I get the feeling that if one was to ask gGrant Robertson (of if you dont like how high your rent is just move fame) about the wage freeze hell smile and say let them eat cake!!
nah, he would tell them to just go and find another job, just like you are to find another rental if the one you are in becomes unaffordable. Surely the market fixeth it all.
Well from reading the article it is a wage freeze for income 100.000 + and then the wage increases are concentrated on those that are below 60.000 annual income. So it would very well be that those between these two numbers.
AS for the Covid fund, it is easy to have an underspend when it is set to such high thresholds that no one can get any funds. For the wage subsidy for example you need a 40% loss of revenue, if you have only a loss of 38.5 % you are getting no love. It is not as easy as some imagine to get that sweet government funding.
But I agree with you, he should keep that Covid money in the Covid pot for another year. I don't think that they virus is finished with humanity just yet.
Maybe I have misunderstood, but isn’t the wage freeze for people who earn $100,000.00 or over? That is almost $2000.00 per week before tax. That is a good amount of money by anyone’s standards isn’t it? I doubt there are many if any nurses, teachers or even police who earn over that, except police commissioners and the likes.
Maybe i imagined it and who am i a mere mortal to comment anyway but i could have sworn i heard the gov of the res bank in his interview this morn express surprize at the amount of invester money in the housing market ! wheres he been ?? does he spend his time sharpening pencils to justify the undoubtedly huge sum he gets paid to do his job ?
Good God no! That would be the function of his executive pencil sharpener – and justifying his salary will be in the hands of a professional PR firm, paid for by the public purse, of course, and great value.
I get these guys are not newbies in the outdoors, but this does seem like another tragic case of new immigrants not respecting New Zealand conditions. Wales and Britain are not the side of Taranaki in May, at night.
I heard they were climbing at night, at the start of winter. I don't think they were experienced enough for this. And the proof of that is they are dead.
We in Auckland hear a lot of new immigrants not experienced with west coast conditions at Piha and other dangerous beaches. Several die every year.
There have been too many people leave widowed families and broken parents by not being educated properly on NZ's unique challenges.
This afternoon on National Radio I heard an NZ mountaineer explain how Mt Taranaki has conditions unknown to experienced European climbers. This is a sad case of good people fatally caught out.
Marlborough Sounds has kaitiaki and the Sounds need them. The practical man/woman putting together handy things out of recycled stuff, must be aware of all aspects of his or her materials and their properties.
Was listening to radio shock jock Heather Duplicity Allan for hours today. Driving children to and from Auckland sports events in weekday rush hour is a difficult and lengthy process.
She was very upset by a number of things. Chief of which was Laurel Hubbard's imminent qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. I’ve not heard her so upset and her voice was shaking.
Truth is, radio show jock Heather Duplicity Allan hates the idea that trans gender women can compete in athletics.
One must assume she believes once a person transitions to another gender they are disqualified from participating in normal society, including athletic competition?
Even though Duplicity Allan claimed she was fine with transgender people, that is othering, and plainly transphobic.
That particular sporting contest seems unlikely to go ahead, so it's a bit strange to get too fussed one way or another about Hubbard's possible qualification to compete.
Anyway; it's the Olympics, which have allowed trans athletes to compete since 2004 (though with peculiar surgical requirements until 2015 – since when they've been more hormone level focused). None have won medals that I know of.
Agree it shouldn't go ahead. It's not in the spirit of the pandemic times for this sort of thing to proceed. The IPL just got pulled. Why start anything else?
None of the transgenders have won medals that you know of Forget Now. But they have just pushed their way into the ordinary female queue trying to go for the big competition. It is just another advantage that an assertive male is able to achieve.
As a folk song about a young female getting a job as a cabin boy and getting found out by the captain after she births a baby, it is not so easy to transition the other way. (The Handsome Cabin Boy – Gordon Bok.
If Hubbard wins a medal competing in womens weight lifting, it seems a bit unfair to me on the other women competing. And they will feel cheated out of a medal.
For 17 years now these supposedly superpowered trans athletes have been able to compete amongst other cis athletes of their genders. Yet they don't seem to be dominating the competition. To the extent that the Olympics have even widened their inclusivity (though Nonbinary are pretty much default male).
But, given that the other countries will have trans athletes on their squads, wouldn't it make sense to have our own to even the playing field? That's if you accept the premise that; muscle protein growth is best predicted by the hormonal activity in the athlete's early teens, rather than in the months immediately preceding the athletic contest. Which neither I, nor the Olympic rules board apparently, do.
That's a good link incognito. We all should try it, hidden talents would show up. Look for them in oneself and others and we'd all be happier and more effective.
Always up for a debate, [Helen] Kelly agreed to a TV interview with celebrity pretend journalist Paul Holmes, only to be shouted down by the apoplectic host …
I could never watch the bloke, Holmes. Apart from being pretend he did not seem to understand where to put the emphasis in a spoken sentence and you'd find yourself listening to an emphasised word that was way out of the scheme of the sentence. I don't know if this was an affectation or normal for him?
The film about Helen Kelly was fantastic and if the book is as good……
… only to be shouted down by the apoplectic host: "The impression people have, Helen, is that you are well out of your depth. When Jackson calls you 'clueless' and tells you to go home, this is a New Zealand-produced genius, the like of which we’ll never see again…What do you know about show business? What do you know about the film industry?" On top of the hate mail she’d been receiving, and the wider defeat for the union movement, it was bruising and humiliating. More than that, it was a reminder that taking on the establishment in New Zealand will put you at odds with squares and lackeys just as much as with power and wealth.
I took on the establishment over that interview. First, the letters flew back and forth between me and TVNZ's lawyers and then on to the BSA. The 'establishment' came down in favour of the establishment of course which was a given. But later on and after a court case (or was it an inquiry?) I had the pleasure of noting that all the points I made in my submissions were effectively upheld.
Didn't make any difference. The hobbit fanatics continued to believe Jackson and co. and the Helen Kelly haters were determined to hate her come what may.
It is unfortunate that the Christchurch Muslims have been pre-empted by others with Australian money. The local trustees planning a new mosque and looking for the money to build have had the matter taken out of their hands by their Imam agreeing with this apparently grandiose Australian offer involved with the United Arab Emirates.
One thing I think the Christchurch people wanted was to maintain a moderate religious line, and would like to be able to decide on all matters connected with their mosque. Does this expenditure open up to new controls, possibly a radical preacher, perhaps a school teaching fundamentalist Muslim thinking? I think the locals already feel that it is not 'their' place, their centre of community.
All nation states have a right to defend themselves. But do regimes enjoy an equal right to self-defence? Is the security of a particular party-in-power a fundamental right of nations? The Chinese government is asking ...
A modest attempt to analyse Donald Trump’s tariff policies.Alfred Marshall, whose text book was still in use 40 years after he died wrote ‘every short statement about economics is misleading with the possible exception of my present one.’ (The text book is 719 pages.) It’s a timely reminder that any ...
If nothing else, we have learned that the economic and geopolitical turmoil caused by the Trump tariff see-saw raises a fundamental issue of the human condition that extends beyond trade wars and “the markets.” That issue is uncertainty and its centrality to individual and collective life. It extends further into ...
To improve its national security, South Korea must improve its ICT infrastructure. Knowing this, the government has begun to move towards cloud computing. The public and private sectors are now taking a holistic national-security approach ...
28 April 2025 Mournfor theDead FightFor theLiving Every week in New Zealand 18 workers are killed as a consequence of work. Every 15 minutes, a worker suffers ...
The world is trying to make sense of the Trump tariffs. Is there a grand design and strategy, or is it all instinct and improvisation? But much more important is the question of what will ...
OPINION:Yesterday was a triumphant moment in Parliament House.The “divisive”, “disingenous”, “unfair”, “discriminatory” and “dishonest” Treaty Principles Bill, advanced by the right wing ACT Party, failed.Spectacularly.11 MP votes for (ACT).112 MP votes against (All Other Parties).As the wonderful Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke said: We are not divided, but united.Green ...
The Pacific Response Group (PRG), a new disaster coordination organisation, has operated through its first high-risk weather season. But as representatives from each Pacific military leave Brisbane to return to their home countries for the ...
The Treaty Principles Bill has been defeated in Parliament with 112 votes in opposition and 11 in favour, but the debate about Te Tiriti and Māori rights looks set to stay high on the political agenda. Supermarket giant Woolworths has confirmed a new operating model that Workers First say will ...
1. What did Seymour say after his obnoxious bill was buried 112 to 11?a. Watch this spaceb. Mea culpac. I am not a crookd. Youse are all such dumbasses2. Which lasted longest?a. Liz Trussb. Trump’s Tariffsc. The Lettuced. Too soon to say but the smart money’s on the vegetable 3. ...
And this is what I'm gonna doI'm gonna put a call to you'Cause I feel good tonightAnd everything's gonna beRight-right-rightI'm gonna have a good time tonightRock and roll music gonna play all nightCome on, baby, it won't take longOnly take a minute just to sing my songSongwriters: Kirk Pengilly / ...
The Indonesian military has a new role in cybersecurity but, worryingly, no clear doctrine on what to do with it nor safeguards against human rights abuses. Assignment of cyber responsibility to the military is part ...
The StrategistBy Gatra Priyandita and Christian Guntur Lebang
Another Friday, another roundup. Autumn is starting to set in, certainly getting darker earlier but we hope you enjoy some of the stories we found interesting this week. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday we ran a guest post from the wonderful Darren Davis about what’s happening ...
Long stories shortest:The White House confirms Donald Trump’s total tariffs now on China are 145%, not 125%. US stocks slump again. Gold hits a record high. PM Christopher Luxon joins a push for a new rules-based trading system based around CPTPP and EU, rather than US-led WTO. Winston Peters ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics and climate, including Donald Trump’s shock and (partial) backflip; and,Health Coalition Aotearoa Chair ...
USAID cuts and tariffs will harm the United States’ reputation in the Pacific more than they will harm the region itself. The resilient region will adjust to the economic challenges and other partners will fill ...
National's racist and divisive Treaty Principles Bill was just voted down by the House, 112 to 11. Good fucking riddance. The bill was not a good-faith effort at legislating, or at starting a "constitutional conversation". Instead it was a bad faith attempt to stoke division and incite racial hatred - ...
Democracy watch Indonesia’s parliament passed revisions to the country’s military law, which pro-democracy and human rights groups view as a threat to the country’s democracy. One of the revisions seeks to expand the number of ...
The StrategistBy Linus Cohen, Astrid Young and Alice Wai
Australia should follow international examples and develop a civilian cyber reserve as part of a whole-of-society approach to national defence. By setting up such a reserve, the federal government can overcome a shortage of expertise ...
A ballot for three Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill (Cameron Brewer) Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Restrictions on Issue of Off-Licences and Low and No Alcohol Products) Amendment Bill (Mike Butterick) Crown ...
Te Whatu Ora is proposing to slash jobs from a department that brings in millions of dollars a year and ensures safety in hospitals, rest homes and other community health providers. The Treaty Principles Bill is back in Parliament this evening and is expected to be voted down by all parties, ...
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has repeatedly asserted the country’s commitment to a non-aligned foreign policy. But can Indonesia still credibly claim neutrality while tacitly engaging with Russia? Holding an unprecedented bilateral naval drills with Moscow ...
The NZCTU have launched a new policy programme and are calling on political parties to adopt bold policies in the lead up to the next election. The Government is scrapping the 30-day rule that automatically signs an employee up to the collective agreement when they sign on to a new ...
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te must have been on his toes. The island’s trade and defence policy has snapped into a new direction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. The government was almost ...
Auckland’s ongoing rail pain will intensify again from this weekend as Kiwirail shut down the network for two weeks as part of their push to get the network ready for the City Rail Link. KiwiRail will progress upgrade and renewal projects across Auckland’s rail network over the Easter holiday period ...
This is a re-post from The Electrotech Revolution by Daan Walter Last week, UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch took the stage to advocate for slowing the rollout of renewables, arguing that they ultimately lead to higher costs: “Huge amounts are being spent on switching round how we distribute electricity ...
That there, that's not meI go where I pleaseI walk through wallsI float down the LiffeyI'm not hereThis isn't happeningI'm not hereI'm not hereSongwriters: Philip James Selway / Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood / Edward John O'Brien / Thomas Edward Yorke / Colin Charles Greenwood.I had mixed views when the first ...
(A note to subscribers:I’m going to keep these daily curated news updates shorter in future to ensure an earlier and more regular delivery.Expect this format and delivery around 7 am Monday to Friday from now on. My apologies for not delivering yesterday. There was too much news… This ...
As Donald Trump zigs and zags on tariffs and trashes America’s reputation as a safe and stable place to invest, China has a big gun that it could bring to this tariff knife fight. Behind Japan, China has the world’s second largest holdings of American debt. As a huge US ...
Civilian exploration may be the official mission of a Chinese deep-sea research ship that sailed clockwise around Australia over the past week and is now loitering west of the continent. But maybe it’s also attending ...
South Korea’s internal political instability leaves it vulnerable to rising security threats including North Korea’s military alliance with Russia, China’s growing regional influence and the United States’ unpredictability under President Donald Trump. South Korea needs ...
Here are 5 updates that you may be interested in today:Speed kills and costs - so why does National want more of it?James (Jim) Grenon Board Takeover Gets Shaky - As Canadian Calls An Australian Shareholder a “Flake” Billionaire Bust-ups -The World’s Richest Men Are UncomfortableOver 3,500 Australian doctors on ...
Australia is in a race against time. Cyber adversaries are exploiting vulnerabilities faster than we can identify and patch them. Both national security and economic considerations demand policy action. According to IBM’s Data Breach Report, ...
The ever brilliant Kate Nicholls has kindly agreed to allow me to re-publish her substack offering some under-examined backdrop to Trump’s tariff madness. The essay is not meant to be a full scholarly article but instead an insight into the thinking (if that is the correct word) behind the current ...
In the Pacific, the rush among partner countries to be seen as the first to assist after disasters has become heated as part of ongoing geopolitical contest. As partners compete for strategic influence in the ...
The StrategistBy Miranda Booth, Henrietta McNeill and Genevieve Quirk
We’ve seen this morning the latest step up in the Trump-initiated trade war, with the additional 50 per cent tariffs imposed on imports from China. If the tariff madness persists – but in fact even if were wound back in some places (eg some of the particularly absurd tariffs on ...
Weak as I am, no tears for youWeak as I am, no tears for youDeep as I am, I'm no one's foolWeak as I amSongwriters: Deborah Ann Dyer / Richard Keith Lewis / Martin Ivor Kent / Robert Arnold FranceMorena. This morning, I couldn’t settle on a single topic. Too ...
Australian policy makers are vastly underestimating how climate change will disrupt national security and regional stability across the Indo-Pacific. A new ASPI report assesses the ways climate impacts could threaten Indonesia’s economic and security interests ...
So here we are in London again because we’re now at the do-it-while-you-still-can stage of life. More warm wide-armed hugs, more long talks and long walks and drinks in lovely old pubs with our lovely daughter.And meanwhile the world is once more in one of its assume-the-brace-position stages.We turned on ...
Hi,Back in September of 2023, I got pitched an interview:David -Thanks for the quick response to the DM! Means the world. Re-stating some of the DM below for your team’s reference -I run a business called Animal Capital - we are a venture capital fund advised by Noah Beck, Paris ...
I didn’t want to write about this – but, alas, the 2020s have forced my hand. I am going to talk about the Trump Tariffs… and in the process probably irritate nearly everyone. You see, alone on the Internet, I am one of those people who think we need a ...
Maybe people are only just beginning to notice the close alignment of Russia and China. It’s discussed as a sudden new phenomenon in world affairs, but in fact it’s not new at all. The two ...
The High Court has just ruled that the government has been violating one of the oldest Treaty settlements, the Sealord deal: The High Court has found the Crown has breached one of New Zealand's oldest Treaty Settlements by appropriating Māori fishing quota without compensation. It relates to the 1992 ...
Darwin’s proposed Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct is set to be the heart of a new integrated infrastructure network in the Northern Territory, larger and better than what currently exists in northern Australia. However, the ...
Local body elections are in October, and so like a lot of people, I received the usual pre-election enrolment confirmation from the Orange Man in the post. And I was horrified to see that it included the following: Why horrified? After all, surely using email, rather ...
Australia needs to deliver its commitment under the Seoul Declaration to create an Australian AI safety, or security, institute. Australia is the only signatory to the declaration that has yet to meet its commitments. Given ...
Ko kōpū ka rere i te paeMe ko Hine RuhiTīaho mai tō arohaMe ko Hine RuhiDa da da ba du da da ba du da da da ba du da da da da da daDa da da ba du da da ba du da da da ba du da da ...
Army, Navy and AirForce personnel in ceremonial dress: an ongoing staffing exodus means we may get more ships, drones and planes but not have enough ‘boots on the ground’ to use them. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning:PM Christopher Luxon says the Government can ...
If you’re a qualified individual looking to join the Australian Army, prepare for a world of frustration over the next 12 to 18 months. While thorough vetting is essential, the inefficiency of the Australian Defence ...
I’ve inserted a tidbit and rumours section1. Colonoscopy wait times increase, procedures drop under NationalWait times for urgent, non-urgent and surveillance colonoscopies all progressively worsened last year. Health NZ data shows the total number of publicly-funded colonoscopies dropped by more than 7 percent.Health NZ chief medical officer Helen Stokes-Lampard blamed ...
Three billion dollars has been wiped off the value of New Zealand’s share market as the rout of global financial markets caught up with the local market. A Sāmoan national has been sentenced for migrant exploitation and corruption following a five-year investigation that highlights the serious consequences of immigration fraud ...
This is a guest post by Darren Davis. It originally appeared on his excellent blog, Adventures in Transitland, which we encourage you to check out. It is shared by kind permission. Rail Network Investment Plan quietly dropped While much media attention focused on the 31st March 2025 announcement that the replacement Cook ...
Amendments to Indonesia’s military law risk undermining civilian supremacy and the country’s defence capabilities. Passed by the House of Representatives on 20 March, the main changes include raising the retirement age and allowing military officers ...
The StrategistBy Alfin Febrian Basundoro and Jascha Ramba Santoso
So New Zealand is about to spend $12 billion on our defence forces over the next four years – with $9 million of it being new money that is not being spent on pressing needs here at home. Somehow this lavish spend-up on Defence is “affordable,” says PM Christopher Luxon, ...
Donald Trump’s philosophy about the United States’ place in the world is historically selfish and will impoverish his country’s spirit. While he claimed last week to be ‘liberating’ Americans from the exploiters and freeloaders who’ve ...
China’s crackdown on cyber-scam centres on the Thailand-Myanmar border may cause a shift away from Mandarin, towards English-speaking victims. Scammers also used the 28 March earthquake to scam international victims. Australia, with its proven capabilities ...
At the 2005 election campaign, the National Party colluded with a weirdo cult, the Exclusive Brethren, to run a secret hate campaign against the Greens. It was the first really big example of the rich using dark money to interfere in our democracy. And unfortunately, it seems that they're trying ...
Many of you will know that in collaboration with the University of Queensland we created and ran the massive open online course (MOOC) "Denial101x - Making sense of climate science denial" on the edX platform. Within nine years - between April 2015 and February 2024 - we offered 15 runs ...
How will the US assault on trade affect geopolitical relations within Asia? Will nations turn to China and seek protection by trading with each other? The happy snaps a week ago of the trade ministers ...
I mentioned this on Friday - but thought it deserved some emphasis.Auckland Waitematā District Commander Superintendent Naila Hassan has responded to Countering Hate Speech Aotearoa, saying police have cleared Brian Tamaki of all incitement charges relating to the Te Atatu library rainbow event assault.Hassan writes:..There is currently insufficient evidence to ...
With the report of the recent intelligence review by Heather Smith and Richard Maude finally released, critics could look on and wonder: why all the fuss? After all, while the list of recommendations is substantial, ...
Well, I don't know if I'm readyTo be the man I have to beI'll take a breath, I'll take her by my sideWe stand in awe, we've created lifeWith arms wide open under the sunlightWelcome to this place, I'll show you everythingSongwriters: Scott A. Stapp / Mark T. Tremonti.Today is ...
Staff at Kāinga Ora are expecting details of another round of job cuts, with the Green Party claiming more than 500 jobs are set to go. The New Zealand Defence Force has made it easier for people to apply for a job in a bid to get more boots on ...
Australia’s agriculture sector and food system have prospered under a global rules-based system influenced by Western liberal values. But the assumptions, policy approaches and economic frameworks that have traditionally supported Australia’s food security are no ...
Following Trump’s tariff announcement, US stock values fell by the most ever in value terms (US$6.6 trillion). Photo: Getty ImagesLong story shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning:Donald Trump just detonated a neutron bomb under the globalised economy, but this time the Fed isn’t cutting interest rates to rescue ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 30, 2025 thru Sat, April 5, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
This is a longer read.Summary:Trump’s tariffs are reckless, disastrous and hurt the poorest countries deeply. It will stoke inflation, and may cause another recession. Funds/investments around the world have tanked.Trump’s actions emulate the anti-economic logic of another right wing libertarian politician - Liz Truss. She had her political career cut ...
We are all suckers for hope.He’s just being provocative, people will say, he wouldn’t really go that far. They wouldn’t really go that far.Germany in the 1920s and 30s was one of the world’s most educated, culturally sophisticated, and scientifically advanced societies.It had a strong democratic constitution with extensive civil ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Mars warming? Mars’ climate varies due to completely different reasons than Earth’s, and available data indicates no temperature trends comparable to Earth’s ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...
In recent weeks, disturbing instances of state-sanctioned violence against Māori have shed light on the systemic racism permeating our institutions. An 11-year-old autistic Māori child was forcibly medicated at the Henry Bennett Centre, a 15-year-old had his jaw broken by police in Napier, kaumātua Dean Wickliffe went on a hunger ...
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra It takes a bit for Labor not to preference the Greens but on Friday it was announced that in the Melbourne seat of Macnamara, where Jewish MP Josh Burns is embattled, the ALP will run ...
By Layla Bailey-McDowell, RNZ Māori news journalist Legal experts and Māori advocates say the fight to protect Te Tiriti is only just beginning — as the controversial Treaty Principles Bill is officially killed in Parliament. The bill — which seeks to redefine the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW Sydney Australia’s relationship with its regional neighbours could be in doubt under a Coalition government after two Pacific leaders challenged Opposition Leader Peter Dutton over his weak climate stance. This week, ...
An additional tariff by the US on New Zealand exporters is harmful and the Minister of Trade has written to his American counterparts to tell them that. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophia Staite, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures Social media is ablaze with reports of kids going wild at screenings of A Minecraft Movie. Some cinemas are cracking down. There are reports of cinemas calling ...
The Treaty Principles Bill has been brutally defeated in Parliament. We have highlights from key speeches, and explain why its demise is so unusual. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Fujak, Senior Lecturer in Sport Management, Deakin University Few issues in Australian sport generate as much media noise or emotional fan reactions as player movement, especially in our major winter codes the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australian Football League (AFL). ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isabelle Ng, PhD candidate, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University A couple of whip coral goby (_Bryaninops yongei_).randi_ang/Shutterstock Swim along the edge of a coral reef and you’ll often see schools of sleek, torpedo-shaped fishes gliding through the currents, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charles Kemp, Professor, School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Languages are windows into the worlds of the people who speak them – reflecting what they value and experience daily. So perhaps it’s no surprise different languages highlight different ...
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The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins (Hay House, $32) “A truly helpful treatise on seeing ...
Tara Ward watches the return of The Handmaid’s Tale and discovers the dystopia of the future now feels all too real. If you like your television so bleak that you need to curl into a ball and rock back and forward afterwards, then clear the floor because I have great ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national YouGov poll, conducted April 4–10 from a sample of 1,505, gave Labor a 52.5–47.5 lead, a 1.5-point gain for Labor ...
Submissions close today on proposed reforms that would mark the most significant shakeup of fisheries in decades. Here’s what you need to know.On February 12, oceans and fisheries minister Shane Jones held up a wagging finger and a shiny, plastic-comb-bound document as Wellington’s downtown seagulls squawked overhead. Among a ...
This bill sought to fundamentally alter the meaning of Te Tiriti o Waitangi by selectively and incorrectly interpreting the reo Māori text, says E tū National Secretary Rachel Mackintosh. ...
Luxon has an opportunity to emerge as a stabiliser without the diplomatic risk of poking the bear in the White House. Last month, pundits from across the political spectrum were begging Christopher Luxon to add a modicum of clarity to the way he communicates after a disastrous interview with Mike ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christina Hanna, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Planning, University of Waikato Christina Hanna, CC BY-SA Once floodwaters subside, talk of planned retreat inevitably rises. Within Aotearoa New Zealand, several communities from north to south – including Kumeū, Kawatiri Westport and parts ...
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I get the feeling that if one was to ask gGrant Robertson (of if you dont like how high your rent is just move fame) about the wage freeze hell smile and say let them eat cake!!
nah, he would tell them to just go and find another job, just like you are to find another rental if the one you are in becomes unaffordable. Surely the market fixeth it all.
So a wage freeze above 60k unless exceptional circumstances.
Is this so landlords do not rise the rent?
There will need to be relief for public service workers who have children.
The way Covid is going in Sydney with 2 community cases the health workers and police could be needed if the same occurs in NZ.
Robertson will need to have a Covid fund for that Covid rainy day no one wants.
Well from reading the article it is a wage freeze for income 100.000 + and then the wage increases are concentrated on those that are below 60.000 annual income. So it would very well be that those between these two numbers.
AS for the Covid fund, it is easy to have an underspend when it is set to such high thresholds that no one can get any funds. For the wage subsidy for example you need a 40% loss of revenue, if you have only a loss of 38.5 % you are getting no love. It is not as easy as some imagine to get that sweet government funding.
But I agree with you, he should keep that Covid money in the Covid pot for another year. I don't think that they virus is finished with humanity just yet.
The Police Commissioner is paid around $700,000 / annum.
A Sergeant with around 20 years in the force gets about $100,000 / annum.
So yes, there are a very large number of police who will be affected.
Maybe i imagined it and who am i a mere mortal to comment anyway but i could have sworn i heard the gov of the res bank in his interview this morn express surprize at the amount of invester money in the housing market ! wheres he been ?? does he spend his time sharpening pencils to justify the undoubtedly huge sum he gets paid to do his job ?
Good God no! That would be the function of his executive pencil sharpener – and justifying his salary will be in the hands of a professional PR firm, paid for by the public purse, of course, and great value.
Just like a Christmas tree with an ornament dedicated to capitalism waggling around in the air from each branch.
I get these guys are not newbies in the outdoors, but this does seem like another tragic case of new immigrants not respecting New Zealand conditions. Wales and Britain are not the side of Taranaki in May, at night.
Sad for their families.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mt-taranaki-deaths-families-of-peter-kirkwood-and-richard-phillips-devastated/4VT4R3LKNEJLRCPHFPNZQY5ND4/
Both are experienced climbers on bigger mountains. One fell, I’d guess had serious injuries. Why the second died isn’t discussed.
I heard they were climbing at night, at the start of winter. I don't think they were experienced enough for this. And the proof of that is they are dead.
We in Auckland hear a lot of new immigrants not experienced with west coast conditions at Piha and other dangerous beaches. Several die every year.
There have been too many people leave widowed families and broken parents by not being educated properly on NZ's unique challenges.
This afternoon on National Radio I heard an NZ mountaineer explain how Mt Taranaki has conditions unknown to experienced European climbers. This is a sad case of good people fatally caught out.
It is sad, but even as a non climber I can see Taranaki is a dangerous 45 degree beast just looking at it.
Why is the advice not there for amateur climbers who think they are bullet proof? I'm sure their wives and kids would have appreciated it.
Did they say what those conditions are?
Marlborough Sounds has kaitiaki and the Sounds need them. The practical man/woman putting together handy things out of recycled stuff, must be aware of all aspects of his or her materials and their properties.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/441992/homemade-raft-in-the-sounds-leaves-polystyrene-in-its-wake
no idea who that writer is but ouch.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/frances-cook-of-course-i-go-to-work-for-money-and-so-do-you/R45Z7TS3EPV3NB3TR3QFSZKBG4/
And this is a lovely story about a young first nation women in the US receiving a free ride at Harvard Law School.
https://collegefund.org/press-releases/samantha-maltais-awarded-three-year-american-indian-law-school-scholarship-to-attend-harvard-law-school/
Was listening to radio shock jock Heather Duplicity Allan for hours today. Driving children to and from Auckland sports events in weekday rush hour is a difficult and lengthy process.
She was very upset by a number of things. Chief of which was Laurel Hubbard's imminent qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. I’ve not heard her so upset and her voice was shaking.
Truth is, radio show jock Heather Duplicity Allan hates the idea that trans gender women can compete in athletics.
One must assume she believes once a person transitions to another gender they are disqualified from participating in normal society, including athletic competition?
Even though Duplicity Allan claimed she was fine with transgender people, that is othering, and plainly transphobic.
That particular sporting contest seems unlikely to go ahead, so it's a bit strange to get too fussed one way or another about Hubbard's possible qualification to compete.
Anyway; it's the Olympics, which have allowed trans athletes to compete since 2004 (though with peculiar surgical requirements until 2015 – since when they've been more hormone level focused). None have won medals that I know of.
Agree it shouldn't go ahead. It's not in the spirit of the pandemic times for this sort of thing to proceed. The IPL just got pulled. Why start anything else?
None of the transgenders have won medals that you know of Forget Now. But they have just pushed their way into the ordinary female queue trying to go for the big competition. It is just another advantage that an assertive male is able to achieve.
As a folk song about a young female getting a job as a cabin boy and getting found out by the captain after she births a baby, it is not so easy to transition the other way. (The Handsome Cabin Boy – Gordon Bok.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0r8BKO5IJc
So there is no difference between male and female muscle growth and strength?
One can change gender and all things are still equal on the sports field?
Dream on.
Would you rather transgender athletes competed at the Paralympics instead?
Maybe they need their own division to compete in?
If Hubbard wins a medal competing in womens weight lifting, it seems a bit unfair to me on the other women competing. And they will feel cheated out of a medal.
Yes – we need not only the Olympics, the Paralympics, but also the Transolympics.
How far through the lbgt thing will the Olympics have to go?
For 17 years now these supposedly superpowered trans athletes have been able to compete amongst other cis athletes of their genders. Yet they don't seem to be dominating the competition. To the extent that the Olympics have even widened their inclusivity (though Nonbinary are pretty much default male).
But, given that the other countries will have trans athletes on their squads, wouldn't it make sense to have our own to even the playing field? That's if you accept the premise that; muscle protein growth is best predicted by the hormonal activity in the athlete's early teens, rather than in the months immediately preceding the athletic contest. Which neither I, nor the Olympic rules board apparently, do.
Agree with you Forget Now. But jeez, what a minefield.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/podcast-card/a-very-mediocre-podcast
That's a good link incognito. We all should try it, hidden talents would show up. Look for them in oneself and others and we'd all be happier and more effective.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/readingroom/book-of-the-week-helen-kelly-prime-minister
I could never watch the bloke, Holmes. Apart from being pretend he did not seem to understand where to put the emphasis in a spoken sentence and you'd find yourself listening to an emphasised word that was way out of the scheme of the sentence. I don't know if this was an affectation or normal for him?
The film about Helen Kelly was fantastic and if the book is as good……
I took on the establishment over that interview. First, the letters flew back and forth between me and TVNZ's lawyers and then on to the BSA. The 'establishment' came down in favour of the establishment of course which was a given. But later on and after a court case (or was it an inquiry?) I had the pleasure of noting that all the points I made in my submissions were effectively upheld.
Didn't make any difference. The hobbit fanatics continued to believe Jackson and co. and the Helen Kelly haters were determined to hate her come what may.
Anne and Shanreagh, most now understand the entitlement of those two men.
Helen was a brilliant human in every way, those two egos excelled in one area.
Peter at least has tried to give back, but still sees other people as subordinate to his particular needs. Grace is thin on the ground.
It is unfortunate that the Christchurch Muslims have been pre-empted by others with Australian money. The local trustees planning a new mosque and looking for the money to build have had the matter taken out of their hands by their Imam agreeing with this apparently grandiose Australian offer involved with the United Arab Emirates.
One thing I think the Christchurch people wanted was to maintain a moderate religious line, and would like to be able to decide on all matters connected with their mosque. Does this expenditure open up to new controls, possibly a radical preacher, perhaps a school teaching fundamentalist Muslim thinking? I think the locals already feel that it is not 'their' place, their centre of community.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018794619/linwood-mosque-trustees-sidelined-by-deal-to-build-new-masjid