Was speaking to a lady today whose life has changed dramatically. She has suffered from seizures her whole life, which has limited her ability to do many things. Just going to the supermarket was a nightmare for her, as she would worry about having a seizure.
Four weeks ago she got some CBD oil via the black market. She looked at getting CBD oil on prescription but could not afford it. She has not had a seizure for four weeks and it's changed her life beyond compare. She is so happy, a huge comparison to the depressed individual she was when I last saw her around three months ago. Am over the moon for her. She really has become a different person who now has the confidence to join community groups, which she has. Such a good buzz, she was near on suicidal before. Life changing for the better.
It's because of people like her that I will be voting YES in the referendum.
I had thought this referedum did not affect access to medical cannabis
'The proposed Bill does not cover medicinal cannabis, hemp, driving while impaired, or workplace health and safety issues. These are covered by existing laws.
Medicinal cannabis is already legal under the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme.'
So if people are voting yes so that others can get access to cannabis health products then I suggest a little more thought may be in order. If you are voting 'yes' so you or others can get access to cannabis because it makes you/them feel good ie recreational cannabis and they don't have to hassle to get it then that is what this referendum covers.
So a Majority yes vote
Yes I support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill.
The Bill legalises restricted access to cannabis
The Bill's purpose is to reduce harm to people and communities
The Bill controls the production and supply of cannabis
Medicinal cannabis and hemp will not be affected by the outcome of the referendum. Medicinal use of cannabis will still be allowed if prescribed by a doctor, and hemp will still be legal.
There are still many people who are not taking the option of seeing their Dr to get a prescription for medicinal cannabis. One family I know has had access to medicinal cannabis for their epileptic son and it has made a difference.
I worry about people venturing into what is the criminal world accessing unregulated oil ie the methods and ingredients are not controlled oil etc
So the referendum is about social or recreational use not medical use.
But voting YES would enable her to grow a plant and make CBD oil for her own personal use. Can't get more affordable than that.
Voting yes would mean that she wouldn't have to reach out offshore to purchase it. Under current restrictions the only CBD oil available is from offshore.
Presently medical cannabis is totally unaffordable under current restrictions for an unwaged person, like the lady I talked with today.
I worry that the stigma surrounding cannabis is overshadowing a referendum to allow assisted death. No one has ever overdosed on cannabis. Sorry but that's been annoying me lately.
To think that New Zealand currently has readily available and affordable medicinal cannabis products is untrue and misleading. Medicinal cannabis products are not easily accessible and they are also unaffordable for those who need it.
Agree Ad. Make sure we are voting for the reasons in the referendum ie for use as a recreational drug. if you are happy about this then vote 'yes' and if not vote 'no'…..
Affordability of medical cannabis is whole other ball-game & not connected with the referendum.
it's one reason that a lot of people will vote yes. We don't have equitable or full access to medicinal cannabis, this Bill will go a long way to redressing that. Atm people make their medicine themselves, after the Bill is passed they and others will continue to do so only they won't have to be afraid of being arrested, or having their supply confiscated.
What I like about Liz & Charlie is they don't cost us a bean unless we ask them to visit and the next one in the queue is always known. Very low maintenance.
And we don't then have to fight over who gets the top ceremonial job. I mean could you imagine a 70 year old Judith Collins swanning around in a tiara. I rest my case.
What I like about Liz & Charlie is they don't cost us a bean unless we ask them to visit and the next one in the queue is always known. Very low maintenance.
And also a load of bollocks.
Our governor General, does, as a matter of fact, cost us. It's unlikely that a president would cost us any more.
And we don't then have to fight over who gets the top ceremonial job.
But we should. We should be the ones that set the direction of the country should also be the ones who sets the face and voice.
I mean could you imagine a 70 year old Judith Collins swanning around in a tiara.
Yeah except NZ is a small horribly cliquey little country on a bad day – and if you are not part of the in crowd tough. I could see a president costing more frankly but who knows.
I've always regretted the demise of the privy council legal appeals. , I would far rather it had been replaced by a "commonwealth council" with top judges from Aust Canada etc. It would have been a bit further removed from the small legal cohort here.
As to Judith – I can see her in a tiara but I really wouldn't want her as a president. Not sure where you get the insult in that.
Oh for heavens sake DTB pretty much anyone wearing a tiara except for actual royalty is swanning around in one. It's a figure of speech I guess not necessarily to be interpreted as an insult.
Pie in the sky? Millions to be spent. Not from the regions growth fund I hope. Would Maori like the land back and they could choose what they do with it? The government to take this out of the hands of chancers and big-talkers.
But there’s a potentially happy ending to the tale: the present owners have just this month made preliminary decisions on a $250m masterplan which could see the pools and the slides return to Waiwera, along with a day spa, a hotel spa complex, a micro-brewery and apartments. Evan Vertue, Waiwera project director for property company Urban Partners talks about the plans.
Third biggest party in New Zealand according to some sources… Billy TK was ranked 34th preferred Prime Minister in the latest COlmar Brunton, which he himself says is "unheard of". They've had over 2 million social medias interactions which is mind boggling too.
Sorry 34th ranked was wrong…. Billy TK is ranked 5th equal with Christopher Luxon for Preferred PM at 0.7% and more than twice as popular as John Key on 0.3%.
Remarkable. Of course if you want to look outside yourself and hear the Colmar results first hand you can seek out the latest video between Billy TK and Dr Buttar.
A 0.7% share of the preferred PM choice is indeed "remarkable" – one in every 143 people polled said they actually preferred Billy TK for PM – that's six out of the 843 people who responded to the ‘Preferred PM‘ question.
Unfortunately for Billy TK, apparently no-one polled chose to support the political party he and Jami-Lee Ross lead. An optimist might say that Advance NZ's party vote poll results can only get better. Best of luck ANZ.
This turned up on my fb feed by some dude called David Clark, me and numbers dont get on so I have know idea if hes right or not.
""Over the weekend I had a phone call from a mate who lives in urban Auckland and he wanted to have a yarn about the new Green Party Agricultural Policy, that to his mind seemed logical, fair and reasonable, almost an exciting step forward, but he wanted to see the policy through the lens of a farmer as well,
I have been reflecting on his question regarding the launching of the Green Party Agricultural "Policy" trying to quantify the feeling of hopeless that I and many farmers feel.
So let's unpack this a bit.
How our business works is we have a farm income, that is the culmination of all the stock we sell and the grain and seed crops that we grow and sell to processors as it's eventually makes it way to your local Supermarket.
Out of that income, we pay our farm expenses, seed, fertiliser, fuel and electricity, farm supplies, and various other goods and services. Most of this expenditure benefits businesses in our local town Ashburton and across the wider Canterbury economy.
Once we have sold our produce and paid for our expenses, there is hopefully a wee bit left over, which is what most business owners refer to as their return on investment.
Last year our arable and stock farming business made a pre-tax return on total assets of 3.6%.
The Greens intend to impose a "Wealth Tax" of 2%.
That leaves us with 1.6% return on assets before we pay any Income Tax.
The Greens then plan to "charge a fair price" for the Methane burped by our sheep. I have previously heard prices of $50-$250/t of Carbon Equivalent suggested by the Greens, but let's say at the low end of that range, our Climate Change cost just for Methane will be 1.5% of total assets.
That leaves us with 0.1%.
The Greens intend to develop a Water Charge in consultation with Iwi.
Previously the Greens have stated that charge should be 10 cents per cubic metre. David Parker publicly stated an intention for a water charge of 2 cents per cubic metre.
Here a Valetta, even at the lower charge of 2 cents per cube, the cost of watering our arable crops would be another 0.4% of total assets annually.
That leaves us making a 0.3% loss.
The Greens then want to impose a levy of fertiliser, want us to run a zero-till or minimum-till system, not sure how that works in a long term seed production system and adopt Regenerative principles.
But here's the clanger, they intend to impose a Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN) level of 1mg/litre for all waterways in NZ. Currently water flows out of DoC land at western side of Mid Canterbury at 3.2mg/l.
To meet a DIN of 1mg/l, Environment Canterbury's own report from 2017 found that land use in the neighbouring Selwyn Te Waihora Catchment would have to revert to dryland sheep grazing.
We have budgeted that impact on this farm and it looks like this-
Crop Income, down 92%
Sheep Gross, down 62%
Expenditure, down 70%
Wages, down 91%
EBIT, down 68%
Capital Re-investment, down 74%
Net Profit, down 105%
Tax Paid, down 75%
The actual numbers are irrelevant, because the percentage drops will be seen across many or most farm businesses, regardless of size.
Of course, that is before any of the other new taxes and levies they wish for detailed above.
This conversation hasn't even begun to touch on the significant investment in technology and infrastructure we have made in the last 15 years to reduce our environmental impact, all of which would be both unaffordable, and irrelevant because none of it will get us even close to meeting the limits the Greens wish for.
The end result of all this is we would now own a totally unviable, un-bankable business that is not much more than a glorified life style block and has no economic future in food production. The knock on impact is that land values will collapse.
My suggestion to my mate, or anyone else in urban New Zealand reading this is to enjoy and savour the standard of living that you currently enjoy, make diary notes, take photographs so that you can look back on the "good ole days" as we embark on our journey to becoming a Zimbabwe or Venezuela of the South Pacific.
It was not sensible policy announced this last weekend, it was the framework for economic destruction.
Given the catastrophic economic news released in the PERFU today, I'm not sure we can afford to take a wrecking ball to the agricultural and horticultural sectors right now.
I can't argue accounting very well, and I've no idea if all those numbers claimed are broadly accurate.
But even without the wealth tax, if everything there is true, essentially that person is arguing that they can't operate their business without polluting what little water they leave behind.
yes looking at it, may as well throw in the towel and walk off the land right now. if they are only making 3.6% before tax, their rate of return is nearly as bad as hollywood moviemaking, and we know how much they need to be propped up.
The best hope in respect of nitrogen, in my humble opinion, is for the Greens to encourage bioremediation of some kind – a gross feeding crop like hemp, or pollarded white poplars, which are used for waste treatment in parts of Europe. Of course you'd need the space for such a thing, but as a mitigation measure it wouldn't send you broke out of the box – it might even be able to be made to pay.
The net wealth tax will be set at 1% on net wealth over $1 million and 2% on net wealth over $2 million. … No one whose individual net wealth is less than $1 million would pay this tax.
We have designed the tax to apply at an individual level, which means that couples who own their assets jointly will only start paying tax if they jointly have over $2 million in net wealth, such as a $2 million house.
I don't like the whole couples thing. A house that was bought years ago can now be "worth" close to or over 1 million dollars so if that house is owned by a person who is now single, they will have to pay the wealth tax (or pay it later) even if they have bugger all other assets or income whereas if a couple live in that same house, they will not.
Ordinary people do not set house prices, so I think there needs to be some kind offset on the home such as, say, the first $500,000 Is disregarded or a different starting rate for singles.
The threshold for individual net wealth is the same for single individuals as for individuals in a long-term relationship: $1 million. Why should it be $1.5 million because an individual is single? People who are asset-rich but cash-poor can defer payments until sale of assets, usually a house. You do realise that an individual with net wealth of $999,999 will not pay a cent in wealth tax under the scheme, yes?
Yes maybe 500k is too much but my point is why should a couple get an advantage over a single person what with house prices being so mental in Auckland etc. I knew a young couple who bought an old house for 27,000 or thereabouts in the late 70s in Grey Lynn – now I would assume it's worth over a million so if one partner died or whatever, that remaining person would be asset rich which is great if the person has enough income to pay the rates and insurance and whatnot.
Deferred payments still mean the single person pays when they downsize or go into care. It costs more per capita to live as a single person and that is reflected in pensions and other benefits as far as I understand it so I think something similar should be applied here. It is likely that this would likely hit older single cash-poor women harder. Sure you are still better off than many but still if the tax hits one group harder than another, it is unfair.
I don't know what the mechanism would be or what amount of $$ is right but there should be some kind of offset in my opinion. Why should couples only get to live in a high priced house? It would be great if there were decent smaller houses in the more "desirable" places rather than the choice of a either a massive house or a rabbit hutch (shitboxes my boss calls them) or apartment but that just doesn't happen.
There's not enough substance, or actual figures in it make any judgement about it's accuracy. But there's some misrepresentation of the Green's wealth tax, 1%, not 2%, and net, and going by the supposed development that would be financed by debt rather than cashflow, so probably not enough net wealth to be paying it, which would put the whole thing under a bit of a cloud.
Whole thing looks like someone who's over capitalised their farm and the whole thing is falling apart financially and environmentally. But that's a pretty common picture all around the country.
Bottom line though, it's political spin designed to make people fearful.
This propaganda piece lacks crucial bits of information that would allow you to work out if it is true. Either his property is incredibly valuable so the wealth-tax threshold is diluted to nothing, or he has incorrectly applied the tax to the entire property….
DIN of 3.2mg/L is incredibly high for an unmodified catchment in NZ. So there is almost certainly something very unusual about "Currently water flows out of DoC land at western side of Mid Canterbury at 3.2mg/l ". Is the entire catchment DOC land, or is there a DIN-creating activity further upstream perhaps??
No info on Advance NZ but safe to say they’re sub 5%.
@McFlock 8.2
IMO there will be less public polls this election. The media outlets are all too skint and the change of election date has caught them on the hop. And, yes, the trend line has been really strong for 6 months now.
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The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Duncan Greive and Leonie Hayden were young hip hop heads and music journalists during the era captured in a new documentary about the rise and fall of South Auckland hip hop label Dawn Raid. Here they discuss the film and their memories (what’s left of them) of that time. Warning: contains ...
Houses might be the most popular and inflated purchases in New Zealand, but there are plenty of other products that are seeing soaring demand and prices over the past few months. Here’s a list of what New Zealanders are spending their money on with international travel out of the picture.Used ...
"The young boy leaps, the muscles in his thighs tensing and twisting as he lifts from the handrail": the noble art of bombing, by Pātea writer Airana Ngarewa A beautifully muscled boy is posted on the side of a pool, his feet fixed to the top of a pair of ...
How Waiwera Hot Pools went from New Zealand’s most visited water park to dereliction and decay. Many who grew up in Auckland likely have fond memories of Waiwera Hot Pools. Like me, they remember summer days spent racing down the slides and playing in the naturally hot pools. But how did ...
A government contract for a P rehab programme was canned after half a million dollars of taxpayer money was given out. Aaron Smale investigates. The Ministry of Health spent over half a million dollars on a P Rehab contract before pulling the pin because there were no results or progress reports. ...
Kia Koropp and her husband John Daubeny have been cruising the Pacific, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean over the past decade with their two children onboard their 50ft yacht, Atea. Starting in 2011 from Auckland, New Zealand, they have sailed more than 64,000 kilometres and just completed their longest ...
We are drowning out the natural world with synthetic sounds, and it’s getting worse, writes Michelle Langstone.It used to be quiet once. Remember that? Remember the hush that settled over the cities like the silence that comes down in a snowstorm? It’s less than a year since Aotearoa first locked ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden in the latest episode of On the Rag as they examine the topic of boobs from every possible angle. First published November 16, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Seventy-five years after the US detonated the first nuclear tests in the Pacific, New Zealand pledges its support to Joe Biden's first tentative step towards disarmament. Today, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons comes into effect, making it illegal for New Zealand and the 50 other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Terry, Professor of Psychology, University of Southern Queensland The challenge of bringing the world’s best tennis players and support staff, about 1,200 people in all, from COVID-ravaged parts of the world to our almost pandemic-free shores was always going to be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoffrey Browne, Research Fellow in International Urban Development, University of Melbourne The Victorian government has committed to removing 75 road/rail level crossings across Melbourne by 2025. That’s the fastest rate of removal in the city’s history. The scale of the investment — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW In an age of hyperpartisan politics, the Biden presidency offers a welcome centrism that might help bridge the divides. But it is also Biden’s economic centrism that offers a chance to cut through what has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Stevens, Lecturer in History, University of Waikato In a year of surprises, one of the more pleasant was the recent runaway viral popularity of 19th century sea shanties on TikTok. A collaborative global response to pandemic isolation, it saw singers and ...
The sudden departure of Graine Moss from her Chief Executive role at Oranga Tamariki is a vital first step in a sequence of changes that must take place at the Ministry according to a group of wahine Māori leaders. Dame Naida Glavish, Dame Tariana Turia, ...
A new poem from Dunedin poet Jenny Powell.Her uncle’s eyeShe introduced us to her uncle’s eye floating in a jar.Lost in an accident, he hadn’t wanted to lose it again. He left it to her in his will.We must have looked shocked. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I turn him to ...
The chief executive of Oranga Tamariki is quitting, leaving behind an agency she’s admitted suffers from structural racism. Justin Giovannetti looks at the future of Oranga Tamariki.Grainne Moss’s tenure as head of Oranga Tamariki has been untenable since November when the government’s senior Māori minister wouldn’t express any confidence in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Sainsbury, Senior Lecturer Composition, Australian National University Despite having different cultural backgrounds and experiences — Indigenous composers with an Indigenous mentor, and a pianist descended from Anglo-colonial history — it is nevertheless possible to create a project that can serve as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Plank, Professor in Applied Mathematics, University of Canterbury With new, more infectious variants of COVID-19 detected around the world, and at New Zealand’s border, the risk of further level 3 or 4 lockdowns is increased if those viruses get into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Hogg, Lecturer in Psychology, Charles Sturt University Horse racing is an ethical hotbed in Australia. The Melbourne Cup alone has seen seven horses die after racing since 2013, and animal cruelty protesters have become a common feature at carnivals. The latest ...
Right now, our most fiery national debate is over whether New Zealanders were nice to the singer Amanda Palmer in a café. Desperate to restore peace in our nation, Hayden Donnell went in search of the truth.Joe Biden had barely finished calling for unity when Amanda Palmer posted a tweet ...
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 When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut (Pushkin Press, $37)Maths, cyanide, suicide, gardening; ye ...
Wellington artist Estère isn’t just breaking boundaries, she’s dissecting them. Maddi Rowe spoke to her about her new album, Archetypes.“That’s the story of pelicans, they’ll stab themselves in the heart to feed their young.”Despite the somewhat dark subject matter, Estère Dalton’s eyes sparkle with fascination. We’ve met to discuss Archetypes, ...
Cycling advocates are welcoming new advice from the Transport Agency on safe cycling. "Cyclists hate it when drivers pass too close. That's scary and dangerous," said Patrick Morgan from Cycling Action Network. "So it's encouraging to see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tilman Ruff, Honorary Principal Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne Today, many around the world will celebrate the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty to enter into force in 50 years. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear ...
The Public Service Association welcomes the creation of a Chief Executive role to lead the public service’s pay equity work, and the appointment of Grainne Moss to this position. "Unions and public service employers are currently working ...
The Council of Trade Unions is warning that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures out today illustrate that the cost of living is increasing disproportionately for those on lower incomes; resulting in the poor getting poorer. CTU Economist Craig ...
Why are there so many offensive comments on the New Zealand Police Facebook page and are they breaking the law? Janaye Henry investigates. New Zealand Police Facebook pages – there are a number of them, for different regional police districts around the country – are an interesting place to spend ...
Our guide to stopping procrastinating and actually (finally) getting on top of investing. Because there’s a good chance that if you’re reading this, you don’t know a single thing about it.In part one, we covered some of the basic things you need to know about investing – why do it? ...
Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft acknowledges the huge effort and commitment of departing Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Grainne Moss and says her decision to resign today was principled. “The issues facing Oranga Tamariki are beyond individual ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Two Large Waves versus One Tsunami. Chart by Keith Rankin. Two Large Waves versus One Tsunami. Chart by Keith Rankin. With Covid19, Italy shows the classic European pattern, with its early outbreak, substantial recovery thanks to lockdowns and other public health measures, and resurgence thanks to complacency ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabrielle Appleby, Professor, UNSW Law School, UNSW This year has already seen significant progress in the government’s commitment to establish a body – a “Voice” – that would allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have a say when the government ...
Northland farmer Derek Robinson was sentenced earlier today by the District Court in Whangarei for two offences of ill-treating animals at rodeo events. Mr Robinson was found guilty in November last year, following a defended hearing. The charges ...
Under fire Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss has announced she will resign, effective February 28, Marc Daalder reports After four and a half years at the helm of child protection agency Oranga Tamariki, chief executive Grainne Moss has announced she will be leaving the position at the end of ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and New Zealand Police acknowledge the sentencing of 36-year-old Aaron Joseph Hutton on charges relating to the possession of child sexual exploitation material, and entering into a dealing involving the sexual exploitation ...
Ngā Tāngata Microfinance (NTM) is calling for tougher penalties for those caught promoting pyramid schemes. Such business models are illegal under the Fair Trading Act 1986. This call comes after the Commerce Commission issued a ‘stop now’ notice ...
British High Commissioner to New Zealand Laura Clarke is calling on young women aged 17 to 25 to apply for the annual ‘Be British High Commissioner for the Day’ competition. The winner will have the opportunity to become an ‘honorary High Commissioner’, ...
The Māori Party is welcoming the resignation of Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss after sustained pressure from leading figures within the Māori Party. This resignation is the result of the continued strong pressure of the Māori Party ...
In a historic corner of Dunedin, startup culture is thriving. Catherine McGregor visited the city’s Warehouse Precinct to meet the people driving the movement. When Jason and Kate Lindsey bought the four storey building now known as Petridish, it was an absolute wreck. Once home to a thriving hat and textiles ...
Summer reissue: The Fold’s very first guest is back to tell Duncan Greive how she pulled off the media deal of the year.The chaotic couple of weeks which finally saw the end of the Stuff-NZME saga were riveting and strange, replete with stock exchange announcements, legal challenges and finally the ...
Chris Liddell has dropped his candidacy to become director-general of the Paris-based OECD. Without support from the Ardern government and vilified in the media as somehow being involved in the encouragement by Donald Trump of the Washington riots, he plainly saw he had little chance of crowning his stellar career ...
Tara Ward hands out her first impression roses as she dives deep into the sea of single men vying to win The Bachelorette NZ’s heart. While the world burns in a searing fireball of unpredictability, we can take comfort in the fact that some things never change. The heart still yearns, ...
People from all around New Zealand will be converging on the super-secret Waihopai satellite interception spybase, in Marlborough, on Saturday January 30th. ...
In its Thursday editorial the NZ Herald speaks an important truth: “Investment important to stay on track”. This won’t have startled its more literate readers but in its text it notes the strong result in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, which prompted Westpac to raise its forecast for dairy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Mark, Professor, Faculty of International Studies, Kyoritsu Women’s University With the spread of COVID-19 steadily worsening in Japan since the onset of winter — daily records for infections and deaths continue to be broken — the fate of the Tokyo Summer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Taylor, Early Career Research Leader, Emerging Viruses, Inflammation and Therapeutics Group, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University All eyes are on COVID-19 vaccines, with Australia’s first expected to be approved for use shortly. But their development in record time, without compromising ...
Yesterday’s government announcement on new state housing is a pathetic response to the biggest housing crisis in New Zealand since the 1940s. At a time when the country needs an industrial-scale state house building programme, the government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Obadiah Mulder, PhD Candidate in Computational Biology, University of Southern California Australia is in the midst of tropical cyclone season. As we write, a cyclone is forming off Western Australia’s Pilbara coast, and earlier in the week Queenslanders were bracing for a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynette Vernon, School of Education – VC Research Fellow, Edith Cowan University When the holidays end, barring a fresh outbreak of COVID-19, teenagers across Australia will head back to school. Some will bounce out of bed well before the alarm goes off, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW In an age of hyperpartisan politics, the Biden presidency offers a welcome centrism that might help bridge the divides. But it is also Biden’s economic centrism that offers a chance to cut through what has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology Twenty years ago, on January 25 2001, a virtually unknown German supermarket chain quietly opened its first stores in Australia. The two stores – one in Sydney’s inner-west suburb of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Bluey is easily the most successful Australian television show of the last decade. A record-breaking success for its local broadcaster the ABC, as well as production partners BBC Studios and Screen Australia, ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permissionIt will take $3 million to clean up 1 million litres of abandoned toxic waste from a property in Ruakaka - three times more than the last big chemical clean-up undertaken by government agencies A two-year mission to clean up 1 million ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The action Biden took on just his first afternoon in office demonstrates a radical shift in priority for the US when it comes to its efforts to combat the climate crisis. It could put more pressure on New Zealand to step up. ...
Ban Bomb Day event at the New Brighton Pier, 9am, on January 22nd, 2021 January 22nd, 2021, marks the first day the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) Enters into Force and becomes international law. Aotearoa NZ is one of the ...
Our approach so far in trying to end what Dr Collin Tukuitonga describes as a 'racist' disease - rheumatic fever - has not worked. It's time we try something new, he writes. Acute rheumatic fever and the rheumatic heart disease it causes, long-known as a disease of poverty, is a blight on ...
New Zealand triple-code star, Anna Harrison, can't stop returning to the courts - whether it's netball or beach volleyball. She tells Ashley Stanley what keeps drawing her back. The day before Anna Harrison leaps back into netball, she will have one more hit-out at another of her favourite old sports ...
The lights are burning into the night at the New York Yacht Club's America's Cup base as they race to fix their damaged boat. And Suzanne McFadden discovers something surprising may emerge. Out of American Magic’s calamity may come opportunity - for even more speed. While the lights burn bright ...
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New to sailing? With the Prada Cup resuming this weekend, here’s how to bluff your way into sounding like a pro. When I was 10, my mum made my brother and I join the local sailing club. It was a favourite pastime of families in Kerikeri, and my brother was actually ...
A formal complaint to the UN, signed by a NZ Muslim group, says France’s Islamophobic laws and policies are entrenching discrimination and breaching human rights laws. The Khadija Leadership Network has joined a global coalition of Muslim organisations to formally complain about the French government’s systemic entrenchment of Islamophobia and discrimination against ...
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Surely if little old Barbados can remove the Queen as Head of State, we can too?
And they are still able to remain a member of the Commonwealth.
I'm sold, where do we vote please?
I think that is a little Precipi-state. Knee-jerk responses following Pavlovian stimulation.
Was speaking to a lady today whose life has changed dramatically. She has suffered from seizures her whole life, which has limited her ability to do many things. Just going to the supermarket was a nightmare for her, as she would worry about having a seizure.
Four weeks ago she got some CBD oil via the black market. She looked at getting CBD oil on prescription but could not afford it. She has not had a seizure for four weeks and it's changed her life beyond compare. She is so happy, a huge comparison to the depressed individual she was when I last saw her around three months ago. Am over the moon for her. She really has become a different person who now has the confidence to join community groups, which she has. Such a good buzz, she was near on suicidal before. Life changing for the better.
It's because of people like her that I will be voting YES in the referendum.
Absolutely YES.
same, I know someone whose severe epilepsy went into remission.
there are lessons here for people who believe that RCTs are the only way to do medicine. So many more people could be helped.
I had thought this referedum did not affect access to medical cannabis
'The proposed Bill does not cover medicinal cannabis, hemp, driving while impaired, or workplace health and safety issues. These are covered by existing laws.
Medicinal cannabis is already legal under the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme.'
from
https://www.referendums.govt.nz/cannabis/index.html
So if people are voting yes so that others can get access to cannabis health products then I suggest a little more thought may be in order. If you are voting 'yes' so you or others can get access to cannabis because it makes you/them feel good ie recreational cannabis and they don't have to hassle to get it then that is what this referendum covers.
So a Majority yes vote
Yes I support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill.
The Bill legalises restricted access to cannabis
The Bill's purpose is to reduce harm to people and communities
The Bill controls the production and supply of cannabis
Medicinal cannabis and hemp will not be affected by the outcome of the referendum. Medicinal use of cannabis will still be allowed if prescribed by a doctor, and hemp will still be legal.
There are still many people who are not taking the option of seeing their Dr to get a prescription for medicinal cannabis. One family I know has had access to medicinal cannabis for their epileptic son and it has made a difference.
I worry about people venturing into what is the criminal world accessing unregulated oil ie the methods and ingredients are not controlled oil etc
So the referendum is about social or recreational use not medical use.
https://www.referendums.govt.nz/cannabis/index.html
But voting YES would enable her to grow a plant and make CBD oil for her own personal use. Can't get more affordable than that.
Voting yes would mean that she wouldn't have to reach out offshore to purchase it. Under current restrictions the only CBD oil available is from offshore.
Presently medical cannabis is totally unaffordable under current restrictions for an unwaged person, like the lady I talked with today.
I worry that the stigma surrounding cannabis is overshadowing a referendum to allow assisted death. No one has ever overdosed on cannabis. Sorry but that's been annoying me lately.
Cannabis clinic doctor Waseem Alzaher has written an op-ed about this: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/cannabis-referendum/122728636/cannabis-referendum-the-real-cost-of-medicinal-cannabis–separating-fact-from-fiction
Thanks for the link Sacha.
welcome
The referendum doesn't cover medicines which you describe.
I'm over the moon for her as well.
But it's not a reason to vote yes in the referendum.
Agree Ad. Make sure we are voting for the reasons in the referendum ie for use as a recreational drug. if you are happy about this then vote 'yes' and if not vote 'no'…..
Affordability of medical cannabis is whole other ball-game & not connected with the referendum.
Too true.
it's one reason that a lot of people will vote yes. We don't have equitable or full access to medicinal cannabis, this Bill will go a long way to redressing that. Atm people make their medicine themselves, after the Bill is passed they and others will continue to do so only they won't have to be afraid of being arrested, or having their supply confiscated.
Yes we could. However, it should be by referendum, not just by parliament.
Of course, but the governments haven't seemed willing to put it to the vote.
Some interesting polls:
The country is getting ever closer to being in favour of becoming a republic.
The more I look at the senior NZ politicians most likely to take her place, the better Lizzy & Charlie look.
fair point. Not that impressed with the electorate either.
And just look at the USA! Would they be in quite this mess if they had a further brake on their shenanigins?
I'm pretty sure that the crown sets no brakes upon our politicians.
Gough Whitlam ?
There is potential, yes, but almost no chance of it happening.
It's no joke that the NZ Parliament can do pretty much whatever it wants but I don't want foreign interference either.
I like the idea that it potentially acts as a deterrent
It doesn't though. The government would have to be fairly bad before the GG actually acted to remove it.
What I like about Liz & Charlie is they don't cost us a bean unless we ask them to visit and the next one in the queue is always known. Very low maintenance.
And we don't then have to fight over who gets the top ceremonial job. I mean could you imagine a 70 year old Judith Collins swanning around in a tiara. I rest my case.
And also a load of bollocks.
Our governor General, does, as a matter of fact, cost us. It's unlikely that a president would cost us any more.
But we should. We should be the ones that set the direction of the country should also be the ones who sets the face and voice.
Why the insult?
Yeah except NZ is a small horribly cliquey little country on a bad day – and if you are not part of the in crowd tough. I could see a president costing more frankly but who knows.
I've always regretted the demise of the privy council legal appeals. , I would far rather it had been replaced by a "commonwealth council" with top judges from Aust Canada etc. It would have been a bit further removed from the small legal cohort here.
As to Judith – I can see her in a tiara but I really wouldn't want her as a president. Not sure where you get the insult in that.
Even a Corgi would do – active, intelligent, charismatic, and not corrupt beyond a decent enthusiasm for treats.
There are times I'd like to replace most of parliament with them.
Why?
Our High Court is more responsive and costs less.
Last time I looked, we call on them as well even with out High Court.
I wouldn't want her as president either but you most definitely phrased what you you said as an insult. Hence the swanning around.
Oh for heavens sake DTB pretty much anyone wearing a tiara except for actual royalty is swanning around in one. It's a figure of speech I guess not necessarily to be interpreted as an insult.
No, they'd just be wearing one.
And why do you think that tiaras are only for royalty? They're just another piece of jewellery.
Do you think that only royals should be wearing purple as well?
president would need mirrored sunnys and gold braid. as with anything the costs would blow out. better to stick with what works.
Gold Braid – $15 at the Warehouse.
Mirrored Sunnys – $20 at the Warehouse
Besides, I'm pretty sure our GG has those already.
@Ad 1
Canada, Australia and Aotearoa will be the last to go.
@Cinny 1.1
Of the 54 countries in the Commonwealth only 16 are Commonwealth Realms who have QEII as Head of State.
Pie in the sky? Millions to be spent. Not from the regions growth fund I hope. Would Maori like the land back and they could choose what they do with it? The government to take this out of the hands of chancers and big-talkers.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018764224/finally-a-plan-for-abandoned-waiwera-hot-pools
But there’s a potentially happy ending to the tale: the present owners have just this month made preliminary decisions on a $250m masterplan which could see the pools and the slides return to Waiwera, along with a day spa, a hotel spa complex, a micro-brewery and apartments. Evan Vertue, Waiwera project director for property company Urban Partners talks about the plans.
On a brighter note. Had the first asparagus of the season tonight. It’s Spring people!
Oh! Your late! I had mine last week and yummy.
Skite skite.
Just saw a tweet from one of the party insiders.
Labour still 50%+
Nats below 30%
Greens in trouble.
and most importantly what was Advance NZ on??
Well, whatever it was I don't want any….
Third biggest party in New Zealand according to some sources… Billy TK was ranked 34th preferred Prime Minister in the latest COlmar Brunton, which he himself says is "unheard of". They've had over 2 million social medias interactions which is mind boggling too.
"Billy TK was ranked 34th preferred Prime Minister" – “unheard of” in his own words.
Maui, please can you provide a link to these "latest COlmar Brunton" poll results.
It's all in the latest July Colmar:
https://static.colmarbrunton.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/25-29-July-2020_1-NEWS-Colmar-Brunton-Poll-report-.pdf
Sorry 34th ranked was wrong…. Billy TK is ranked 5th equal with Christopher Luxon for Preferred PM at 0.7% and more than twice as popular as John Key on 0.3%.
Remarkable. Of course if you want to look outside yourself and hear the Colmar results first hand you can seek out the latest video between Billy TK and Dr Buttar.
A 0.7% share of the preferred PM choice is indeed "remarkable" – one in every 143 people polled said they actually preferred Billy TK for PM – that's six out of the 843 people who responded to the ‘Preferred PM‘ question.
Unfortunately for Billy TK, apparently no-one polled chose to support the political party he and Jami-Lee Ross lead. An optimist might say that Advance NZ's party vote poll results can only get better. Best of luck ANZ.
Don't the polls usually start coming thick and fast about a month out from the election?
might be worth beginning to pay attention to the trends lol
This turned up on my fb feed by some dude called David Clark, me and numbers dont get on so I have know idea if hes right or not.
""Over the weekend I had a phone call from a mate who lives in urban Auckland and he wanted to have a yarn about the new Green Party Agricultural Policy, that to his mind seemed logical, fair and reasonable, almost an exciting step forward, but he wanted to see the policy through the lens of a farmer as well,
I have been reflecting on his question regarding the launching of the Green Party Agricultural "Policy" trying to quantify the feeling of hopeless that I and many farmers feel.
So let's unpack this a bit.
How our business works is we have a farm income, that is the culmination of all the stock we sell and the grain and seed crops that we grow and sell to processors as it's eventually makes it way to your local Supermarket.
Out of that income, we pay our farm expenses, seed, fertiliser, fuel and electricity, farm supplies, and various other goods and services. Most of this expenditure benefits businesses in our local town Ashburton and across the wider Canterbury economy.
Once we have sold our produce and paid for our expenses, there is hopefully a wee bit left over, which is what most business owners refer to as their return on investment.
Last year our arable and stock farming business made a pre-tax return on total assets of 3.6%.
The Greens intend to impose a "Wealth Tax" of 2%.
That leaves us with 1.6% return on assets before we pay any Income Tax.
The Greens then plan to "charge a fair price" for the Methane burped by our sheep. I have previously heard prices of $50-$250/t of Carbon Equivalent suggested by the Greens, but let's say at the low end of that range, our Climate Change cost just for Methane will be 1.5% of total assets.
That leaves us with 0.1%.
The Greens intend to develop a Water Charge in consultation with Iwi.
Previously the Greens have stated that charge should be 10 cents per cubic metre. David Parker publicly stated an intention for a water charge of 2 cents per cubic metre.
Here a Valetta, even at the lower charge of 2 cents per cube, the cost of watering our arable crops would be another 0.4% of total assets annually.
That leaves us making a 0.3% loss.
The Greens then want to impose a levy of fertiliser, want us to run a zero-till or minimum-till system, not sure how that works in a long term seed production system and adopt Regenerative principles.
But here's the clanger, they intend to impose a Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN) level of 1mg/litre for all waterways in NZ. Currently water flows out of DoC land at western side of Mid Canterbury at 3.2mg/l.
To meet a DIN of 1mg/l, Environment Canterbury's own report from 2017 found that land use in the neighbouring Selwyn Te Waihora Catchment would have to revert to dryland sheep grazing.
We have budgeted that impact on this farm and it looks like this-
Crop Income, down 92%
Sheep Gross, down 62%
Expenditure, down 70%
Wages, down 91%
EBIT, down 68%
Capital Re-investment, down 74%
Net Profit, down 105%
Tax Paid, down 75%
The actual numbers are irrelevant, because the percentage drops will be seen across many or most farm businesses, regardless of size.
Of course, that is before any of the other new taxes and levies they wish for detailed above.
This conversation hasn't even begun to touch on the significant investment in technology and infrastructure we have made in the last 15 years to reduce our environmental impact, all of which would be both unaffordable, and irrelevant because none of it will get us even close to meeting the limits the Greens wish for.
The end result of all this is we would now own a totally unviable, un-bankable business that is not much more than a glorified life style block and has no economic future in food production. The knock on impact is that land values will collapse.
My suggestion to my mate, or anyone else in urban New Zealand reading this is to enjoy and savour the standard of living that you currently enjoy, make diary notes, take photographs so that you can look back on the "good ole days" as we embark on our journey to becoming a Zimbabwe or Venezuela of the South Pacific.
It was not sensible policy announced this last weekend, it was the framework for economic destruction.
Given the catastrophic economic news released in the PERFU today, I'm not sure we can afford to take a wrecking ball to the agricultural and horticultural sectors right now.
(Feel free to share)""
I can't argue accounting very well, and I've no idea if all those numbers claimed are broadly accurate.
But even without the wealth tax, if everything there is true, essentially that person is arguing that they can't operate their business without polluting what little water they leave behind.
Yeah, looks like he's demanding that an uneconomical business be subsidised.
yes looking at it, may as well throw in the towel and walk off the land right now. if they are only making 3.6% before tax, their rate of return is nearly as bad as hollywood moviemaking, and we know how much they need to be propped up.
Sounds like something that was planted by the National campaign. This is too contrived to be real and I'm surprised everyone is falling for it.
Yeah, smells like a load of lies to me.
Two accountants in my family tell me that farmers don't pay tax.
The best hope in respect of nitrogen, in my humble opinion, is for the Greens to encourage bioremediation of some kind – a gross feeding crop like hemp, or pollarded white poplars, which are used for waste treatment in parts of Europe. Of course you'd need the space for such a thing, but as a mitigation measure it wouldn't send you broke out of the box – it might even be able to be made to pay.
Except:
https://www.greens.org.nz/poverty_action_plan
What’s there not to like?
I don't like the whole couples thing. A house that was bought years ago can now be "worth" close to or over 1 million dollars so if that house is owned by a person who is now single, they will have to pay the wealth tax (or pay it later) even if they have bugger all other assets or income whereas if a couple live in that same house, they will not.
Ordinary people do not set house prices, so I think there needs to be some kind offset on the home such as, say, the first $500,000 Is disregarded or a different starting rate for singles.
The threshold for individual net wealth is the same for single individuals as for individuals in a long-term relationship: $1 million. Why should it be $1.5 million because an individual is single? People who are asset-rich but cash-poor can defer payments until sale of assets, usually a house. You do realise that an individual with net wealth of $999,999 will not pay a cent in wealth tax under the scheme, yes?
Yes maybe 500k is too much but my point is why should a couple get an advantage over a single person what with house prices being so mental in Auckland etc. I knew a young couple who bought an old house for 27,000 or thereabouts in the late 70s in Grey Lynn – now I would assume it's worth over a million so if one partner died or whatever, that remaining person would be asset rich which is great if the person has enough income to pay the rates and insurance and whatnot.
Deferred payments still mean the single person pays when they downsize or go into care. It costs more per capita to live as a single person and that is reflected in pensions and other benefits as far as I understand it so I think something similar should be applied here. It is likely that this would likely hit older single cash-poor women harder. Sure you are still better off than many but still if the tax hits one group harder than another, it is unfair.
I don't know what the mechanism would be or what amount of $$ is right but there should be some kind of offset in my opinion. Why should couples only get to live in a high priced house? It would be great if there were decent smaller houses in the more "desirable" places rather than the choice of a either a massive house or a rabbit hutch (shitboxes my boss calls them) or apartment but that just doesn't happen.
Hope that makes sense …
There's not enough substance, or actual figures in it make any judgement about it's accuracy. But there's some misrepresentation of the Green's wealth tax, 1%, not 2%, and net, and going by the supposed development that would be financed by debt rather than cashflow, so probably not enough net wealth to be paying it, which would put the whole thing under a bit of a cloud.
Whole thing looks like someone who's over capitalised their farm and the whole thing is falling apart financially and environmentally. But that's a pretty common picture all around the country.
Bottom line though, it's political spin designed to make people fearful.
Wait, he doesn't run his farm under a company or trust business model? Crikey.
Doesn't the wealth tax only apply to individual wealth, so a company etc would be exempt?
There's a David Clark who is president of mid Canterbury Fed Farmers. So colour me skeptical of that post.
This propaganda piece lacks crucial bits of information that would allow you to work out if it is true. Either his property is incredibly valuable so the wealth-tax threshold is diluted to nothing, or he has incorrectly applied the tax to the entire property….
DIN of 3.2mg/L is incredibly high for an unmodified catchment in NZ. So there is almost certainly something very unusual about "Currently water flows out of DoC land at western side of Mid Canterbury at 3.2mg/l ". Is the entire catchment DOC land, or is there a DIN-creating activity further upstream perhaps??
I smell misleading bullshit!!
@maui 8.1
No info on Advance NZ but safe to say they’re sub 5%.
@McFlock 8.2
IMO there will be less public polls this election. The media outlets are all too skint and the change of election date has caught them on the hop. And, yes, the trend line has been really strong for 6 months now.
Which "party insider" was the tweet from @ScottGN?