Daily Review 04/04/2018
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5:30 pm, April 4th, 2018 - 53 comments
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- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #51
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...6 hours ago - Dance Magic
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...18 hours ago - Government Forces Universities to Enforce “Free Speech” While Limiting Universities̵...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...18 hours ago - Fact brief – Are we heading into an ‘ice age’?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...1 day ago
- As Our Power Lessens: Published
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...1 day ago - By Any Other Name.
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...2 days ago - Bernard’s last Saturday Soliloquy for 2024
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...2 days ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, December 21
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...2 days ago - 2024 OIA stats
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...2 days ago - Climate Change: A perverse incentive
The government published its first Biennial Transparency Report under the Paris Agreement yesterday, and the media has correctly noted that it is missing any plan to actually meet our target. While it hypes domestic emissions reductions so far - which have been good, but will likely get worse thanks to ...3 days ago
- Economic Bulletin December 2024
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...3 days ago - NZCTU make submission in opposition to Treaty Principles Bill
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...3 days ago
- ZB’s Power Couple
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...3 days ago - Austerity thumps GDP most since 1991
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...3 days ago
- Weekly Roundup 20-December-2024
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The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...3 days ago
- The baby-boomers’ last gasp
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...3 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #51 2024
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...3 days ago
- Join us at 5pm for 2024’s last Hoon
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...3 days ago - Christmas Gifts: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...4 days ago
- GDP Figures No Christmas Present for New Zealand
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...4 days ago
- Cheeseburgers and Stunt Monkeys
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...4 days ago - MSD rejecting 220 pleas for food grants each day
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...4 days ago
- The Wing Parties’ Economic Policies.
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...4 days ago - Back on Track
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...4 days ago - Book Review: How Big Things Get Done
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner Want to know how to do something big? Ask someone who has done it before! Professor Bent Flyvbjerg has spent his career studying megaprojects. In 2023, ...4 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On Why We Can’t Survive Two More Years Of This
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...4 days ago - Dragging our way towards the finish line, the end of this year can’t come soon enough for many…
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...4 days ago - Handling Democracy.
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...4 days ago
- Open letter to the Minister of Dwindling Finances
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...5 days ago - Open Government: The joke ends
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...5 days ago
- An unusual sort of press conference
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...5 days ago - This substack has talked about this government’s seeming corruption & pro-corporate issues...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...5 days ago - NZCTU: Minister needs to listen to the evidence on engineered stone ban
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...5 days ago
- Wednesday 18 December
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...5 days ago
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The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...5 days ago
- Notes from Afar: Will Luxon Attend Waitangi Day? And Opposition Calls Out Nicola Willis for “C...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...5 days ago - Member’s morning
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...5 days ago
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We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...5 days ago - Blaming Treasury & Labour, Willis looks for even more Austerity
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...5 days ago
- December-24 AT Board Meeting
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...5 days ago
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Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...5 days ago - It could have been worse
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...5 days ago
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The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...5 days ago - Willis’ austerity strategy just isn’t working
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...5 days ago
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On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...5 days ago
- Join us for a pop-up Hoon at 5pm on HYEFU
5 days ago - ‘Ideas Worth Saving’: A Call for Papers
Some years ago, I found myself pondering the power of literature to endure. Or at least the power of some of it to endure, while the rest vanishes in mere decades: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair-the-literary-future/. I have similarly had fun with the subject in some of my short stories, such as Another Alexandria ...5 days ago - Corrections is torturing prisoners again
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...6 days ago
- HYEFU and BPS data shows New Zealand is way off track
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...6 days ago
- “Better economic management”
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...6 days ago
- Shameless, clueless
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...6 days ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...6 days ago
- Crazy ’bout a Sharp-dressed Man
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...6 days ago - How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...6 days ago
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In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...6 days ago - When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...6 days ago
- Govt to double number of toll roads
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...6 days ago
- Luxon’s pre-emptive strike
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...6 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery
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- More public service contempt of parliament
Back in 2023 the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties raised concerns about the inherent conflict of interest involved in public service agencies supporting parliamentary select committees. Our parliament is run on a shoestring, so depends on the public service for advice. But public service agencies work for Ministers, not ...6 days ago
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And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...7 days ago - A Lipstick Government
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...7 days ago - NZCTU open letter to Treasury on undue restrictions on restricted briefings
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...7 days ago
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- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...1 week ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...1 week ago
- Making Gravy
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...1 week ago - Nothing here but the shadows
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...1 week ago - The United Right: the FSU’s Continued Efforts to Undermine Academia
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...1 week ago
- Showing the Americans how to do it
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...1 week ago
- 2 Men, 1 Haircut
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...1 week ago - Chris Penk’s Hate Parade
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...1 week ago - Tell me a story
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...1 week ago
- National’s Greatest Misses 2023-4
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...2 days ago - Release: Minister’s plan for tertiary sector a backwards step
Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...3 days ago
- Release: National buries 1019 planned homes
It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...3 days ago
- Release: Rule-Czar bill a right-wing power grab
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...3 days ago
- Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...4 days ago
- Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...4 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...4 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...5 days ago
- ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...5 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...5 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...5 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...6 days ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...6 days ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...6 days ago
- Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...6 days ago
- Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...6 days ago
- Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...7 days ago
- Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...7 days ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour fully supports greyhound racing ban
The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
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I think you read it wrong.
There was a nationwide tax suggested AS WELL as an Regional tax in Auckland.
Dont live in Auckland – you ‘only’ pay the nationwide one (assuming it goes thru).
Im sure a lot of low income workers will love the 10% additional cost of fuel.
I think I have.
I was listening to radiolive and being ambushed by the telephone.
I see what you are saying james RE: low income workers will love the 10% additional cost of fuel.
$10 to $15 extra per fill.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford has released the Government’s plans for land transport, which includes a nationwide fuel tax.
He said Aucklanders could face an extra $10 to $15 at the fuel pump every time they fill up – “and in less than three years the rest of New Zealand could be paying that fuel tax too”.
Ahhhgg just another TAX increases inflation increases wages all come out in the end for 90% of us doesn’t it.
New Zealand’s private household debt at 167% of gross income.
China in a trade war with the US.
The Titanic steams on.
The band keeps playing.
The ship is unsinkable.
The icebergs lurk.
What could possibly go wrong?
Bad analogy Ed.
If the Titanic had plowed straight into the berg, it wouldn’t have sunk. It was the attempt to avoid hitting the thing that was fatal.
Fair call!
Do you know if that is per household, or per income earner, or per population.
If it’s per population that is catastrophic for a lot of people, given that a lot of us oldies are debt free and children up to school leaving age also won’t have debt.
Household Income.
And, yes, it’s catastrophic. It’s actually high enough to possibly collapse our economy.
EQC have revealed that in spite of Brownlie’s claims of maybe 60-70 million spent on repairing the failed repairs ex Earthquake, the figure so far is $160 million not counting the cash payouts.
Shocking
After repeated requests over days Brownlie refused any response so tonight John phoned Brownlie. Short conversation then Brownlie hung up
This big but so far apart from JC, silence. Tomorrow? Huh.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018639043
Too many of those interested in politics are too involved in orgasmic experiences about issues to do with Clare Curran to focus on important stuff.
You don’t approve of what some people find interesting?
I believe she stated that there were no documents passed in the meeting – which was an interesting question asked (since they normally know the answer before asking).
Will be interesting (not to Pete) if this has more legs.
Of course I understand people not finding Brownlee being a bit loose about $100 million interesting.
It’s only one hundred million dollars (and counting apparently.) I reckon Curran was probably handing Hirschfeld $200 million. That’s way more interesting.
The media is an enemy of democracy and the citizens in the western world.
In the UK…….
they get bombarded with lies about Russian spies.
they get assaulted by smears about Jeremy Corbyn.
They know nothing about the war in Yemen.
In New Zealand…….
we get bombarded with lies about Christchurch and Pike River .
we get assaulted by smears about Nicky Hager, Mike Joy, Metiria Turei and David Cunliffe.
We know nothing about the war in Afghanistan and Ukraine.
In New Zealand…….
they get bombarded with lies about Libya,Syria and Iraq.
they get assaulted by smears about Nicolás Maduro and Fidel Castro.
They know nothing about the war against the Palestinians.
They fight for the plutocrats.
The billionaires own the media.
And they lie to us.
Over on Stuffall Jones is getting hammered…..again.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/102829290/shane-jones-cant-recall-official-misgivings-about-west-coast-project-he-funded
Like the Daily Review photo…….. 🙂
Is that UK?
Looks like UK rooftops….
I can only add that the Duplicity woman is now a complete idiot in my mind and this absolute garbage is going to come back and bite her: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12026155
Hi Kat be keen to hear why you think this garbage. The only thing I see that is wrong is the claim it has lost them 2020 election.
Is the information about the increase in fuel excise/tax (whatever you want to call it) incorrect
I may be wrong but this is a new excise/tax and will hurt the poor more than the welathy.
It is not a “new” tax it is an increase in the existing excise levy to fund roading and transport a process that all govts have been operating under for fifty years or more.To continually beat this up as “new” tax is basic politicking and should remain the preserve of politicians not supposed non partisan members of the fourth estate.
My suggestion to this Duplicity woman would be to become fully aware of govt policy and procedure and a lot wiser to keep her fingers off the keyboard and only appear stupid than to write that sort of nonsense and remove all doubt.
An excise or excise tax is any duty on manufactured goods which is levied at the moment of manufacture, rather than at sale. This will get passed into the consumer and recovered and paid by the manufacturer. It’s just a different form of taxation but the end result is the same as a GST increase. You end up paying more.
So would you call a increase in GST a new tax or a increase.
I see it as a new tax on the poor who ultimately be the ones who suffer first and find harder to cover.
I would have thought this should have been in the tax working group as it is a significant increase to household take home pay.
Labour’s tax policy prior to the last election stated that alcohol, petrol, and tobacco levies will be adjusted as per normal Government practice.
An increase in GST is an increase in an existing tax not a new tax.
The govt has already announced getting rid of letting fees, putting $5.5 billion into low- and middle-income earners’ pockets, bringing in the winter energy payment for those who are on low fixed incomes and increased the minimum wage.
I don’t know the answer to this but when was the last time there was a increase in this size.
Plus you do realise the flow in effect to other goods and services that require transportation of products.
Those businesses will pass on the increase to the consumer. So it has a domino effect across pricing I can’t imagine progressive and foodstuffs absorbing a fuel increase on their delivery cost and not pass them on.
The last National govt increased excise by 17cents and were considering a 10 to 20% increase in road user charges and excise before they were exited from the treasury bench. Think yourself lucky they are in opposition.
Hi
Over what period was the increase.
A one off 17 cents or over the nine year period. Just so there is some context.
Was the 10 to 20 percent in the annual road user charges or petrol. If road user then you can’t compare apples and oranges when petrol that has a every day component.
The new regional fuel tax IS a new tax. Remember then needed to change legislation to all it (all over New Zealand and not just Auckland as they indicated)
*sigh* One that they campaigned on…
Unlike National who campaigned on no new taxes and tax cuts in 2008 and then raised GST so they could transfer money from those who couldn’t afford it to those who didn’t need it.
Perhaps you need to raise your hypocrisy glasses and use your brain for something other than being a idiot parrot.
She has a point – it is a new tax
Is a new tax the same as an increase to an existing tax?
I would argue there is a difference, though others may find the difference too subtle for whatever reason.
Yes an interesting question.
Each individual will view it differently and also differently based on the product.
For example an increase on alcohol or tobacco would not cause too much unrest with the general population as not everyone smokes or drinks.
But petrol and its cost affects everyone and will will everyone.
Heck the cost of transiting goods to the supermarket will increase due to fuel cost and those once again will be passed on to the end consumer. You can’t escape it as companies will want to recover the fuel costs for goods.
I agree that the end result is the same, and this is a very visible tax for most people.
I was more pointing out the ‘new tax’ gotcha that some were trying to run with is a bit lame.
Proving, once again, that the capitalists don’t pay for anything.
Unless you change reality then it’s going to happen.
So with your vast IQ and superiority over the rest of us (humour not a dig), what needs to happen when this increase in excise will hurt the most vulnerable.
Because through all the rethoric and call change that in reality won’t happen overnight how do you protect those people that will be affected now.
The size of the effect depends entirely on the proportion of goods prices that regional fuel taxes make up. Additionally there will be a lag between the fuel tax increase and the expiry of regular carriage contracts.
Short version: if the per unit increase is a sub-1c rounding error, there’s basically no practical increase flowing on to the domestic consumer even if the total increase is made up in high transaction numbers.
Hi are you in the industry as I would be interested in your knowledge of the contracts. As I have seen from the freight industry most contracts contain a fuel clause or surcharge component to the pricing that makes it immediate.
The surcharge is added on top of the freight costs and will be recovered.
Nah not my field. Haulage might well be in the economically-envious position of being able to immediately pass on to their customers the full cost of and changes in their own running costs. Good for them.
And lag or no lag from the logistics companies, the point remains that if regional fuel costs are a relatively small fraction of the price of the good, and the fuel companies don’t initially wear a little bit of the increase to keep their market share, then the increase on a weekly shop would still end up being a fraction of that fraction.
The bigger cost to people would be the direct observation at the pump, even if fuel companies wear a bit initially.
Im pretty sure that a Regional Fuel Tax is new.
That is not what today’s announcement was about.
The Auckland Regional Fuel tax also replaced a rate payer transport levy. A neutral tax switch?
He cares not a jotalot. Fiddlededee.
The Living Wage has increased to $20.55/h. Well done to all employers paying the living wage or better – and shame on all those who are paying less! Great words from the Living Wage employer quoted in the RNZ story:
Mr Waldren said it made economic and social sense to pay that extra amount.
“You just have to get on board and pay the living wage … they’ve got a concept of if staff are not earning the living wage … basically they’re subsidising your business with their standard of living,” he said.
“Once you get that concept you can’t continue to pay under the living wage.”
The government should be 100% on board with this one.
I like that Stuff is giving a voice to heaps of homeless/renters.
Comments are still discordant often with low or non existant empathy for the *choices* people have made and suggestions like move Taumaranui and get a job there. I’m not saying that this isn’t possible just considerably harder to do than the comment suggests.
I view the comments section as a reasonable barometer of how much the public understands an issue even though it can be manipulated.
Palantir Technologies: A “CIA-backed startup”
The WSWS has reported on the real pedigree of Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, the behavioural research and strategic communication company, SCL.
Asked by the parliamentary select committee if there were other data companies operating similarly to Cambridge Analytica, Wylie specifically cited the data analysis giant Palantir Technologies.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/04/03/pala-a03.html
The lie is slowly being shown for what it is.
Click here to see the whole Independent article.
Craig Murray talks about Skripal case to George Galloway.
David Kelly also worked in Porton Down.
He was murdered for resisting the lies about Iraqi wmd
The Strange Death of David Kelly – Norman Baker MP
An interesting perspective.
The Moon of Alabama, as recommended by Mike Smith.
“Operation Hades – A Model For The ‘Novichok’ Case?”
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/operation-hades-a-model-for-the-novichok-case-.html#more
George Galloway.
If you want to learn about what is going on in Britain, listen to him.
Here is a flavour of the great orator.
I think in this case something like fuel is emotive and possibly not rational given we one of most expensive places for at pump price.
This is something that effects everyone in the pocket and we don’t know what the effect to overall prices and inflation.
When are the nurses getting a 20% wage increase, cause by God they will need it after paying fuel tax soon plus inflation on clothing, food and electricity will be up next.
Ahhhh ! The Living Wage has increased to $20.55/h good sign Property Rates will rise for sure.
Man oh man I love inflation.
The new Reserve Bank Manager Adrian Orr will be pulling his hair out, bald by Xmas.
Had a good night last night. The consulate launch of the sevens have to admit I thought I would be in the dog box coming home at 4am out with some AB and sevens legends.
My wonderful and semi perfect wife had paid her debt for a lost bet re the coalition lasting past Easter and their would be a by election and her national party would be back in.
After a month of eating vegetarian which was delicious and changed our way eating moving forward she cooked one of my favourite meals.
Came home to a slow cooked NZ lamb shoulder, roast tattys, asparagus, kumara and with Apple pie and custard.
Ahh the taste of victory was perfect.
ha ha good bet and win.
Exactly.
We have have robust and open political discussions I also love that she is strong and respect her views.
She supports national and I know why and I respect that and she respect my different voting views.
She’s a keeper that one.
Monty, I’m glad your marriage is better James K Baxter’s couple who live On Calvary Street “Where two old souls go slowly mad,/National Mum and Labour Dad.”
Also a far better kitchen than this one where “Her polished oven spits with rage”.
http://www.lead.org.au/lanv1n2/lanv1n2-11.html
Best wishes that your marriage blooms and prospers, the “full monty”!
“Where two old souls go slowly mad./National Mum and Labour Dad”. I do so love that line. It reminds me of Christmas time long ago in the 1950’s. My Grandparents on my Mother’s side were strictly Labour – rotten bosses and all the rest of it – and my Grandparents on my Dad’s side were strictly National – had a business and that meant something in those days or so they thought.
On Christmas Day they had to be separated at the Christmas table and politics was strictly off the menu. Us kids would have a giggle as Mum’s Gran loved a tipple and Dad’s father was strictly tea total. So the two old girls would get up in the front room and partake of the sherry while we were at carols by candlelight in the park.
When we got home the two grannies would in the kitchen tidying up or having a good go of it – giggly and half cut. Oh those were the days.
My old Grandad said “there wouldn’t have ever been unions if it weren’t for rotten bosses” – it resonates today all these gone by.
Of course, no one talks about National’s desire to price the poor off Auckland’s motoways by putting up toll Gates and congestion charges.
Meanwhile…..
https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2018/apr/04/china-us-trade-war-tariffs-wpp-markets-eurozone-jobs-business-live?page=with:block-5ac48f2be4b0968bfc01b558#block-5ac48f2be4b0968bfc01b558