Parliament’s 120 youth MPs have joined the call to lower the voting age to 16 years old.
The youth MPs, part of a Youth Parliament programme held every three years, took up their seats in the House on Tuesday to question Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet ministers.
Alongside a two-day schedule of debates and mock-lawmaking, the young MPs have been advocating for the ‘Make It 16’ campaign, asking lawmakers to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in both local body and general elections.
Rangatahi once again eloquently call for the lowering of the voting age to 16. As I look at state of the world and our place in it, I find it hard to see any negatives to an increase in the political franchise of our youth.
It is the first of 18 (I think that was the number but can't vouch for that) units that have been cleared to go ahead. One other has reached the building stage but the others are still in the planning and designing stage so it could be a year or two (or three) before they are built and operational.
There is a shortage of suitable trained staff in NZ sure, but the govt. plans to acquire the trained personnel from overseas. Presumably they will be acquired as they are needed.
This should be interesting. Greens AGM will vote on a remit to change how long delegates have to read and discuss any post-election coalition agreement on offer. Delegates make the decision to accept or reject agreements.
And then there's the Peoples Inquiry into Student Wellbeing (full report pdf). While being a student is a transitory experience that is not an excuse for it to be such a struggle. Action on many of these would be welcomed by other low income households too I would imagine.
Here are some of the key findings of the report:
On average, our students are spending more than 53% of their income on rent, yet many report poor living conditions. To put that in perspective,53% is massively above the Housing Affordability Index which states that people should spend no more than 30% of their income on housing.
1 in 3 students regularly don’t have enough money to buy food, clothing, pay bills, get healthcare or other basics, despite 71% juggling work on top of study.
One in six students said their shared flat didn't meet their needs but couldn't move because rents were too high.
69% reported poorer mental health throughout the pandemic
And taken together, the cost of living and higher education and students’ living conditions make it difficult for many students to be at their best and reach their learning potential. If students were not doing it so hard, New Zealand may benefit from better tertiary education outcomes.
anyone can currently get a job at min wage of 21.40 (plus 8% holiday pay, plus sick leave, plus 3% min Kiwi safer employers contribution).
any student can go and get a part time job stacking shelfs at a supermarket.
People the world over work whilst studying.
But, just as a disclaimer.
Young people in NZ spend a huge amount of their income on rent. So do all other people be they students or not who rent. Hence why in NZ we have the accommodation supplement as without that many many many tenants would not be able to rent in the first place.
Young people in NZ have not enough money to buy food, clothing, pay bills, get healthcare despite working fulltime or even two or three jobs. Hence why in NZ we have food grants, emergency grants, dental grants and so on and so forth.
Pretty much most low income tenants would say that their flats don't meet their needs but can't move because the cost is too high.
Pretty much most of low income tenants, beneficiaries, or those on a health related benefit will state that their mental health is poor due to stress. Pretty much most of the adults and kids currently will report a drop in mental well being throughout the pandemic
Taken this all together, we can confidently state that students, low income workers, single parents and other care givers, are all having issues paying rent, food, utilities, doctors etc.
Maybe it is time to tell students that life is hard sometimes – no effort no gain, no one owes them an education other then basic min required to reach High school and even then you can drop out.
Maybe its time to tell students that the Universities are paid for by people who are janitors in their universities and the rest of the tax payers.
Maybe it is also time to tell students that you can always get a full time job and become a part time student, or they could go into an apprentice ship.
These same students that have ti tighten their belt during their study years will hopefully get employed by a council, government, big corps who will then have the good income to make up for three years of 'student poverty' and 'student loans'. And if that is not the case maybe they studied something that has no value?
But these students in NZ do not have it any harder then any other worker who finds that their min wage despite all the increases will not hold up to living costs. Ditto for those that have good incomes and want to have a lifestyle still.
Maybe we really just need to define 'student' firstly, and then decide if the change needs to come from that re-definition. No one needs to go to the Toi Ohomoi for 'kitchen skills' these could be learned in a restaurant as an apprentice. Ditto the Hairdresser, mechanic, and so on and so forth.
When the latest batch of students graduate from Waikato University this week, an "undercover bogan" will be among them.
At first glance, PhD graduand Dave Snell might look like all the other graduands this Thursday, but look a little closer and the dedicated bogan buff will have a couple of noticeable differences under his formal regalia.
"Well, I am going to have to wear the goofy hat and long coat, but no doubt I'll have a metal T-shirt underneath."
Mr Snell said he also had a Beavis and Butthead tie that he planned to pull out for the special occasion.
The self-proclaimed bogan made global headlines in 2007 when he was awarded a taxpayer-funded doctoral scholarship worth nearly $100,000 to study the "everyday bogan's identity and community amongst heavy metal fans".
The difficulty with this subject is that people have a collection of different ideas about how inflation works anyway, but here are some typical ones.
Now as noted in 6.1.1.1, one cause of price increases can be a bunch of corporates who decide now is a good time to put prices up because they will result in profits. This doesn't seem to be the first thing people think of when they discuss inflation but it does seem to be a significant thing happening at present.
Now onto why tax cuts would be inflationary to the Green party. This is likely because tax cuts leave more income in the hands of the public. In fact this is true of any policy which increases a govt deficit. This provides more spending ability to the people who are left with that income which could be inflationary, especially in cases where the popularity of some goods increases much faster than supply can increase. There are certainly some goods, such as home office tech, which have suddenly come under huge increases in demand (for obvious reasons) and this may have caused those suppliers to increase their prices in response.
Now when Nationals leader talks about inflation and wants to criticize govt spending he's probably taking this a step further and implying that most people in NZ have too much income at present. Put aside for a minute that Nationals promoted economic policy will be tax cuts (which as I said do increase income left with the public). The implication of this fact, in National party dog whistle, is that workers are costing too much and spending too much and this is the primary reason corporations have increased prices. Never mind the fact that a majority of NZers have gotten real (e.g inflation adjusted) income cuts, and having ignored this then you now have a way to criticize govt policy as being too inflationary. It aligns with enough of the general discussion about savings rates and disposable income that this will make complete sense to some supporters and even many critics won't notice its not true and will merely justify the govt policy in some way.
Now in the most extreme case the inflation is caused by increased 'liquidity'. Liquidity means spending power and the implication of this term is that govt spending increases bank liquidity and banks then multiply up this by some multiple resulting in their maximal lending capacity, so additional govt liquidity implies increased bank lending. Once reaching that conclusion the implication which is supposed to follow is that longer term inflation adjusts to follow the expansions in lending via this process. Expansion of the liquidity is supposed to translate into inflation and supposedly the reverse too.
There are a few reasons for doubt in this however,
1) The way things actually work is govt spending is always borrowed back before being re-spent. The result of this voluntary policy choice regarding govt debt is that no net liquidity is being added by govt spending. What is being added is govt borrowings, rather than something a bank directly spends.
2) Its official reserve bank policy to lend as much liquidity as needed at the OCR so that banks can always make payments. The implication of this is that banks are never liquidity constrained in how much lending they can produce anyway.
3) Banks appear to actually assess their lending based on the borrowers ability to repay the loan, or credit worthy-ness. I've never heard of a bank saying no to a borrower because of the banks ability to pay, but you do hear about when the bank questions the borrowers ability to make the loan repayments.
4) Even if banks did work this way (or some other way which is compatible with this such as a market between savers debtors) what does that have to do with corporate decisions to increase prices or worker decisions to push for wage increases? Most people have next to no idea about what any of the relevant variables are at present including, how much debt the govt has, how much spending the govt is doing, how much money banks owe to depositors, how much lending banks have on issue. If people don't know the value of the relevant variables does it make sense to think they are responding to them?
However as you can understand when these ideas meet typical reporting on finance you get ideas like QE is inflationary popping up. If you want to understand how inflationary QE is just imagine a realistic analogy for it. Imagine banks stop having saving accounts and instead shift every-ones funds into a current account. The only difference is that this is happening in banks bank accounts at the central bank (where they clear payments with each other and the govt). Would that cause massive inflation? Is that clearly the cause of present inflation in NZ? and if so why have multiple countries had QE policies for a decade and only quite recently price increases.
Anyway that's an overview of some of the thoughts floating around here.
BTW, I totally agree with the sentiments of the Green party in that tweet. A National policy of giving out tax cuts in favour of those most easily absorbing the present price increases, over those who are already wearing real income cuts due to those price increases, is certainly unfair as a policy choice. I just don't think talking about inflation is a very coherent way to describe this as unfair.
Liquidity means simply more money in circulation.Globally Central banks objective is to remove inflationary pressures from the economic system,by wealth destruction ( bringing levered positions to historical costs) such as the 100b$ valuation loss to the NZ property market.
It's kinda of a technical point in that you give someone on a low income $100 they spend it all.
Give someone wealthy $100 they might spend $50 and save $50 so overall less inflationary but doesnt fix the structural problem in that inflation hurts those on the lowest incomes hardest.
Yes but the positive effects of an increase in benefits and student allowances would be much more widespread than tax cuts for the top end. Also it is indisputable that those at the bottom end of the income range are those most suffering from the rising costs in living.
Moscow is carrying out an intense Russification effort in occupied regions, one that appears designed to quash Ukrainians’ sense of history, nationhood and even their language. Targeting what children learn is a key strategy. Ukrainian education “must be corrected,” Russian Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said at a June 28 meeting of President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.
Yet the Kremlin’s effort extends far beyond the schools. It already has blocked Ukraine’s cellphone network and media in areas it controls, while broadcasting Russian state propaganda about its “denazification” of the country. It has torn down Ukrainian city signs and replaced them with Russian ones. And under a Putin decree, Moscow is trying to get Ukrainians throughout the country to sign up for Russian passports.
My reaction before reading the script was: they took their masks off for 30 secs while the photographer took the photo. Sure enough that is what happened.
Another attempt to discredit Ardern. The death by a thousand cuts syndrome.
Edit: If you look closely you can see those in the front with their masks in their hands. When quoting Professor Baker, I bet the journo didn’t tell him they were wearing masks but took them off briefly for the photo.
It is the image that endures – the photograph is frozen in time and the explanation will be divorced from that. The image is inescapable.
It is ALL about perception …. and the FACT that Arden et al were not wearing their masks at that moment in time and thus seen to be participating in a possible "super spreader" event involving young people ….. with no distancing.
After all captured actions speak louder than words.
My complaint was more to do with the journos story which conveniently ignored one or two relevant facts.
It is easy to say these things with the benefit of hindsight but given the 'gotcha' nature of reporting these days, the dignitaries at least should have anticipated the outcome.
One point in their favour. Journos expect interviewees to take off their masks when they are being interviewed. And that can be up to 30 minutes, yet they kick up a fuss for 30secs. while a photo is being taken. Agreed though it was not a good look.
It was a choice. Those that removed masks made that choice.
After over two years of Covid, you'd think there would be solutions to long interviews where it is apparent separation is achieved, making masks superfluous.
However, in every situation where exposure is present – people make a choice, and deal with the consequences.
I don't consider it 'not a good look' – I consider it bad practice.
He has found a way to fit the mask to reduce the problem, and then takes his glasses off to wipe when needed. He wears the mask all his 9-10 hour day, and is quite active (recording 17-20k steps daily during a work initiated fitness challenge).
I have worked on two sites that required fit-testing of respirators in order to go into certain areas due to dust hazards. Unless the PPE fits correctly it is useless and from experience I can tell you it is quite easy to fail the test. Beards and even quite modest facial hair will also cause a fit test to fail. (I have also done a fair bit of DIY spray painting of two pack epoxies and polyurethanes and own a bunch of 3M respirators for the purpose. )
That fogging up of your glasses is due to the fact that the concave area between the bridge of the nose and the cheeks is the usual weak link. Unless properly trained most people will have a gap there that presents the path of lowest resistance and much of your breath will flow through it instead of the mask filter media.
In ideal circumstances N95 masks may well be useful – but ideal most untrained people are not.
So do you consider mask wearing to be ineffective in terms of reducing the transmission of Covid, thereby rendering any criticism of the photo superfluous?
And the testing sounds interesting. How did it test for the incidence and frequency of sneezing and coughing from respiratory infections?
Did it consider the contamination of surfaces from the same?
(Note: So far avoided Covid, but did catch the one doing the rounds with sudden and violent sneezing. Would've been interesting to know the speed and distance of those droplets)
Extra note: Partner has reduced beard to improve fit, in line with your results.
So do you consider mask wearing to be ineffective in terms of reducing the transmission of Covid…
It's not. Actual science shows that reduction of airborne virus reduces transmission, by reducing exposure. This is why well fitted masks work better than ill fitted ones, but ill fitted ones work better than no mask. This is a pretty easy concept to understand, it's not all or nothing, I don't know why people are arguing against it.
There's a better illustration than this, but this is the one I found easily.
It would be useful to have a source for the graphic….but I'm guessing it might be fairly recent with the rise and rise of folks out there in the wild…infected but with minor or no symptoms because their wonderfully efficient 'vaccine' is (at the moment) 'working'.
…surgical masks were as effective as N95 respirators at preventing the flu, which is to say, not all that effective because, of the 446 nurses who took part in this study, nearly one in four (24%) in the surgical mask group still got the flu as did 23% of those who wore the N95 respirator.
The author, a medical microbiologist (who ought to have a clue or two) points out that …
… given that many people describe the flu as like being hit by a truck, it is unlikely that people will be strolling around town with a mask on when they’re at their most infectious – three to four days after symptoms begin. They’ll be tucked up in bed, sweating and aching.
Perhaps one day we can safely ask the question if it was wise to mass 'vaccinate' with a non-sterilising product that fails to prevent infection but allows the infected to free-range in the community.
Rosemary, you seem to be highlighting that vaccinating people has resulted in many of them getting less ill from covid. Was that intentional?
Anyway how is your dossier on why, when and how the protest group rejected the leadership of the Tamiti aligned FARC group, coming along? Were all looking forward to the insights gleaned herein.
Yes. Do I have to copy and paste the quote from the medical biologist? No ? Good. I guess you haven't quite joined the dots on why a non- sterilising 'vaccine' might not be such a good idea?
Sure, the Pfizer product might prevent some, most perhaps, of the recipients from becoming so symptomatic that they are too ill to function normally. But this does not prevent them from being infectious.
Nature intends that the infectious are usually sick and therefore not out and about spreading the lurgie. I suppose this limits the spread, and in an ideal world allows a measure of herd immunity to build up in the community.
Old school vaccines were usually designed to prevent infection. And transmission. So properly immunised, the recipient was not going to catch the target disease or infect others.
Since the Omicron variants are better at getting around any protection from infection afforded by the Pfizer product it is not untoward to hypothesize that the situation will be at least the same.
In terms of protecting oneself from serious illness, hospitalisation and death then the fully 'vaccinated' and very recently boosted should be ok. I hope.
In terms of' vaccination imitating nature and providing community wide protection against disease transmission' then these mRNA products are a disaster. They are allowing, no, encouraging infected people to go about their busy social lives spreading joy and Te Virus wherever they go. More transmission…more mutations?
And as the author states…masks, even N95s, are not that effective.
And I'm not sure what you are on about re FRAC and his Wholiness. I mentioned a facebook thread that popped up in the early days of the Freedom Village. Like, weeks ago.
The general consensus was…as far as I read…that this was not the personality that was wanted to emerge as a leader/spokesman. For all the reasons that many on TS would suppose. Believe or not…the vast majority of the Freedom Villagers were not aligned closely with FRAC. It might have seemed like that to outsiders because, well, His Wholiness has set a standard of loud and in- your -face proselytising. Association, especially unsought, does not equate to collaboration or affiliation.
The '10 people at a table with one Nazi makes a table of 11 Nazis' does not apply here. Whether you like it or not. And it matters not, now.
Such a pity that no one from this Government was brave enough to go and speak with the largely moderate majority of those assembled. Perhaps with the groups supporting those seriously adversely affected by the Pfizer product?
Link for the above diagram. I put it in the comment as well, but making sure you can see it. It’s from 2020. I’ve seen better ones more recently that give a more detailed explanation. Principle is the same, it’s about reducing the amount of virus people are exposed to, it’s not an on/off switch.
Thanks for the more detailed explanation, though this is already what I thought you were saying. I just didn't think it was interesting to explore that and merely asked to understand that you are saying the vaccine has had observable positive health benefits across the community (e.g as you have observed vaccinated people are getting less sick from Covid). I also agree a sterilizing vaccine would have been much better as would a sterilizing vaccine against all variants, even those unknown or even un-evolved at the time of the vaccine development.
As far as your claims go, if were excluding vaccination from responses and simply going with what happens naturally with the course of an infection, then its absolutely clear the outcomes are going to deteriorate. We know this from the course of the pandemic before vaccination was available when the death toll was much higher, even with less infectious variants (maybe marginally deadlier until Omicron). So you can make the argument that people are going to stay home when showing more symptoms and the pandemic will naturally sort itself out, but that's clearly not how the world actually works (even with lock-downs).
Its also a bit simplistic to either categorize vaccines into sterilizing or not. The actual results are that sterilizing vaccines are (and this depends on the infection and natural immune response as much as the biotech) better at preventing reproduction of an infection. The result is that people show fewer symptoms, become less sick and transmit the infection less frequently with this improved immunity. So the very lowering of symptomatic infection your observing is related to sterilizing immunity. Even though the vaccinations available don't reach a level we would characterize as population sterilizing immunity they are observed to be improvements towards that direction. Its in fact possible if the virus was still at Alpha variant we would call it sterilizing immunity because that disappeared quickly once vaccines had been widely taken up.
Further, just a note on viral load between vaccinated and un-vaccinated, because this is also related to the asymptomatic effects your observing. Showing the viral load is similar for peak infection just shows that the nature of transmission is not different between vaccinated and un-vaccinated. In other words if you have a person with a similar viral load cross your path then the likelihood that they infected you in crossing paths will be similar. This doesn't say anything really about how vaccination effects transmission. But people who are asymptomatic will typically be carrying a lower viral load than a counterfactual version of themselves who are going around hacking and coughing through it. This is one of the ways that the vaccination program has improved outcomes across the community (lowering transmission) and clearly you have observed that is occurring well enough. Yes, the occurrence of asymptomatic transmission (of covid and known before vaccination was ever available) does complicate the case slightly, but asymptomatic people are less infectious than highly symptomatic people.
This topic is expanded here, linking to the study you already linked and incorporating it. (I expect you've probably read this already).
As to the FARC people. Your welcome to call them Nazis if you want. I'm more interested of the people in the protest who wanted FARC out. These are also the people who the media concludes are far right (or Nazis) in saying the protest contained extreme elements. It just seems obvious that (for all his bluster) that FARC group did lead several prior protests which were not even close to setting fire to Trevors favourite slide, so I'm somewhat interested in the decision to go that way, who made it any why they said they made it.
A list of anti-lockdown protests, many involving FARC.
I'm also going to suggest that David Seymour did meet with as many people from the protest as were harmed by the vaccine, out the back of a pub. Unfortunately anybody harmed could clearly only send their nieces nephews sisters aunts cousin along in person so everybody who was turned into a newt by the Pfizer product had some how turned back again by February. Anyway, at least one family appears to have gotten a roast lamb dinner out of Pfizer as a result, so there's always that.
Some people dislike masks because of their inconvenience. One gets that.
But, more peculiarly, for the political right masks have become a culture war rather than a matter of effectiveness. Stephen Reicher, professor of psychology at the University of St Andrews, writing in the Guardian, argues that some who hold a certain world view see masks as “a potent symbol of control: they are muzzles”. What these people reject “is less the mask and more the political and scientific establishment that proposes it”.
maybe. I was thinking more of the argument that it’s all or nothing. So a good fitting mask is useful, but otherwise masks aren’t. Not essentially an anti-mask position, and it simply isn’t true.
If your glasses fog, then your mask is not working. Most of your respiration is passing through that gap which is the path of least resistance.
I really don't know what else to say. When I am spray paint I can tell instantly if I have dislodged the respirator because I can smell the solvent. But the virus gives no such warning.
Recent research, peer reviewed and published, indicates that mask mandates might actually increase the CFR…due to what the humble researcher calls the Foegen Effect.
Essentially, one can rebreathe the virus particles nature intends are breathed away…like any other effluent. This can make certain folks sicker.
None of this really adds to anyone's sense of security, I get that, but mandated mass mask wearing will most likely do more harm than good.
If one is sick…coughing, snotting, sneezing and one cannot stay home until it passes then yes…wear a mask for the very short time one needs to be out. And as RL says…it should be a good fitting mask. This should be best practice.
And because not everyone will do this…if a person feels they are at risk from serious illness from an infection then they should wear an appropriately fitting mask when they have to go out in to crowded places.
We need to let the young and healthy get on with their lives and build some proper immunity against this thing or there's likely real trouble up ahead.
My partners employer provides enough masks for employees to have frequent changes.
Transmission of Covid between team members has not occurred, although a few have had multiple infections from other sources. They run quite lean on staffing, and multiple absences on the same team are hard to cover.
Whether it's the nature of the working environment or the preventative measures they've employed is impossible to determine.
I do think there's a benefit from continuing at the moment, it's become habitual and doesn't impede delay work practices because of that.
The most comprehensive between-country study of masks for COVID-19 infection is a comparison of policy changes, such as social distancing, travel restrictions, and mask wearing, across 41 countries. It found introducing a mask-wearing policy had little impact, but mask policies were mostly introduced after social distancing and other measures were already in place.
Until we have the needed research, we should be wary about relying on masks as the mainstay for preventing community transmission. And if we want people to wear masks regularly, we might do better to target higher-risk circumstances for shorter periods. These are generally places described by “the three Cs”: crowded places, close-contact settings, and confined and enclosed spaces. These would include some workplaces and on public transport.
We are likely to be better off if we get high usage of fresh masks in the most risky settings, rather than moderate usage everywhere.
As with the near total reliance on the Pfizer product to save us all, (and that's not working out too well) my thinking is that we should see mask wearing as just one of many tools in the toolbox. All the other methods to mitigate transmission and serious illness should be universally deployed…such as avoiding crowded, shouty places, eating well, exercise in the open air (maskless) and taking the good old fashioned tried and true vitamins for immune support.
However, National's deputy leader leapt to the prime minister's defence on Breakfast on Wednesday.
"No, look, she just took off the mask for the photo and can we give her a break for that?" Willis asked.
"Who among us hasn't taken their mask off for a photo? I'm sure that just like me and all the others in the photo she put the mask on to walk around Parliament.
"I think we all need to be a bit more relaxed about that."
A spokesperson for the prime minister told Newshub Ardern had been wearing a mask for the rest of the day, but took it off briefly for the group photo at the photographer's request.
In March, National Party leader Christopher Luxon admitted he shouldn't have been hugging and shaking hands with people at his State of the National speech."
When a leader tells the public to wear a mask, it is always going to be a story when they do not – much like David Clark going for a bike ride during lockdown.
An ex-leader like Helen Clark calling her out for it is also a low-hanging story.
Helen Clark was dismissive of the lack of masks in the photo generally. I don't think she singled out the PM. It appears many of the youth have been moving around the precinct mask-less.
Don’t forget RNZ too!
And followed up today with the honourable and relevant King Dickhead Prebble calling 3 Waters a coup.
Masks off for a second is risky, but it’s all about grades of risk. Is it outside? Or in a well ventilated space? Is it for more than 15 minutes?
It slightly increases the risk.
I guess it shows that the right aren’t quite as confident in their leader so they need to run dirty politics too?
God what a load of hooey there is in this issue’s thread.
No – the difference being that the authors actually know what they're talking about – it's fact based, rather than based on the political convenience of, say, a genocidal kleptocrat.
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Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
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After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
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There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
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SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
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https://twitter.com/makeit16nz/status/1549270667845156865?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/129315422/youth-mps-call-on-parliament-to-lower-the-voting-age?cid=app-iPhone
Rangatahi once again eloquently call for the lowering of the voting age to 16. As I look at state of the world and our place in it, I find it hard to see any negatives to an increase in the political franchise of our youth.
If you agree add your name to this petition:
https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/make-the-voting-age-16
Just watching the tele (one news) so can't provide a link.
A 6 bed unit in Porirua for the most psychiatric needy. Sadly they don't have enough staff to allow capacity
It is the first of 18 (I think that was the number but can't vouch for that) units that have been cleared to go ahead. One other has reached the building stage but the others are still in the planning and designing stage so it could be a year or two (or three) before they are built and operational.
There is a shortage of suitable trained staff in NZ sure, but the govt. plans to acquire the trained personnel from overseas. Presumably they will be acquired as they are needed.
That's what I took from the TV item.
Meet Vank Walen.
https://www.facebook.com/MXDMAGTX/videos/405538291618884/
This should be interesting. Greens AGM will vote on a remit to change how long delegates have to read and discuss any post-election coalition agreement on offer. Delegates make the decision to accept or reject agreements.
https://twitter.com/gelukinmusic/status/1549256027245527040
And then there's the Peoples Inquiry into Student Wellbeing (full report pdf). While being a student is a transitory experience that is not an excuse for it to be such a struggle. Action on many of these would be welcomed by other low income households too I would imagine.
This is an utterly criminal state of affairs for a country that used to have a proud record in the area of Education.
When did this go wrong?
To my mind, Rogernomics and all the semi-literate fools who supported it.
Tomorrow's Schools = Educational Decline.
Student debt = Penalty on Education
anyone can currently get a job at min wage of 21.40 (plus 8% holiday pay, plus sick leave, plus 3% min Kiwi safer employers contribution).
any student can go and get a part time job stacking shelfs at a supermarket.
People the world over work whilst studying.
But, just as a disclaimer.
Young people in NZ spend a huge amount of their income on rent. So do all other people be they students or not who rent. Hence why in NZ we have the accommodation supplement as without that many many many tenants would not be able to rent in the first place.
Young people in NZ have not enough money to buy food, clothing, pay bills, get healthcare despite working fulltime or even two or three jobs. Hence why in NZ we have food grants, emergency grants, dental grants and so on and so forth.
Pretty much most low income tenants would say that their flats don't meet their needs but can't move because the cost is too high.
Pretty much most of low income tenants, beneficiaries, or those on a health related benefit will state that their mental health is poor due to stress. Pretty much most of the adults and kids currently will report a drop in mental well being throughout the pandemic
Taken this all together, we can confidently state that students, low income workers, single parents and other care givers, are all having issues paying rent, food, utilities, doctors etc.
Maybe it is time to tell students that life is hard sometimes – no effort no gain, no one owes them an education other then basic min required to reach High school and even then you can drop out.
Maybe its time to tell students that the Universities are paid for by people who are janitors in their universities and the rest of the tax payers.
Maybe it is also time to tell students that you can always get a full time job and become a part time student, or they could go into an apprentice ship.
These same students that have ti tighten their belt during their study years will hopefully get employed by a council, government, big corps who will then have the good income to make up for three years of 'student poverty' and 'student loans'. And if that is not the case maybe they studied something that has no value?
But these students in NZ do not have it any harder then any other worker who finds that their min wage despite all the increases will not hold up to living costs. Ditto for those that have good incomes and want to have a lifestyle still.
Maybe we really just need to define 'student' firstly, and then decide if the change needs to come from that re-definition. No one needs to go to the Toi Ohomoi for 'kitchen skills' these could be learned in a restaurant as an apprentice. Ditto the Hairdresser, mechanic, and so on and so forth.
edit
do we think that this dude here is still paying of his studentloan? and should that student loan be wiped?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/6839032/Bogan-researcher-to-graduate-with-PhD
Can someone please explain the rationale here?
https://twitter.com/nzgreens/status/1549283705969319936
Your first mistake is assuming that Nationals economic policy needs to make some kind of sense.
lol, no, never. I was hoping someone would explain how tax cuts harm attempts to address inflation.
and this,
https://twitter.com/jacobjakemo/status/1548931927196835841
The difficulty with this subject is that people have a collection of different ideas about how inflation works anyway, but here are some typical ones.
Now as noted in 6.1.1.1, one cause of price increases can be a bunch of corporates who decide now is a good time to put prices up because they will result in profits. This doesn't seem to be the first thing people think of when they discuss inflation but it does seem to be a significant thing happening at present.
Now onto why tax cuts would be inflationary to the Green party. This is likely because tax cuts leave more income in the hands of the public. In fact this is true of any policy which increases a govt deficit. This provides more spending ability to the people who are left with that income which could be inflationary, especially in cases where the popularity of some goods increases much faster than supply can increase. There are certainly some goods, such as home office tech, which have suddenly come under huge increases in demand (for obvious reasons) and this may have caused those suppliers to increase their prices in response.
Now when Nationals leader talks about inflation and wants to criticize govt spending he's probably taking this a step further and implying that most people in NZ have too much income at present. Put aside for a minute that Nationals promoted economic policy will be tax cuts (which as I said do increase income left with the public). The implication of this fact, in National party dog whistle, is that workers are costing too much and spending too much and this is the primary reason corporations have increased prices. Never mind the fact that a majority of NZers have gotten real (e.g inflation adjusted) income cuts, and having ignored this then you now have a way to criticize govt policy as being too inflationary. It aligns with enough of the general discussion about savings rates and disposable income that this will make complete sense to some supporters and even many critics won't notice its not true and will merely justify the govt policy in some way.
Now in the most extreme case the inflation is caused by increased 'liquidity'. Liquidity means spending power and the implication of this term is that govt spending increases bank liquidity and banks then multiply up this by some multiple resulting in their maximal lending capacity, so additional govt liquidity implies increased bank lending. Once reaching that conclusion the implication which is supposed to follow is that longer term inflation adjusts to follow the expansions in lending via this process. Expansion of the liquidity is supposed to translate into inflation and supposedly the reverse too.
There are a few reasons for doubt in this however,
1) The way things actually work is govt spending is always borrowed back before being re-spent. The result of this voluntary policy choice regarding govt debt is that no net liquidity is being added by govt spending. What is being added is govt borrowings, rather than something a bank directly spends.
2) Its official reserve bank policy to lend as much liquidity as needed at the OCR so that banks can always make payments. The implication of this is that banks are never liquidity constrained in how much lending they can produce anyway.
3) Banks appear to actually assess their lending based on the borrowers ability to repay the loan, or credit worthy-ness. I've never heard of a bank saying no to a borrower because of the banks ability to pay, but you do hear about when the bank questions the borrowers ability to make the loan repayments.
4) Even if banks did work this way (or some other way which is compatible with this such as a market between savers debtors) what does that have to do with corporate decisions to increase prices or worker decisions to push for wage increases? Most people have next to no idea about what any of the relevant variables are at present including, how much debt the govt has, how much spending the govt is doing, how much money banks owe to depositors, how much lending banks have on issue. If people don't know the value of the relevant variables does it make sense to think they are responding to them?
However as you can understand when these ideas meet typical reporting on finance you get ideas like QE is inflationary popping up. If you want to understand how inflationary QE is just imagine a realistic analogy for it. Imagine banks stop having saving accounts and instead shift every-ones funds into a current account. The only difference is that this is happening in banks bank accounts at the central bank (where they clear payments with each other and the govt). Would that cause massive inflation? Is that clearly the cause of present inflation in NZ? and if so why have multiple countries had QE policies for a decade and only quite recently price increases.
Anyway that's an overview of some of the thoughts floating around here.
BTW, I totally agree with the sentiments of the Green party in that tweet. A National policy of giving out tax cuts in favour of those most easily absorbing the present price increases, over those who are already wearing real income cuts due to those price increases, is certainly unfair as a policy choice. I just don't think talking about inflation is a very coherent way to describe this as unfair.
Tax cuts are inflationary,as they add to liquidity.As would an increase in benefits or student allowances (mp's councillors etc)
liquidity meaning rich people would have more money to spend?
Liquidity means simply more money in circulation.Globally Central banks objective is to remove inflationary pressures from the economic system,by wealth destruction ( bringing levered positions to historical costs) such as the 100b$ valuation loss to the NZ property market.
It's kinda of a technical point in that you give someone on a low income $100 they spend it all.
Give someone wealthy $100 they might spend $50 and save $50 so overall less inflationary but doesnt fix the structural problem in that inflation hurts those on the lowest incomes hardest.
Yes but the positive effects of an increase in benefits and student allowances would be much more widespread than tax cuts for the top end. Also it is indisputable that those at the bottom end of the income range are those most suffering from the rising costs in living.
After a thirty year hiatus the Russification of Ukraine resumes.
https://twitter.com/iLepikVonWiren/status/1549133629049212932
Moscow is carrying out an intense Russification effort in occupied regions, one that appears designed to quash Ukrainians’ sense of history, nationhood and even their language. Targeting what children learn is a key strategy. Ukrainian education “must be corrected,” Russian Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said at a June 28 meeting of President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.
Yet the Kremlin’s effort extends far beyond the schools. It already has blocked Ukraine’s cellphone network and media in areas it controls, while broadcasting Russian state propaganda about its “denazification” of the country. It has torn down Ukrainian city signs and replaced them with Russian ones. And under a Putin decree, Moscow is trying to get Ukrainians throughout the country to sign up for Russian passports.
https://archive.ph/lp2wp (wapo)
Yet another shit story by some 'johnny come lately' Herald journo:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pm-jacinda-ardern-photographed-maskless-with-100-plus-crowd/V4UEQFRUB5TFVF7ER4Z2IHOHQQ/
My reaction before reading the script was: they took their masks off for 30 secs while the photographer took the photo. Sure enough that is what happened.
Another attempt to discredit Ardern. The death by a thousand cuts syndrome.
Edit: If you look closely you can see those in the front with their masks in their hands. When quoting Professor Baker, I bet the journo didn’t tell him they were wearing masks but took them off briefly for the photo.
It is the image that endures – the photograph is frozen in time and the explanation will be divorced from that. The image is inescapable.
It is ALL about perception …. and the FACT that Arden et al were not wearing their masks at that moment in time and thus seen to be participating in a possible "super spreader" event involving young people ….. with no distancing.
After all captured actions speak louder than words.
Anne, like everyone in a similar situation they have a choice:
1, Take a group photo with everyone masked, and have obscured faces (but good PR for mask compliance);
2. Take group photo with masks off ( for facial exposure, so smiles can be seen, because effective mask wearing is an on/off construct, – who knows?).
They chose 2. (apart from 1 lone mask-wearer) and this is a forseeable consequence.
My complaint was more to do with the journos story which conveniently ignored one or two relevant facts.
It is easy to say these things with the benefit of hindsight but given the 'gotcha' nature of reporting these days, the dignitaries at least should have anticipated the outcome.
One point in their favour. Journos expect interviewees to take off their masks when they are being interviewed. And that can be up to 30 minutes, yet they kick up a fuss for 30secs. while a photo is being taken. Agreed though it was not a good look.
It was a choice. Those that removed masks made that choice.
After over two years of Covid, you'd think there would be solutions to long interviews where it is apparent separation is achieved, making masks superfluous.
However, in every situation where exposure is present – people make a choice, and deal with the consequences.
I don't consider it 'not a good look' – I consider it bad practice.
Do you wear glasses? If so have you ever had them fog up when you put your mask on?
My partner does, I no longer do.
He has found a way to fit the mask to reduce the problem, and then takes his glasses off to wipe when needed. He wears the mask all his 9-10 hour day, and is quite active (recording 17-20k steps daily during a work initiated fitness challenge).
How is this relevant to a photo op?
I have worked on two sites that required fit-testing of respirators in order to go into certain areas due to dust hazards. Unless the PPE fits correctly it is useless and from experience I can tell you it is quite easy to fail the test. Beards and even quite modest facial hair will also cause a fit test to fail. (I have also done a fair bit of DIY spray painting of two pack epoxies and polyurethanes and own a bunch of 3M respirators for the purpose. )
That fogging up of your glasses is due to the fact that the concave area between the bridge of the nose and the cheeks is the usual weak link. Unless properly trained most people will have a gap there that presents the path of lowest resistance and much of your breath will flow through it instead of the mask filter media.
In ideal circumstances N95 masks may well be useful – but ideal most untrained people are not.
OK.
So do you consider mask wearing to be ineffective in terms of reducing the transmission of Covid, thereby rendering any criticism of the photo superfluous?
And the testing sounds interesting. How did it test for the incidence and frequency of sneezing and coughing from respiratory infections?
Did it consider the contamination of surfaces from the same?
(Note: So far avoided Covid, but did catch the one doing the rounds with sudden and violent sneezing. Would've been interesting to know the speed and distance of those droplets)
Extra note: Partner has reduced beard to improve fit, in line with your results.
It's not. Actual science shows that reduction of airborne virus reduces transmission, by reducing exposure. This is why well fitted masks work better than ill fitted ones, but ill fitted ones work better than no mask. This is a pretty easy concept to understand, it's not all or nothing, I don't know why people are arguing against it.
There's a better illustration than this, but this is the one I found easily.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc6197
edit, source link added
It would be useful to have a source for the graphic….but I'm guessing it might be fairly recent with the rise and rise of folks out there in the wild…infected but with minor or no symptoms because their wonderfully efficient 'vaccine' is (at the moment) 'working'.
In the olden times, and again from The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/can-surgical-masks-protect-you-from-getting-the-flu-125023) the author determined that there was dubious benefit from surgical masks. And in a study comparing surgical masks and the 'superior' N95 found that…
…surgical masks were as effective as N95 respirators at preventing the flu, which is to say, not all that effective because, of the 446 nurses who took part in this study, nearly one in four (24%) in the surgical mask group still got the flu as did 23% of those who wore the N95 respirator.
The author, a medical microbiologist (who ought to have a clue or two) points out that …
… given that many people describe the flu as like being hit by a truck, it is unlikely that people will be strolling around town with a mask on when they’re at their most infectious – three to four days after symptoms begin. They’ll be tucked up in bed, sweating and aching.
Perhaps one day we can safely ask the question if it was wise to mass 'vaccinate' with a non-sterilising product that fails to prevent infection but allows the infected to free-range in the community.
Rosemary, you seem to be highlighting that vaccinating people has resulted in many of them getting less ill from covid. Was that intentional?
Anyway how is your dossier on why, when and how the protest group rejected the leadership of the Tamiti aligned FARC group, coming along? Were all looking forward to the insights gleaned herein.
@ Nic the etc etc…
Yes. Do I have to copy and paste the quote from the medical biologist? No ? Good. I guess you haven't quite joined the dots on why a non- sterilising 'vaccine' might not be such a good idea?
Sure, the Pfizer product might prevent some, most perhaps, of the recipients from becoming so symptomatic that they are too ill to function normally. But this does not prevent them from being infectious.
Nature intends that the infectious are usually sick and therefore not out and about spreading the lurgie. I suppose this limits the spread, and in an ideal world allows a measure of herd immunity to build up in the community.
Old school vaccines were usually designed to prevent infection. And transmission. So properly immunised, the recipient was not going to catch the target disease or infect others.
The Pfizer product clearly does not prevent infection or transmission, and for Delta at least, the positive testing fully 'vaccinated' had a similar viral load as the positive testing unvaccinated. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7031e2.htm?s_cid=mm7031e2_w
Since the Omicron variants are better at getting around any protection from infection afforded by the Pfizer product it is not untoward to hypothesize that the situation will be at least the same.
In terms of protecting oneself from serious illness, hospitalisation and death then the fully 'vaccinated' and very recently boosted should be ok. I hope.
In terms of' vaccination imitating nature and providing community wide protection against disease transmission' then these mRNA products are a disaster. They are allowing, no, encouraging infected people to go about their busy social lives spreading joy and Te Virus wherever they go. More transmission…more mutations?
And as the author states…masks, even N95s, are not that effective.
And I'm not sure what you are on about re FRAC and his Wholiness. I mentioned a facebook thread that popped up in the early days of the Freedom Village. Like, weeks ago.
The general consensus was…as far as I read…that this was not the personality that was wanted to emerge as a leader/spokesman. For all the reasons that many on TS would suppose. Believe or not…the vast majority of the Freedom Villagers were not aligned closely with FRAC. It might have seemed like that to outsiders because, well, His Wholiness has set a standard of loud and in- your -face proselytising. Association, especially unsought, does not equate to collaboration or affiliation.
The '10 people at a table with one Nazi makes a table of 11 Nazis' does not apply here. Whether you like it or not. And it matters not, now.
Such a pity that no one from this Government was brave enough to go and speak with the largely moderate majority of those assembled. Perhaps with the groups supporting those seriously adversely affected by the Pfizer product?
Link for the above diagram. I put it in the comment as well, but making sure you can see it. It’s from 2020. I’ve seen better ones more recently that give a more detailed explanation. Principle is the same, it’s about reducing the amount of virus people are exposed to, it’s not an on/off switch.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc6197
Thanks for the more detailed explanation, though this is already what I thought you were saying. I just didn't think it was interesting to explore that and merely asked to understand that you are saying the vaccine has had observable positive health benefits across the community (e.g as you have observed vaccinated people are getting less sick from Covid). I also agree a sterilizing vaccine would have been much better as would a sterilizing vaccine against all variants, even those unknown or even un-evolved at the time of the vaccine development.
As far as your claims go, if were excluding vaccination from responses and simply going with what happens naturally with the course of an infection, then its absolutely clear the outcomes are going to deteriorate. We know this from the course of the pandemic before vaccination was available when the death toll was much higher, even with less infectious variants (maybe marginally deadlier until Omicron). So you can make the argument that people are going to stay home when showing more symptoms and the pandemic will naturally sort itself out, but that's clearly not how the world actually works (even with lock-downs).
Its also a bit simplistic to either categorize vaccines into sterilizing or not. The actual results are that sterilizing vaccines are (and this depends on the infection and natural immune response as much as the biotech) better at preventing reproduction of an infection. The result is that people show fewer symptoms, become less sick and transmit the infection less frequently with this improved immunity. So the very lowering of symptomatic infection your observing is related to sterilizing immunity. Even though the vaccinations available don't reach a level we would characterize as population sterilizing immunity they are observed to be improvements towards that direction. Its in fact possible if the virus was still at Alpha variant we would call it sterilizing immunity because that disappeared quickly once vaccines had been widely taken up.
Further, just a note on viral load between vaccinated and un-vaccinated, because this is also related to the asymptomatic effects your observing. Showing the viral load is similar for peak infection just shows that the nature of transmission is not different between vaccinated and un-vaccinated. In other words if you have a person with a similar viral load cross your path then the likelihood that they infected you in crossing paths will be similar. This doesn't say anything really about how vaccination effects transmission. But people who are asymptomatic will typically be carrying a lower viral load than a counterfactual version of themselves who are going around hacking and coughing through it. This is one of the ways that the vaccination program has improved outcomes across the community (lowering transmission) and clearly you have observed that is occurring well enough. Yes, the occurrence of asymptomatic transmission (of covid and known before vaccination was ever available) does complicate the case slightly, but asymptomatic people are less infectious than highly symptomatic people.
This topic is expanded here, linking to the study you already linked and incorporating it. (I expect you've probably read this already).
https://theconversation.com/no-vaccinated-people-are-not-just-as-infectious-as-unvaccinated-people-if-they-get-covid-171302
As to the FARC people. Your welcome to call them Nazis if you want. I'm more interested of the people in the protest who wanted FARC out. These are also the people who the media concludes are far right (or Nazis) in saying the protest contained extreme elements. It just seems obvious that (for all his bluster) that FARC group did lead several prior protests which were not even close to setting fire to Trevors favourite slide, so I'm somewhat interested in the decision to go that way, who made it any why they said they made it.
A list of anti-lockdown protests, many involving FARC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_anti-lockdown_protests_in_New_Zealand
I'm also going to suggest that David Seymour did meet with as many people from the protest as were harmed by the vaccine, out the back of a pub. Unfortunately anybody harmed could clearly only send their nieces nephews sisters aunts cousin along in person so everybody who was turned into a newt by the Pfizer product had some how turned back again by February. Anyway, at least one family appears to have gotten a roast lamb dinner out of Pfizer as a result, so there's always that.
Great diagram weka – clear and simple.
As to "why people are arguing against" the utility of masks, for many 'mask-hesitant' that's simple too (imho) – no-one tells me what to do!
maybe. I was thinking more of the argument that it’s all or nothing. So a good fitting mask is useful, but otherwise masks aren’t. Not essentially an anti-mask position, and it simply isn’t true.
If your glasses fog, then your mask is not working. Most of your respiration is passing through that gap which is the path of least resistance.
I really don't know what else to say. When I am spray paint I can tell instantly if I have dislodged the respirator because I can smell the solvent. But the virus gives no such warning.
When your mask is dislodged, is the smell as bad as having no mask at all?
A spray painting respirator has a flexible seal that fits much, much better than any paper mask I have worn.
To be fair I have never taken the mask right off and gotten a lungfull so I cannot compare. But even the smallest leak is instantly obvious.
Hiya Molly. Way back when it was clear that it was possible to be infected with Te Virus via the eyes.
2019-nCoV transmission through the ocular surface must not be ignored
Published:February 06, 2020
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30313-5/fulltext
Recent research, peer reviewed and published, indicates that mask mandates might actually increase the CFR…due to what the humble researcher calls the Foegen Effect.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35363218/
Essentially, one can rebreathe the virus particles nature intends are breathed away…like any other effluent. This can make certain folks sicker.
None of this really adds to anyone's sense of security, I get that, but mandated mass mask wearing will most likely do more harm than good.
If one is sick…coughing, snotting, sneezing and one cannot stay home until it passes then yes…wear a mask for the very short time one needs to be out. And as RL says…it should be a good fitting mask. This should be best practice.
And because not everyone will do this…if a person feels they are at risk from serious illness from an infection then they should wear an appropriately fitting mask when they have to go out in to crowded places.
We need to let the young and healthy get on with their lives and build some proper immunity against this thing or there's likely real trouble up ahead.
As always, I think there's a balancing act.
My partners employer provides enough masks for employees to have frequent changes.
Transmission of Covid between team members has not occurred, although a few have had multiple infections from other sources. They run quite lean on staffing, and multiple absences on the same team are hard to cover.
Whether it's the nature of the working environment or the preventative measures they've employed is impossible to determine.
I do think there's a benefit from continuing at the moment, it's become habitual and doesn't impede delay work practices because of that.
Whether it's the nature of the working environment or the preventative measures they've employed is impossible to determine.
They've looked into just that… https://theconversation.com/face-masks-cut-disease-spread-in-the-lab-but-have-less-impact-in-the-community-we-need-to-know-why-147912
The most comprehensive between-country study of masks for COVID-19 infection is a comparison of policy changes, such as social distancing, travel restrictions, and mask wearing, across 41 countries. It found introducing a mask-wearing policy had little impact, but mask policies were mostly introduced after social distancing and other measures were already in place.
Until we have the needed research, we should be wary about relying on masks as the mainstay for preventing community transmission. And if we want people to wear masks regularly, we might do better to target higher-risk circumstances for shorter periods. These are generally places described by “the three Cs”: crowded places, close-contact settings, and confined and enclosed spaces. These would include some workplaces and on public transport.
We are likely to be better off if we get high usage of fresh masks in the most risky settings, rather than moderate usage everywhere.
As with the near total reliance on the Pfizer product to save us all, (and that's not working out too well) my thinking is that we should see mask wearing as just one of many tools in the toolbox. All the other methods to mitigate transmission and serious illness should be universally deployed…such as avoiding crowded, shouty places, eating well, exercise in the open air (maskless) and taking the good old fashioned tried and true vitamins for immune support.
"
However, National's deputy leader leapt to the prime minister's defence on Breakfast on Wednesday.
"No, look, she just took off the mask for the photo and can we give her a break for that?" Willis asked.
"Who among us hasn't taken their mask off for a photo? I'm sure that just like me and all the others in the photo she put the mask on to walk around Parliament.
"I think we all need to be a bit more relaxed about that."
A spokesperson for the prime minister told Newshub Ardern had been wearing a mask for the rest of the day, but took it off briefly for the group photo at the photographer's request.
In March, National Party leader Christopher Luxon admitted he shouldn't have been hugging and shaking hands with people at his State of the National speech."
I guess that's because it was such a crap speech.
When a leader tells the public to wear a mask, it is always going to be a story when they do not – much like David Clark going for a bike ride during lockdown.
An ex-leader like Helen Clark calling her out for it is also a low-hanging story.
It will pass.
Though an easy one for an opposition Deputy to stand out on: https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/07/20/give-her-a-break-willis-defends-pms-maskless-group-photo/
Helen Clark was dismissive of the lack of masks in the photo generally. I don't think she singled out the PM. It appears many of the youth have been moving around the precinct mask-less.
Yes I noticed that hard right winger Helen Clark wasn't too impressed.
"Former Prime Minister Helen Clark said it was shocking to see all the unmasked people.
"Indeed shocking to see the unmasked youth parliament. What on Earth are they thinking. NZ is in the middle of a pandemic surge," she tweeted."
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/07/covid-19-david-seymour-other-politicians-chastise-jacinda-ardern-after-she-s-pictured-maskless-among-large-crowd.html
Personally I don't think its that big a deal as when Jacinda was overseas no one seemed to be wearing masks.
Don’t forget RNZ too!
And followed up today with the honourable and relevant King Dickhead Prebble calling 3 Waters a coup.
Masks off for a second is risky, but it’s all about grades of risk. Is it outside? Or in a well ventilated space? Is it for more than 15 minutes?
It slightly increases the risk.
I guess it shows that the right aren’t quite as confident in their leader so they need to run dirty politics too?
God what a load of hooey there is in this issue’s thread.
The New Zealand Russian community are publishing an online paper now, and this issue includes their responses to the war in Ukraine.
inhabitedisland1.pdf (russianforkids.co.nz)
Well, not much one-sided propaganda in there, is there?
No – the difference being that the authors actually know what they're talking about – it's fact based, rather than based on the political convenience of, say, a genocidal kleptocrat.
That newsletter was a good find Stuart.