 hours ago
- Live updates, May 6: Wellington students challenge MPs over funding after classroom closuresWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for May 6, bringing you the latest news updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 8.05am: Hutt Valley High students challenge MPs over funding after classroom closures Students at Wellington’s Hutt Valley High School are outside parliament today, protesting the loss of ...13 hours ago
- No ‘crime against nature’ here: Why my critics are wrong about Western SpringsLast week The Spinoff published an opinion column harshly criticising Auckland Council’s decision to fell a stand of trees at Western Springs in central Auckland. Here, Auckland councillor Pippa Coom responds.I’m currently reading my way through the almost 20,000 pieces of feedback received on the Recovery Budget, Auckland Council’s 10-year ...13 hours ago
- Small businesses report strong sales for March
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Small businesses reported a spike in sales in March, leading to higher wages and more jobs. Accounting software firm Xero's new small business index rose sharply in March, up 17 points to 122. A reading above 100 suggests ...13 hours ago - Government lays out 10-year plan for rail investmentThe government has announced freight rail will now be funded from the same pot as roads. ...13 hours ago
- Where will New Zealand stand in rising tensions between China and other allies?Close trans-Tasman friend and ally Australia is taking a more aggressive stance against China - with South China Sea and Taiwan potential flashpoints. Where will New Zealand stand? ...13 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Shock and anger at public sector pay freezeGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Shock and anger at public sector pay freeze, Ardern reprimands but doesn’t sack speaker Mallard, and unemployment rate stays persistently low.It’s not often governments make the decisions that are genuinely surprising to observers, but what happened yesterday might come close. Finance ...13 hours ago
- Six Months Of Government Inaction“Today marks six months since Ministers in the 53rd Parliament were sworn in and they have very little to show it,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “To date, just 4.8 percent of the population has been vaccinated. Jacinda Ardern’s Government ...15 hours ago
- Inequality an accident waiting to happen for children
Researchers are calling on the Government to take action after uncovering an alarming connection between childhood safety and social disadvantage Child poverty adds insult to injury, a recent study reveals. Researchers are calling for a strategy from the Government to ensure the safety of young children after analysis of Growing Up in ...15 hours ago - Book of the Week: Helen Kelly, Prime Minister
Finlay Macdonald reviews a new biography of Helen Kelly Helen Kelly was born in 1964, putting her right at the tip of the baby boomer tail. Generational labels are tiresome, particularly the way they’re now deployed in the proxy class warfare of housing affordability. But at least it helps ...15 hours ago - The Silver Fern shooting star equally loved and feared
Funny, fierce, generous, tenacious and one of the best netballers New Zealand has produced. The tributes haven't stopped for Margaret Forsyth, who died aged 59 this week. Margaret Forsyth, the kind of netballer others tried and failed to beat with tricks, will be remembered as one of the greatest goal attacks ...15 hours ago - Virtual victory gives Kiwi Ironwoman a crack at Kona
After recovering from burn-out, Kiwi triathlete Vanessa Murray is returning for a second shot at the giant of Ironman events in Kona, having won an on-line challenge. Vanessa Murray’s first full-distance Ironman was at the biggest event of them all, the Ironman world championships in Kona, Hawaii, eight years ago. It was a ...15 hours ago - Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 6 May
Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. ...15 hours ago - Rabbits: A town over-run
A small South Island town is under siege from a plague of rabbits that has taken up residence over the entire area The seaside village of Mōeraki in North Otago paints a pretty picture from a distance but up close, under the buildings, on the hills and along roadsides, things quickly get less ...15 hours ago - Newsroom daily crossword, Thursday 6 May
...15 hours ago - Newsroom's daily sudoku, Thursday 6 May
...15 hours ago - How Biden’s quiet radicalism may embolden New Zealand’s political leftThe candidate who was dismissed by many as the ultimate Democrat centrist seems set on making his presidency the most ambitiously left-wing since Roosevelt’s. Many in the Beehive will be taking notice, writes BusinessDesk’s Pattrick Smellie. So much for “Sleepy Joe”.As his first 100 days of leadership slide by, 78-year-old Joe ...16 hours ago
- The poor treatment of sexual violence victims in court runs deep in our historyA proposed new law has highlighted the often distressing experiences of women in New Zealand courtrooms. Change is well overdue, as Elizabeth Bowyer explains. Over the past 18 months, as the sexual violence legislation bill has been making its way through Aotearoa’s parliamentary processes, heightened attention has been paid to the ...16 hours ago
- When the Government knows best
It won't be the detail of this month's Budget that will show the Government's colours as much as the document's big theme of centralising decision-making and control, writes columnist Peter Dunne ...16 hours ago - One country, two faces policy: How NZ businesses deal with China
With trade exceeding $31bn, businesses says they're taking realistic approaches to dealing with China – not just idealistic ...16 hours ago - Pressure mounts against internet censorship
Even the Chief Censor spoke out against a proposal that would empower the Government to censor the internet with little oversight. ...16 hours ago - A very mediocre podcast
Celebrate being average. After all, it's not terrible. Aucklander Paul Catmur runs an advertising agency, and no one in the world of advertising would ever be caught admitting to be being average. Except Catmur is very aware of his own shortcomings, and is making them work for him. Mediocrity ...16 hours ago - Pressure mounts against censoring internet without human rights protectionsEven Chief Censor speaks out against empowering government to censor the internet with little human rights oversight ...16 hours ago
- Parliament's Xinjiang motion a significant step up – but what next?
No references to genocide, but unanimous concern about Uyghurs is still major. ...16 hours ago - US return to Trans-Pacific trade deal would open large can of worms for NZ
If the US decides to reactivate the original trade deal, would there be another groundswell of opposition? You betcha. ...16 hours ago - Upgrades for myGov and My Health Record sites in budget’s $1.2 billion digital strategySource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra More than $500 million of a $1.2 billion digital economy strategy in Tuesday’s budget will be spent on overhauling the federal government’s myGov and My Health Record sites. The initiatives, to be announced by Scott ...20 hours ago
- Wenda warns over massive ‘demon troops’ military crackdown in PapuaAsia Pacific Report newsdesk Indonesia is unleashing a massive military crackdown in West Papua with the use of “demon troops” and spurning human rights, warns a Papuan leader. Benny Wenda, interim president of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), said in a statement today that cutting off the ...21 hours ago
- More twists in Samoa election saga, with more court action likelyRNZ Pacific The decision by Samoa’s head of state to call a second election will be challenged in the courts, as the country’s month-long political stalemate descends into legal quagmire. Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II on Tuesday announced he would revoke the results of the general election held on April 9, ...21 hours ago
- Pacific journos call on governments to uphold public right to informationBy Geraldine Panapasa in Suva Information as a public good is a powerful theme for this year’s World Press Freedom Day and serves as a reminder to Pacific Island governments that the public have a right to information that affects their lives, says a Fiji-based media educator. Associate Professor Shailendra ...21 hours ago
- Politics with Michelle Grattan: what should the budget do for women? Jennifer Westacott (BCA) and Mi...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra What do business and union leaders believe should be in a budget that is designed in part to pitch to women? Jennifer Westacott, CEO of the Business Council of Australia, says as well as spending ...24 hours ago
- Sports concussions affect men and women differently. Female athletes need more attention in brain re...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shreya Mcleod, PhD candidate in sport-related concussion, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle News emerged last week that AFLW player Jacinda Barclay, who died last year at age 29 following a short period of mental illness, had abnormalities in ...1 day ago
- Sport concussion in women: are they increasing, and are there long-term cumulative effects?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shreya Mcleod, PhD candidate in sport-related concussion, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle News emerged last week that AFLW player Jacinda Barclay, who died last year at age 29 following a short period of mental illness, had abnormalities in ...1 day ago
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