Health service funding

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, September 25th, 2014 - 62 comments
Categories: health - Tags: ,

Not that you’d know it from most media coverage, but National has been steadily cutting funding to health and education in real terms (not keeping up with inflation and rising demand). Today yet another doctor broke:

Orthopaedics chief quits, slams health board

Orthopaedic surgeon Associate Prof David Gwynne-Jones has resigned as Dunedin Hospital’s orthopaedics clinical leader, citing frustration with the Southern District Health Board. … ”We are now performing significantly less joint replacements than the NZ average despite our increased demand.” …

Relationships had come under strain because of the lack of resources. …

Last night, patient services medical director Dick Bunton said the board’s managers should not be seen as the ”ogre”. Funding pressure was driven by the Government.

At a Dunedin North candidates’ meeting that I attended there were plenty of angry questions from the audience for the local Nat. The situation in Dunedin hospital is dire, and no doubt other hospitals are the same. Welcome to the brighter future.

62 comments on “Health service funding ”

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  1. Chooky 1
    25 September 2014 at 8:16 am

    What a pity the surgeon did not resign well before the Election..so as to make health funding an election issue

    The day before the Election ( Friday September 18) on the front page Christchurch Press was a National Party advertisement.

    ‘5 Reasons to Party Vote National’

    1.
    2.
    3
    4.Better healthcare and Teaching
    5.

    Lets hope the Christchurch Press examines this lie in detail …but I doubt they will. (I also doubt radionz will investigate this issue or television)

    ….another reason why the umbrella Left must have its own radio station and newspaper

  2. Jay 2
    25 September 2014 at 8:30 am

    I was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma about two months ago, and at present am undergoing chemotherapy. The standard of the treatment I have been and am receiving is nothing short of superb. In fact I constantly find myself humbled by the amazing men and woman working in medicine in nz, all of whom are completely focused on my wellbeing and on getting me fixed up. I am also humbled by the amount of money my country is pouring into getting me better so I can live a bit longer, I expect my care and treatment will exceed the total tax take of my income and spending over my lifetime. It has made me very very grateful, and believe it or not am filled with an urge to get back to work so I can pay nz back, and help pay for others who are in my situation or worse. Now that I have learned what being and feeling sick is really all about, I also find myself far less tolerant of able-bodied people who don’t or won’t contribute to our society, and those who take our health system for granted. I don’t know what is going on elsewhere in nz,but hats off to Auckland Hospital and all the amazing men and woman who are looking after me, and thanks to all of you who’s taxes are paying to give me my life back.

    • adam 2.1
      25 September 2014 at 8:36 am

      Best of luck Jay – and yes our medical profession are quite amazing. Socialised medicine, what a great thing that is.

    • higherstandard 2.2
      25 September 2014 at 8:47 am

      Thank you Jay.

      That’s a great post, all the best.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 2.3
      25 September 2014 at 9:01 am

      “I got treatment, therefore this doctor is wrong”.

      I hope you get well Jay, and can you ask the doctors if they can do anything about your logic deficiency while they’re at it: it’s affecting your hate levels.

      • tinfoilhat 2.3.1
        25 September 2014 at 9:11 am

        🙄

      • greywarbler 2.3.2
        25 September 2014 at 8:06 pm

        @OAB 9.01
        It is one thing to be relentless in critiquing comments, it’s another to misread them and then critique that. And this person is ill. And could do with some kindness. Are you sick with something OAB? Perhaps you need kindness too.

      • adam 2.3.3
        25 September 2014 at 9:38 pm

        *tickles* OAB then *Hugs* OAB. Now that over – *slap* OAB .

        Pick ya battles FFS.

      • infused 2.3.4
        25 September 2014 at 10:17 pm

        Ah oab. Proving to everyone what a piece of shit you really are.

        gg.

    • AmaKiwi 2.4
      25 September 2014 at 9:05 am

      Good luck, Jay.

      A few years ago Obama and that rich Republican Mormon were having a presidential debate. The rich guy boasted, “America has the best health care system in the world.” My partner, who is in that profession, started rattling off America’s pathetic health statistics on infant mortality, recovery from strokes, life expectancy, cancer treatment, etc., etc.

      Yes, our system works. But then American’s are good at being delusional. I read on The Intercept that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner (Obama) is now bombing his 9th Muslim country (Syria). I’m sure it’s all in the cause of peace.

    • Richard@Down South 2.5
      25 September 2014 at 5:20 pm

      Best of luck… I had Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1997… touch wood, still clear

    • Simon 2.6
      25 September 2014 at 10:14 pm

      Nice post Jay, but I think this comment is problematic ‘I also find myself far less tolerant of able-bodied people who don’t or won’t contribute to our society’.

      The question is how do ‘you’ determine able bodied. I’m guessing that when you say ‘less tolerant’ you mean that you make judgements about the ‘abled-bodyness’ of some individuals. The problem is many individuals may appear to be able bodied when they are in fact not. Unless you know someone , and in fact, know someone very personally, you will not be in a position to make an inference such as this.

      I work with people who have had stroke(s) TBI’s etc. and many of them probably appear outwardly ‘able-bodied’, but in fact their cognitive problems or mental health problems means that they are unable to work (in most cases, despite wanting too).

      So in sum, I think that you have to be careful about making judgements/inferences about others, regardless of your own profound experience of cancer, and the NZ health system.

    • Murray Olsen 2.7
      25 September 2014 at 11:15 pm

      I got diagnosed with liver cancer about 3 years ago. Three months ago I had a liver transplant. This was all in Australia, which still has a decent health system. Looking death in the face and surviving the experience because of the doctors, the nurses, and the working class Aussies who built the health system is an experience that has made me far less judgmental and more tolerant.

      On the day that there are two jobs available and one unemployed person in Aotearoa, and that person doesn’t want to work, I’ll think “Ah well, the work can wait.” Until then, I am intolerant of governments that plan an economy with a 5 or 6% unemployment rate, and of people who talk about those who “won’t” contribute.

    • greywarbler 2.8
      26 September 2014 at 10:14 am

      Jay 8.30
      Be careful in your stream of consciousness outpouring, including this statement:
      Now that I have learned what being and feeling sick is really all about, I also find myself far less tolerant of able-bodied people who don’t or won’t contribute to our society, and those who take our health system for granted.

      There are a lot of us – retired people who take the health system for granted. And some of us might retire at 65 or even 67, and then live to 99. That is one-third of our lives when we may not be earning. And we are likely to be quite able bodied until in our 80’s. Were you thinking of us when you made your critical judgment about those ‘not contributing to our society’. Is volunteer community work contributing? Or does it need to be paid work, as the health system does need lots of dollars?

      So don’t go making sweeping statements as you have, without thinking about the whole picture, and trying to understand what the government calls ’employment’ and ‘wages’ in its statistics, which often fudge the real figures through what they decide to count.

  3. yeshe 3
    25 September 2014 at 8:32 am

    Nats making a case to plunder the Cullen Fund and probably ACC funds as well …. and causing such suffering.

    Welcome to a tighter future.

    And with Lusk’s two tobacco boys safely installed in parliament now, watch for a dilution of many health and wealth protections. Gruesome.

  4. BM 4
    25 September 2014 at 8:34 am

    Unfortunately there’s only so much money to go around.

    Can’t just keep raising or creating new taxes either.

    • stever 4.1
      25 September 2014 at 8:42 am

      Even if that’s true (only so much money…) let’s talk about who it goes to, and why.

    • adam 4.2
      25 September 2014 at 8:42 am

      BM, from the right who raised g.s.t. From the right who gave a tax cut to the rich, then borrowed money to balance the books. Far out man, you wonder why people on the left look at your comments and shake their collective head.

      Any other t.i.n.a expressions of wisdom you want to impart. Any other pearls of the narrow ideological trip you’re on, you want to bark?

      I love you man, I really do – when capitalism finally burns up all the resources and there’s bugger all left – drop me a line, will find something for you to do.

    • minarch 4.3
      25 September 2014 at 10:08 am

      “Unfortunately there’s only so much money to go around.”

      because its all been “trickled up”

    • Foreign waka 4.4
      25 September 2014 at 10:18 am

      It will get ever so interesting. NZ has currently a distribution of wealth whereby 10% own 50% of all wealth, 45% have to carry the major tax burden and 5% counting as the very very very poor. With this further deteriorating, I think the 10% will have to pay more.

      • BM 4.4.1
        25 September 2014 at 10:22 am

        Expecting a boom time for tax accountants?

        • Foreign waka 4.4.1.1
          25 September 2014 at 7:06 pm

          Well, it already is so otherwise this out of kilter distribution reminiscent on the 16th century Europe would not hold water. The worst part is that a lot of funds are being siphoned off to offshore accounts and people who do this truly belief that they are in the right. How distorted must the world view be to get to this conclusion? How sad and small those people really are.

    • AmaKiwi 4.5
      25 September 2014 at 1:16 pm

      “Unfortunately there’s only so much money to go around” and the Nats are wasting it by parking the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

      My partner see numerous poor people who cannot afford to get treatment and pay for prescriptions when their ailments are in the easily curable stage. For lack of free government services they wait until it gets really bad. Then YOU, @BM, have to pay $700 and more per day for them to go into hospital.

      It’s called “preventative medicine.” The Nats ain’t interested in it. Cunliffe and the Left are.

      @ BM some advice: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Did they leave that out of your economics lessons?

    • Andrea 4.6
      25 September 2014 at 5:42 pm

      ” Can’t just keep raising or creating new taxes either.”

      Why not?

      Petrol and similar taxes. GST. Catching the sinners buying goods overseas and dodging tax here. Oh, there’s plenty of slop in the system yet.

      An offence to the mainstream middle New Zealanders? Hehehe. Smile, wave, ignore, rinse and repeat. They’ll LOVE it.

    • greywarbler 4.7
      25 September 2014 at 8:10 pm

      @ BM
      The country could just charge us so much per comment to increase tax, like putting money into a swear jar. And you would be getting charged along with all of us. And you would gladly pay because you love telling us how we are wrong.

    • tricledrown 4.8
      25 September 2014 at 9:40 pm

      blind monetarist why don’t we run the health system on a Cullen fund idea initially we all pay a little more but when the fund reaches a point where returns a high enough then we won’t have to pay any taxes
      we could run the whole of Govt. using this model
      kiwi-saver could be expanded to be a self funding model for the whole of Govt.!
      time for a rethink on the left!
      National and ACT have won the war on neo liberalism !
      The majority of New Zealand that vote have aspirations to be wealthy one day Most will never attain that goal but dream they will so are happy to play along with the neo liberal propaganda!

  5. Jay 5
    25 September 2014 at 8:38 am

    Thanks Adam I should be alright. Not counting on letting old anymore though!

  6. dv 6
    25 September 2014 at 8:40 am

    BM
    Nat Debt clock
    88,964,425,200

    Interest
    $4,358,741,701 per yr

    Shame about the tax cuts?

    • BM 6.1
      25 September 2014 at 8:44 am

      Shame about the WFF and the interest free student loans and the DPB and the dole and all the other hand outs people now expect.

      I have no problem with the people who provide the income for all the above services to get a small break.

      Lets be honest, it’s not like that money is being stashed in a mattress, it’s out their keeping people employed.

      • repateet 6.1.1
        25 September 2014 at 9:06 am

        I’m looking forward to getting home from my employment to count my tax cut. It’ll be easier to understand than 88,964,425,200. Which won’t be 88,964,425,200 any more of course, it’ll be closer to 89,964,425,200 by then.

      • AmaKiwi 6.1.2
        25 September 2014 at 9:10 am

        “it’s not like that money is being stashed in a mattress, it’s out their keeping people employed.”

        Building highways that will create ever larger traffic jams, urban congestion, CO2, and dirtier air. Brilliant.

        I wonder how much Fulton Hogan donated to Key.

      • dv 6.1.3
        25 September 2014 at 9:17 am

        BM The small break was about 1 billion

        Heard of GST BM?

        How come SFC got bailed out?
        Tiwai pt?
        Solid energy
        Joyces radio stn

        etc

        • Rob 6.1.3.1
          25 September 2014 at 12:10 pm

          This is a reply to dv in 6.1.3

          SFC

          So what would have happened if SFC did not get bailed out, remember it was actually Labour that brought in the original finance company protection scheme as they could also see the risk to the predominately baby boomer population as well. The damage that has been done to baby boomer investors in the very unregulated financial investment markets through Labours last years will probably become the defining summary of that Govt. National probably did not have a choice but to extend the scheme as they could see the huge societal risk as well.

          Tiwai Point.

          It will probably be gone in 2017 as I think that is when the next round of electrical negotiations come around . It will also probably mean the end of of regional Bluff as a contributing and growing city. You want to keep people in employment in the regions?

          Solid Energy

          Yep too many tries at loose innovation, particularly in Bio oils and the like. Bloody expensive and risky to get that type of innovation successfully commercialised. Management team did spend money like drunkin sailors on new initiatives. History shows that they should have kept to their core business of mining coal.

          Joyces radio station.

          So you would like the whole commercial mass media market to reduce to one player and one voice. You complain about compliant media now, imagine what that model would have looked like.

          • dv 6.1.3.1.1
            25 September 2014 at 12:24 pm

            My point was that BM was one eyed in terms of who got help from the govt.

            It seems to me BM can’t have it both ways.

            However the SCF case is smellier.

            These are notes made from a Paul Caruthers video from memory may be 2- 3 weeks ago, source from a DimPost comment by Victoria Adams

            Interesting that video has now been taken down.

            It is a 25 min listen.Some key pts from memory

            The notes

            English and Key renewed the Govt guarantee the day after they got into power against treasury advice

            The got Hubard to put a couple of his own valuable company into SCF – scale and helicopter line(?), which he did willingly.

            Lotsa comments made that hubbard was fraudulent- thus reducing the co value!!
            Day after the assets were transferred? they charged him with fraud

            Powers ‘illegally’ used an act to freeze the assets

            Westpac got quite a lot from the Govt under the guarantee
            Power moved to Westpac
            Sold the a very valuable asset (Scales) to Keys next door neighbour (across the rd) for 44m
            Later listed the next year on stock market for 144m?

            And when Hubbard died in the crash, he had a court case pending against the govt.
            Apparently the autopsy reports and all the file re the the case are sealed!!!

            • Sarah 6.1.3.1.1.1
              26 September 2014 at 6:06 am

              Those comments are just so far out of touch. Paul Carruthers means well but timing is all out .

              Allan Hubbard place assets in to SCF 28 Feb , the same day the anonymous complaint was written (and originally said to have been received at secom). 28 May Hubbard resigns within days the George Kerr equity is changed to Debt (more cost to Taxpayers aka compliments of MOF Treasury) and the inspectors are only then sent in to Aorangi (given the compliant was acknowledge 28 Feb)

              SCF was accepted in to original GG on the day Key took office, but PGGW and Marac were the first entities accepted …. that is the key to all this.

              The value of hubbard’s assets were talked down in media – as another company did and noted in media with it share value prior to rights issues but for different reasons, one to successfully recap the other to destroy the company and reap assets at firesale prices

              AH died one week out from a court hearing that would have likely seen him released from Stat Management . He was the day he died to sign a deal that would ensure investors would deal with Tur Borren and others rather the Managers that now have stripped aorangi alone of $12 million plus in fees, that Aorangi was never INsolvent is a crime in my opinion given the consequences of the action taken against the Hubbard’s.

              A number of valuable assets ended up firesaled and Govt got some assets – Scales the biggy but much worse and hidden amongst non transparency.

              Hubbard was stoned to death basically by media via parrots of power without a trial and is still on trial via SCF – Media was well used by regulators especially SFO and off the record with a certain media in Timaru, frequently as OIA show and inside information- that should be proven in an investigation and someone held to account. This affair stinks to high heaven , the only consolation is the fact that George Kerr appears to be facing a lot of scrutiny now via three different issues – so maybe just maybe people might begin to follow their noses back and see where the smell began regards SCF…

              • dv …
                26 September 2014 at 12:24 pm

                Thanks Sarah.

                I really don’t know much about SCF. And that may show in my comments

                BUT my basic thesis is that it was smelly, and you appear to agree with that.

                What is your reaction to the sealing of autopsy report and the case agin the govt.

                Is anyone investigating,

      • minarch 6.1.4
        25 September 2014 at 10:09 am

        “Lets be honest, it’s not like that money is being stashed in a mattress”

        nope it stashed in the Caymans, the BVI, Bermuda, The Cooks, Labuan

        take your pick, theres plenty more !

      • Foreign waka 6.1.5
        25 September 2014 at 10:23 am

        With the wealth distribution getting more and more out of kilter, many more people will get angry. Rhetoric about benefits will not help as the rich take more and more advising the ones the take from to eat cake. God help NZ.

        • BM 6.1.5.1
          25 September 2014 at 10:34 am

          Families with 1 kid who earn 50k pay basically no income tax, more kids you have, the more money you get.
          Quite a few receive more money back than what they’d pay in tax.

          That doesn’t seem particularly fair.

          The irony of those same people bitching about the more well to do paying their fair share is not lost on me.

          • Liberal Realist 6.1.5.1.1
            25 September 2014 at 5:56 pm

            “Families with 1 kid who earn 50k pay basically no income tax, more kids you have, the more money you get.
            Quite a few receive more money back than what they’d pay in tax.

            That doesn’t seem particularly fair.”

            Your argument is moot BM. Why does WFF even exist? Because wages in NZ are too low to support a family with. If workers are paid a fair, livable wage then WFF wouldn’t need to exist.

            “The irony of those same people bitching about the more well to do paying their fair share is not lost on me.”

            And before you’re tempted to lump me in this group, no, I do not have children. I’m well into the top tax bracket and do not have any problem paying my FAIR share of income tax.

          • Richard 6.1.5.1.2
            25 September 2014 at 7:05 pm

            Whole things cock eyed BM, why is there WFF, a bribe for voters? Why are wages so low families need assistance. Why compulsory pre schooling, why forcing mums back into work. Why do families have to both work was a time when one earner was enough to keep a family.

            There’s a lot of questions BM that’s just the Tip of it. However if you want to talk, lets talk without the party blinkers on. Because I’m telling you the fact is all parties are to blame for the mess we are in, and National is currently taking that to new heights whether you care to admit it or not. If you think another ten years of Keys idea’s, and everything will be swell your more deluded than a loony left conspiracy theorist.

            The only thing I see going on, is rich people praising keys top tax cut and making employee’s a cheaper outgoing for which they have no respect for.

            You expect everyone to treat you(the company owners, Nationals support base) with respect because business makes the world go round, but actually pass on higher wages for increased productivity and profit?, not unless your forced too, lets argue that point.

            Trickle down my ass,
            Show me trickle down that’s not a fairy story.

            You want the working man to respect National start treating US with a little fucking respect.

          • Foreign waka 6.1.5.1.3
            25 September 2014 at 7:21 pm

            Why would you say that a family with 1 kid does not pay income tax? Any money claimed in income tax would be refunded after a year of trying to make it through the year. If you break it down, the income is 25k before tax per person. You are aware of the living costs these days? Daycare assistance is $ 4.00 per hour at the highest rate for 20 hrs. Childcare can cost up to $400 per child per fortnight (perhaps even more). The organization for Economic Development has found that NZ spends on average 28% of income on childcare – the fourth highest in of 32 industrialized countries – and this was 2 years ago. So lets revisit that income of 50k – and reduce this to 36k for a starter, not even inflation adjusted. I hope you see where this is going?

          • Occam 6.1.5.1.4
            25 September 2014 at 7:57 pm

            Not true. We are a single ‘taxed’ income family, my partner earns $59 K. I earn a reasonable tax free income (post-grad scholarship),so doesn’t count for WFF.

            We have two kids and don’t receive any WFF. In our case the cut-off is about $80k, at which point we would get about $7 p/week.

            So in fact you are totally wrong.

          • tricledrown 6.1.5.1.5
            25 September 2014 at 10:01 pm

            families on $50,000 pay way more Gst than single people they also are bringing up a new generation of taxpayers so we want them to be healthy and successful our low end wages are not enough to pay for all of the needs of a family!
            now you will say they don,t deserve to breed ,now you are fighting nature

      • Occam 6.1.6
        25 September 2014 at 8:05 pm

        DPB doesn’t exist anymore. It’s sole parent support till the kids are 5 then job seekers.

        Dole also doesn’t exist, it the job seekers.

        Student loans are only interest free if you stay in NZ. Outside of that ex-students pay above market rates (7%).

        Keep in mind that every dollar that the govt lends out in a student loan they get 15c back straight away with GST.

        Plus grads typically earn more, so pay more income tax and GST over their lifetime, cost less in terms of health system, justice system, and have kids that are more educated/healthy and so on saving the govt a huge amount of $$ over their lifetime.

        Carry on with your ignorant rants thought….don’t let me stop you!

  7. tc 7
    25 September 2014 at 9:07 am

    A senior ENT surgeon confided to me earlier this year they are being driven mercilessly to breaking point by administrators and management obsessed with numbers.

    He’s considering retiring even though he’s got many years left in his globally experienced hands but he’s shattered after years of it.

  8. AB 8
    25 September 2014 at 11:06 am

    We are in the USA right now getting what we believe (after long investigation) is world-leading neurosurgery for a child with cerebral palsy.
    The treatment is not available in NZ and not funded. Total cost for us is about NZ$130-140k. Luckily our extended family can help us to afford it. Other NZ families are doing it via public fund-raising.
    It seems likely to me that this procedure will become in time the preferred ‘standard of care’ for certain types of CP, at least in the developed world.
    But given that the intense cost-containment focus we already see in NZ is likely to intensify under National, I can’t see most NZ kids with CP having this option available to them.
    The silly thing is, I suspect that proper health economic analysis would show that it makes sense in pure economic terms because of surgical treatment avoided in later life and reduced future dependency on health services generally.

    It is this sort of decline in our healthcare from first world status we are going to see with National. Those of us with enough money will get by. But I despair for everyone else.

  9. KJS0ne 9
    25 September 2014 at 12:29 pm

    My theory is this, they will continue to cut public healthcare over their 3rd term, with the express purpose of trying to kill Universal free healthcare. At some point they’ll turn around and say: ‘Look, see public healthcare just doesn’t work. The only way to bring NZ healthcare into the 21st century is to privatize it.’

    Then they’ll proceed to institute a system similar to the USA. Their corporate lobbyist mates will cream their pants, retiring Nat MPs will get cushy jobs in return for supporting the change and lots of money will be made at the expense of the New Zealand public.

    Money has no place as the driving force in healthcare. I support private option to work as competition to public healthcare, but universal free healthcare is the only way to prevent profits overtaking the hippocratic oath. The USA system of healthcare only benefits the rich, and it leaves an underclass of uninsured former middle class people who have had to sell their houses and entire life savings and borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars just to pay for their medical expenses. Many people who do not have, or cannot afford health insurance die each year as a result. Even a lot of people who have basic healthcare insurance die because their healthcare insurance doesn’t provide the best care necessary. When the ‘wallet biopsy’ is performed in the ambulance, if the card isn’t good enough they get sent to a mediocre hospital with mediocre doctors who cannot provide the same level of care that one would receive in the top tier institutions.

    Monetizing healthcare just creates another dimension of inequality. Sometimes I get the feeling the corporates just see us as crops to be farmed. We are the trees upon which the money grows, and their job is to harvest it. It’s not too far removed from the machines harvesting human energy in the Matrix.

  10. StarSpangledBallet 10
    25 September 2014 at 1:20 pm

    SDHB (formally Otago and Southland DHBs) has had financial challenges through periods of significant funding growth and lower funding growth. For most of the time of the DHB model, the area has run financial deficits. The area has a history of over intervening in terms of specialist and institutional services relative to many other areas of the country. They need to get their own business in order relative to the funding they receive through the equity-weighted population-based funding formula.

    • Andrea 10.1
      25 September 2014 at 5:54 pm

      “They need to get their own business in order”

      Look: the answer is actually absolutely obvious. Isn’t it.

      It is dazzlingly clear they aren’t paying their top management enough salary and incentives to rein in those stroppy medics trying to improve their skills and care for their clients/patients.

      Do you suppose a little 10% tweak would be encouraging? Too meagre? But these are Hard Times…

      😛

  11. Michael 11
    25 September 2014 at 5:42 pm

    Labour has only itself to blame for this state of affairs: it lost the Party Vote in both Dunedin electorates and even managed to lose the votes in the University booths, for the first time in living memory. It did so as a result of offering a timid, pusillanimous, National-lite policy platform that convinced no one. I frankly doubt whether the caucus is (a) interested in, or (b) capable of, reconnecting with the Party’s base, in which case it is doomed to irrelevance and slow political death. I’d really love to believe otherwise but the spectacle of the caucus shredding the stock of political capital that I, and many other people, spent years building up in and around Dunedin, tells me Labour is now terminally fucked.

    • r0b 11.1
      25 September 2014 at 5:48 pm

      Factually incorrect, Dunedin North won the party vote for Labour (albeit by a tiny majority which may be overturned by specials). But Labour + Green demolished the Nats in Dunedin North.

  12. whateva next? 12
    25 September 2014 at 7:06 pm

    It’s inevitable, they have hacked all other government departments, and sure as night follows day, it’s the health service that will have it’s turn now, just like Thatcher did…Key has done everything else she did, why are we surprised?

  13. Occam 13
    25 September 2014 at 7:55 pm

    In 2013 the Govt gave ADHB an extra $10 mill for elective surgeries on the proviso that they push through a large number of easy and cheap surgeries, so that the govt can make the claim that they have achieved an increase in elective surgeries through the ADHB system. The ADHB agreed an completed the surgeries and met the targets.

    In 2014 they tried the same thing but the ADHB told the govt that there wasn’t enough ‘easy/cheap’ surgeries left (only challenging, expensive ones) to meet the targets for the $10 mill. The govt decided not to fund.

  14. AsleepWhileWalking 14
    26 September 2014 at 11:56 am

    Under funding of health has to lengthen time spent on benefits, coincidentially those that are by the governments own research have bee increasing in numbers for the last few years.

    When a client is signed onto either the Jobseeker + medicial dispensation (previously Sickness) or the Supported Living payment he government is paying for a resource.
    In the absence of proper health funding this resource is going to be wasted in many cases.

    PATHS is limited in funding and only funds health related expenses that have a clear nexus with working. If you need longer term or complex intervention you are out of luck, or more specifically out of funding.

    Tis a real shame for everyone involved. Perhaps it is now time to look at the two together before allocating budgets.

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    Sometimes you despair. You really do. Fresh off leading Labour to its ugliest election result since 1990,* Chris Hipkins has decided to misdiagnose matters, because the Government he led cannot possibly have been wrong about anything. *In 2011 and 2014, people were willing to save Labour’s electorate ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    17 hours ago

  • Clued Up: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    Bowalley Road
    22 hours ago

  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara WhetĆ« | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    2 days ago

  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago

  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to 
.  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  ‱ This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    6 days ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    1 week ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KƍreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Disestablishment of Te PĆ«kenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te PĆ«kenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te PĆ«kenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
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  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
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