Re the Green School. State schools all over the country are getting told to tighten their belts property funding wise because of the affect of Covid spending which I guess includes on the Green School. Schools that are overcrowded, leaky etc could use some of that money.
This is looking like another Metiria Turei moment. Why do they do this to themselves at critical moments? Not that it’s bad, it’s good, but they know they have to be above clean or the rabid right will go for the jugular.
I hope they survive this election but really, there were many better ways and better times to release this funding, ie not in the middle of a pandemic. It looks like they are out of touch with what ordinary people are going through.
What votes they gained from this will have been more than erased by votes they lost.
Shovel ready projects, right? Well they and their partners might have distributed some of the rest of that funding to other schools at the same time and it might have not been an issue.
At least this time they were not going against their principles and having to swallow a rat for the good of the coalition.
I don't think that is something that was within the control of the Greens – If you had viewed the 1:00 briefing the minister stated (Hopkins) "During today’s 1pm Covid-19 update, Hipkins addressed the funding, saying the Green Party “advocated quite strongly” for it. “It was one of their ‘wins’.." So it was ALL in the Greens control. . So is the minister misleading us or some supporters not wanting to believe the truth out there. I await the next reason for the Greens action. Unbelievable
As I understand it, the funding criteria were developed under Twyford and Jones. It's not like the Greens had the power to give the money to state schools. We don't yet know how much choice the Greens had with other projects. I think they've fucked up here, but I think many people are blaming them for the wrong thing.
So do you think Hopkins was just distancing Labour from this decision by claiming this "“It was one of their ‘wins’" .
Blaming them for the wrong thing Really , don't the Green MP's know what they stand for ? I know you know where to look but perhaps your MP's are not familiar.😉
I don't know what has happened, because no-one who knows what happened has bothered to explain it in public yet. We might get lucky tomorrow.
But what I can glean so far:
The fund was controlled by Labour and NZF.
Hipkins at first deflected the questions, by saying it was nothing to do with Education and was on the relevant other Ministers (he didn't specify who).
When questioned again more directly, he made the comment about the Greens' win. I have no idea if that was him being truthful or politicking.
And yep, blaming them for the wrong thing, all the people going off because the GP gave shit loads of money to a private school instead of state schools. Tell me how the GP could have given the money to state schools? I'm all ears.
Our local schools are leaky and have approval by the MOE, these schools are hammer ready but no action.
So "all the people going off because the GP gave shit loads of money to a private school instead of state schools" is Ok ?
I hope the nature of the school and what the school is promoting has not found fertile ground with The Greens. And I note this school has just this year opened.
I already have, why doesn't our government review what is hammer ready regarding school buildings that are "leaky" or even that have been approved for expansion. There are plenty out there approved and with plans.
This quote could easily be from an Act member – Tells you everything really "The support we are providing will help Green School to meet growing demand from parents all over New Zealand, and the rest of the world, wanting to enrol their children…" I await the spin to support the indefensible.
I am fine with it. We are at a stage where we have to create lots of jobs quickly. Why should NZ First get all the credit? We can sort out the philosophical arguments later but for now keeping 250 jobs going seems to me to be OK.
Nah, Metiria did us a favor by admitting that she had to cheat in order to survive on the benefit. Not that anyone in the Labour Party or the Green Party gives a flying f uck about people on the benefit not making it, they don't. They need the poor people to get elected, and then they are of no more use. That was her only mistake, believing that the Greens as in Party Leadership actually gave a fuck. But for a very brief moment we actually discussed how people are supposed to live of 250 a week. Bless that women, may she always has the wind in her back, a shady tree to sit under and a clean river near by for water. What she did took courage.
This blunder tho is dumb beyond believe and it just goes to show that both Labour and the Greens have their head so far up their behinds that they don't see how this would upset people. Everyone is losing money left, right n centre, people losing their jobs with nothing to replace them, people trying to live with no income, and these beige suits gift 10 million to a private school…..for the 'green focus', while all over the country public schools are not being appropriatly funded or falling apart.
Tonedeaf , out of touch idiotic dumbfucks. And dumb, because they really thought that this will not upset people.
As for this or more roads? We all use roads, but none of your kids will ever go to this school unless you have the petty cash to pay for it. Cause private school. So the right choice would have been roads. And besides the roads in NZ for the largest part are shitty enough to warrant a new coat of metal every now and then for the plebs.
A total of 89% of all Auckland businesses are collecting the Government wage subsidy and over $13 billion has already been paid out across the country. This is money from the public purse (actually, it is all borrowed) going to businesses and private enterprises and they are not necessarily even green. This must stop immediately!
Do you think that they are entitled to government help during a time where the government told them to shut down and not work?
Cause the pandemic is not why businesses needed help, it was the order from the government to shut down that forced them to accept help.
Also, do you think anyone in this country that pays taxes to the government for the upkeep of the country is entitled to government help in the case of an earth quake, volcano eruption, tsunami, flooding, or pandemic, or is that just for people whom you can clearly identify as 'deserving'? And if that is the case, please clarify who is 'deserving' of the taxes we pay?
Do you think that they are entitled to government help during a time where the government told them to shut down and not work?
It is something that they needed to plan for and didn't. And do remember, SARS wasn't that long ago nor even the influenza epidemic of 1918.
The capitalists don't get to say that they're so great at managing risks and go running to the government for help because they failed to manage the obvious risk.
Cause the pandemic is not why businesses needed help, it was the order from the government to shut down that forced them to accept help.
Now you're really getting precious.
The government called the lock-down because of the pandemic. Business needed to manage their risks based around the fact that a lock-down would happen during a pandemic.
clearly identify as 'deserving'?
And now you're simply putting words in my mouth because I said something that you didn't like.
HINT: In capitalist ideology it's about the business that can survive. If a business dies then that's just a part of the creative destruction that is capitalism.
If the government simply provided a UBI then even the destruction of a business would not be an issue. People would still have enough to live on and no focussing upon deserving or not as is the case under the present Social Welfare which really isn't all that social.
So you are arguing that Air New Zealand should not have been bailed out three times in three different governments over the last twenty years.
Also CHCH should not have received a single penny from the governmetn, if they did not have it saved they can't afford it?
Same with farmers?
Nope, i never lived through a pandemic, sorry here dude, And i don't think anyone here really did. And no i don't need to close during a pandemic, that is the whole point, I and others could have chosen to stay open and take our risks, same as for our customers, you know a bit like in the US.
Now we were told to stay at home – under police surveillance i might add – so as to prevent the spread from the pandemic, but that was on government orders. I bet you a dollar that even currently there would be quite a few people in the country that would have no issues opening the borders and fuck it all, let the dice drop where they fall, heads you die, tails i die. But we are not allowed to under government orders and potentially breaking the law. Thus the government has to hand back some of the taxes it extracts from us, again under the threat of fines, prison time etc if we don't comply.
Ah, now you are back to the UBI. Lol. I am the one that wants to increase the unemployment benefits and social welfare benefits and retirement benefits to the level of full time wage subsidy. But that ain't gonna happen.
As for the pandemic, it gets tiring to see this used as a bashing bat against people that literally just try to make a living in a country where the government has done an abysmal job of creating any jobs.
So you are arguing that Air New Zealand should not have been bailed out three times in three different governments over the last twenty years.
AirNZ should never have been privatised and thus would never have needed bailing out.
Also CHCH should not have received a single penny from the governmetn, if they did not have it saved they can't afford it?
Christchurch had insurance. Of course, it wasn't enough but for some strange reason the insurers are still there.
Nope, i never lived through a pandemic,
And here's me thinking that you were alive in the 1990s.
And no i don't need to close during a pandemic, that is the whole point, I and others could have chosen to stay open and take our risks, same as for our customers, you know a bit like in the US.
And thus become an agent of mass manslaughter. Wonder how that would go down with your customers.
Thus the government has to hand back some of the taxes it extracts from us
No it doesn't.
Ah, now you are back to the UBI.
It does simplify things. One of the problems with complicated systems is that they cost more to maintain.
As for the pandemic, it gets tiring to see this used as a bashing bat against people that literally just try to make a living in a country where the government has done an abysmal job of creating any jobs.
The government used to create a lot of jobs and maintained 100% employment but you business folks complained about that and got the government to stop doing it.
Sabine, companies ought to have a business continuity plan. A big part of that is an insurance cover. If they have skimmed on that to show profits to their shareholders, large corps would be having their HO overseas, than that's too bad.
People do have a right to earn a living and have a right to survive. Our social structure that has been artificially build shows a great civilization but not necessary a fully developed human race. As for your question to who deserves to be paid from the taxes, you are asking the wrong question.
The question has to be, why does any government think that the money paid by those who work is theirs to throw around?
The taxpayer has agreed to pay a levy of their earnings to maintain what we call a civilization, infrastructure government, policing, health services and also an income to those who are sick, infirm, can not fend for themselves, the elderly and those who are unable to work due to having a baby, being made redundant at no fault of their own, circumstances out of the persons control.
This has less to do with deserving but everything with fairness of distribution of limited funds. An UBI would be a good solution to cover all without having that overblown apparatus that is fed the the tax that should be going to other causes.
The question has to be, why does any government think that the money paid by those who work is theirs to throw around?
Does the store owner have the right to think that the money paid by those who work is theirs to throw around?
Or should said store owner be asking permission from their customers on how to spend it?
The government doesn't actually need the money from taxes as it can print it as needed. It does have restraints on what it can print due to the physical limitations of the real economy but as long as there is slack in the economy then any such printing isn't a problem.
As the government doesn't need taxes to pay for anything then the purposes of taxes becomes necessary to understand. There are many:
This is called privatizing profits and socializing losses. It would have been and still is to pay benefit to those who find themselves out of work. Or better still pay a UBI to every person over 16 years of age. It would have taken care of all the issues, admin costs certainly not as high as the subsidy model.
The news show companies who have pocketed millions and laying now staff off under the guise of Covid. In other words, a politicized benefit for those who have most.
Nope, this is money going to the people that would otherwise be not working, not having an income and thus be on the benefit.
So yes, this was a good move to flatten the unemployment curve.
Seriously this is about the weakest argument you could have made and i am frankly surprised you made it.
Maybe you just forgot the snark tag?
Btw, non of the businesses that received the wage subsidy got to keep it, we used it to pay for the Staff that we could not pay because we were shut down by the Government. Just in case you forgot about this Covid thing, that currently has all of Auckland shut down other then a few 'essential' businesses.
Of course, it goes to people in jobs. Same with grants from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund; it is all about jobs and stimulating the (local) economy. But not all jobs are equal, it seems. For example, a contractor helping to build social housing or a Decile 1 school is laudable but a private school ist verboten, almost on par with working in the oil industry. You see, before taxpayers’ money is doled out, it needs to pass a sniff test, a kind of ethical approval, and if it ain’t 100% pure then it should be culled immediately. Ideological purity needs to be preserved at all cost, even if it means ritual suicide and political death; better to die pure than live with a tiny blot. Meanwhile the party of mercenaries and smiling assassins can’t believe their luck that yet again the cult of progressives in NZ are about to commit their tri-annual mass political suicide again. I hope all knives have been sharpened because otherwise it could be a slow painful death too; all they need to do is push under 5% with a quick short stab. Oh, and especially for the dimwits here: \sarc.
It was a truly dumb project to fund during a time where Grant Robertson is happy for the under spend in the wage subsidy cause we are borrowing to much money. NO matter how green the building is going to be.
The concept of a private school for Green learning does seem to contradict the Greens' other core values which are social consciousness and equality of opportunity.
Clearly, only the wealthy have access to this specialist education?
Reading between the lines it looks like a school for foreign fee paying students which is a good idea – imagine if NZ was the centre of the world for such a sector – but again there are and were better times to be announcing taxpayer support for it.
and it was still dumb. If they would have gotten the same average amount as public schools i don't think anyone would really care, what upsets people is that the amount is very much above what public schools get, and during a time where everyone is told to 'tighten the belt' cause we are running out of money.
Because they are the government. Labour/Green/NZFirst. And i personally am over the 'kinder gentler' bullshit while at the same time not seeing the work that needs to be done.
And believe me i am reading their announcements, their election promises, and fuck if they are not several days late and a few dollar short.
And because in absence of anything better they are the least offensive option to vote for, that or legalize aotearoa and i am seriously considering to voting for these guys this year. (and the no mates party is nothing but offensive, ditto for the conservatives, vision, and the other god squad parties.)
I complain about the Government because i pay their wages, i vote, i am a citizen and by all that still is good and true they should be our employees not our betters, and because i do believe that if we don’t start paying attention to the homeless and unemployed it will back fire).
"Because they are the government. Labour/Green/NZFirst."
No, they're not. The GP are nominally part of government, but they're not formally part of the government. Their Ministers sit outside of Cabinet. The govt is a coalition made up of Labour and NZF, with confidence and supply support from the Greens.
What this means is that decisions get made in Cabinet without the Greens. The Greens have some power, but not the kind of power that you and others routinely castigate them for misusing.
But keep on with beating the Greens with the magic wand you think they should have, that will really help us get a better govt.
If you think I am wrong, demonstrate how. Tell me how the Greens could have made Labour give the money to public schools instead.
Nope last i checked is they are in the government. Cloe, James, all the others sit in government, collect nice weekly pay checks for sitting in government, and when it comes to the current government they are happy to be enablers when it suits them, confidence and supply.
So according to your comment then the announcment of the million dollar wastage on a private school should have come from Robertson and not James Shaw. And if it would have come from Grant Robertson rather then James Shaw it would be Grant to get the bollocking. But sadly for the Greens it was James.
Now the cynic would say maybe James is the fall guy for this wastage of taxpayers fund, and it would be best for the Greens if they were set up for this by Labour at least then they could put the blame where it belongs. As of now, it seems that James was quite happy with the spend, and others are not.
If anything i call them out for being dumb. This was dumb. Other then that, i have no use for them. I consider them of no use to the country. Others think differently. As is our right.
Because they are the government. Labour/Green/NZFirst.
That isn’t actually what this government is. It is a Labour/NZFirst coalition in cabinet, with a supporting confidence and supply agreement from the Greens.
The Government in NZ is the Cabinet (or the executive council which usually largely overlaps with it). There are no Green party MPs in the cabinet. The former makes the actual decisions, the latter makes them into law.
The current government, since October 2017, is a coalition between the Labour and New Zealand First parties, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. A minority government, the coalition is reliant on the support of the Green Party in order to command a majority in the House of Representatives through a confidence-and-supply agreement.
:"Nature of Agreement The Green Party agrees to provide confidence and supply support to a Labour-led Government for the term of this Parliament. The Green Party will oppose any no confidence motions and will support Budgets developed in accordance with this agreement. The Green Party will determine its own position in relation to any policy or legislative matter not covered by collective responsibility as set out below. Labour in turn supports the areas of priority set out in this document, alongside its policy programme. Confidence and Supply Agreement between the New Zealand Labour Party and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Confidence and Supply Agreement between the New Zealand Labour Party and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 2 The Labour and Green Parties agree to identify policies and roles in a way that maintains and promotes the distinct identity of each party. The relationship between the Green Party and Labour will be based on good faith and no surprises."
besides, without the Green support there would be no Labour led Government as the coalition with Labour and NZfirst alone would have not met majority. Th Labour Party won 46 seats, up from 32 at the last election. Their partner, the Green Party won 8 seats, down from 14. New Zealand First won 9 seats, (numbers from wiki link below)
So while they are a junior partner (supply and confidence) they are part of this current government. And James Shaw in this goverment is the Finance Associate Minister in this role he announced the give away that is now providing ammo for those that would like to replace the government.
So James should have backed spending the money on roads? Or the Greens should have refused to vote for the stimulus package? What are you actually saying?
Roads would have been less damaging. Many of us vote Green because they are the only ones who seem to care about Global Warming, plus they seem to be anti-neo-liberal.
As a teacher, after the Alliance sank, I looked at all parties' Education policies, liked the Greens' one best, and have party-voted Green ever since.
That policy is still the best, but in associating himself with this State-funded largesse to an exclusive, expensive private school, James Shaw has just pissed all over his own party's Education policy, and enraged many of his core support.
I can't imagine Russell Norman, Meteria Turei, or Sue Bradford making such a blunder.
I personally agree with you on that point, but the majority of this country are not with us. What I am saying is that James Shaw should have at least tried to express displeasure, or, preferably, disassociated himself completely, and let some Economic underling front it.
Do not forget that neo-liberalism is the greatest enemy of the environment at present, and that should figure in the Greens' policies.
Also, the Greens will be of no influence if they fall below 5%. Keep this up, and they may well go below 5%. That will be a disaster for the environment here too. The election does matter.
if the only option was roads, they could have voted yes on roads or no.
they should not spend tax payers money on a private school.
they can spend as much money as they like on public schools, of which we have many here in NZ and most of them need money desperately, specifically the schools in the poor areas of this country.
No, they didn't get to vote against roads. They got to vote to support a stimulus package, then to push support for shovel ready projects from the list.
(CNN)A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN, and a key White House coronavirus task force member was not part of the meeting when the new guidelines were discussed.
"It's coming from the top down," the official said of the new directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was in surgery and not part of the discussion during the August 20 task force meeting when updated guidelines were discussed.
"I was under general anesthesia in the operating room and was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding the new testing recommendations," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
I doubt Fauci is that deluded. But he may well still care what the rest of the country thinks of him. Hence the need to try to distance himself from that latest bit of malicious shitfuckery.
US numbers started to go down at the time that Trump had the new collector of the sample data appointed. Recently they have gone back to the CDC but call me a conspiracist and give me a tinfoil hat but it does not seem right …
I like the Greens. So much so that I am considering giving them my precious party vote in October. But I like them for their social policy, not their environmental policy.
"Almost by accident, and without debate, the Labour-led Government has delivered the biggest shot of cash and monetary support to the wealthy in the history of New Zealand, while giving nothing to the renters, the jobless, students, migrants and the working poor who mostly voted it in."
True they will still romp in.
But the K shaped recovery means: most people go down and get worse, the rich go up.
Mind i read the list of the Green Party achievement on their site, and they are so proud of the extra 25NZD increase of the base benefit. So very proud. See inequality all fixed.
And i read the announcements of the Labour party and they are so proud to use the under spend of the wage subsidy to pay unemployed people to start their own businesses…..a few thousand bucks, and they better save up quick as business people then they should know that they need a bolster of a few month pandemic income tucked away. Right?
hahahahaha, no i wont, but thanks for the suggestion. Fucking off alone at home ain't that much fun. .
And i am no more a hypocrite then you are, but i don't celebrate a 25 dollar increase by the greens anymore i did it last time when National pulled this stunt as a success, if anything the fact that it only came about because of Covid and the lockdown already is not a reason to celebrate this, but to acknowledge that without Covid, not one beneficiary would have gotten the 25 nor the double heat payment. Keep that in mind please .
It is nothing more then a very weak handshake. As i said, i read the party messages, their ideas of what to come, what they think they did well and so on. And i do this with all parties.
And i have been on record here more then once during the no mates party reign saying exactly what i am saying now.
That all of our public parties – all of them – are not prepared to do what needs to be done. Namely lift the incomes of all beneficiaries to at least 500 a week (wage subsidy full time after paye is 480.00 odd), because it would be the best way to get money into the local economy, would actually give people on the benefit a bit of time to pay their debts while still eating and paying rent, and so as long as i pay taxes, and vote it is my right to not be impressed when people earning over 5000 a week pride themselves on increasing a benefit by 25$ per week (forced by a pandemic that shut us all in our homes without any income for weeks on end) knowing that it will affect all other side benefits someone may get. And i am not the only ones that have stated that.
I don’t have party loyalty as you do, i don’t do people worship, but i do read, and i make my mind up on what i read. And i am woefully unimpressed with the government. All of it.
Yes, i would love for the pensioner to also get that amount. It is a livable (well for now at least) amount.
Yes, and once the child is three years old it can get a job. I did not omit this, i truly had no idea, but then the childbearing ages of me and my friends are long behind us, so i really don't know anyone who would get this benefit.
And yes, the double payment was also due to covid, it is not something that will happen again next year. I am not rubbishing these extras, friends and relatives that receive them are very happy about them, but we need to acknowledge that they came about not because the government is generous, but because a pandemic forced them too.
this is literally what a friend said the other day, it could be worse. And that is what we get to vote for. Not it will be better, but it could be worse.
the mistake is the "government' havnt…the independent RBNZ (who are doing their job) however have and the government actions are doing little to change it.
Sounds about normal for this neo-liberal government. Prop-up the rich and then hope that they'll do wonderful things for everyone else.
Reminds me of the Douglass Adams line:
I live in what are known as hopes. I hope for fascinating and remunerative cases, my secretary hopes that I will pay her, her landlord hopes that she will produce some rent, the Electricity Board hopes that he will settle their bill, and so on. I find it a wonderfully optimistic way of life.
it is going to be a big bumpy ride for a long long time. I don't think people realised but what ever hopes we had a year ago re inequality, homelessness, unemployment, beneficiaries etc they are gone. The world that we knew is gone, and will not come back. And i fear that it will get a lot worse, and people know it, feel it, fear it.
And i don't see the government addressing this change, this fear, teh uncertainty, the lack of stability. The dread that tomorrow you may wake up to the bullhorn sound of covid and your town is in lockdown and so are you.
It could have been worse i agree, but then going into lockdown 4 was the easy part, the hard part is now. And the 10 million $ question is how many of us are we happy to write off on the way to ' it will be better'.
Who is the organ grinder and who the monkeys in this unpleasant little concert of people who should be ensuring that we have a left government but are apparently auditioning for Mike Hosking's position.
Why don't you stop trying to destroy my country's earnest efforts to advance?
Doesn't mean that the government has taken the right path. Sabine tells us that the government is doing an absolutely atrocious job at creating jobs and that is probably what is needed. For the government to actually create new jobs rather propping up failing ones in the new paradigm.
After all, the government used to create jobs but any jobs that it creates now are going to be far different than they used to be. Full R&D, building factories to produce goods, and extracting NZs resources from the ground (in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way) for those factories to use.
And that means that we can't continue on the neo-liberal path.
NO i am telling you that the government does an atrocious job at redistributing money. Not quite the same. I am very much convinced that people will create jobs on their own, and these jobs will hopefully be better in times of pandemics – better adjusted to it then we are now with the little knowledge that we have and time given.
In absence of job creation which is gonna be fairly hard considering that chances are we will live with rolling shutdowns for the next 12- 48 month or until we have a vaccine or until the virus runs it course, money needs to be distributed to those that have no jobs, lost their jobs, will lose their jobs as there is nothing there to replace them. And we will bleed jobs for a while. And businesses need some stability to plan. Atm, depending the business you run, you don't have stability at all. I was supposed to go to a lifestyle show in three weeks, as of today we exhibitors and the planners of these shows have no idea if it will go ahead cause Lockdown 2, If like me you make the stuff you sell, when are you gonna start making? 🙂
Leaving people on the current benefit starvation rates will make things only worse for the country – as already in the best of all times they did not allow beneficiaries to live life fully – but with tens of thousand more potentially long term without jobs, like it or not the economy needs money, and hundreds of thousands of people on low wages and starvation benefits rates don't make an economy. So your UBI or me who says just pay people more money, both would work.
It would be awesome if the Government were to fully commit to create future orientated jobs, like building Green schools for all of our kids and not just the ones whose parents can afford to drop 20 grand for the pleasure, put a cycle lane next to every road in NZ, bring back heavy rail – include a stop at the airport in akl while yer at it – train lab staff, train nurses – without student loans to burden them – But i don't hold my breath.
btw, i lived in 1990, but i did not live in Ttaiwan or China 🙂 So no i never lived trough a pandemic, and i would venture most people here in NZ would say the same if you asked them about it. the wage subsidy allowed businesses to pay wages to their staff, while they had to pay the running costs of their business during the shut down. I don't know anyone who got money for the leases, insurances, loss of stock, etc. We all carried these costs out of the money we had. And i would like to point out again, that i don't speak for the large corporations in NZ but for the micro businesses like mine or those of people around me – most of whom are run by women. If that makes any difference?
living in a country where the government has done an abysmal job of creating any jobs.
And people are very bad at creating their own jobs. There's numerous reasons for this but major ones are not having the necessary resources nor the necessary information. The government has both and is thus in a better position to create jobs that are actually meaningful.
money needs to be distributed to those that have no jobs, lost their jobs, will lose their jobs as there is nothing there to replace them.
Yes it does but that doesn't mean that businesses should be subsidised.
Atm, depending the business you run, you don't have stability at all.
Planning for that is all part of capitalism. Getting the necessary insurance in place.
If you're going to go on about how great capitalism is and actually be a capitalist then you're just going to have to accept the down side as well. That's called personal responsibility.
So your UBI or me who says just pay people more money, both would work.
The UBI would work better as then we're not subsidising business. The UBI is also a great way to introduce money into the economy. Certainly much better than the present system of borrowing from private banks.
the micro businesses like mine or those of people around me
Unless such small businesses are in a cooperative that does major R&D then I consider them to be a waste of time and resources.
It's like the apocalypse in the states at the moment with all the goings on, it's completely insane. Fires, hurricanes, riots and trump….. apocalyptic.
They wheeled out a nun in full habit at the RNC today, a 4min speech on anti abortion. I guess she turned a blind eye to the adulterous liar she supports to lead the country.
I'm becoming convinced that they are completely mad. Never seen anything like it before.
If a private school has received taxpayer funding for a green building then we have invested in it and should be receiving a dividend if there is any profit, or should we just call well educated children a good dividend, and they should be bonded to serve as teachers in NZ public schools for 3 years? Building must be given back to the people of NZ if not required in future.
Even better, because 11.7million$ was handed over, we can now spend that on public schools and introduce an education tax on all private schools to pay for it.
i suggest that people click on the link of the principal reading a letter to the PM. You won't like what she has to say, but then if you listen to the end she will state that she received 73.000 for upgrades while this school will receive 11.7 million.
Was it appropriate over time giving the America's Cup, Skycity, AMI, South Canterbury Finance, BNZ and Tiwai Rio Tinto taxpayers money,
if the success for those 'investments' were measured against longer term, public benefit across a range of fiscal, social and environmental benefits?
My view is 'No'.
Such investments in the private cooperate sector listed ( aka bailouts) were arguably only of benefit to protect the big boys. Then at the times of profit loss, measures of job sackings, going offshore or closure ensue in order to maximise shareholders' profits.
So why the condemnation when the investment for 'shovel ready' projects then progressively improve the social infrastructure sector with longer term benefit ? The critera for projects were not only for economic stimulus but had also to reflect the social & environmental objectives that the Government committed to.
Some examples across catergories –
• The National Papakāinga Network, which covers six iwi, hapū and whānau housing projects, is one of the 11 projects included in the Covid-19 Recovery projects.
• $50 million as first stage in Northland for boosting broadband access and capacity. Then to roll out across most regions of New Zealand, with an emphasis on Te Tai Tokerau (Northland), Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Top of South and Canterbury, secondly, Gisborne, Manawatu-Wanganui, Auckland rural areas and Otago, and thirdly Hawkes Bay, West Coast, Taranaki, Wellington (rural), and Southland. ( money maker for the I.T. sector, jobs and social and educational connectivity).
• $12 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to help build a 1300-seat theatre in Hamilton will create 300 jobs, enable arts education and development and boost tourism in the region.
• Upgrade and Installation of ORC Flow Management Structures at Robson Lagoon (part of Lake Tuakitoto Wetland, a regionally significant wetland) – The flow management structures will allow sustainable habitat levels and flows during flood events. The control structures will provide for the passage of fish.
Fish !!!!
• The Green School in Taranaki is funded as a construction project. $11.7 million for their expansion project, promoting a sustainable building, creating 200 jobs and diversifying the Taranaki economy away from oil and gas and contributing $43 million annually back into the economy as well as developing ' green' focused learning.
My belief is that as opposed to the corporate bailouts, the recovery projects shift emphasis to more sustainable, localised, people oriented benefits. In common is that private sector will profit in the 'construction' of projects but in contrast to those past mega millions in bailouts, these social and environmental investments redistribute wealth more widely and progress greater equality in their outcomes.
the only difference between the projects you list and the private school is the private part of the school. Private – for people who can drop 20.000 per year, anyone else can find a leaky public state school with outdated material and gadgets and not enough staff.
“Was it appropriate over time giving the America's Cup, Skycity, AMI, South Canterbury Finance, BNZ and Tiwai Rio Tinto taxpayers money,
if the success for those 'investments' were measured against longer term, public benefit across a range of fiscal, social and environmental benefits?
My view is 'No'.
• $12 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to help build a 1300-seat theatre in Hamilton will create 300 jobs, enable arts education and development and boost tourism in the region.”
With respect my friend I am afraid that contribution to the Hamilton White Elephant is another corporate hand out
We have here a very vocal minority group lead by the leading businesses of the district called the Momentum Waikato. This group appears to have more say and sway than the overburdened Hamilton ratepayer. They only have to say “s..t” and one can get killed in the rush for this compliant council and CEO jumping on the shovel. There are additional costs (like 20 mil) to be paid by the overburdened ratepayer plus, the running costs estimated to be 1mil plus p.a. not including inflation for the next 25 years. A rough total of over 50 mil. In addition, something the council and this group appear not to mention. who is going to pick up the losses which it will make? I tell you, it will be the ratepayer, whilst the corporates have their new toy and no doubt someone’s name on a plaque.
The only additional employment, once it is built, will be for aspiring thespians, some who don’t live in Hamilton already wetting their pants over to the thought of playing in this white elephant.
It is a well-known fact that this is going to be another loss-making entity which they were warned about, and even more so now we have this virus going berserk in the community. This to be added to the already growing list of loss-making entities like the Claudland Event Centre just to name one.
As for “attracting tourist” if we go on previous projects that we were told we HAD to have built to someones ego like the museum, I cannot see an increase in tourists because of the theatre.
I think that's a fair assessment Sabine, it seems to be a contentious choice; however in all the recovery projects are private interests who benefit financially, for example the construction companies. It's the outcomes of projects that had different sectors having to meet more social equity and environmental pluses as the criteria over and above fiscal stimulation. For one, having looked through the different papa kainga projects and greater IT connectivity for communities puts profit in private sector development but unlike the 90's BNZ bailout, the projects are a shift and a start on long term investment for improving lives.
“It’s not perfect but if you’re trying to achieve a number of objectives it achieves a number of those: it creates a number of jobs in the region, it supports the green building industry, and it’s in Taranaki, the region we’re trying to move on from oil and gas,” Shaw said.
I doubt that it will sway naysayers. It is much easier to govern for your fan and focus clubs than to try doing the right thing and governing without prejudice and in a non-partisan manner. The private-intolerant will mount their high horses and trample on anything judged intolerable hypocrisy – nuance and context are dirty words because in the world of Homo common sensius things are simple and clear-cut and policies are five bullet points, no more, no less:
National has a comprehensive five point plan to rescue the economy
Easy to remember using your fingers as mnemonic, which is a trick used by, you guessed it, five year-olds.
It is the killer blow for the Green Economy and attempts to combat CC, as nothing will be good enough. It is like not allowing the fire brigade to extinguish the fire threatening to engulf your home because there might be fluoride in the water that could contaminate your organic vegie garden.
Perhaps National's reintroduction of 90 day and further harsh employment conditions will add to their Party's demise. Increased unemployment has impacted on even their own believers so a negative for the servants looking for work who won't want the biff in the ninety days. Act's policy raises it from 90 days to up to 12 months to sack for no good reason.
Reply and edit buttons giving changeable responses.
Important to note re- green school project expenditure that since 2018 improvement programmes expenditure has now $2.4 billion on the go in the pool of funds for all schools to address National's neglected schools.
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
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Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
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For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
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This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
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Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
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My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
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This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
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Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
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After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
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While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
Re the Green School. State schools all over the country are getting told to tighten their belts property funding wise because of the affect of Covid spending which I guess includes on the Green School. Schools that are overcrowded, leaky etc could use some of that money.
This is looking like another Metiria Turei moment. Why do they do this to themselves at critical moments? Not that it’s bad, it’s good, but they know they have to be above clean or the rabid right will go for the jugular.
I hope they survive this election but really, there were many better ways and better times to release this funding, ie not in the middle of a pandemic. It looks like they are out of touch with what ordinary people are going through.
What votes they gained from this will have been more than erased by votes they lost.
It is pandemic funding. The funding would not be there otherwise.
Shovel ready projects, right? Well they and their partners might have distributed some of the rest of that funding to other schools at the same time and it might have not been an issue.
I don't think that is something that was within the control of the Greens. Was more like a choice of this or more roads.
edit: it doesn’t sit easy with me but i can see why James went for this over the alternatives.
At least this time they were not going against their principles and having to swallow a rat for the good of the coalition.
I don't think that is something that was within the control of the Greens – If you had viewed the 1:00 briefing the minister stated (Hopkins) "During today’s 1pm Covid-19 update, Hipkins addressed the funding, saying the Green Party “advocated quite strongly” for it. “It was one of their ‘wins’.." So it was ALL in the Greens control. . So is the minister misleading us or some supporters not wanting to believe the truth out there. I await the next reason for the Greens action. Unbelievable
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/27-08-2020/green-party-under-fire-for-11m-public-funding-of-private-green-school/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/101208963/a-diet-of-dead-rats-would-make-the-greens-sicken-and-die
"So it was ALL in the Greens control."
As I understand it, the funding criteria were developed under Twyford and Jones. It's not like the Greens had the power to give the money to state schools. We don't yet know how much choice the Greens had with other projects. I think they've fucked up here, but I think many people are blaming them for the wrong thing.
So do you think Hopkins was just distancing Labour from this decision by claiming this "“It was one of their ‘wins’" .
Blaming them for the wrong thing Really , don't the Green MP's know what they stand for ? I know you know where to look but perhaps your MP's are not familiar.😉
https://www.greens.org.nz/education_policy
https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/119521613/green-school-new-zealand-has-official-opening-to-end-first-week-of-school
https://www.greenschool.org/news-media/green-school-new-zealand-opens-in-taranaki/
I don't know what has happened, because no-one who knows what happened has bothered to explain it in public yet. We might get lucky tomorrow.
But what I can glean so far:
The fund was controlled by Labour and NZF.
Hipkins at first deflected the questions, by saying it was nothing to do with Education and was on the relevant other Ministers (he didn't specify who).
When questioned again more directly, he made the comment about the Greens' win. I have no idea if that was him being truthful or politicking.
And yep, blaming them for the wrong thing, all the people going off because the GP gave shit loads of money to a private school instead of state schools. Tell me how the GP could have given the money to state schools? I'm all ears.
Our local schools are leaky and have approval by the MOE, these schools are hammer ready but no action.
So "all the people going off because the GP gave shit loads of money to a private school instead of state schools" is Ok ?
I hope the nature of the school and what the school is promoting has not found fertile ground with The Greens. And I note this school has just this year opened.
Tell me how the GP could have given the money to state schools? I'm all ears.
I already have, why doesn't our government review what is hammer ready regarding school buildings that are "leaky" or even that have been approved for expansion. There are plenty out there approved and with plans.
This quote could easily be from an Act member – Tells you everything really "The support we are providing will help Green School to meet growing demand from parents all over New Zealand, and the rest of the world, wanting to enrol their children…" I await the spin to support the indefensible.
I am fine with it. We are at a stage where we have to create lots of jobs quickly. Why should NZ First get all the credit? We can sort out the philosophical arguments later but for now keeping 250 jobs going seems to me to be OK.
do you know what the jobs are? The construction firm?
Only what I heard this morning. But we are in a strange time. Shovel ready projects can be in lots of areas.
Jones is responsible for the shovel ready fund. Least that's my understanding.
Nah, Metiria did us a favor by admitting that she had to cheat in order to survive on the benefit. Not that anyone in the Labour Party or the Green Party gives a flying f uck about people on the benefit not making it, they don't. They need the poor people to get elected, and then they are of no more use. That was her only mistake, believing that the Greens as in Party Leadership actually gave a fuck. But for a very brief moment we actually discussed how people are supposed to live of 250 a week. Bless that women, may she always has the wind in her back, a shady tree to sit under and a clean river near by for water. What she did took courage.
This blunder tho is dumb beyond believe and it just goes to show that both Labour and the Greens have their head so far up their behinds that they don't see how this would upset people. Everyone is losing money left, right n centre, people losing their jobs with nothing to replace them, people trying to live with no income, and these beige suits gift 10 million to a private school…..for the 'green focus', while all over the country public schools are not being appropriatly funded or falling apart.
Tonedeaf , out of touch idiotic dumbfucks. And dumb, because they really thought that this will not upset people.
As for this or more roads? We all use roads, but none of your kids will ever go to this school unless you have the petty cash to pay for it. Cause private school. So the right choice would have been roads. And besides the roads in NZ for the largest part are shitty enough to warrant a new coat of metal every now and then for the plebs.
A total of 89% of all Auckland businesses are collecting the Government wage subsidy and over $13 billion has already been paid out across the country. This is money from the public purse (actually, it is all borrowed) going to businesses and private enterprises and they are not necessarily even green. This must stop immediately!
https://twitter.com/DracoTBastard/status/1298230673782661120
Do you think that they are entitled to government help during a time where the government told them to shut down and not work?
Cause the pandemic is not why businesses needed help, it was the order from the government to shut down that forced them to accept help.
Also, do you think anyone in this country that pays taxes to the government for the upkeep of the country is entitled to government help in the case of an earth quake, volcano eruption, tsunami, flooding, or pandemic, or is that just for people whom you can clearly identify as 'deserving'? And if that is the case, please clarify who is 'deserving' of the taxes we pay?
It is something that they needed to plan for and didn't. And do remember, SARS wasn't that long ago nor even the influenza epidemic of 1918.
The capitalists don't get to say that they're so great at managing risks and go running to the government for help because they failed to manage the obvious risk.
Now you're really getting precious.
The government called the lock-down because of the pandemic. Business needed to manage their risks based around the fact that a lock-down would happen during a pandemic.
And now you're simply putting words in my mouth because I said something that you didn't like.
HINT: In capitalist ideology it's about the business that can survive. If a business dies then that's just a part of the creative destruction that is capitalism.
If the government simply provided a UBI then even the destruction of a business would not be an issue. People would still have enough to live on and no focussing upon deserving or not as is the case under the present Social Welfare which really isn't all that social.
So you are arguing that Air New Zealand should not have been bailed out three times in three different governments over the last twenty years.
Also CHCH should not have received a single penny from the governmetn, if they did not have it saved they can't afford it?
Same with farmers?
Nope, i never lived through a pandemic, sorry here dude, And i don't think anyone here really did. And no i don't need to close during a pandemic, that is the whole point, I and others could have chosen to stay open and take our risks, same as for our customers, you know a bit like in the US.
Now we were told to stay at home – under police surveillance i might add – so as to prevent the spread from the pandemic, but that was on government orders. I bet you a dollar that even currently there would be quite a few people in the country that would have no issues opening the borders and fuck it all, let the dice drop where they fall, heads you die, tails i die. But we are not allowed to under government orders and potentially breaking the law. Thus the government has to hand back some of the taxes it extracts from us, again under the threat of fines, prison time etc if we don't comply.
Ah, now you are back to the UBI. Lol. I am the one that wants to increase the unemployment benefits and social welfare benefits and retirement benefits to the level of full time wage subsidy. But that ain't gonna happen.
As for the pandemic, it gets tiring to see this used as a bashing bat against people that literally just try to make a living in a country where the government has done an abysmal job of creating any jobs.
AirNZ should never have been privatised and thus would never have needed bailing out.
Christchurch had insurance. Of course, it wasn't enough but for some strange reason the insurers are still there.
And here's me thinking that you were alive in the 1990s.
And thus become an agent of mass manslaughter. Wonder how that would go down with your customers.
No it doesn't.
It does simplify things. One of the problems with complicated systems is that they cost more to maintain.
The government used to create a lot of jobs and maintained 100% employment but you business folks complained about that and got the government to stop doing it.
Sabine, companies ought to have a business continuity plan. A big part of that is an insurance cover. If they have skimmed on that to show profits to their shareholders, large corps would be having their HO overseas, than that's too bad.
People do have a right to earn a living and have a right to survive. Our social structure that has been artificially build shows a great civilization but not necessary a fully developed human race. As for your question to who deserves to be paid from the taxes, you are asking the wrong question.
The question has to be, why does any government think that the money paid by those who work is theirs to throw around?
The taxpayer has agreed to pay a levy of their earnings to maintain what we call a civilization, infrastructure government, policing, health services and also an income to those who are sick, infirm, can not fend for themselves, the elderly and those who are unable to work due to having a baby, being made redundant at no fault of their own, circumstances out of the persons control.
This has less to do with deserving but everything with fairness of distribution of limited funds. An UBI would be a good solution to cover all without having that overblown apparatus that is fed the the tax that should be going to other causes.
Does the store owner have the right to think that the money paid by those who work is theirs to throw around?
Or should said store owner be asking permission from their customers on how to spend it?
The government doesn't actually need the money from taxes as it can print it as needed. It does have restraints on what it can print due to the physical limitations of the real economy but as long as there is slack in the economy then any such printing isn't a problem.
As the government doesn't need taxes to pay for anything then the purposes of taxes becomes necessary to understand. There are many:
And there's probably more that needs to be considered so as to design a better tax regime.
This is called privatizing profits and socializing losses. It would have been and still is to pay benefit to those who find themselves out of work. Or better still pay a UBI to every person over 16 years of age. It would have taken care of all the issues, admin costs certainly not as high as the subsidy model.
The news show companies who have pocketed millions and laying now staff off under the guise of Covid. In other words, a politicized benefit for those who have most.
Spelling mistake or malapropism? Either I like it.
Nope, this is money going to the people that would otherwise be not working, not having an income and thus be on the benefit.
So yes, this was a good move to flatten the unemployment curve.
Seriously this is about the weakest argument you could have made and i am frankly surprised you made it.
Maybe you just forgot the snark tag?
Btw, non of the businesses that received the wage subsidy got to keep it, we used it to pay for the Staff that we could not pay because we were shut down by the Government. Just in case you forgot about this Covid thing, that currently has all of Auckland shut down other then a few 'essential' businesses.
Of course, it goes to people in jobs. Same with grants from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund; it is all about jobs and stimulating the (local) economy. But not all jobs are equal, it seems. For example, a contractor helping to build social housing or a Decile 1 school is laudable but a private school ist verboten, almost on par with working in the oil industry. You see, before taxpayers’ money is doled out, it needs to pass a sniff test, a kind of ethical approval, and if it ain’t 100% pure then it should be culled immediately. Ideological purity needs to be preserved at all cost, even if it means ritual suicide and political death; better to die pure than live with a tiny blot. Meanwhile the party of mercenaries and smiling assassins can’t believe their luck that yet again the cult of progressives in NZ are about to commit their tri-annual mass political suicide again. I hope all knives have been sharpened because otherwise it could be a slow painful death too; all they need to do is push under 5% with a quick short stab. Oh, and especially for the dimwits here: \sarc.
well the no mates party is being helped by the blunders of the government.
I posted below an article about this, with a principal reading a letter to the PM.
She asks why she got 73000 for 'upgrades' with a leaky roof, and they get 11.7 million for a construction. Never mind the 20.000 annual fee this private school will charge for admission. And i think she has a point. Also, how many schools in NZ need a government injection of 11.7 million to be build ? https://www.education.govt.nz/school/funding-and-financials/funding/teaching-space-funding/construction-rates/
It was a truly dumb project to fund during a time where Grant Robertson is happy for the under spend in the wage subsidy cause we are borrowing to much money. NO matter how green the building is going to be.
The concept of a private school for Green learning does seem to contradict the Greens' other core values which are social consciousness and equality of opportunity.
Clearly, only the wealthy have access to this specialist education?
Reading between the lines it looks like a school for foreign fee paying students which is a good idea – imagine if NZ was the centre of the world for such a sector – but again there are and were better times to be announcing taxpayer support for it.
Again, this is part of a stimulus package that would not otherwise be available.
and it was still dumb. If they would have gotten the same average amount as public schools i don't think anyone would really care, what upsets people is that the amount is very much above what public schools get, and during a time where everyone is told to 'tighten the belt' cause we are running out of money.
So why don't you vent at Labour?
that would require understand how things actually work.
I know, i really am asking too much.
Because they are the government. Labour/Green/NZFirst. And i personally am over the 'kinder gentler' bullshit while at the same time not seeing the work that needs to be done.
And believe me i am reading their announcements, their election promises, and fuck if they are not several days late and a few dollar short.
And because in absence of anything better they are the least offensive option to vote for, that or legalize aotearoa and i am seriously considering to voting for these guys this year. (and the no mates party is nothing but offensive, ditto for the conservatives, vision, and the other god squad parties.)
I complain about the Government because i pay their wages, i vote, i am a citizen and by all that still is good and true they should be our employees not our betters, and because i do believe that if we don’t start paying attention to the homeless and unemployed it will back fire).
Because they are the government. Labour/Green/NZFirst.
I complain about the Government
But you are only complaining about the Greens.
funny that.
"Because they are the government. Labour/Green/NZFirst."
No, they're not. The GP are nominally part of government, but they're not formally part of the government. Their Ministers sit outside of Cabinet. The govt is a coalition made up of Labour and NZF, with confidence and supply support from the Greens.
What this means is that decisions get made in Cabinet without the Greens. The Greens have some power, but not the kind of power that you and others routinely castigate them for misusing.
But keep on with beating the Greens with the magic wand you think they should have, that will really help us get a better govt.
If you think I am wrong, demonstrate how. Tell me how the Greens could have made Labour give the money to public schools instead.
Nope last i checked is they are in the government. Cloe, James, all the others sit in government, collect nice weekly pay checks for sitting in government, and when it comes to the current government they are happy to be enablers when it suits them, confidence and supply.
So according to your comment then the announcment of the million dollar wastage on a private school should have come from Robertson and not James Shaw. And if it would have come from Grant Robertson rather then James Shaw it would be Grant to get the bollocking. But sadly for the Greens it was James.
Now the cynic would say maybe James is the fall guy for this wastage of taxpayers fund, and it would be best for the Greens if they were set up for this by Labour at least then they could put the blame where it belongs. As of now, it seems that James was quite happy with the spend, and others are not.
If anything i call them out for being dumb. This was dumb. Other then that, i have no use for them. I consider them of no use to the country. Others think differently. As is our right.
That isn’t actually what this government is. It is a Labour/NZFirst coalition in cabinet, with a supporting confidence and supply agreement from the Greens.
The Government in NZ is the Cabinet (or the executive council which usually largely overlaps with it). There are no Green party MPs in the cabinet. The former makes the actual decisions, the latter makes them into law.
The Greens have three ministers outside of cabinet. Ministers outside of cabinet have responsibilities but little direct authority.
Wikipedia is exactly correct when it says about the current government
You really don’t have to be as ignorant as your average journalist. Just read wikipedia when you need a reasonably accurate overview of a civics issue.
thanks for that. I'm going to quote that in a post if that's ok.
Fine by me. I frequently get astonished at how little people actually understand about how our political and governing structures operate.
Yes, the Greens provide only 'supply and convidence' , and that does make them part of this government as per their agreement with labour
https://www.parliament.nz/media/4487/nzlp___gp_c_s_agreement.pdf
besides, without the Green support there would be no Labour led Government as the coalition with Labour and NZfirst alone would have not met majority. Th Labour Party won 46 seats, up from 32 at the last election. Their partner, the Green Party won 8 seats, down from 14. New Zealand First won 9 seats, (numbers from wiki link below)
So while they are a junior partner (supply and confidence) they are part of this current government. And James Shaw in this goverment is the Finance Associate Minister in this role he announced the give away that is now providing ammo for those that would like to replace the government.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/52nd_New_Zealand_Parliament
Perhaps the same could be said about Judas Iscariot's 30 pieces of silver?
So James should have backed spending the money on roads? Or the Greens should have refused to vote for the stimulus package? What are you actually saying?
Roads would have been less damaging. Many of us vote Green because they are the only ones who seem to care about Global Warming, plus they seem to be anti-neo-liberal.
As a teacher, after the Alliance sank, I looked at all parties' Education policies, liked the Greens' one best, and have party-voted Green ever since.
That policy is still the best, but in associating himself with this State-funded largesse to an exclusive, expensive private school, James Shaw has just pissed all over his own party's Education policy, and enraged many of his core support.
I can't imagine Russell Norman, Meteria Turei, or Sue Bradford making such a blunder.
Roads would have been less damaging.
Yes maybe less damaging to the election campaign, but not the environment. What was that about silver again?
I personally agree with you on that point, but the majority of this country are not with us. What I am saying is that James Shaw should have at least tried to express displeasure, or, preferably, disassociated himself completely, and let some Economic underling front it.
Do not forget that neo-liberalism is the greatest enemy of the environment at present, and that should figure in the Greens' policies.
Also, the Greens will be of no influence if they fall below 5%. Keep this up, and they may well go below 5%. That will be a disaster for the environment here too. The election does matter.
Keep thinking about the silver…
and yet here is Bradford making a blunder. Afaik, it wasn't within the GP's power to use the money for public schools instead.
https://twitter.com/suebr/status/1298772802539892736
I agree with you about the messaging though, and am very disappointed that the Greens didn't front foot this today in the MSM and on SM.
With that sort of funding shouldn't that school becoming one of those privately run state schools (can't recall the name ATM)?
yes,
if the only option was roads, they could have voted yes on roads or no.
they should not spend tax payers money on a private school.
they can spend as much money as they like on public schools, of which we have many here in NZ and most of them need money desperately, specifically the schools in the poor areas of this country.
they could have voted yes on roads or no.
No, they didn't get to vote against roads. They got to vote to support a stimulus package, then to push support for shovel ready projects from the list.
and they pick this to associate themselves with it?
they deserve all the bollocking they get for stupidity.
reverse thrust that rocket
Beware a slight trap, Sabine.
It is better to call them "state schools" here in NZ, because the obtuse English in the Motherland call their private schools 'Public Schools'.
That causes confusion here at times..
ah, thanks. I had no idea. English, its a funny language sometimes.
Puzzled? tRump said in public that he'd asked officials to slow down testing so the numbers would look better for him.
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1298582772932648960
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/21/global-report-trump-says-he-ordered-coronavirus-testing-to-slow-down
ffs
(CNN)A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN, and a key White House coronavirus task force member was not part of the meeting when the new guidelines were discussed.
"It's coming from the top down," the official said of the new directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was in surgery and not part of the discussion during the August 20 task force meeting when updated guidelines were discussed.
"I was under general anesthesia in the operating room and was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding the new testing recommendations," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/26/politics/cdc-coronavirus-testing-guidance/index.html
poor thing still believes that anyone in the white house cares what he has to say?
I doubt Fauci is that deluded. But he may well still care what the rest of the country thinks of him. Hence the need to try to distance himself from that latest bit of malicious shitfuckery.
US numbers started to go down at the time that Trump had the new collector of the sample data appointed. Recently they have gone back to the CDC but call me a conspiracist and give me a tinfoil hat but it does not seem right …
your tinfoil hat is very fetching.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/08/20/904450628/white-house-stokes-hopes-that-key-hospital-data-tracking-will-soon-return-to-cdc
I like the Greens. So much so that I am considering giving them my precious party vote in October. But I like them for their social policy, not their environmental policy.
Have go at that, pollsters.
Muttonbird one of the few positives I have heard today.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12360199
Looks like they're all catching on to inequality exacerbated by this government.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/nzs-k-shaped-covid-19-recovery
"Almost by accident, and without debate, the Labour-led Government has delivered the biggest shot of cash and monetary support to the wealthy in the history of New Zealand, while giving nothing to the renters, the jobless, students, migrants and the working poor who mostly voted it in."
True they will still romp in.
But the K shaped recovery means: most people go down and get worse, the rich go up.
same as it was before covid then.
No worse.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2008/S00324/drop-in-income-for-kiwis-worrying-eeo-commissioner.htm
Mind i read the list of the Green Party achievement on their site, and they are so proud of the extra 25NZD increase of the base benefit. So very proud. See inequality all fixed.
And i read the announcements of the Labour party and they are so proud to use the under spend of the wage subsidy to pay unemployed people to start their own businesses…..a few thousand bucks, and they better save up quick as business people then they should know that they need a bolster of a few month pandemic income tucked away. Right?
fuck off Sabine. You're the one working against the ONLY party in parliament that is actively trying to raise benefits to a decent level.
You're a hypocrite easily as bad as anything coming out of parliament. All hot air, but no actual support for beneficiaries where we need it.
hahahahaha, no i wont, but thanks for the suggestion. Fucking off alone at home ain't that much fun. .
And i am no more a hypocrite then you are, but i don't celebrate a 25 dollar increase by the greens anymore i did it last time when National pulled this stunt as a success, if anything the fact that it only came about because of Covid and the lockdown already is not a reason to celebrate this, but to acknowledge that without Covid, not one beneficiary would have gotten the 25 nor the double heat payment. Keep that in mind please .
It is nothing more then a very weak handshake. As i said, i read the party messages, their ideas of what to come, what they think they did well and so on. And i do this with all parties.
And i have been on record here more then once during the no mates party reign saying exactly what i am saying now.
That all of our public parties – all of them – are not prepared to do what needs to be done. Namely lift the incomes of all beneficiaries to at least 500 a week (wage subsidy full time after paye is 480.00 odd), because it would be the best way to get money into the local economy, would actually give people on the benefit a bit of time to pay their debts while still eating and paying rent, and so as long as i pay taxes, and vote it is my right to not be impressed when people earning over 5000 a week pride themselves on increasing a benefit by 25$ per week (forced by a pandemic that shut us all in our homes without any income for weeks on end) knowing that it will affect all other side benefits someone may get. And i am not the only ones that have stated that.
I don’t have party loyalty as you do, i don’t do people worship, but i do read, and i make my mind up on what i read. And i am woefully unimpressed with the government. All of it.
Sabine, you are omitting the $60 weekly allowance per child till age 3?
The winter warmth payment being doubled $900 single -$1400 couple, as well as the 25 dollars.
Beneficiaries may earn $220 before deductions.
You appear to want miracles. $500 eh?? A pensioner gets $350 odd
Yes, i would love for the pensioner to also get that amount. It is a livable (well for now at least) amount.
Yes, and once the child is three years old it can get a job. I did not omit this, i truly had no idea, but then the childbearing ages of me and my friends are long behind us, so i really don't know anyone who would get this benefit.
And yes, the double payment was also due to covid, it is not something that will happen again next year. I am not rubbishing these extras, friends and relatives that receive them are very happy about them, but we need to acknowledge that they came about not because the government is generous, but because a pandemic forced them too.
Should the Greens get back in, we'll have to see if beneficiaries do any better.
Just a few weeks to find out now.
What bit of wage subsidy do you not get?
The bit where inequality accelerates down even faster than under National.
Their election strapline should be: Labour … It Could Be Worse
it is.
this is literally what a friend said the other day, it could be worse. And that is what we get to vote for. Not it will be better, but it could be worse.
the mistake is the "government' havnt…the independent RBNZ (who are doing their job) however have and the government actions are doing little to change it.
Sounds about normal for this neo-liberal government. Prop-up the rich and then hope that they'll do wonderful things for everyone else.
Reminds me of the Douglass Adams line:
Had any other party in parliament now been the dominant party, it would have been a lot worse.
The depth of this crisis goes far deeper than anything "neoliberals" generated.
it is going to be a big bumpy ride for a long long time. I don't think people realised but what ever hopes we had a year ago re inequality, homelessness, unemployment, beneficiaries etc they are gone. The world that we knew is gone, and will not come back. And i fear that it will get a lot worse, and people know it, feel it, fear it.
And i don't see the government addressing this change, this fear, teh uncertainty, the lack of stability. The dread that tomorrow you may wake up to the bullhorn sound of covid and your town is in lockdown and so are you.
It could have been worse i agree, but then going into lockdown 4 was the easy part, the hard part is now. And the 10 million $ question is how many of us are we happy to write off on the way to ' it will be better'.
Who is the organ grinder and who the monkeys in this unpleasant little concert of people who should be ensuring that we have a left government but are apparently auditioning for Mike Hosking's position.
Why don't you stop trying to destroy my country's earnest efforts to advance?
oh boy, tell me again where did i hurt you?
It would have been worse. No doubt about that.
Doesn't mean that the government has taken the right path. Sabine tells us that the government is doing an absolutely atrocious job at creating jobs and that is probably what is needed. For the government to actually create new jobs rather propping up failing ones in the new paradigm.
After all, the government used to create jobs but any jobs that it creates now are going to be far different than they used to be. Full R&D, building factories to produce goods, and extracting NZs resources from the ground (in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way) for those factories to use.
And that means that we can't continue on the neo-liberal path.
NO i am telling you that the government does an atrocious job at redistributing money. Not quite the same. I am very much convinced that people will create jobs on their own, and these jobs will hopefully be better in times of pandemics – better adjusted to it then we are now with the little knowledge that we have and time given.
In absence of job creation which is gonna be fairly hard considering that chances are we will live with rolling shutdowns for the next 12- 48 month or until we have a vaccine or until the virus runs it course, money needs to be distributed to those that have no jobs, lost their jobs, will lose their jobs as there is nothing there to replace them. And we will bleed jobs for a while. And businesses need some stability to plan. Atm, depending the business you run, you don't have stability at all. I was supposed to go to a lifestyle show in three weeks, as of today we exhibitors and the planners of these shows have no idea if it will go ahead cause Lockdown 2, If like me you make the stuff you sell, when are you gonna start making? 🙂
Leaving people on the current benefit starvation rates will make things only worse for the country – as already in the best of all times they did not allow beneficiaries to live life fully – but with tens of thousand more potentially long term without jobs, like it or not the economy needs money, and hundreds of thousands of people on low wages and starvation benefits rates don't make an economy. So your UBI or me who says just pay people more money, both would work.
It would be awesome if the Government were to fully commit to create future orientated jobs, like building Green schools for all of our kids and not just the ones whose parents can afford to drop 20 grand for the pleasure, put a cycle lane next to every road in NZ, bring back heavy rail – include a stop at the airport in akl while yer at it – train lab staff, train nurses – without student loans to burden them – But i don't hold my breath.
btw, i lived in 1990, but i did not live in Ttaiwan or China 🙂 So no i never lived trough a pandemic, and i would venture most people here in NZ would say the same if you asked them about it. the wage subsidy allowed businesses to pay wages to their staff, while they had to pay the running costs of their business during the shut down. I don't know anyone who got money for the leases, insurances, loss of stock, etc. We all carried these costs out of the money we had. And i would like to point out again, that i don't speak for the large corporations in NZ but for the micro businesses like mine or those of people around me – most of whom are run by women. If that makes any difference?
Yes. This is what you said:
And people are very bad at creating their own jobs. There's numerous reasons for this but major ones are not having the necessary resources nor the necessary information. The government has both and is thus in a better position to create jobs that are actually meaningful.
Yes it does but that doesn't mean that businesses should be subsidised.
Planning for that is all part of capitalism. Getting the necessary insurance in place.
If you're going to go on about how great capitalism is and actually be a capitalist then you're just going to have to accept the down side as well. That's called personal responsibility.
The UBI would work better as then we're not subsidising business. The UBI is also a great way to introduce money into the economy. Certainly much better than the present system of borrowing from private banks.
Unless such small businesses are in a cooperative that does major R&D then I consider them to be a waste of time and resources.
Tell that to the people who lost the will to live under neoliberalism.
putin at the orange festival in the white house
https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1298849340253970433
landfall
https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/sector_band.php?sat=G16§or=gm&band=07&length=24
edit: local tv livestream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsR82bcEyvU&feature=youtu.be
It's like the apocalypse in the states at the moment with all the goings on, it's completely insane. Fires, hurricanes, riots and trump….. apocalyptic.
They wheeled out a nun in full habit at the RNC today, a 4min speech on anti abortion. I guess she turned a blind eye to the adulterous liar she supports to lead the country.
I'm becoming convinced that they are completely mad. Never seen anything like it before.
Cinny, Ancient Rome before the fall?
Absolutely Patricia.
If a private school has received taxpayer funding for a green building then we have invested in it and should be receiving a dividend if there is any profit, or should we just call well educated children a good dividend, and they should be bonded to serve as teachers in NZ public schools for 3 years? Building must be given back to the people of NZ if not required in future.
Even better, because 11.7million$ was handed over, we can now spend that on public schools and introduce an education tax on all private schools to pay for it.
and Hipkins already paddling back on the school funds which does not surprise me at all.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300093441/james-shaw-calls-meeting-with-green-members-to-explain-private-school-funding-decision
i suggest that people click on the link of the principal reading a letter to the PM. You won't like what she has to say, but then if you listen to the end she will state that she received 73.000 for upgrades while this school will receive 11.7 million.
Was it appropriate over time giving the America's Cup, Skycity, AMI, South Canterbury Finance, BNZ and Tiwai Rio Tinto taxpayers money,
if the success for those 'investments' were measured against longer term, public benefit across a range of fiscal, social and environmental benefits?
My view is 'No'.
Such investments in the private cooperate sector listed ( aka bailouts) were arguably only of benefit to protect the big boys. Then at the times of profit loss, measures of job sackings, going offshore or closure ensue in order to maximise shareholders' profits.
So why the condemnation when the investment for 'shovel ready' projects then progressively improve the social infrastructure sector with longer term benefit ? The critera for projects were not only for economic stimulus but had also to reflect the social & environmental objectives that the Government committed to.
Some examples across catergories –
• The National Papakāinga Network, which covers six iwi, hapū and whānau housing projects, is one of the 11 projects included in the Covid-19 Recovery projects.
• $50 million as first stage in Northland for boosting broadband access and capacity. Then to roll out across most regions of New Zealand, with an emphasis on Te Tai Tokerau (Northland), Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Top of South and Canterbury, secondly, Gisborne, Manawatu-Wanganui, Auckland rural areas and Otago, and thirdly Hawkes Bay, West Coast, Taranaki, Wellington (rural), and Southland. ( money maker for the I.T. sector, jobs and social and educational connectivity).
• $12 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to help build a 1300-seat theatre in Hamilton will create 300 jobs, enable arts education and development and boost tourism in the region.
• Upgrade and Installation of ORC Flow Management Structures at Robson Lagoon (part of Lake Tuakitoto Wetland, a regionally significant wetland) – The flow management structures will allow sustainable habitat levels and flows during flood events. The control structures will provide for the passage of fish.
Fish !!!!
• The Green School in Taranaki is funded as a construction project. $11.7 million for their expansion project, promoting a sustainable building, creating 200 jobs and diversifying the Taranaki economy away from oil and gas and contributing $43 million annually back into the economy as well as developing ' green' focused learning.
My belief is that as opposed to the corporate bailouts, the recovery projects shift emphasis to more sustainable, localised, people oriented benefits. In common is that private sector will profit in the 'construction' of projects but in contrast to those past mega millions in bailouts, these social and environmental investments redistribute wealth more widely and progress greater equality in their outcomes.
the only difference between the projects you list and the private school is the private part of the school. Private – for people who can drop 20.000 per year, anyone else can find a leaky public state school with outdated material and gadgets and not enough staff.
PaddyOT wrote @12 27th 11.09pm
“Was it appropriate over time giving the America's Cup, Skycity, AMI, South Canterbury Finance, BNZ and Tiwai Rio Tinto taxpayers money,
if the success for those 'investments' were measured against longer term, public benefit across a range of fiscal, social and environmental benefits?
My view is 'No'.
• $12 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to help build a 1300-seat theatre in Hamilton will create 300 jobs, enable arts education and development and boost tourism in the region.”
With respect my friend I am afraid that contribution to the Hamilton White Elephant is another corporate hand out
We have here a very vocal minority group lead by the leading businesses of the district called the Momentum Waikato. This group appears to have more say and sway than the overburdened Hamilton ratepayer. They only have to say “s..t” and one can get killed in the rush for this compliant council and CEO jumping on the shovel. There are additional costs (like 20 mil) to be paid by the overburdened ratepayer plus, the running costs estimated to be 1mil plus p.a. not including inflation for the next 25 years. A rough total of over 50 mil. In addition, something the council and this group appear not to mention. who is going to pick up the losses which it will make? I tell you, it will be the ratepayer, whilst the corporates have their new toy and no doubt someone’s name on a plaque.
The only additional employment, once it is built, will be for aspiring thespians, some who don’t live in Hamilton already wetting their pants over to the thought of playing in this white elephant.
It is a well-known fact that this is going to be another loss-making entity which they were warned about, and even more so now we have this virus going berserk in the community. This to be added to the already growing list of loss-making entities like the Claudland Event Centre just to name one.
As for “attracting tourist” if we go on previous projects that we were told we HAD to have built to someones ego like the museum, I cannot see an increase in tourists because of the theatre.
I think that's a fair assessment Sabine, it seems to be a contentious choice; however in all the recovery projects are private interests who benefit financially, for example the construction companies. It's the outcomes of projects that had different sectors having to meet more social equity and environmental pluses as the criteria over and above fiscal stimulation. For one, having looked through the different papa kainga projects and greater IT connectivity for communities puts profit in private sector development but unlike the 90's BNZ bailout, the projects are a shift and a start on long term investment for improving lives.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300093441/james-shaw-calls-meeting-with-green-members-to-explain-private-school-funding-decision
I doubt that it will sway naysayers. It is much easier to govern for your fan and focus clubs than to try doing the right thing and governing without prejudice and in a non-partisan manner. The private-intolerant will mount their high horses and trample on anything judged intolerable hypocrisy – nuance and context are dirty words because in the world of Homo common sensius things are simple and clear-cut and policies are five bullet points, no more, no less:
Easy to remember using your fingers as mnemonic, which is a trick used by, you guessed it, five year-olds.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300092612/90day-trials-would-return-but-lunchtime-gone-by-lunchtime-under-national-small-business-policy
It is the killer blow for the Green Economy and attempts to combat CC, as nothing will be good enough. It is like not allowing the fire brigade to extinguish the fire threatening to engulf your home because there might be fluoride in the water that could contaminate your organic vegie garden.
Perhaps National's reintroduction of 90 day and further harsh employment conditions will add to their Party's demise. Increased unemployment has impacted on even their own believers so a negative for the servants looking for work who won't want the biff in the ninety days. Act's policy raises it from 90 days to up to 12 months to sack for no good reason.
Reply and edit buttons giving changeable responses.
Important to note re- green school project expenditure that since 2018 improvement programmes expenditure has now $2.4 billion on the go in the pool of funds for all schools to address National's neglected schools.