But on the Newstalk ZB talk show on Wednesday morning, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment deputy chief executive Paul Stocks said butchers and produce stores would not be considered an essential service.
Not a smart decision – what are they doing taking out local competition to supermarkets? Many neighbourhoods/suburbs have a dairy, butcher and grocer. (mine has a 4 Square, sort of a combo).
It’s just sad for those businesses and their local walk-in (no transport issues) customers. Needless.
Next it will be farmers markets – as if buying outdoors makes buying fruit and veges more unsafe.
Do they have a bias against locally grown and locally sold fresh food and want us to stock up on processed food out of cans or something.
And some of us would prefer the local butcher / green grocer / bakery. Far fewer people packed into these shops, fresher produce and less waiting in great long queues.
Well Farmers Markets would be wouldn't they? Unless they were in stadium size areas with strict patrolling of distance between people. This is not a holiday, this is a state of emergency, and I agree about butchers but fuck it, this sucks for everyone.
Yeah the social distancing, there are no crowds in local butchers, greengrocers – more at the supermarket – and no more crowding at an open market than at the supermarket (except for distance caused by trolleys).
Then there those without cars having to travel by PT to get to a supermarket.
Apparently they're staggering people in supermarkets, but who knows, no one knows right now, personally, when I go shopping, if I see crowds of people, I'll turn around and leave. Like I said, I agree, butchers, but they are told to shut, so they will shut. I'm just gonna deal with the here and now.
It's not just about physical closeness, but limiting the number of people we regularly come into contact with – and also limiting the number of locations, because surfaces.
You may only see the operator-owner and maybe one other staff member and maybe one other person at the local shop – butcher and greengrocer and dairy (milk) would cover shopping of fresh goods for the month (a lot of people would have already done a supermarket shop to cover their storage for pantry and freezer).
Bottom line is, the fewer places open the better. Too many businesses (and others) trying to stretch it too much. Too many seem to think they're a special case and the strict measures don't apply to them.
Supermarkets are upping their game with perspex between checkout operators & customers. Customers to load own bags, and limiting numbers in the store at anyone time.
We all need to shrink the number of places we are visiting.
I think the aim is to minimise the number of places in the public arena where cross-infection can occur.
Modelling from Uni of Sydney I saw in the SMH this morning says that compliance by at least 80% of the population needs to happen if the containment is to be successful, anything less than that and we will have put ourselves through enormous grief and trashed the economy for nothing. Our health system will still be at risk and Covid-19 will still be out there.
Supermarkets have implemented a one in, one out policy at the door with social distancing applied to the resulting queue. Expect to see a fair bit of security when you go to the supermarket to enforce this.
At the last small bakery in my area open today, they allowed only one customer inside at the any time. That single person can’t touch any produce, which is a significant distance away. Contactless payment. And the shopping is done in one or two minutes, so hardly any outside queue at all.
No way any supermarket in NZ is safer than this place to get bread.
I also think the small shop has a much better idea which of their 1-2 employees had contact with produce / places within the shop in case of infection.
This is how authoritarianism occurs. No restraints, step by step until there is total itarian) and singular focus on the objective – because any identified "weakness" is risking defeat.
And all because of fear of community spread – fear because we did not have the the testing kit resources (our pandemic planning was weak) to identify it and its extent.
The irony we are developing such capacity and may have it after the month (for a few weeks prioritised to those returning kiwis going into their lockdown).
This butcher is a decent and community-minded man who has a social conscience and is generous. I'd buy from him even if I were a vegan. I know him and I have an idea of what he does for his town. I'd have said he was too busy, in too small a serving area, and I can see why his customers were queued outside. For dinner tonight I had some of his pork belly, and tomorrow night probably his mince on a pizza. Then, I fear I won't see Mike for a month, and have to patronise the supermarket shelves more.
Just like the wine grower I praised recently, a hard worker and an ethical businessman, Mike Newman, too, puts a human face on the huge problems being faced by people dealing with the corona virus.
The Gods smiled upon NZ when Andrew Little realised Jacinda Ardern had a better chance of saving the NZ Labour Party than himself….the series of events that followed couldnt have been bet upon.
Was standing in line at PB Tech this afternoon listening to conversations 2m away. The woman behind me, apparently in health, was on the phone worried about several things among them the addicts who will basically go ballistic in a couple of days when they can't meet their needs.
Expect crime to go through the roof. Police will not be able to handle this.
I’m of the opinion that a lot more people will die during this event from non Covid-19 related circumstances than from the virus itself.
You mean illicit drugs? I wouldn't worry too much, drug addicts know what they're doing and weirdly think ahead, Divo and other dispensaries have plans in place, they're used to people not sparing them much of a thought, I doubt they thought things would change now. (ex addict, with friends still doing naughty things, not one violent criminal or thief among them).
No, I don't, but I know users. Users think ahead, users already use illicit channels to get their drugs, users are used to keeping their drug use hidden, users are used to being ignored, places like Divo and mental health workers know these people, it's quite a community, with characters and stories, some funny, some sad. I just think your fear is unwarranted, druggies lives will go on like the rest of us, I'd be more worried about the drunk home renovators quite frankly.
Except some of the ones I know would be very unhappy with being in a motel with others. They have been offered accommodation before, especially in severe weather conditions. A nice quiet space where they could come and go. But turned down – preferring to find their own space. Quite a few are suffering anxiety and prefer to be alone, which is why they sleep rough. If they can find a safe place where no one can bother them, that is their goal. Here we are hoping to be able to do a "cook up " and leave it on the front step for them to pick up every other day. if the local police agree.
I'm not saying they are all like that, but we must understand that for some this is a life that they choose, because this is how they are coping with their circumstances right now. We need to be there for when they are ready to move on.
Muttonbird – this afternoon on Radio NZ there was an interview in which the ANZ person said the interest would still accrue so no one will take a mortgage "holiday" unless they absolutely have to as it will cost them more. If renters got the same treatment, they would simply be in rent arrears and I know how hard it is to catch up if you are skint to start with. There does need to be some backup though from government of course for people to be able to make their rent payments.
I will try to find the link – not sure it's up yet.
yes I heard that too…which appeared to contradict yesterdays statement that there was an interest holiday as well
"The six-month principal and interest payment holiday for mortgage holders and small business customers whose incomes have been affected by the economic disruption from Covid-19."
yes was Robertson…he did qualify his statements by saying the banks were working on details and to wait a couple of days for them to do so….but it appears it was unnecessarily loose language
Thanks mate but the crux of the situation is that in this lockdown and post lockdown period affected renters still have to pay full rent. Affected homeowners do not have to pay anything.
you wrote…."Affected homeowners do not have to pay anything."
not the case (unless there was an interest holiday as well)….it is essentially an addition to the mortgage principle and adds both interest costs and extends the term
The only reason we are landlords is because we no longer require the small attached unit for our 'grannies'. Since then we have rented it out, electricity, water and internet included to several people. We've never charged the cost of the flat on our mortgage – because I am of the mind that housing is too expensive and thought we need to follow those values in our decisions. Three young couples have saved enough to get deposits on homes, while we have paid 65% of our income on mortgage costs.
We gave our current tenants the required six-weeks notice in three weeks ago so our son could return home, and as we try to never give notice, we gave them two weeks rent free so that they would have more money for a deposit when looking for a new place. The Covid-19 alerts have put paid to that and my son will have to stay where he is and the tenancy notice end date will be extended to include the time of the lockdown, however long it is.
If your suggestion is imposed, and we do have to take a payment holiday – god forbid – we will not be having a gift from the bank that we pass on to our tenants. We will be accruing further interest and it will not be amortised over a term of twenty five years, because we don't have that much working lives left. If we had passed on the cost of having the unit to our tenants, those couples may not have left to move into their own first homes.
Our tenants are already receiving the government wages, and their board to us takes 27% of that income. Blanket requirements such as the one you propose will include landlords who are already trying to do the right thing for tenants. And will quite honestly for us, be financial pressure that is too much to accommodate. Consider those of us who are already trying to look after their tenants at personal costs already.
Molly. You do touch on an important point. That is that there is no consistency in the landlord group in terms of what they offer in rent relief for their tenants.
Everyone would feel they were 'in this together' if there was government direction on this rather than tenants being thrown to the hounds.
I say again, my issue is with the short term discrepancy where out of work tenants have to pay full rent and out of work homeowners can defer payments.
This is crucial for the young families of the renting class.
Assuming all landlords are the same, and need to be required to do something specific because it makes sense to you, does not allow for diversity in tenant experiences, and may very well penalise those landlords who are already trying hard to do the right thing.
Once again,
“If your suggestion is imposed, and we do have to take a payment holiday – god forbid – we will not be having a gift from the bank that we pass on to our tenants. We will be accruing further interest and it will not be amortised over a term of twenty five years, because we don’t have that much working lives left.”
But if there was proper government structured guidance then landlords trying to do the right thing would not be disadvantaged at all – rather they would be joined and part of a scheme which serviced everyones needs.
And on the extra interest – this would be accounted for in a decent government scheme where tenants would pay a reduced rent for the time period which covered costs like rates and insurance and extra costs like heightened interest on the loan.
Homeowners will have to negotiate with their banks. Falling behind in rent is not a good enough reason to kick out tenants until 60 days have passed, which is almost three times as long as previously. If the current new rules are abused, I’d expect further ‘adjustments’ will be introduced by Government.
basically looks like the banks are going to suggest interest only on mortgages where they can, which makes sense to prevent the debt increasing – just delays final repayment.
Now say everyone was tossed onto that, then rents could also go down to the interest amount plus the other overheads. That way no tenant is retiring outstanding principal so rents drop with a thud. It would put domestic rentals well within benefit levels and save small business by them having hopefully on a tiny lease while income is low.In effect a gain pause button on capital movements but expenses being paid .
To implement something like this needs somebody like the ird – they have sector figures – to estimate what % of rental income is nationally swallowed by rates interest insurance and other cash overheads and then the rent freeze becomes anational rent fall of the required %
You seem to be assuming that mortgage payments on rentals are the same as on owner-occupied home loans with maximum principal payments. In addition, most loans are on fixed rates.
Well if the rental mortgage is interest only then likely to mean taking funds they are using elsewhere and yes there are fixed rates of varying amounts on mortgages as are rates insurances etc. Hence using sector averages which could be refined by region. Something is used to set the general housing top up benefit so there are figures there.
It wouldn't work perfectly for all but the current default certainly doesn't so this could be a different starting point. Then some form of top up negotiations
Then there are rental property managers – reminds one of the executives hired to remove labour so vulture capitalism (private funds) can on-sell for CG.
Fuck it pays to just turn the damn radio off after a while the extra stentorian tones of the health warnings emergency alert signals on the phone ect are giving me the shits .They're just scaring people imo and its not necessary after all the build up .anyone with half a brain has surely got the message .Today at a press conference the PM said we could go for a walk but dont talk to anyone is that being kind to each other ?ffs the other day it was sing out to your neigbour over the fence .The thought of weeks if not longer of your own company with little or no respite is bad enough without setting out to ignore people .Say hello !!
I'll still be working, I work for NZ Post, I see people waving at each other and being kind and yelling "All good?" to each other, more so than usual. Common sense, we are social animals, we adapt, give it time there will be new funny ideas people come up with (the teddy bear example below). Fuck, maybe we'll start learning morse code or sign language… I shift from despair and cynicism to cheery upbeat optimism, and yes, turn off the news!
Some of it is a bit silly, too. "Pretend you've already got the virus…" For Heaven's sake, if I've already got the virus, why on earth keep trying to avoid catching it? Some bumkum is getting made up at times..
Yes, of course that is the obvious aim. But if I am pretending that I already have it, why would I continue to wash my hands in cases where that act protects only me?
I think they got this idea from war stories where soldiers performed brave acts in the heat of action – pretending they were already dead helped clear their heads.
I don't think it suits this situation. We must all try above all to avoid catching it (if we haven't already, but do not know) and we should also do all we can to avoid spreading it. But pretending we already have it is naff to my mind.
It's hard enough for adults to fully comprehend the situation. It must be impossible for the kids. I don't live on a street front but a nice way to give them some fun counting the teddy bears.
If you do the stomp method, beware, it does comes with a slippery health warning. It does work, had to do it a few times, and my nan use to always do it, though she had willing (or press ganged) grand kids to do the mashing, and kids were tougher back then, so falling out of the bath didn't seem to matter so much.
Rinsing is the pain, not just for having to use cold water, but because it never seems to run thoroughly clean. I always found it best to rinse just one or two items, squeeze and redo, but at least you can do that from outside the tub.
I've just had a pair of relatives drop by with TV dinners and puds in case I don't always feel like cooking during the lockdown. They said there are military helicoptors flying all over Auckland tonight. Must be expecting trouble.
I popped in to my local dairy earlier today and the Indian family who own it are scared stiff. They know they are going to be at the front of the firing line when the kids high on drugs – having discovered everything is closed – start vandalising and burglarising the dairies for cigarettes and the like.
They travelled from Pt Chev to Browns Bay and then to Devonport using the Northern Motorway so maybe there was something going down further north.
Edit: I have a nephew currently training in Waiuru and he told his mother the military have been gearing up to assist the police for some weeks now. His training schedule has been halted so they are available for police assistance work. His sister (my niece) is a recently graduated cop working in Rotorua and she says things are building up there at the moment.
Big landlords, particularly those who do regular opinion pieces in the media might want to action some well publicised rent relief for their customers.
Otherwise they might look like greedy and mean charlatans…
People with holiday homes and little sense of social responsibility, heading to their holiday homes in small communities for the lock down – putting pressure on communities that don't have the health resources to support them, adding extra bodies in supermarkets, and possibly taking Covid-19 with them.
Reporter Susan Strongman has spoken to Coromandel peninsula residents, who are worried by the influx of out-of-towners they've seen in the last few days.
I do wish that was stressed a bit more, "this is NOT a holiday", we were asked to stay in our regions. They've already had to ask people to not go tramping or hunting, what's the bet we hear of a hunting tragedy and or people missing on some range, c'mon people, prove me wrong!
If we are going to require people to give up their local shops and use supermarkets – why not allow people to spread out and isolate themselves further away?
Neither local fear of the outsider (welcome each summer for business), nor resentment at others being able to use their time in this way, is a good thing. They can isolate as much there as their usual residence (not really a burden if they bring their own shopping).
Nonsense. Resources like health care are based on year round resident numbers. Great for some well-off townies to think they'll be better of in a smaller community – except the locals are a small community most of the year, and these insensitive townies are adding to their stress and vulnerability
Read what Graeme said, what if they're sick and they don't know it, and above weren't you advocating staying local? We still might see Regions, towns, even suburbs get further locked down, so maybe these holiday makers might find themselves locked in, or locked out, like in a Bollard novel. We were told to stay home, because it was the simplest thing to do, but oh no, people have to stretch definitions and be contrary. I feel for the police, having to babysit us.
They, or partner, can drive to their primary residence from the "bach" if someone feels sick.
There are not going to be any regional lockdowns – not until they can identify a singular area of community spread. They would have their own shopping with them.
Why should those foreign tourists still here be the only ones enjoying our isolated outdoor areas – these people are not in contact with anyone else going from one place to another.
""And local spread is – where it occurs easier to identify and contain. " you said. -How do you know there won’t be regional lockdowns? I’d say right now, anything is possible.
In so far as track and trace local makes for easier follow up, regional lockdowns require community testing – which we will not be doing this month (focus is on incoming kiwis for now)
Well, for one thing an itinerant population makes contact tracing a bugger.
You go bush tomorrow, someone you contacted with yesterday comes down with it on the weekend, phones are unreliable – I mean, we can hope you don't encounter anyone else and the only one in danger is you…
Well I have seen a couple – but frankly I think that report is over egging it somewhat. Today was my last last chance to go and mow the lawns at Whiritoa. The beach was pretty empty, and no where near the numbers around over the summer holidays. Tomorrow of course they won't be able to.
I see on RNZ that Virgin airlines are basically closing their New Zealand operations making redundancies but are wondering what to do with the wages ssubsidy from the government. Greed like rust seems to never sleep and why are we funding Richard Branson
To avoid queues and minimise contact time, why don’t supermarkets do the shopping for us? You give them your list (in advance), they fill your trolley, you paywave (they can even use mobile EFTPOS), collect your shoppings and drive home. My kind of shopping.
Most big supermarkets already have a click and collect system set up. The two big ones on Lincoln Rd have it. But it seems they are heavily used at the moment so the first available slots are quite a way ahead. You pay online when you place the order, no need for an unclean disease riddled mobile EFTPOS machine to even come within sneezing distance.
Good. Maybe they can increase capacity and shift from physical shopping presence to collection-only. With paywave, the only thing you touch is that disgusting piece of plastic in your wallet 😉
I have registered for Countdown. I looked at the click and collect PickUp several times and have never seen an available slot for my local supermarket- always every time-day slot booked up for the next 7 days. Ditto for home delivery, which costs more. I finally DID manage to get a home delivery for Sunday, but that was a bit of luck. Although the cost is fairly steep, but it's cheaper for a big order, and they give a discount on your first delivery.
I have a scratchy throat, on antibiotics, and been told by the GP to self isolate and to stay away from people, just in case I have a mild does of THE virus. I prefer to do my own shopping, but, will make do in this extraordinary time. I see my local Countdown have expanded the number of slots for home delivery, but it's still over subscribed – all slots full for the next 7 days.
So I am eaking out the meagre fruit & veg I have left so I last til Sunday. Have plenty of protein. I'd rather leave calling out a nephew to shop for me for another week or 2 if I can, and that should take me thru the 4 weeks.
These are not normal times, and we need to make do without some of the luxuries and on-tap stuff we are used to, in order to limit our contacts and keep ourselves and others safe
Up side is, I think I have painlessly lost a little weight. That won't hurt me in the long run.
Register for New World as well – and go with the one with the earliest, or most convenient time slot. And do so early or late to avoid difficulty logging in.
Pity, that choice can be useful. I found this week that New World was available a day quicker (and still had specials, if some were sold out by my delivery today).
They have just finished a major refit and the installed the cabinets for online ordering. About 100 I guess. Totally insufficient for even a small town of around 8000.
New World doesn't do online shopping in the South Island, where I live. I have registered with Fresh Choice here in Cromwell and getting our groceries delivered late tomorrow afternoon/early evening. No problems registering. Because I'm slow, sorting through what I wanted online took me a while, although it was very easy. But I'm sure I will get used to it. Incidently, it worked out a lot cheaper than physically shopping.
Well, maybe this is a good time to plan ahead more and better. I know many shoppers like to touch, pinch, smell, and feel produce and then put it back again for the next shopper to do the same thing again. Would you like to buy avocados, bananas or apples that have been touched by countless strangers before? There are very good apps that take the recipe and list the ingredients as a shopping list but you have to plan the meals for the week. But we shall not inconvenience shoppers, shall we? Least of all, at Alert Level 4.
It's not about feeling the fruit, it's about busy culinary minded people wanting to cook for themselves and like to be inspired when looking at produce in the supermarket for the inspiration on a lovely dish for their family.
Still, at alert level 4 no one is busy, are they? Perhaps we should all just do Ubermarkets instead and be done with any personal creativity?
We laugh at that fool because otherwise one would cry at the people he's killed through laziness and incompetence. We haven't touched the tip of the iceberg on that one.
Those were the days when filling up the trolley once a fortnight and be done with it, except for occasional re-stocking milk and fruit & vege. The less time spent in a supermarket, the better.
I have a decent sized carry bag.I also carry my own bags for veg. Knowing what I want, and where it is, I can quickly get around the store, and usually with less than 12 items go to the fast lane and check out.
Yes, I did leave off some stuff I would have liked from my Sunday home delivery order. Plus, I didn't think to get something probiotic to counter the antibiotics. But, I will get it sooner or later. The stuff I forgot is more what I like, rather than what I absolutely need.
Despite official figures reporting few to no new domestic Covid-19 cases on the Chinese mainland in recent days, authorities continue to detect more infections, with those in the city at the heart of the country’s outbreak often amounting to more than a dozen a day, Caixin has learned.
According to a member of the infectious disease prevention and control team in Wuhan, every day the city continues to record “several or more than a dozen asymptomatic infected individuals”, which are people that have tested positive for Covid-19, but do not feel ill and are excluded from published numbers.
Beware the asymptomatic.
As of Sunday (March 22), Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, had four consecutive days of zero new “confirmed cases.”
The person, who asked not to be named, said that these asymptomatic people are found by tracing the contacts of others who are infected and by screening quarantine workers who are at high risk of infection, as opposed to en masse testing.
“It’s not possible at the moment to tell if transmission has stopped,” the person said.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Flag-bearing duties were shared between boxer David Nyika and Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini in Tokyo three years ago. Triple Olympic medallist in boardsailing, Barbara Kendall was the first female flag bearer in Atlanta in 1996. Since 2004, the flagbearers have worn a kākahu (cloak) as they led ...
Not a smart decision – what are they doing taking out local competition to supermarkets? Many neighbourhoods/suburbs have a dairy, butcher and grocer. (mine has a 4 Square, sort of a combo).
It’s just sad for those businesses and their local walk-in (no transport issues) customers. Needless.
Next it will be farmers markets – as if buying outdoors makes buying fruit and veges more unsafe.
Do they have a bias against locally grown and locally sold fresh food and want us to stock up on processed food out of cans or something.
And some of us would prefer the local butcher / green grocer / bakery. Far fewer people packed into these shops, fresher produce and less waiting in great long queues.
Well Farmers Markets would be wouldn't they? Unless they were in stadium size areas with strict patrolling of distance between people. This is not a holiday, this is a state of emergency, and I agree about butchers but fuck it, this sucks for everyone.
i.e. Stay in your bubble. loose bubbles cost lives.
The produce is no more spread out in a supermarket, than in an outdoor market.
Not the produce, the people. The reasons playgrounds are shut as it's a place people congregate, they're trying to limit people congregating.
Yeah the social distancing, there are no crowds in local butchers, greengrocers – more at the supermarket – and no more crowding at an open market than at the supermarket (except for distance caused by trolleys).
Then there those without cars having to travel by PT to get to a supermarket.
Apparently they're staggering people in supermarkets, but who knows, no one knows right now, personally, when I go shopping, if I see crowds of people, I'll turn around and leave. Like I said, I agree, butchers, but they are told to shut, so they will shut. I'm just gonna deal with the here and now.
It's not just about physical closeness, but limiting the number of people we regularly come into contact with – and also limiting the number of locations, because surfaces.
You may only see the operator-owner and maybe one other staff member and maybe one other person at the local shop – butcher and greengrocer and dairy (milk) would cover shopping of fresh goods for the month (a lot of people would have already done a supermarket shop to cover their storage for pantry and freezer).
Bottom line is, the fewer places open the better. Too many businesses (and others) trying to stretch it too much. Too many seem to think they're a special case and the strict measures don't apply to them.
Supermarkets are upping their game with perspex between checkout operators & customers. Customers to load own bags, and limiting numbers in the store at anyone time.
We all need to shrink the number of places we are visiting.
I think the aim is to minimise the number of places in the public arena where cross-infection can occur.
Modelling from Uni of Sydney I saw in the SMH this morning says that compliance by at least 80% of the population needs to happen if the containment is to be successful, anything less than that and we will have put ourselves through enormous grief and trashed the economy for nothing. Our health system will still be at risk and Covid-19 will still be out there.
Increasing the number of people who have to use use the supermarket is not great for increasing social distancing.
And local spread is – where it occurs easier to identify and contain.
Supermarkets have implemented a one in, one out policy at the door with social distancing applied to the resulting queue. Expect to see a fair bit of security when you go to the supermarket to enforce this.
At the last small bakery in my area open today, they allowed only one customer inside at the any time. That single person can’t touch any produce, which is a significant distance away. Contactless payment. And the shopping is done in one or two minutes, so hardly any outside queue at all.
No way any supermarket in NZ is safer than this place to get bread.
I also think the small shop has a much better idea which of their 1-2 employees had contact with produce / places within the shop in case of infection.
In this case I think the government screwed up.
And “local spread” or any spread can be fully avoided if everything is shut down.
its all or nothing now, no half measures or we might as well just give up and let the thing do what it wants.
This is how authoritarianism occurs. No restraints, step by step until there is total itarian) and singular focus on the objective – because any identified "weakness" is risking defeat.
And all because of fear of community spread – fear because we did not have the the testing kit resources (our pandemic planning was weak) to identify it and its extent.
The irony we are developing such capacity and may have it after the month (for a few weeks prioritised to those returning kiwis going into their lockdown).
SPC, please put a link if you are going to cut and paste. I'm getting sick of having to ask this, but it's especially important at this time.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/120555183/coronavirus-meaters-of-marlborough-closes-as-retail-butchers-grapple-grey-area
This butcher is a decent and community-minded man who has a social conscience and is generous. I'd buy from him even if I were a vegan. I know him and I have an idea of what he does for his town. I'd have said he was too busy, in too small a serving area, and I can see why his customers were queued outside. For dinner tonight I had some of his pork belly, and tomorrow night probably his mince on a pizza. Then, I fear I won't see Mike for a month, and have to patronise the supermarket shelves more.
Just like the wine grower I praised recently, a hard worker and an ethical businessman, Mike Newman, too, puts a human face on the huge problems being faced by people dealing with the corona virus.
The Gods smiled upon NZ when Andrew Little realised Jacinda Ardern had a better chance of saving the NZ Labour Party than himself….the series of events that followed couldnt have been bet upon.
I've been thinking about this too. What Little did, and what Turei did too.
Was standing in line at PB Tech this afternoon listening to conversations 2m away. The woman behind me, apparently in health, was on the phone worried about several things among them the addicts who will basically go ballistic in a couple of days when they can't meet their needs.
Expect crime to go through the roof. Police will not be able to handle this.
I’m of the opinion that a lot more people will die during this event from non Covid-19 related circumstances than from the virus itself.
You mean illicit drugs? I wouldn't worry too much, drug addicts know what they're doing and weirdly think ahead, Divo and other dispensaries have plans in place, they're used to people not sparing them much of a thought, I doubt they thought things would change now. (ex addict, with friends still doing naughty things, not one violent criminal or thief among them).
Nice one IFL.
Do you work in primary health?
Ok if not, but what about the wider dependent community not so prepared for such an eventuality. I'm think the mass of new methamphetamine users.
No, I don't, but I know users. Users think ahead, users already use illicit channels to get their drugs, users are used to keeping their drug use hidden, users are used to being ignored, places like Divo and mental health workers know these people, it's quite a community, with characters and stories, some funny, some sad. I just think your fear is unwarranted, druggies lives will go on like the rest of us, I'd be more worried about the drunk home renovators quite frankly.
"I'd be more worried about the drunk home renovators quite frankly. "
Well you'd hope so wouldn't you. I mean, think about it.
And the homeless….?
are surprisingly being considered….at least in Auckland and Wellington if theMayors are to be believed
Goff said they will use empty motels and hotels to house rough sleepers.
Except some of the ones I know would be very unhappy with being in a motel with others. They have been offered accommodation before, especially in severe weather conditions. A nice quiet space where they could come and go. But turned down – preferring to find their own space. Quite a few are suffering anxiety and prefer to be alone, which is why they sleep rough. If they can find a safe place where no one can bother them, that is their goal. Here we are hoping to be able to do a "cook up " and leave it on the front step for them to pick up every other day. if the local police agree.
I'm not saying they are all like that, but we must understand that for some this is a life that they choose, because this is how they are coping with their circumstances right now. We need to be there for when they are ready to move on.
Government Covid-19 response to housing costs:
Homeowners = massive high level talks with banks resulting in a mortgage holiday and you don't have to pay anything while out of work.
Renters = pay full rent while you are out of work unless you personally can negotiate with your landlord.
Muttonbird – this afternoon on Radio NZ there was an interview in which the ANZ person said the interest would still accrue so no one will take a mortgage "holiday" unless they absolutely have to as it will cost them more. If renters got the same treatment, they would simply be in rent arrears and I know how hard it is to catch up if you are skint to start with. There does need to be some backup though from government of course for people to be able to make their rent payments.
I will try to find the link – not sure it's up yet.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018740152/anz-boss-assures-customers-cash-available-duing-lockdown
yes I heard that too…which appeared to contradict yesterdays statement that there was an interest holiday as well
"The six-month principal and interest payment holiday for mortgage holders and small business customers whose incomes have been affected by the economic disruption from Covid-19."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/412511/retail-banks-agree-to-a-mortgage-holiday-repayment-scheme
The comment was by Grant Robertson, wasn't it?
He is a truly masterful spinner of yarns. Just take his comments with a very large dollop of salt.
yes was Robertson…he did qualify his statements by saying the banks were working on details and to wait a couple of days for them to do so….but it appears it was unnecessarily loose language
"principal and interest" holiday
So P and I repayments would be put on hold. However, interest will still be charged on the loan itself.
Over a six month period, that is interest being charged on interest.
The deal is a bit of a rort. The best thing to do would have been to just freeze the loan for six months. No interest. No repayments.
But noooooo, the banks still gotta get their slice of fat.
it could be interpreted that way but that is unusual to separate the elements as he did
Thanks mate but the crux of the situation is that in this lockdown and post lockdown period affected renters still have to pay full rent. Affected homeowners do not have to pay anything.
I'm really tired of pointing this out.
you appear to misunderstand how a mortgage holiday works….it generally adds to your long term costs (and appears will do so in this case)
Did you actually read what I just wrote?
you wrote…."Affected homeowners do not have to pay anything."
not the case (unless there was an interest holiday as well)….it is essentially an addition to the mortgage principle and adds both interest costs and extends the term
The Warehouse said they'd remain open, the ANZ said they'd still charge interest.
If they try, let's just see what the government does.
theres always that possibility…though I expect ANZ is a little more careful than the Warehouse
We're talking about bankers, here. GFC, all that jazz.
lol…yep but I expect they have better legal advice on tap plus the experience of what happened to the big box stores….not to mention more clout
Once the chargeout is four digits an hour, is the advice really all that much more impressive?
Basically it comes down to what the government really wants: with emergency powers, legal fripparies can be waived aside.
I understand the best legal advice seldom references the law…..but perhaps a lawyer may have a different view
"In the lockdown and post lockdown period". Read it!
Hi Muttonbird,
The only reason we are landlords is because we no longer require the small attached unit for our 'grannies'. Since then we have rented it out, electricity, water and internet included to several people. We've never charged the cost of the flat on our mortgage – because I am of the mind that housing is too expensive and thought we need to follow those values in our decisions. Three young couples have saved enough to get deposits on homes, while we have paid 65% of our income on mortgage costs.
We gave our current tenants the required six-weeks notice in three weeks ago so our son could return home, and as we try to never give notice, we gave them two weeks rent free so that they would have more money for a deposit when looking for a new place. The Covid-19 alerts have put paid to that and my son will have to stay where he is and the tenancy notice end date will be extended to include the time of the lockdown, however long it is.
If your suggestion is imposed, and we do have to take a payment holiday – god forbid – we will not be having a gift from the bank that we pass on to our tenants. We will be accruing further interest and it will not be amortised over a term of twenty five years, because we don't have that much working lives left. If we had passed on the cost of having the unit to our tenants, those couples may not have left to move into their own first homes.
Our tenants are already receiving the government wages, and their board to us takes 27% of that income. Blanket requirements such as the one you propose will include landlords who are already trying to do the right thing for tenants. And will quite honestly for us, be financial pressure that is too much to accommodate. Consider those of us who are already trying to look after their tenants at personal costs already.
Molly. You do touch on an important point. That is that there is no consistency in the landlord group in terms of what they offer in rent relief for their tenants.
Everyone would feel they were 'in this together' if there was government direction on this rather than tenants being thrown to the hounds.
I say again, my issue is with the short term discrepancy where out of work tenants have to pay full rent and out of work homeowners can defer payments.
This is crucial for the young families of the renting class.
They are ignored though. As it ever was.
I also touch on another important point.
Assuming all landlords are the same, and need to be required to do something specific because it makes sense to you, does not allow for diversity in tenant experiences, and may very well penalise those landlords who are already trying hard to do the right thing.
Once again,
“If your suggestion is imposed, and we do have to take a payment holiday – god forbid – we will not be having a gift from the bank that we pass on to our tenants. We will be accruing further interest and it will not be amortised over a term of twenty five years, because we don’t have that much working lives left.”
And I also suspect that for those on higher fixed rates – it will be those higher fixed rates interest that will be charged and accrued to the loan.
But if there was proper government structured guidance then landlords trying to do the right thing would not be disadvantaged at all – rather they would be joined and part of a scheme which serviced everyones needs.
And on the extra interest – this would be accounted for in a decent government scheme where tenants would pay a reduced rent for the time period which covered costs like rates and insurance and extra costs like heightened interest on the loan.
Homeowners will have to negotiate with their banks. Falling behind in rent is not a good enough reason to kick out tenants until 60 days have passed, which is almost three times as long as previously. If the current new rules are abused, I’d expect further ‘adjustments’ will be introduced by Government.
basically looks like the banks are going to suggest interest only on mortgages where they can, which makes sense to prevent the debt increasing – just delays final repayment.
Now say everyone was tossed onto that, then rents could also go down to the interest amount plus the other overheads. That way no tenant is retiring outstanding principal so rents drop with a thud. It would put domestic rentals well within benefit levels and save small business by them having hopefully on a tiny lease while income is low.In effect a gain pause button on capital movements but expenses being paid .
To implement something like this needs somebody like the ird – they have sector figures – to estimate what % of rental income is nationally swallowed by rates interest insurance and other cash overheads and then the rent freeze becomes anational rent fall of the required %
You seem to be assuming that mortgage payments on rentals are the same as on owner-occupied home loans with maximum principal payments. In addition, most loans are on fixed rates.
Well if the rental mortgage is interest only then likely to mean taking funds they are using elsewhere and yes there are fixed rates of varying amounts on mortgages as are rates insurances etc. Hence using sector averages which could be refined by region. Something is used to set the general housing top up benefit so there are figures there.
It wouldn't work perfectly for all but the current default certainly doesn't so this could be a different starting point. Then some form of top up negotiations
Then there are rental property managers – reminds one of the executives hired to remove labour so vulture capitalism (private funds) can on-sell for CG.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12319904
Fuck it pays to just turn the damn radio off after a while the extra stentorian tones of the health warnings emergency alert signals on the phone ect are giving me the shits .They're just scaring people imo and its not necessary after all the build up .anyone with half a brain has surely got the message .Today at a press conference the PM said we could go for a walk but dont talk to anyone is that being kind to each other ?ffs the other day it was sing out to your neigbour over the fence .The thought of weeks if not longer of your own company with little or no respite is bad enough without setting out to ignore people .Say hello !!
I'll still be working, I work for NZ Post, I see people waving at each other and being kind and yelling "All good?" to each other, more so than usual. Common sense, we are social animals, we adapt, give it time there will be new funny ideas people come up with (the teddy bear example below). Fuck, maybe we'll start learning morse code or sign language… I shift from despair and cynicism to cheery upbeat optimism, and yes, turn off the news!
Say it, don't spray it weston, that's the point.
Some of it is a bit silly, too. "Pretend you've already got the virus…" For Heaven's sake, if I've already got the virus, why on earth keep trying to avoid catching it? Some bumkum is getting made up at times..
To stop you spreading it?
Exactly!
Yes, of course that is the obvious aim. But if I am pretending that I already have it, why would I continue to wash my hands in cases where that act protects only me?
I think they got this idea from war stories where soldiers performed brave acts in the heat of action – pretending they were already dead helped clear their heads.
I don't think it suits this situation. We must all try above all to avoid catching it (if we haven't already, but do not know) and we should also do all we can to avoid spreading it. But pretending we already have it is naff to my mind.
Maybe because the advice is broad, for the brightest amongst us, and the stupidest. Lockdown for Dummies.
Fair enough. I would be happier with "Imagine you already have it," rather than "Pretend". But now I'm quibbling, so I shall quietly withdraw…
I like this:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/412602/teddy-bears-in-windows-to-cheer-up-kids-during-lockdown
It's hard enough for adults to fully comprehend the situation. It must be impossible for the kids. I don't live on a street front but a nice way to give them some fun counting the teddy bears.
I already have mine
Family Fist's weed expert.
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1242644087699726341
My washing machine is rooted. I'm going to hang the dirty laundry on the clothesline and attack it with the water blaster.
Ha!!!!
Bath tub, hot water, sprinkle of washing powder, shorts on and pretend your squishing grapes for 15 minutes.
Pain in the arse come to rinse time, mind, especially 'cause the tap has to be running and hot water is burny. Tip – use use cold water. lol
Doing the laundry in the bath tub sounds like a good idea, thanks The Al1en.
If you do the stomp method, beware, it does comes with a slippery health warning. It does work, had to do it a few times, and my nan use to always do it, though she had willing (or press ganged) grand kids to do the mashing, and kids were tougher back then, so falling out of the bath didn't seem to matter so much.
Rinsing is the pain, not just for having to use cold water, but because it never seems to run thoroughly clean. I always found it best to rinse just one or two items, squeeze and redo, but at least you can do that from outside the tub.
Followed by the leave blower. I hope you use industrial strength pegs.
leaf… 🙁
Ah, the electric ones. I’ve heard they’re even more powerful.
Fireblade @ 9
You won't have any clothes left mate. 😯
Seriously:
I've just had a pair of relatives drop by with TV dinners and puds in case I don't always feel like cooking during the lockdown. They said there are military helicoptors flying all over Auckland tonight. Must be expecting trouble.
I popped in to my local dairy earlier today and the Indian family who own it are scared stiff. They know they are going to be at the front of the firing line when the kids high on drugs – having discovered everything is closed – start vandalising and burglarising the dairies for cigarettes and the like.
Haven't heard any helicopters over Mt Eden way.
They travelled from Pt Chev to Browns Bay and then to Devonport using the Northern Motorway so maybe there was something going down further north.
Edit: I have a nephew currently training in Waiuru and he told his mother the military have been gearing up to assist the police for some weeks now. His training schedule has been halted so they are available for police assistance work. His sister (my niece) is a recently graduated cop working in Rotorua and she says things are building up there at the moment.
Interesting. A helicopter did fly overhead a few minutes ago – just passing.
Those high on drugs burglarizers will have to wait in line like the rest of us.
Big landlords, particularly those who do regular opinion pieces in the media might want to action some well publicised rent relief for their customers.
Otherwise they might look like greedy and mean charlatans…
…just saying.
Little landlords just offhand the enforcement role to rental property managers.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12319904
People with holiday homes and little sense of social responsibility, heading to their holiday homes in small communities for the lock down – putting pressure on communities that don't have the health resources to support them, adding extra bodies in supermarkets, and possibly taking Covid-19 with them.
RNZ Checkpoint
I do wish that was stressed a bit more, "this is NOT a holiday", we were asked to stay in our regions. They've already had to ask people to not go tramping or hunting, what's the bet we hear of a hunting tragedy and or people missing on some range, c'mon people, prove me wrong!
Yeah, this could turn really nasty for someone who's infected but yet to know about it, who goes bush and then gets sick.
Yeah iwi should have closed a few more areas.
If we are going to require people to give up their local shops and use supermarkets – why not allow people to spread out and isolate themselves further away?
Neither local fear of the outsider (welcome each summer for business), nor resentment at others being able to use their time in this way, is a good thing. They can isolate as much there as their usual residence (not really a burden if they bring their own shopping).
Nonsense. Resources like health care are based on year round resident numbers. Great for some well-off townies to think they'll be better of in a smaller community – except the locals are a small community most of the year, and these insensitive townies are adding to their stress and vulnerability
They are perfectly capable of driving back home for medical treatment.
Read what Graeme said, what if they're sick and they don't know it, and above weren't you advocating staying local? We still might see Regions, towns, even suburbs get further locked down, so maybe these holiday makers might find themselves locked in, or locked out, like in a Bollard novel. We were told to stay home, because it was the simplest thing to do, but oh no, people have to stretch definitions and be contrary. I feel for the police, having to babysit us.
They, or partner, can drive to their primary residence from the "bach" if someone feels sick.
There are not going to be any regional lockdowns – not until they can identify a singular area of community spread. They would have their own shopping with them.
Why should those foreign tourists still here be the only ones enjoying our isolated outdoor areas – these people are not in contact with anyone else going from one place to another.
""And local spread is – where it occurs easier to identify and contain. " you said. -How do you know there won’t be regional lockdowns? I’d say right now, anything is possible.
In so far as track and trace local makes for easier follow up, regional lockdowns require community testing – which we will not be doing this month (focus is on incoming kiwis for now)
Well, for one thing an itinerant population makes contact tracing a bugger.
You go bush tomorrow, someone you contacted with yesterday comes down with it on the weekend, phones are unreliable – I mean, we can hope you don't encounter anyone else and the only one in danger is you…
Only a problem if the bach has no landline, or poor mobile reception – there is still email to their devices.
Gawd. Would so hate for the Covid-19 fleeing wealthy to be locked out of their primary homes.
& I feel sorry for the police babysitting us.
Well I have seen a couple – but frankly I think that report is over egging it somewhat. Today was my last last chance to go and mow the lawns at Whiritoa. The beach was pretty empty, and no where near the numbers around over the summer holidays. Tomorrow of course they won't be able to.
I see on RNZ that Virgin airlines are basically closing their New Zealand operations making redundancies but are wondering what to do with the wages ssubsidy from the government. Greed like rust seems to never sleep and why are we funding Richard Branson
Branson, through Virgin Group only owns 10.42%, other owners are below. And they were fucked before this happened, don’t expect them to survive.
even 10% would be too much for this person. & I don't really see any other homeless underpaid waifs on the list deserving of my tax dollars.
To avoid queues and minimise contact time, why don’t supermarkets do the shopping for us? You give them your list (in advance), they fill your trolley, you paywave (they can even use mobile EFTPOS), collect your shoppings and drive home. My kind of shopping.
Most big supermarkets already have a click and collect system set up. The two big ones on Lincoln Rd have it. But it seems they are heavily used at the moment so the first available slots are quite a way ahead. You pay online when you place the order, no need for an unclean disease riddled mobile EFTPOS machine to even come within sneezing distance.
Good. Maybe they can increase capacity and shift from physical shopping presence to collection-only. With paywave, the only thing you touch is that disgusting piece of plastic in your wallet 😉
I have registered for Countdown. I looked at the click and collect PickUp several times and have never seen an available slot for my local supermarket- always every time-day slot booked up for the next 7 days. Ditto for home delivery, which costs more. I finally DID manage to get a home delivery for Sunday, but that was a bit of luck. Although the cost is fairly steep, but it's cheaper for a big order, and they give a discount on your first delivery.
I have a scratchy throat, on antibiotics, and been told by the GP to self isolate and to stay away from people, just in case I have a mild does of THE virus. I prefer to do my own shopping, but, will make do in this extraordinary time. I see my local Countdown have expanded the number of slots for home delivery, but it's still over subscribed – all slots full for the next 7 days.
So I am eaking out the meagre fruit & veg I have left so I last til Sunday. Have plenty of protein. I'd rather leave calling out a nephew to shop for me for another week or 2 if I can, and that should take me thru the 4 weeks.
These are not normal times, and we need to make do without some of the luxuries and on-tap stuff we are used to, in order to limit our contacts and keep ourselves and others safe
Up side is, I think I have painlessly lost a little weight. That won't hurt me in the long run.
Register for New World as well – and go with the one with the earliest, or most convenient time slot. And do so early or late to avoid difficulty logging in.
There is no New World anywhere near me. Countdown is it.
Pity, that choice can be useful. I found this week that New World was available a day quicker (and still had specials, if some were sold out by my delivery today).
It's Pac and Slave or nothing here.
They have just finished a major refit and the installed the cabinets for online ordering. About 100 I guess. Totally insufficient for even a small town of around 8000.
New World doesn't do online shopping in the South Island, where I live. I have registered with Fresh Choice here in Cromwell and getting our groceries delivered late tomorrow afternoon/early evening. No problems registering. Because I'm slow, sorting through what I wanted online took me a while, although it was very easy. But I'm sure I will get used to it. Incidently, it worked out a lot cheaper than physically shopping.
Take good care of yourself Carolyn_Nth. Keep safe.
A lot of people prefer to choose they own fruit and meat. They like to use the time in the isles to think about what they need and imagine recipes.
A lot of people don't do rigid lists.
Well, maybe this is a good time to plan ahead more and better. I know many shoppers like to touch, pinch, smell, and feel produce and then put it back again for the next shopper to do the same thing again. Would you like to buy avocados, bananas or apples that have been touched by countless strangers before? There are very good apps that take the recipe and list the ingredients as a shopping list but you have to plan the meals for the week. But we shall not inconvenience shoppers, shall we? Least of all, at Alert Level 4.
For me, it's not really about planning ahead. Seeing the thing reminds me of shit I need, or can do better than what I had actually planned.
As for poking and prodding, yeah, that's why I tend to wash any produce that doesn't peel anyway.
+ 1.
It's not about feeling the fruit, it's about busy culinary minded people wanting to cook for themselves and like to be inspired when looking at produce in the supermarket for the inspiration on a lovely dish for their family.
Still, at alert level 4 no one is busy, are they? Perhaps we should all just do Ubermarkets instead and be done with any personal creativity?
Dot a month, we're asked to sacrifice our normal patterns, and we laugh at Trump being bored of his lockdown after a week.
We laugh at that fool because otherwise one would cry at the people he's killed through laziness and incompetence. We haven't touched the tip of the iceberg on that one.
Pak’nSave allows you 30 min in the shop to get creative.
But you just said supermarkets should be taking lists.
Which is it?
You just said you like to be inspired in a supermarket. Well, you’ll have 30 min as off midnight. Knock yourself out with some exotic recipes.
Gezz 10 mins is long enough for me. 15 mins is too long.
Those were the days when filling up the trolley once a fortnight and be done with it, except for occasional re-stocking milk and fruit & vege. The less time spent in a supermarket, the better.
Actually I don't use a trolley.
I have a decent sized carry bag.I also carry my own bags for veg. Knowing what I want, and where it is, I can quickly get around the store, and usually with less than 12 items go to the fast lane and check out.
You lucky bastard![devil devil](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/devil_smile.png)
there are people in my family who go to the supermarket every day. Don't get me started.
Yes, I did leave off some stuff I would have liked from my Sunday home delivery order. Plus, I didn't think to get something probiotic to counter the antibiotics. But, I will get it sooner or later. The stuff I forgot is more what I like, rather than what I absolutely need.
Some good stuff in the google doc.
https://twitter.com/jeremyphoward/status/1242572288962240517
Despite official figures reporting few to no new domestic Covid-19 cases on the Chinese mainland in recent days, authorities continue to detect more infections, with those in the city at the heart of the country’s outbreak often amounting to more than a dozen a day, Caixin has learned.
According to a member of the infectious disease prevention and control team in Wuhan, every day the city continues to record “several or more than a dozen asymptomatic infected individuals”, which are people that have tested positive for Covid-19, but do not feel ill and are excluded from published numbers.
Beware the asymptomatic.
As of Sunday (March 22), Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, had four consecutive days of zero new “confirmed cases.”
The person, who asked not to be named, said that these asymptomatic people are found by tracing the contacts of others who are infected and by screening quarantine workers who are at high risk of infection, as opposed to en masse testing.
“It’s not possible at the moment to tell if transmission has stopped,” the person said.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/despite-official-figures-wuhan-continues-to-find-new-asymptomatic-coronavirus-cases
A classic Beatles song with a very clear video from 1966.
Paperback Writer
there's something not right about watching a video of the Beatles that looks like it was filmed last year.
Not right Stones.
Stay home, stay safe, be kind, we will get through this.
God Defend New Zealand
Te Reo Māori and English
It would be interesting to see what the birth rates are 9-10 months from now.
& divorce rates…
Prince Charles has tested positive for Covid-19.
He is currently experiencing mild symptoms and is at home in Scotland.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120576564/coronavirus-prince-charles-tests-positive-displaying-mild-symptoms