Daily review 26/02/2020
Written By:
- Date published:
5:30 pm, February 26th, 2020 - 67 comments
Categories: Daily review -
Tags:
Daily review is also your post.
This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
67 comments on “Daily review 26/02/2020 ”
- Comments are now closed
- Comments are now closed
CommentsOpinions
Recent Comments
FeedsPartyGovtMedia
- 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
A listing of 30 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 20, 2025 thru Sat, April 26, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...5 minutes ago - Governments Are Letting Big Tech Trash Our Planet
Let’s rip the shiny plastic wrapping off a festering truth: planned obsolescence is a deliberate scam, and governments worldwide, including New Zealand’s, are complicit in letting tech giants churn out disposable junk. From flimsy smartphones that croak after two years to laptops with glued-in batteries, the tech industry’s business model ...2 hours ago - In Loving Memory Of Kyle Whorrall
When I first saw press photos of Mr Whorrall, an America PhD entomology student & researcher who had been living out a dream to finish out his studies in Auckland, my first impression, besides sadness, was how gentle he appeared.Press released the middle photo from Mr Whorrall’s Facebook pageBy all ...8 hours ago - National’s Betrayal of Renters and First-Time Buyers
It's definitely not a renters market in New Zealand, as reported by 1 News last night. In fact the housing crisis has metastasised into a full-blown catastrophe in 2025, and the National Party Government’s policies are pouring petrol on the flames. Renters are being crushed under skyrocketing costs, first-time buyers ...9 hours ago
- Would I Lie to You?
Would I lie to you? (oh yeah)Would I lie to you honey? (oh, no, no no)Now would I say something that wasn't true?I'm asking you sugar, would I lie to you?Writer(s): David Allan Stewart, Annie Lennox.Opinions issue forth from car radios or the daily news…They demand a bluer National, with ...11 hours ago - Fact brief – Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific c...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific consensus on climate change? Climatologists made up only 0.1% of signatories ...1 day ago
- A culture of cruelty.
In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...1 day ago - Northern Australia: fortress, gateway and resource powerhouse
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...1 day ago - Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to April 26
Chris Bishop has unveiled plans for new roads in Tauranga, Auckland and Northland that will cost up to a combined $10 billion. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from Aotearoa political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Saturday, April 26:Chris Bishop ploughed ahead this week with spending ...1 day ago - Debt Is A Form Of Government Control
Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that New Zealand’s government, under the guise of economic stewardship, is tightening the screws on its citizens, and using debt as a tool of control. This isn’t just a conspiracy theory whispered in pub corners...it’s backed by hard data ...2 days ago
- The 2025 Budget in a World of Trade Warfare
The budget runup is far from easy.Budget 2025 day is Thursday 22 May. About a month earlier in a normal year, the macroeconomic forecasts would be completed (the fiscal ones would still be tidying up) and the main policy decisions would have been made (but there would still be a ...2 days ago - EGU2025 – Presentation about our translation activities
As mentioned in the recently published prolog to EGU2025 article, I submitted an abstract to talk about some of our translation activities and the challenges we have been facing with those. This blog post is a "companion article" to that presentation in session EOS4.3 Geoethics and Global Anthropogenic Change: Geoscience for Policy, ...2 days ago
- The drums of war revisited
On 25 April 2021, I published an internal all-staff Anzac Day message. I did so as the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for Australia’s civil defence, and its resilience in ...2 days ago
- Cameron Slater’s New Website: Same Old Defamation
You’ve likely noticed that the disgraced blogger of Whale Oil Beef Hooked infamy, Cameron Slater, is still slithering around the internet, peddling his bile on a shiny new blogsite calling itself The Good Oil. If you thought bankruptcy, defamation rulings, and a near-fatal health scare would teach this idiot a ...2 days ago
- David Seymour’s Atlas Network Receiving Unwanted Attention
The Atlas Network, a sprawling web of libertarian think tanks funded by fossil fuel barons and corporate elites, has sunk its claws into New Zealand’s political landscape. At the forefront of this insidious influence is David Seymour, the ACT Party leader, whose ties to Atlas run deep.With the National Party’s ...2 days ago
- Nicola Willis To Blame For Family Boost Debacle
Nicola Willis, National’s supposed Finance Minister, has delivered another policy failure with the Family Boost scheme, a childcare rebate that was big on promises but has been very small on delivery. Only 56,000 families have signed up, a far cry from the 130,000 Willis personally championed in National’s campaign. This ...2 days ago
- Editors’ pick: ‘On the value of military service’
This article was first published on 7 February 2025. In January, I crossed the milestone of 24 years of service in two militaries—the British and Australian armies. It is fair to say that I am ...2 days ago
- Rest easy, my friend.
He shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningI will remember him.My mate Keith died yesterday, peacefully in the early hours. My dear friend in Rotorua, whom I’ve been ...2 days ago - The Hoon around the week to April 25
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on news New Zealand abstained from a vote on a global shipping levy on climate emissions and downgraded the importance ...3 days ago - The Men Commenting on Lorde
Hi,In case you missed it, New Zealand icon Lorde has a new single out. It’s called “What Was That”, and has a very low key music video that was filmed around her impromptu performance in New York’s Washington Square Park. When police shut down the initial popup, one of my ...3 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2025
Open access notables Internal variability effect doped by climate change drove the 2023 marine heat extreme in the North Atlantic, Guinaldo et al., Communications Earth & Environment The year 2023 shattered numerous heat records both globally and regionally. We here focus on the drivers of the unprecedented warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies which started in ...3 days ago
- Military denial: the basis of deterrence, and of response if deterrence fails
A strategy of denial is now the cornerstone concept for Australia’s National Defence Strategy. The term’s use as an overarching guide to defence policy, however, has led to some confusion on what it actually means ...3 days ago
- Fiscal failure
The IMF’s twice-yearly World Economic Outlook and Fiscal Monitor publications have come out in the last couple of days. If there is gloom in the GDP numbers (eg this chart for the advanced countries, and we don’t score a lot better on the comparable one for the 2019 to ...3 days ago - Climate Change: Fucking the ETS again
For a while, it looked like the government had unfucked the ETS, at least insofar as unit settings were concerned. They had to be forced into it by a court case, but at least it got done, and when National came to power, it learned the lesson (and then fucked ...3 days ago - What’s secret? When is it secret? Well, that’s complicated
The argument over US officials’ misuse of secure but non-governmental messaging platform Signal falls into two camps. Either it is a gross error that undermines national security, or it is a bit of a blunder ...3 days ago
- Today’s Headlines: David Seymour’s ECE Risks & Coalition Government Lies
Cost of living ~1/3 of Kiwis needed help with food as cost of living pressures continue to increase - turning to friends, family, food banks or Work and Income in the past year, to find food. 40% of Kiwis also said they felt schemes offered little or no benefit, according ...3 days ago - Is The NZ Media Awards Sponsored By a Conspiracy Theorist?
Hi,Perhaps in 2025 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CEO and owner of Voyager Internet — the major sponsor of the New Zealand Media Awards — has taken to sharing a variety of Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories to his 1.2 million followers.This included sharing a post from ...3 days ago - Australia-India defence cooperation should be about more than navies
In the sprint to deepen Australia-India defence cooperation, navy links have shot ahead of ties between the two countries’ air forces and armies. That’s largely a good thing: maritime security is at the heart of ...3 days ago
- When in Rome
'Cause you and me, were meant to be,Walking free, in harmony,One fine day, we'll fly away,Don't you know that Rome wasn't built in a day?Songwriters: Paul David Godfrey / Ross Godfrey / Skye Edwards.I was half expecting to see photos this morning of National Party supporters with wads of cotton ...3 days ago - Thursday 24 April
The PSA says a settlement with Health New Zealand over the agency’s proposed restructure of its Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams has saved around 200 roles from being cut. A third of New Zealanders have needed help accessing food in the past year, according to Consumer NZ, and ...3 days ago - John Campbell Investigates Brian Tamaki’s Destiny Church
John Campbell’s Under His Command, a five-part TVNZ+ investigation series starting today, rips the veil off Destiny Church, exposing the rot festering under Brian Tamaki’s self-proclaimed apostolic throne. This isn’t just a church; it’s a fiefdom, built on fear, manipulation, and a trail of scandals that make your stomach churn. ...3 days ago
- Decrypting tomorrow’s threats: critical infrastructure needs post-quantum protection today
Some argue we still have time, since quantum computing capable of breaking today’s encryption is a decade or more away. But breakthrough capabilities, especially in domains tied to strategic advantage, rarely follow predictable timelines. Just ...3 days ago
- Inside my quest for a climate-friendly bank
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Pearl Marvell (Photo credit: Pearl Marvell. Image credit: Samantha Harrington. Dollar bill vector image: by pch.vector on Freepik) Igrew up knowing that when you had extra money, you put it under a bed, stashed it in a book or a clock, or, ...3 days ago
- Winston Peters Has Lost The Plot
The political petrified piece of wood, Winston Peters, who refuses to retire gracefully, has had an eventful couple of weeks peddling transphobia, pushing bigoted policies, undertaking his unrelenting war on wokeness and slinging vile accusations like calling Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick a “groomer”.At 80, the hypocritical NZ First leader’s latest ...4 days ago
- The one who left
It's raining in Cockermouth and we're following our host up the stairs. We’re telling her it’s a lovely building and she’s explaining that it used to be a pub and a nightclub and a backpackers, but no more.There were floods in 2009 and 2015 along the main street, huge floods, ...4 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Trump Upside, And Peters Persecution Of Trans People
A recurring aspect of the Trump tariff coverage is that it normalises – or even sanctifies – a status quo that in many respects has been a disaster for working class families. No doubt, Donald Trump is an uncertainty machine that is tanking the stock market and the growth prospects ...4 days ago - Is Mark Mitchell a racist?
The National Party’s Minister of Police, Corrections, and Ethnic Communities (irony alert) has stumbled into yet another racist quagmire, proving that when it comes to bigotry, the right wing’s playbook is as predictable as it is vile. This time, Mitchell’s office reposted an Instagram reel falsely claiming that Te Pāti ...4 days ago
- Australian statecraft must restore the link between deterrence and non-proliferation to survive in t...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...4 days ago
- J.K. Rowling – Arsehole of the Week
In a world crying out for empathy, J.K. Rowling has once again proven she’s more interested in stoking division than building bridges. The once-beloved author of Harry Potter has cemented her place as this week’s Arsehole of the Week, a title earned through her relentless, tone-deaf crusade against transgender rights. ...4 days ago
- The rotten, unaccountable crown
Between 1950 and 1993 the New Zealand government tortured and abused up to 250,000 children in residential care facilities. They then proceeded to cover it up in order to minimise their liability, dragging out cases, slandering their victims and ultimately denying redress. In its final report, the Inquiry into Abuse ...4 days ago
- To prepare for future threats, treat health security as national security
Health security is often seen as a peripheral security domain, and as a problem that is difficult to address. These perceptions weaken our capacity to respond to borderless threats. With the wind back of Covid-19 ...4 days ago
- What’s on the Label -vs- What’s in the Tin.
Would our political parties pass muster under the Fair Trading Act?WHAT IF OUR POLITICAL PARTIES were subject to the Fair Trading Act? What if they, like the nation’s businesses, were prohibited from misleading their consumers – i.e. the voters – about the nature, characteristics, suitability, or quantity of the products ...4 days ago - Simeon Brown Doesn’t Consider Abortion To Be Healthcare As Services Scaled Back
Rod EmmersonThank you to my subscribers and readers - you make it all possible. Tui.Subscribe nowSix updates today from around the world and locally here in Aoteaora New Zealand -1. RFK Jnr’s Autism CrusadeAmerica plans to create a registry of people with autism in the United States. RFK Jr’s department ...4 days ago - Another Munich crisis? Understanding the limits of policymaking by analogy
We see it often enough. A democracy deals with an authoritarian state, and those who oppose concessions cite the lesson of Munich 1938: make none to dictators; take a firm stand. And so we hear ...4 days ago
- Wednesday 23 April
370 perioperative nurses working at Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre will strike for two hours on 1 May – the same day senior doctors are striking. This is part of nationwide events to mark May Day on 1 May, including rallies outside public hospitals, organised by ...4 days ago
- Auckland character rules stop building on 20,000 sections
Character protections for Auckland’s villas have stymied past development. Now moves afoot to strip character protection from a bunch of inner-city villas. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest from our political economy on Wednesday, April 23:Special Character Areas designed to protect villas are stopping 20,000 sites near Auckland’s ...4 days ago - AI is changing Indo-Pacific naval operations
Artificial intelligence is poised to significantly transform the Indo-Pacific maritime security landscape. It offers unprecedented situational awareness, decision-making speed and operational flexibility. But without clear rules, shared norms and mechanisms for risk reduction, AI could ...4 days ago
- What is a Man?
For what is a man, what has he got?If not himself, then he has naughtTo say the things he truly feelsAnd not the words of one who kneelsThe record showsI took the blowsAnd did it my wayLyrics: Paul Anka.Morena folks, before we discuss Winston’s latest salvo in NZ First’s War ...5 days ago - Britain recasts AUKUS for a new era
Britain once risked a reputation as the weak link in the trilateral AUKUS partnership. But now the appointment of an empowered senior official to drive the project forward and a new burst of British parliamentary ...5 days ago
- Australia’s basic-metals problem: old plants and subsidised Chinese competition
Australia’s ability to produce basic metals, including copper, lead, zinc, nickel and construction steel, is in jeopardy, with ageing plants struggling against Chinese competition. The multinational commodities company Trafigura has put its Australian operations under ...5 days ago
- Rob Campbell – Public Private Partnerships: What a Good Idea! OR ‘There will be no free...
There have been recent PPP debacles, both in New Zealand (think Transmission Gully) and globally, with numerous examples across both Australia and Britain of failed projects and extensive litigation by government agencies seeking redress for the failures.Rob Campbell is one of New Zealand’s sharpest critics of PPPs noting that; "There ...5 days ago - RB spending: the Board and the Minister
On Twitter on Saturday I indicated that there had been a mistake in my post from last Thursday in which I attempted to step through the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement issues. Making mistakes (there are two) is annoying and I don’t fully understand how I did it (probably too much ...5 days ago
- Indonesia needs to rethink its approach to military drones
Indonesia’s armed forces still have a lot of work to do in making proper use of drones. Two major challenges are pilot training and achieving interoperability between the services. Another is overcoming a predilection for ...5 days ago
- Help Stop the Gaza Genocide Through Activism
As a living breathing human being, you’ve likely seen the heart-wrenching images from Gaza...homes reduced to rubble, children burnt to cinders, families displaced, and a death toll that’s beyond comprehension. What is going on in Gaza is most definitely a genocide, the suffering is real, and it’s easy to feel ...5 days ago
- Willis ignores new Global Financial & Trade Crisis
Donald Trump, who has called the Chair of the Federal Reserve “a major loser”. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortest from our political economy on Tuesday, April 22:US markets slump after Donald Trump threatens the Fed’s independence. China warns its trading partners not to side with the US. Trump says some ...5 days ago - One of the Good Ones
5 days ago - AI is reshaping security, and the intelligence review sets good direction
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review found the NIC to be highly capable and performing well. So, it is not a surprise that most of the 67 recommendations are incremental adjustments and small but nevertheless important ...5 days ago
- A worse-than-current-policy world?
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink The world has made real progress toward tacking climate change in recent years, with spending on clean energy technologies skyrocketing from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars globally over the past decade, and global CO2 emissions plateauing. This has contributed to a reassessment of ...6 days ago
- “An A-Grade Teacher’s Pet”
Hi,I’ve been having a peaceful month of what I’d call “existential dread”, even more aware than usual that — at some point — this all ends.It was very specifically triggered by watching Pantheon, an animated sci-fi show that I’m filing away with all-time greats like Six Feet Under, Watchmen and ...6 days ago - Gordon Campbell On Papal Picks, And India As A Defence Ally
Once the formalities of honouring the late Pope wrap up in two to three weeks time, the conclave of Cardinals will go into seclusion. Some 253 of the current College of Cardinals can take part in the debate over choosing the next Pope, but only 138 of them are below ...6 days ago
- The National Party’s Prison Pipeline Ruining New Zealand
The National Party government is doubling down on a grim, regressive vision for the future: more prisons, more prisoners, and a society fractured by policies that punish rather than heal. This isn’t just a misstep; it’s a deliberate lurch toward a dystopian future where incarceration is the answer to every ...6 days ago
- Don Brash’s NZME Power Grab Must Be Rejected
6 days ago
- 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #16
A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 13, 2025 thru Sat, April 19, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...7 days ago
- The “perfect storm” National can use to consolidate slash’n’burn policy is here…
“What I’d say to you is…” our Prime Minister might typically begin a sentence, when he’s about to obfuscate and attempt to derail the question you really, really want him to answer properly (even once would be okay, Christopher). Questions such as “Why is a literal election promise over ...7 days ago - Economic Futures – Climate Change and Modernity
Ruth IrwinExponential Economic growth is the driver of Ecological degradation. It is driven by CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through fossil fuel extraction and burning for the plethora of polluting industries. Extreme weather disasters and Climate change will continue to get worse because governments subscribe to the current global economic system, ...1 week ago
- Winning Together
A man on telly tries to tell me what is realBut it's alright, I like the way that feelsAnd everybody singsWe are evolving from night to morningAnd I wanna believe in somethingWriter: Adam Duritz.The world is changing rapidly, over the last year or so, it has been out with the ...1 week ago - My Food Bag’s Cecilia Robinson Courts Your Money For Health
MFB Co-Founder Cecilia Robinson runs Tend HealthcareSummary:Kieran McAnulty calls out National on healthcare lies and says Health Minister Simeon Brown is “dishonest and disingenuous” (video below)McAnulty says negotiation with doctors is standard practice, but this level of disrespect is not, especially when we need and want our valued doctors.National’s $20bn ...1 week ago - The Case Against Chris Luxon Remaining PM
Chris Luxon’s tenure as New Zealand’s Prime Minister has been a masterclass in incompetence, marked by coalition chaos, economic lethargy, verbal gaffes, and a moral compass that seems to point wherever political expediency lies. The former Air New Zealand CEO (how could we forget?) was sold as a steady hand, ...1 week ago
- Cameron Slater’s Creepy Fixation On Jacinda Ardern
Has anybody else noticed Cameron Slater still obsessing over Jacinda Ardern? The disgraced Whale Oil blogger seems to have made it his life’s mission to shadow the former Prime Minister of New Zealand like some unhinged stalker lurking in the digital bushes.The man’s obsession with Ardern isn't just unhealthy...it’s downright ...1 week ago
- Fact brief – Is climate change a net benefit for society?
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is climate change a net benefit for society? Human-caused climate change has been a net detriment to society as measured by loss of ...1 week ago
- National’s Water Done Well Will Cost Ratepayers More
When the National Party hastily announced its “Local Water Done Well” policy, they touted it as the great saviour of New Zealand’s crumbling water infrastructure. But as time goes by it's looking more and more like a planning and fiscal lame duck...and one that’s going to cost ratepayers far more ...1 week ago
- Trump’s Tariff Tantrum Is Causing Economic Chaos
Donald Trump, the orange-hued oligarch, is back at it again, wielding tariffs like a mob boss swinging a lead pipe. His latest economic edict; slapping hefty tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, has the stench of a protectionist shakedown, cooked up in the fevered minds of his sycophantic ...1 week ago
- The ‘China’ challenge: now a multi-generational test for Australian strategy
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...1 week ago
- White Rabbit
One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones that mother gives youDon't do anything at allGo ask AliceWhen she's ten feet tallSongwriter: Grace Wing Slick.Morena, all, and a happy Bicycle Day to you.Today is an unofficial celebration of the dawning of the psychedelic era, commemorating the ...1 week ago - Why Has The World Forgotten About Hollywood?
It’s only been a few months since the Hollywood fires tore through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of devastation, numerous deaths, over 10,000 homes reduced to rubble, and a once glorious film industry on its knees. The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by climate-driven dry winds, didn’t just burn houses; ...1 week ago
.jpg){kind=link}
- Education Should be Led by Experts-Not Economists
Te Pāti Māori are appalled by Cabinet's decision to agree to 15 recommendations to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector following the regulatory review by the Ministry of Regulation. We emphasise the need to prioritise tamariki Māori in Early Childhood Education, conducted by education experts- not economists. “Our mokopuna deserve ...3 days ago
- Release: Govt’s flagship cost of living policy a failure
After promising $250 a fortnight to many families, the Government has been forced to admit just a couple hundred families are receiving it. ...3 days ago - Release: Transparency needed on changes to early childhood education
The Government is putting children at risk in early childhood education (ECE) by proposing to loosen the requirement for qualified teachers. ...3 days ago
- Release: Govt funding needed to combat invasive seaweed
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...5 days ago
- New Zealand First Introduces Bill Defining ‘Woman’ and ‘Man’ in Law
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...5 days ago - Release: Labour marks the passing of Pope Francis
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins joins those mourning the passing of Pope Francis. ...6 days ago
- Release: Boot camps blog post fails to provide clarity
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...1 week ago
- Release: Inflation rises and families feel the squeeze
Inflation is rising again and it’s landing hardest on families already stretched thin. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt doesn’t know how to fund new hospitals
The Government’s health infrastructure plan is big on promises but coy on where the money is coming from. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: $10 million for only 215 students in charter schools
David Seymour is pouring $10 million into charter schools that only have 215 students enrolled. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Food prices further stretching the family budget
Families already stretched by rising costs will struggle with the news food prices are going up again. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Mental health staff and patients at risk without plan
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Driver licensing proposal doesn’t put safety first
The Government’s proposal to change driver licensing rules is a mixed bag of sensible and careless. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Students struggling as Govt sits on hands
The Government is continuing to sit on its hands as students struggle to pay rent due to delays with StudyLink. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: More must be done to stop children going hungry
More children are going hungry and statistics showing children in material hardship continue to get worse. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens continue to call for Pacific Visa Waiver
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...2 weeks ago - More children going hungry under Coalition govt
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Longer wait for treatment under National
New Zealanders have waited longer to get an appointment with a specialist and to get elective surgery under the National Government. ...2 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire- Ka ora te mana o Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te iwi Māori
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...2 weeks ago
- Chris Hipkins speech: Treaty Principles Bill second reading
Normally, when I rise in this House to speak on a bill, I say it's a great privilege to speak on the bill. That is not the case today. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: End to the Treaty Principles Bill, but challenges remain ahead for Aotearoa
Ka mate te pire I te rā neiThe bill dies today ...2 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire, ka ora Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Treaty Principles Bill dead, Te Tiriti o Waitangi m...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...2 weeks ago
- Member’s Bill an opportunity for climate action
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Bill to make trading laws fairer passes first hurdle
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Reserve Bank acts while Govt shrugs
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Property Law Amendment Bill pulled from ballot
A Bill to protect first home buyers and others from bad faith property vendors has been drawn from the Member’s Ballot. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: More children at risk of losing family connections
Karen Chhour is proposing to scrap Oranga Tamariki targets which aim to connect more children under state care with family and their culture. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: David Parker made a difference – Hipkins
The Labour Leader today acknowledged and celebrated David Parker’s 23-year contribution to the Labour Party and to Parliament. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: David Parker to step down from Parliament
Long-serving Labour MP and former Minister David Parker has today announced his intention to leave Parliament. ...3 weeks ago
No feed items found.
- EDS releases concerning assessment of RMA reform proposals
EDS will continue to engage in good faith as detailed policy development continues at pace. ...3 hours ago - How to fight Trump’s cyber dystopia with community, self-determination, care and truth
COMMENTARY: By Mandy Henk When the US Embassy knocked on my door in late 2024, I was both pleased and more than a little suspicious. I’d worked with them before, but the organisation where I did that work, Tohatoha, had closed its doors. My new project, Dark Times Academy, was ...3 hours ago - Government replaces EV charger grants with new loan scheme
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said it would "provide better value for money by maximising private sector investment while keeping the taxpayers' contribution to a minimum". ...3 hours ago - Last call to share Covid-19 pandemic experience with inquiry
The inquiry focused on vaccines and mandates; the lockdowns; and tools such as testing and tracing. The coalition government had also widened the scope of the inquiry to seek feedback on issues such as the social and economic impact of lockdowns. ...4 hours ago
- ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for April 27, 2025
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 27, 2025. Election Diary: Albanese promises around-the-clock health line, with leaders to hold ralliesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will launch another push ...4 hours ago
- Election Diary: Albanese promises around-the-clock health line, with leaders to hold rallies
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will launch another push on health on Sunday, announcing a re-elected Labor government would set up a free around-the-clock 1800MEDICARE advice line and afterhours GP telehealth service. The service would ...8 hours ago
- Democratic guardrails: Is NZ safe from authoritarianism?
Other nations are experiencing the erosion of democratic norms - even authoritarianism. Is our constitution strong enough to withstand it? ...11 hours ago
- Auckland councillor wants mayor to pressure government over building consents in flood-prone areas
The mayoral candidate says continuing to build on flood-prone land will be disastrous. ...12 hours ago
- An Ode to .. Lord Winston
To sleep, perchance to dreamIn the shadowy chambers of Lord Winston,The great clock strikes thirteen.All remains untouched, covered with dust,As it has done since the 1970s,In a simple world where boys were boys,Ladies were mini-skirted and compliant ladies,And Italian law students ruled the streetsIn their wide lapel zoot suits.King Lux ...14 hours ago - Election Diary: Albanese promises around-the-clock health line, with leaders to hold rallies in Vict...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will launch another push on health on Sunday, announcing a re-elected Labor government would set up a free around-the-clock 1800MEDICARE advice line and afterhours GP telehealth service. The service would ...16 hours ago
- Homage paid to Pope Francis at NZ street theatre rally for Palestine
Asia Pacific Report Activists for Palestine paid homage to Pope Francis in Aotearoa New Zealand today for his humility, care for marginalised in the world, and his courageous solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza at a street theatre rally just hours before his funeral in Rome. He was remembered ...16 hours ago
- Ministry of Regulation salaries continue to top average $150K one year on
David Seymour says the salaries at the Regulation Ministry are going down slightly, but Labour's Duncan Webb calls it a 'vanity ministry'. ...1 day ago
- ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for April 26, 2025
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 26, 2025. 80 years after Benito Mussolini’s death, what can democracies today learn from his fascist rise?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sharpe, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Australian Catholic University Hitler and Mussolini ...1 day ago
- 80 years after Benito Mussolini’s death, what can democracies today learn from his fascist rise?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sharpe, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Australian Catholic University Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, Germany, June 18, 1940. Everett Collection/Shutterstock This Monday marks 80 years since Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was killed in an Italian village towards the end of the Second ...1 day ago
- Samoan nun tells of ‘like a blur’ awesome meeting with Pope Francis
By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific presenter The doors of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican have now been closed and the coffin sealed, ahead of preparations for tonight’s funeral of Pope Francis. The Vatican says a quarter of a million people have paid respects to Pope Francis in the last ...1 day ago
- Samoan nun tells of ‘like a blur’ awesome meeting with Pope Francis
By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific presenter The doors of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican have now been closed and the coffin sealed, ahead of preparations for tonight’s funeral of Pope Francis. The Vatican says a quarter of a million people have paid respects to Pope Francis in the last ...1 day ago
- Reward for revealing netball’s forgotten past
Once or twice a week, Dr Margaret Henley rolls up the door on a windowless storage locker in central Auckland, pulls her plastic chair up to a picnic table and sifts through the history of netball in New Zealand.She works alongside netball archivist and statistician Todd Miller, together trawling through ...2 days ago
- The secret diary of .. the Dann-Peters interview
Corin DannThe time is 7:36am on Wednesday, April 23, and you’re listening to Morning Report, New Zealand’s voice of the educated left on good incomes. I’m joined now by acting Prime Minister Winston Peters. Good morning Mr Peters.Winston PetersIt was, until I saw you. I much prefer your brother.Corin DannLiam ...2 days ago
- The ‘atom smasher’ of Auckland University
When Professor David Krofcheck got an email congratulating him on winning the Oscar of the science world, he dismissed it as a hoax.“I thought it was a scam, I thought it was a phishing email,” recalls Krofcheck, nuclear physicist at Auckland University.“Yeah right, I’ve won the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in ...2 days ago
- The Weekend: The sound of silence
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. I’ve been re-watching Girls lately, the HBO classic that perfectly captures millennial women in the most painful way. I highly recommend it especially if you haven’t watched it before. Every character on the show is deeply flawed and frustrating in their own ...2 days ago - When terrestrial television feels like a holiday
With the double-header long weekend comes a welcome chance to escape streaming slop, writes Alex Casey. Over Easter I texted my husband Joe a sentence that perhaps nobody in human history has ever texted: “hurry up geostorm is starting”. No punctuation, no capitalisation, not because I was trying to ...2 days ago
- The Māori who discovered Europe
April 27 is Moehanga Day, the anniversary of the day in 1806 when Ngāpuhi warrior Moehanga became the first Māori to visit England. This is his story. The wooden ship sailed down the River Thames, past smoke stacks and brick factories, until it reached a wharf in industrial south London. ...2 days ago
- George Eliot and Daniel Kalderimis and me: on the healing power of Middlemarch
Heidi Thomson on how her husband’s illness and Daniel Kalderimis’s book Zest have enhanced her understanding of George Eliot’s great novel. Sometimes a book finds you at just the right time. In early December my husband John had a stroke. At the time we were both reading George Eliot’s Middlemarch, ...2 days ago
- ‘Absolutely sending it’: When Marlon Williams partied on the 6pm news
The musician, actor and star of upcoming documentary Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds takes us through his life in television. Musician Marlon Williams has been on our My Life in TV wish list ever since he revealed during his My Boy tour that he wrote ‘Thinking ...2 days ago
- Anzac weekend short story: Toxic, by Michelle Duff
When she walked dripping into the lounge, hair wet from the shower, she took one look at Hamish and dropped her towel.He was holding her phone.—How long has it been going on for?His blue eyes blazed. She wanted to pluck them out and blow on them gently, cool them off. ...2 days ago
- Kiwi citizens’ assembly succeeds in ‘experiment’ to find climate solutions
A citizens’ assembly of 100 Porirua locals has provided the city council with more than a dozen recommendations about how to tackle climate change and make sure the region is resilient to worsening extreme weather events.Ranging from expanding access to renewable energy and incentivising the planting of native trees through ...2 days ago
- Mika Hervel: Deliberating on a future for democracy in NZ
Comment: Democracy globally is in crisis. Around the world we are seeing the rise of nationalism and declining trust in democratic institutions. Politicians, even in Aotearoa, undermine the authority of core institutions like the media and the courts, which are critical for a functioning democracy. To live well together, in ...2 days ago
- Winner of Rod Oram Memorial Essay Prize walks (and rides) the talk
Journalist Rod Oram, who died last year, would have been delighted to see the commitment to addressing climate change shown by the 23-year-old winner of a prize established in his memory.Mika Hervel, a student at Victoria University of Wellington, is today named winner of the Rod Oram Memorial Essay Prize, ...2 days ago
- Israel’s endgame for tormented Gaza is political and physical erasure
COMMENTARY: By Nour Odeh There was faint hope that efforts to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza would succeed. That hope is now all but gone, offering 2.1 million tormented and starved Palestinians dismal prospects for the days and weeks ahead. Last Saturday, the Israeli Prime Minister once again affirmed ...2 days ago
- Trump signs ‘deeply dangerous’ order to fast-track deep sea mining
An ocean conservation non-profit has condemned the United States President’s latest executive order aimed at boosting the deep sea mining industry. President Donald Trump issued the “Unleashing America’s offshore critical minerals and resources” order on Thursday, directing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to allow deep sea mining. The ...2 days ago
- Watch: Luxon’s Anzac Day speeches at Gallipoli, Chunuk Bair
The prime minister says the name Gallipoli is etched into New Zealand's national identity. ...2 days ago
- Election Diary: Dutton tops list of most distrusted, amid deepening voter cynicism about political l...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In this election, voters are more distrustful than ever of politicians, and the political heroes of 2022 have fallen from grace, swept from favour by independent players. A Roy Morgan survey has found, for ...2 days ago
- Pacific editor welcomes US court ruling in favour of Radio Free Asia
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The former head of BenarNews’ Pacific bureau says a United States court ruling this week ordering the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to release congressionally approved funding to Radio Free Asia and its subsidiaries “makes us very happy”. However, Stefan Armbruster, who has ...2 days ago
- Watch: Luxon’s Anzac Day speech marks 110 years since Gallipoli landing
The prime minister says the name Gallipoli is etched into New Zealand's national identity. ...2 days ago
- ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for April 25, 2025
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 25, 2025. Labor takes large leads in YouGov and Morgan polls as surge continuesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and ...2 days ago
- Labor takes large leads in YouGov and Morgan polls as surge continues
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne With just eight days until the May 3 federal election, and with in-person early voting well under way, Labor has taken a ...2 days ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending April 25
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. AUCKLAND 1 Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Fourth Estate, $35) Fictionalised true crime for foodies. 2 Sunrise on ...2 days ago
- Beating malaria: what can be done with shrinking funds and rising threats
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Taneshka Kruger, UP ISMC: Project Manager and Coordinator, University of Pretoria Healthcare in Africa faces a perfect storm: high rates of infectious diseases like malaria and HIV, a rise in non-communicable diseases, and dwindling foreign aid. In 2021, nearly half of ...2 days ago
- The best things from Australia and Aotearoa to watch this weekend
Australia and New Zealand join forces once more to bring you the best films and TV shows to watch this weekend. This Anzac Day, our free-to-air TV channels will screen a variety of commemorative coverage. At 11am, TVNZ1 has live coverage of the Anzac Day National Commemorative Service in Wellington. ...2 days ago
- Lest we forget? The shame of our two-tier veteran system
Our laws are leaving many veterans who served after 1974 out in the cold. I know, because I’m one of them. This Sunday Essay was made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. First published in 2024. As I write this story, I am in constant pain. My hands ...2 days ago
Our current govt is totally dropping the ball on decarbonising NZ's transport. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/02/26/1052384/this-generations-nuclear-free-moment
Someone (Shaw?) is saying that the feebate thing is delayed not scrapped. Hope that's not just a ploy from NZF to avoid election year criticism.
I'm getting sick of the lack of clear information though.
Everything is merely 'delayed' if they can get Winston out of the picture.
How do you mean?
Any policy not enacted now can be swiftly resurrected by a future Lab/Grn govt if Winston was really the obstacle.
Ah. I didn't think that's what was meant (more that NZF/L/G were still in process of discussion), but what you say is true and fingers crossed.
Differences between 'flu vs coronavirus /COVID-19 Nice article from Taiwan News. FYI running nose/sore throat more likely the ‘flu.
And because I like them, here is the latest update from Chris Martenson. The comments below the video are always interesting.
Government looking for easy political climate gains by restricting log/ coal fires….a gutless and disgraceful alternative to restricting the real culprit
but its a nice green wash for those that want to not do much but need to be seen as doing something. Also those plebs that thought they could heat with wood, buy that darn electric heater and pay that electricity. Profit needs to be made.
exactly…an easy target with little vested interest impact…and one that has minimal impact on CC
Longstanding issue with air quality and health in many towns/cities.
Scheme is to let people keep using existing burner, but when they need to be replaced, they won't be allowed a coal one, and a wood one will need to be more efficient.
Pah..bollocks..its a sop
You think we shouldn't be improving air quality? Chch did this a long time ago for this very reason.
I think it is exactly as I described it (no confusion for most)…it is a sop, a cheap shot that does sweet bugger all but will be promoted for all its worth…they are nothing but wankers
I listened to your RNZ link and it was mostly about air quality in small towns, and what the scheme is (replacement not a ban).
Which is probably why Mahuta (MoE) is dealing with it instead of Shaw (CC).
Likewise ODT, air quality.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/govt-moves-ban-old-style-wood-and-coal-burners
of course it is…dont restrict flying, or buying and fueling private vehicles. build some more roads, pour a shite load more concrete with your crap housing….but we can restrict heating options for the poorest.
Thats CC equity for you….on ya Greens
any time you want to explain exactly how the GP could change all that, have at it.
In the meantime, a *Labour MP announces a clean air policy, and you're blaming the Greens for it being a sop re CC.
We all get that not enough is being done. I just don't see how lashing out at the wrong people and wrong things helps. I think it makes it worse. The only parliamentary hope we have this year is more Green MPs and no NZF in govt. The left slamming the Greens for the failure of others will make that less likely not more.
"That Labour are using this as a sop instead of addressing CC? "
"exactly…an easy target with little vested interest impact…and one that has minimal impact on CC"
26 February 2020 at 7:33 pm
think I have made it pretty clear
You've certainly made it clear that you believe Labour are using this as a sop. I don't see any evidence that they actually are doing that (as opposed to it simply being an air quality policy).
Here's the announcement, nothing about climate change in it.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2002/S00170/proposed-new-measures-to-improve-aotearoas-air-quality.htm
What do you mean by "with little vested interest impact”?
"Although New Zealand's air quality is already fairly high, Associate Environment Minister Nanaia Mahuta said there were still areas of the country where there were issues, particularly during winter."
"To tackle the issue, the Government is looking at getting rid of all solid-fuel fires – such as older style wood and coal-fueled fireplaces"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12311829
I will rescind the onya Greens…Mahuta is Labour…the rest stands
the rest being what? That Labour are using this as a sop instead of addressing CC? I'm not getting it.
we see what we want to see…I see yet another sop, you obviously choose not to
Not really. I looked for evidence (so was open to it being true), but I didn't find any.
such is politics
Linky? (did you mean the UK govt?)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018735916/govt-proposes-phasing-out-smokey-wood-coal-burners
thanks. Sounds like a replacement scheme rather than an outright ban. I'm guessing they're not looking at ultra efficient woodstoves though. Nor looking at regenag forestry replacement for firewood. I can feel a post coming on.
Re CC, they should lead by replacing the coal/gas fired aspect of our electricity generation.
Yes that is what I heard too – phasing out the most polluting solid fuel burners to improve winter air quality. Nothing to do with climate change that I heard. Christchurch had a push in this direction and it took many decades for the consenting process to be accepted and several major earthquakes (knocking down chimneys) for it to become a reality. Before that, some nights were appalling if there was a frost and still air trapping the particulates and stinky poor combustion products (all the fogeys damping down their fires at night).
The coal ban seems a no brainer to me. Not sure why NZ has never gone down the ultra-effficient woodburner path though. Lots of places in the South Island where wood is the best heating option and the air quality and CC concerns can be solved by stove tech, passive heating, and regen forestry.
https://www.ecan.govt.nz/data/authorised-burners/
"Burning wood pellets releases as much or even more carbon dioxide per unit of energy as burning coal, so in order for burning pellets to be carbon-neutral the carbon emitted into the atmosphere has to be recaptured in regenerated forests, Abt says. Residual wood, such as tree thinnings and unused tree parts left over at timber mills, is the best material for wood pellets, says Abt. But he and others say that not enough of such waste wood exists to feed the growing demand for wood pellets."
https://e360.yale.edu/features/wood_pellets_green_energy_or_new_source_of_co2_emissions
I know this is yesterday's discussion but the above criticism of pellet fires doesn't really apply to NZ. Here we use sawmill waste so no natural forests are cut down and no importing of pellets. They are pretty efficient and very clean burning – no smoke and no stink – and I am sceptical that they would be equal to or more polluting than coal per energy released for space heating purposes.
Untreated waste wood shavings, sawdust and off-cuts are transported from nearby sawmills and timber product manufacturers to our state-of-the-art (yeah, it’s really big and shiny) pellet plant in Taupo. Once there this material is screened, ground, and dried, then pelletised by passing it through a die (much like an old fashioned mincer!) at high pressure, and this process releases naturally occurring lignin, which binds the pellets and gives them their shiny appearance. No harmful glue or additives required!
Our wood pellets contain only 5-10% moisture which means they burn longer, hotter and more efficiently than firewood or wood chips which typically have a much higher moisture content (anywhere from 25-80%).
Once the pellets have been formed and they have cooled, they are either packaged into 15kg bags for distribution to our retail network, or put into one tonne bags for bulk delivery to our commercial customers. Some pellets are kept aside and loaded into our delivery trucks for transport to those schools and businesses that can receive their fuel ‘loose’.
https://www.naturesflame.co.nz/shop/Wood+Pellet+Fuel.html
add up the transport, processing and packaging carbon emissions (never mind the export miles if they are exported. and some are imported) and you may wish to reconsider
…and the fires are useless without power
Nothing nazi about these people according to the TS Repug cheerleading squad: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rules-mexican-parents-can-t-sue-border-patrol-n1142486
Murder's OK. Court ruled it so, you know, diddums, right?
Yeah – unbelievable! T's appointees doing their job.
I guess if a Mexican shot a US border guard from across the border then, that should be ok too – since they would not be in the US, and therefore bound by the Constitution.
So sad. Golriz Ghahraman has been diagnosed with MS.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119838474/green-mp-golriz-ghahraman-reveals-she-has-multiple-sclerosis
Oh dear – that is sad news.
Here is the 3 min interview: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2020/02/green-party-mp-golriz-ghahraman-reveals-multiple-sclerosis-diagnosis.html
She points out that her prospects are not dismal and she is well-placed to use the experience to further the interests of other disabled New Zealanders.
Is it any wonder, with all the abuse she was copping over social media and via other channels. It would have taken a toll on her.
I hope John Drinnan is proud of leading the hate fest. The guy would have burned her for witchcraft if he could.
I'm sure it makes a difference. Why can't people be nice? Nice is undervalued.
So is kind.
Sorry to hear. Such a champion.
It's only MS – she can still do her job. Heck, she wants to do the job, and she will keep doing her job well.
The things she needs is responsible accommodation from parliament and the green party. I'm sure she will get it from the Greens. Parliament, well the track record is a bit crappy – but it's not exactly the hardest thing in the world they have to do.
I have no worries she will continue to do her roll, and do it well. As every other disabled person does in this country.
Thanks for coming out in the open about it Golriz – Keep up the good work.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018735910/nz-super-costs-up-as-nz-retirees-on-dollar100k-passes-30-000 I want to highlight this. I have had lots of different jobs in the health and disability sector at various levels of hands-on, coordination or management and never earned $100,000/ year in my life. I currently work for a millionaire. She’s 86 years old and her family pays a team of workers living wage ($21.50/hour) to work up to 24 hours per shift (occasionally more – usually 10-14 hours per shift) to care for her while they travel the world, buy $250K cars, buy property and generally live a great life spending her millions). She gets $700 a week super. Is this fair? Before I got this job I was legitimately medically unable to work and as a sickness beneficiary (or jobseeker – medical exemption – thanks, National), I got $340/ week (in the hand, all entitlements included). I have very cheap rent. It was still over 66% of that income. No one can survive like that. Our government needs to rectify this. We had high hopes for transformation under Labour. NZ First has proved to be a snake in the grass and a big fat dead rat. We must return a majority for Labour in 2020. I’m as disgusted as every other leftie that benefits for one have risen by such pittance. Mine went up net $0.31 their first tranche of changes. An insult. The most recent ‘increases’ are insult upon injury. Before we give up on them, please, everyone… do what you can to return a majority for the left this election and Let’s Do Something About This!
For a genuinely left-focused government, please vote Green so that Labour does not need Winston's support next time. Voting Labour gets their own caucus right-wingers as well, without any balancing force from the outside.
And it's unlikely that Labour have any intention of raising benefits even if NZF is out of the picture. Only a large Green presence is going to make that happen.
those on 100k are paying more than their pension take in taxes.
Increase all taxes on the rich amd imcrease benefits. That's my position: no need to pitch one benefit against another. Increase the size of the pie.
"those on 100k are paying more than their pension take in taxes"
What happens if they don't draw down on Super? Wouldn't that money be freed up for someone else?
Yeah, but if they restructure their wealth so they're not paying that tax, sooner or later it will cost more money than it "saves", they'll still get the pension, and that's without including means testing costs.
It's not as simple as writing "$20k times 30kppl = $600mil saved" on the back of an envelope. There are loads of different variables. But "increase tax take by $10bil" basically has "how will people try to evade it" as the only significant other variable.
so apart from the principle of universality, the main reason for not means testing Super is because rich people will just hide their income and assets?
We'd also spend a lot, probably more than would be saved trying to enforce the means test. There were studies doing the rounds in 70's and 80's when means testing super was a proposal that showed that, hence the the idea got parked. Also wound up oldies somewhat so lots of votes in not going there.
It's sort of like Bill English's welfare policies, spend heaps of money gathering data to 'target' benefits so the government doesn't have to spend as much on welfare, only to spend more on the data, and increase the poverty problem.
Seems far more likely that was the main reason – and still is.
More that evasion is the first additional factor to come to mind. Then there's regularly means-testing three quarters of a million pension recipients and the costs that entails. And reviewing the appeals from people who got fucked by work and income. Creates employment, I guess.
My point is that saying "600million" is arguing for policy based on one number, when really the full thing needs to be looked at before a change like this.
In addition to the fact it's a big threshold. Once the limit is $100k, the limit can be changed to $20k.
Do we really want to open the door for superannuation to be the last ladder kicked away by people who had the full benefit of cradle to the grave social assistance?
They already pitched one benefit against the other.
Because of the way benefits are calculated, many disabled will actually receive less each week. They are basically collateral damage so that everyone else can have a bit more including those 30K on Super who can clearly fend for themselves, and also those with high cash assets who are on another core benefit.
Wish I was mistaken, but I assure you I am not.
Sick of the attitude that disabled are bludgers, but Supers paid their taxes so they have the right to take, as does everyone with high cash assets…who have “worked”..blah blah blah.
This entire system needs a total overhaul.
yeah, that's true, too.
Ok everyone. So we avoid the costs of means-testing people and pissing off the ‘oldies’ and losing their votes. My employer provides living wage employment to four staff, at full to part time living wage. Is that an acceptable trade-off, given ‘living wage’ is actually barely enough for the kind of people doing this work? (Single women). I.E. NOT subsided in wages by Working for Families, Best Start, or Families Package? I could say more….
I’ll just add, it was below living wage til I came along and started activating
what's the trade-off?
The trade-off I referred to was super paid by the government in relation to jobs/employment/tax revenue earned
How is that a trade-off? It's a cycle: people pay taxes to government, government uses those taxes to pay people, rinse and repeat.
"She gets $700 a week super."
That would be $700 a fortnight I think.
Even so there are so many unfair cases.
My figure is based on an overheard conversation between she and a daughter. Something about her being a widow- it was definitely $709 per week. I’m relying on anonymity on this site not to be breaching confidentiality, I admit it’s close to the line. But important transparency in this important year. I could say more…
A word of caution meant as friendly advice.
Plenty of elderly die in state funded care with maggots embedded in their flesh as a result of underfunding, understaffing and otherwise negligent circumstances. Are you saying we are not allowed to talk about the inequality?
You need to enter your User Name, and email address the same each time you comment otherwise the system thinks you are a new person and holds your comment back for approval. Pay attention to typos and punctuation.
You obviously completely misunderstood my intention but feel free to carry on as you see fit.
Beautiful anthem for the dispossessed, an amazing song.
A good background to the council interactions regarding Ihumātao from Sandra Coney at Newsroom.
"The Ōtuataua Stonefields were a treasure in their own right but also had the added value of being linked geologically, culturally and historically to a good number of other volcanic features and landmarks of Manukau. Puketutu Island, the magnificent two-coned Mangere Mountain, Ambury Regional Park are also on the lava field and packed full of middens, stone structures and lava caves. Like Ōtuataua, the Ambury land was confiscated after the New Zealand Wars. It came into public ownership as part of the Manukau Sewerage Scheme which carved a large sewer through this landscape, then 30 years later, a petroleum line.
There are fossil forests at the end of Renton Road and geologists can show you the easily-identifiable fossilised remains of rimu leaves that were stripped off the trees when Maungataketake (Elletts Mountain) erupted 80,000 years ago. Further east are Pukaki Lagoon, an explosion crater once used, in the way of Auckland, as a speedway. In 1993 the crater floor was vested in the Pukaki marae committee and in 2007 the rim was purchased by MCC. The watery beauty of Crater Hill is still in private ownership and is still being quarried. In public land on the foreshore at Puhinui are still more craters.
Beginning in 1992, MCC began developing what it called the Mangere Gateway Heritage Programme focused on the area north of the airport and west of George Bolt Drive, the main access to the airport. It was aimed at providing a tourism destination, building iwi capacity and stimulating economic activity. While there were some odd faux aspects, such as alternate groves of exotic and native trees on the Gateway route, everything appeared to be heading in the right direction.
In the early years of the 21st Century, MCC went feral. In 2006 it came out with a suite of radical changes to the regional and district plans. It asked the ARC to move the MUL or Metropolitan Urban Limit, the planning line that marked the boundary between urban and rural. At that time the MUL stopped short of a large swathe of land on the Manukau. MCC’s proposal meant that the MUL would end at the coastal edge or Ōruarangi Road, while an area of 85.5 hectares would be rezoned as Mangere Gateway Business and would be available for business development, right up to Ōruarangi Creek. The much-touted food bowl idea, predicated on the premium quality of the soil, now included a proposal for Lion Nathan to move its brewery and bottling plant from Newmarket to Ihumātao. Over 100 hectares of airport designated land was to be brought within the MUL.
Archaeologists and landscape architects consulted by the ARC were aghast at the scale of the proposal. With regard to the Wallace block, which was initially proposed for some residential housing, they said it was “very evidently an extension of the stonefields landscape. They have the same patterns of settlement and allow views to and from the reserve…” Development would sever the connection between papakainga and the stonefields. MCC’s own consultants said it should be kept as open space or rural.
The Mangere Gateway Heritage Area had now shrunk to the four blocks of land surrounding the stonefields. In its suite of planning changes MCC initiated Notice of Requirements for the four blocks. A NOR is a planning tool that protects land for future stated purposes – in this case, for passive public open space and landscape protection – preventing other development. MCC accepted by doing so it had an obligation to buy the land. But the designation constrained the value of the land and some of the owners, including Gavin H Wallace Ltd, owner of the Wallace block, appealed to the Environment Court.
In 2011 the Environment Court began hearing the case, with Auckland Council taking over the roles of the legacy MCC and ARC. Makaurau Marae Maori Trust Board also appeared supporting the NOR and stating it wanted no development on the Wallace block.
To the considerable shock of Council planners and archaeologists, Environment Court Judge Whiting and his team came down on the side of Gavin H Wallace Ltd, agreeing with their argument that the zoning obstructed their economic needs and wellbeing. Judge Whiting argued “sensitive development” was possible, and, to add insult to injury, the Environment Court subsequently awarded $57,000 costs against the Council. In terms of the original vision for a large heritage area, this was a discouraging development.
The following history is well known. The Wallace block was sold to Fletcher Residential for housing and the Auckland Council designated it a Special Housing Area. Makaurau Marae Maori Trust Board and Te Kawerau a Maki Iwi Authority negotiated with Fletchers for an area of open space and further papakainga housing, and basically, at this point, Auckland Council threw in the towel."
The whole article is worth the read to understand the failure of institutional processes in this situation.