How austerity is destroying Britain… coming soon near you

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:23 am, April 1st, 2013 - 79 comments
Categories: activism, benefits, child welfare, class war, Conservation, democracy under attack, equality, health, infrastructure, jobs, labour, paula bennett, poverty, Privatisation, same old national, uk politics, unemployment, welfare - Tags: jacinda arden, phil twyford

A raft of Tory policies have been dismantling what is left of the British welfare state (after Thatcherism set them on this destructive and inhumane path). This includes the so-called “Bedroom Tax” which will cut the amount of benefit people can get if they have a spare bedroom in their home. In today’s NZ Herald Toby Helm and Tracy McVeigh report that this has been called “bad policy and bad economics”:

David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said the tax – which will cut the amount of benefit people can get if they have a spare bedroom in their home – would harm the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

It comes into force this week alongside a range of other tax and benefit changes.

On Saturday (UK time) there was a protest against this tax. On Saturday, opponents to the tax

… launched nationwide protests against the tax which will hit 660,000 households with each losing an estimated average of £14 a week.

Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square yesterday to protest against the measure and simultaneous protests were being held in towns and cities across the UK.

Protester Sue Carter, 58, said: “I’m a working single parent with a tiny boxroom and now I’m faced with the choice between food, heat or paying the bedroom tax. People have looked after their homes, improved them, why should they be turfed out?”

Among the other changes happening this week is the stealthy privatisation of the National Health Service, largely ignored by the UK MSM. The website, Liberal Conspiracy has extracts from an interview, originally published in the British Medical Journal, about how the privatisation of the NHS begins this week.

LUCY REYNOLDS: We’re not going to have a big bang privatisation for the NHS. We’re going to have a very quiet one.

What has happened is that all of the rules that control health financing have been gradually changed since the New Labour times. Overall, we now have the NHS reorganised in such a way that it can be relaunched as a mixed market, so not just the public health sector service, but also a healthcare industry. The rules are structured in such a way that there will be a gradual transition between those two groups. The public sector will shrink away, and the private sector will grow.

But because there will never be an announcement in parliament that the NHS is privatised, and because the private providers will be allowed to use the NHS logo for anything that they are getting NHS funding for, it is very likely that the general public will not be aware that the private sector has in fact come in and taken over whatever bits of the NHS it finds profitable until probably service provision gets fairly bad.

This kind of stealth is similar to the NAct government’s sly dismantling of NZ’s conservation protections, as I argued in that post. Both the NZ and UK governments seem to be approaching their anti-democratic and unpopular agendas by quietly setting up a range of seemingly small and unconnected provisions, which will eventually amount to a comprehensive and major change with huge social and economic impocts.

And very often the changes to social security and other public provisions that NAct are bringing in, are modeled on ones already in play in the UK, as, for instance was argued by opposition MPs debating the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill. During the 1st reading, Jacinda Ardern said:

The use of outsourcing of assessment of work capacity and the ACC-style model of vocational independence assessment process bears striking resemblance to that used in the UK. The Department for Work and Pensions in the UK made use of contractors like Atos to perform work capability assessments, at a cost to the State of ₤300 million. Since that time an estimated 500,000 people have been wrongly assessed. People with terminal cancer have been found fit for work, and people with mental health issues have been ignored. Not only should we not lose sight of the lessons from abroad but also we must apply our own values around the role of social security in our country.

During the 2nd reading, Phil Twyford said:

We remain concerned that the Minister has signalled a UK-style medical assessment regime for people who are on a sickness benefit or an invalids benefit. …

We have seen a huge increase in the use of sanctions under this Government in the social development area. There is no assessment in place, there is no evidence that the increase in sanctions has had any kind of success, and we should see an assessment regime that actually looks to measure the harm or benefit that families have received as a result of the sanctions regime.

A recent survey in the UK shows how poverty is increasing under the “austerity” regime.

The Poverty and Social Exclusion report, the biggest survey of deprivation across the UK, found that a third of adults now suffer from some form of financial insecurity, with more than a quarter admitting they can neither save £20 a month nor put money away for a pension.

Just under one in ten households say they are unable to heat the living areas of their homes, up from just 3 per cent in the 1990s. People now say they consider around 33 per cent of Britons to be suffering from a lifestyle of “multiple deprivation”.

In his on-going series of posts on poverty, Anthony Robins has been monitoring the way poverty is damaging so many lives in NZ. This week he focused on the impact of poverty on Kiwi children.

First Britain and the US, then NZ: so goes democracy, social security and a fair and functional economy and society.

79 comments on “How austerity is destroying Britain… coming soon near you ”

Comments are now closed

Draco T Bastard 1

1 April 2013 at 10:05 am

A recent survey in the UK shows how poverty is increasing under the “austerity” regime.

That’s what it’s supposed to do. It will drive down wages and force people apart as they fight for their own survival. The right are trying to get it so that the people cannot combine against the rich.
- aerobubble 1.1
  
  2 April 2013 at 12:03 pm
  
  People with boarders are hardly likely to buy the latest gadgets,etc, and take longer to replace items, harming the consumer culture, yet there is an upside, govt pushing people together in housing will produce stress and so anger against the state (and making new networks of people).
Sanctuary 2

1 April 2013 at 10:07 am

The point of neo-liberalism as a political project is to restore the power of the economic elites and re-establish the conditions for capital accumulation by those elites.After the fall of the USSR across the Anglosphere the capitalist ruling elites first lost their fear then (with the opening of China, that totalitarian corporate capitalist nirvana) lost their use for the bulk of their domestic populations. It follows that the philosophical utopian aspects of neo-liberalism, such as they were, are being quickly disposed of in favour of totalitarian measures from an increasingly fearful elite to keep their domestic mobs closely controlled.

The Tory attack on the poor is simply another illustration of this siege mentailty in the British ruling elites. Another example was the savage punitive response of the judicial establishment to the spontaneous and angry mobs that roamed the streets during the London riots.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/18/full-picture-of-riot-sentences

Establishment cruelty and savagery of the order of this post is born in profound fear and hatred, and it shows how much the British ruling elites regard themselves as under siege from a dehumanised untermenschen in their midst. It is fear and hatred of the poor that feeds the current Tory mentality and drives their policy.

The city financial elite that the entire British state has now been bent to serve doesn’t pay enough tax to fund much or provide any sort of real jobs engine except for itself. The oil that has paid for everything from Trident to welfare is almost gone. Britain is now a hugely over-populated and resource depleted island. The ruling class is desperate to atomise, demoralise, demonise and control the masses. So they’ve created a huge, dictatorial and corrupt police force and combined it with a massive surveillance network (there are 11,000 cameras on the tube network alone).

Eventually, their will be another explosion like the last London riots as politically unorganised mobs vent their frustrations. And then another crackdown, and another explosion and another crackdown… Until one day either a dystopian surevellance police state will exist in the UK, or some sort of new, quasi-communist doctrine will emerge that will overthrow the state.
- Colonial Viper 2.1
  
  1 April 2013 at 11:36 am
  
  V for Vendetta
  
  My question is – what is the way to breakthrough this, to not only avoid the worst social and political economic outcomes, but to get to a point where real progressive change is made for the vast majority of people.
  
  I can’t see a plausible road ahead at this point.
  - muzza 2.1.1
    
    1 April 2013 at 12:02 pm
    
    I can’t see a plausible road ahead at this point.
    
    There are various roads which can be taken, but there are not enough people who have any idea whats going on. They might be feeling the effects, or they might not, still too many are in the dark.
    
    Plausible roads ahead are blocked off ,until such time as NZ’ers become very visible, and vocal!
    
    Kiwis going down, no sign of a fight, hardly a punch thrown as yet!
    - tc 2.1.1.1
      
      1 April 2013 at 1:43 pm
      
      +1 Muzza, we’ve never been well informed or thoughtful when it comes to how we vote, if we vote at all. Key winning in 08 speaks volumes for the atitude and gullibility of even the bluest of followers and yet they still think him and his henchmen have our best interests at heart.
      
      The frogs don’t even know the waters becoming warm with a fire and momentum under it that will take a huge groundswell to affect.
      
      Their greatest tool is having the MSM onside, I bet they never thought they’d be able to bully the lower levels and dismantle democracy in the way they have and plunder as easily also with SCF and ECAN being the most obvious examples.
      
      Depressing to think Key probably wouldve be cut to pieces over Tranzrail, blind trusts and his other lies by a half decent 4th estate and they would be ripping them apart over GCSB, TPP, solid energy, Tiwai and the power generator flog off revelling in all this great material supplied by Collins, brownlee, Bennett, etc.
      
      All of that and a toothless opposition led by the hollowmens first choice….ditherer DS.
      - red rattler 2.1.1.1.1
        
        1 April 2013 at 3:02 pm
        
        No point bemoaning the MSM, they are the corporate media.
        Raising consciousness is the duty of the left, on blogs, rallies, marches, occupations etc.
        The big problem in NZ is to convince people that there is no way out with capitalism.
        The opportunities to become self-employed and then rich, the kiwi dream, is foreclosed except for a few in high tech who spin out of the unis or silicon garages but for how long?
        The system is going down and taking the planet with it. The only question is how long will it take?
        My pick is that the present divisions manufactured in the working class, and between Maori, Asians and the rest, is the biggest barrier to overcome, but that will happen when The NACTs devotion to profits at all costs drives us all up against CC.
        I don’t think that a slide into barbarism and extinction is inevitable.
        Once the majority loses its fear as we have seen happen many times in history, there is nothing standing between it the few parasites clinging onto power but a few mercenaries.
        
        Ugly Truth 2.1.1.1.1.1
        
        2 April 2013 at 12:18 pm
        
        The big problem in NZ is to convince people that there is no way out with capitalism.
        
        There’s a difference between capitalism and corporatism. Capitalism has a level playing field, but with corporatism you get taxpayer funded bailouts and emphasis on the master-slave model for employees.
    - xtasy 2.1.1.2
      
      1 April 2013 at 2:54 pm
      
      muzza:
      
      “There are various roads which can be taken, but there are not enough people who have any idea whats going on. They might be feeling the effects, or they might not, still too many are in the dark.”
      
      People do not get information about what goes on. I recently spoke with my GP, who should bloody well have known a bit about the welfare reforms that are being pushed through under this National led dicta-government.
      
      In all honesty, he had NO idea, about 57,000 sickness beneficiaries going to be turned into “job-seekers” at the stroke of a pen (when the law will be assented). He had no idea about the reforms at all, not in detail, he had no information about the future harsh and to be outsourced assessments in UK style (ATOS Origin Healthcare).
      
      His comments shocked me, but ask anybody out in public, who is not that seriously interested in politics and in social issues, they also will not be able to tell you what is being passed through the Parliament as ‘Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill’.
      
      The reason is: The media have NOT at all reported on it, not since the bill was introduced last September. There is NO reporting, NO informing about what is involved, NO discussion, NO debate, NO mention in current affairs programs, NO articles in the print media.
      
      Last week right wing talk-back host Michael Laws only metioned briefly the welfare reforms, and all he mentioned was “drug testing”, “social obligations”, and nothing else. So this mischievous piece of human being did not even enlighten his listeners what else there was involved, after an email about this (sent to him) informed him of this.
      
      The key persons in the media are not interested, and those that make decisions, they do not even want to report on it, as they all are soft on Key and government, are mindful of the prejudice they themselves nurtured against beneficiaries over so many years.
      
      And without media informing we have uninformed public and voters. Hence nothing will change as long as this goes on.
      - Mary 2.1.1.2.1
        
        2 April 2013 at 11:08 pm
        
        Yes, and for the same reasons very few people have really bothered to familiarise themselves with the same sort of reforms that Labour pushed through. The difference here, though, is that the general public, importantly including your average run of the mill Labour voter, never got see what Labour, their “party of the Left”, was really capable of. Large numbers of traditional Labour supporters still think Labour is the party for the poor. How wrong they are.
  - Jenny 2.1.2
    
    2 April 2013 at 4:49 am
    
    I can’t see a plausible road ahead at this point.
    
    Colonial Viper
    
    I can
    
    CV you ask; “what is the way to breakthrough this”.
    
    CV, The only hard part is deciding where to start. There is so much good stuff in Karol’s post.
    
    An opposition party only need to pick up on any one part of it to make gains.
    
    For instance, this bit;
    
    …..the biggest survey of deprivation across the UK, found that a third of adults now suffer from some form of financial insecurity, with more than a quarter admitting they can neither save £20 a month nor put money away for a pension.
    
    I would say, that it not that different here. (probably, for even more than a quarter)
    
    The Labour Party for instance could make a public announcement that they are planning to dump their controversial neo-liberal plan to raise the age of retirement.
    
    Will they do it?
    
    Not likely, as people like Rob and yourself all fall into line behind this policy coming down from the top.
    
    What about the environment. Here is another good piece of policy direction in which the opposition parties could differentiate themselves from the government and pick up votes. Karol points out, rightly; That the piecemeal nature of the government attacks on DoC are similiar in strategy to how the British Tories are breaking down social provision everywhere. That this attack is all part of a whole. National is actually waging an undeclared war on the environment on behalf of those who wish to despoil it.
    
    Labour could make a stand here as well. Publicly denouncing National’s war on the environment. And declaring that they will reverse the cuts in DoC that have resulted in the current (and previous), round of lay offs.
    
    At the same time also announce that a Labour led administration will reverse the repressive anti protest laws that are nothing but another part of National’s assault on civil liberties on behalf of the polluters which is all part of the National Government’s undeclared war on the environment.
    
    Just these two simple things would create a huge uproar in the media and the blogosphere. That would clearly differentiate the opposition from the government in the public’s eyes.
    - xtasy 2.1.2.1
      
      2 April 2013 at 10:45 pm
      
      Back to square one then: A NEW, TRULY LEFT PARTY IS NEEDED!
- Plan B 2.2
  
  1 April 2013 at 2:45 pm
  
  A fantastic post, well argued. I even bothered to look up ‘untermenschen’
  
  Untermensch (German for under man, sub-man, sub-human; plural: Untermenschen) is a term that became infamous when the Nazi
  
  Would question this point. about overpopulated, as I think the place looks overpopulated because the masses are kept in vast city ghettos rather than there being a real problem of space.
  - xtasy 2.2.1
    
    1 April 2013 at 10:32 pm
    
    Plan B:
    
    If you want more info and enlightenment on mental “Untermenschen”, just tune into Radio Live between 09 am and midday, when a Michael Laws “entertains” a fair number of such specimen. He is the “Untermensch” Leader and manipulator, par excellence. Never ever would you dream of the lowest levels of human thought, emotion and views to be found, that are there, until you start listening in to his show!
    - gnomic 2.2.1.1
      
      3 April 2013 at 2:55 pm
      
      In fresh news to hand I’m afraid ‘Lawsie’ has left the building to follow a new career path. And the replacement is … tada! Sean ‘I’m Significant Me’ Plunkett, formerly of National Radio. Where he was rather annoying at times with his relentless attack dog approach to the art of interviewing. So far I have learned that Sean is by his own description “a charming drunk.” Fascinating. As opposed to a belligerent drunk you see. Ah well, something else not to listen to. Except perhaps once in while to briefly sample the thoughts of the mighty mainstream.Some predict Sean will take listeners from National Radio with its Nine to Noon offering. Only time will tell on that one.
      
      As for Lawsie, at least that’s over. It was occasionally interesting as a study in abnormal pyschology. Where do all these legends in their own lunchtime come from? Maybe the reason why so many of the radio commentariat are asshats is that only an asshat would want to do it. You can always tune to 1ZB if you need an egotistical ignoramus for your listening pleasure.
irascible 3

1 April 2013 at 10:09 am

A few more comments on the same issue from Social Europe Journal. I also recommend the “Nobody Loves a Tory” https://www.facebook.com/nobodylikesatory site for more trenchant commentary on the Cameron government and the economic and social path being followed by the conservative parties, including the KeY owned NACTional party, worldwide.

http://www.social-europe.eu/2013/03/austerity-kills-not-only-economic-growth/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+social-europe%2FwmyH+%28Social+Europe+Journal%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

http://www.social-europe.eu/2013/03/the-power-of-austerity-over-politicians/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+social-europe%2FwmyH+%28Social+Europe+Journal%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail
johnm 4

1 April 2013 at 11:11 am

The Artist Taxi driver:
SNOW; Tory/Coalition Britain like a bewitched Narnia always Winter but never Christmas 🙁 🙁 🙁

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6hzlcyQtE&list=UUGThM-ZZBba1Zl9rU-XeR-A&index=6

Plenty money for the private predatory banks taken from the Public’s commonwealth. 🙁

“They can afford to waste billions of tax payers money yet they can’t afford to feed the poor or the sick, the disabled and the elderly!, this government is not for the people, they are for themselves the Nazi Swines!!!!!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3uAPwn3t9Y&list=UUGThM-ZZBba1Zl9rU-XeR-A
RedBaronCV 5

1 April 2013 at 11:13 am

The tipping point like Margaret Thatcher’s poll tax?
johnm 6

1 April 2013 at 11:52 am

“Big London Protests Against Austerity”

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=9018

“”Are such mobilizations enough to stop the cuts?”Good question.
In my view, no.
Until enough people recognize the necessity for a simple, clear, focused solution to this crisis, then the resistance will continue to drift between a hundred different “solutions” which will ultimately prove to be no solution, (as the conditions for a radical swing of the masses to the right gathers steam).
Yet the solution to this social crisis, (and practically all others for the last 100+ years) has always been the same: arrest the top 1% and confiscate their wealth; take back the monetary system from the banksters, and cancel the public debt for the fraud that it is.
Simple concept that near-everybody understands; but very hard to implement because of the well-armed and financed Elite that would oppose it tooth and nail, and because the vast majority is not prepared to face the full implications of reality, (including most “progressives” it seems).
“We” are not yet prepared to give up our lives, (non-violently) to the cause of truth.
Alas, those not prepared to face reality are destined to have reality imposed”
- johnm 6.1
  
  2 April 2013 at 10:17 am
  
  Protests over reforms to the UK’s welfare system
  
  http://therealnews.com/t2/component/hwdvideoshare/?task=viewvideo&video_id=75900
Phil 7

1 April 2013 at 11:55 am

http://youtu.be/pFCkG9UJGjc
Max and Stacy, telling it like it is…again
- kiwi_prometheus 7.1
  
  1 April 2013 at 3:01 pm
  
  Max is my hero.
- xtasy 7.2
  
  1 April 2013 at 10:46 pm
  
  So fuck the beneficiaries, having to cut and tighten the belts, to go and look for non existing work and jobs, and otherwise commit suicide, while property owners in debt get offered government bail-outs of a questionable nature.
  
  Welcome corrupt right wing, Anglo Saxon, bull-shit finance and economic policies.
  
  And Kiwis vote for the same bullshit kind of government here, damned, what a disgusting ignorance!
  - kiwi_prometheus 7.2.1
    
    1 April 2013 at 11:04 pm
    
    What choice have they got?
    
    Its either Slimy Keys or the equally ideologically bankrupt Marxist/Socialist/Lesbian Liberationists.
    
    So of course they are flocking to Keys.
    
    Sigh.
    - Ugly Truth 7.2.1.1
      
      2 April 2013 at 10:26 am
      
      They have the choice between civil government and the law of the land aka common law.
      - Mary 7.2.1.1.1
        
        2 April 2013 at 11:17 pm
        
        “They have the choice between civil government and the law of the land aka common law.”
        
        What are you trying to say? What does “civil government” mean? “Law of the land”, whatever you mean, isn’t just common law. It includes all “law of the land”, including statute law. So what do you mean when you say people have a “choice” between what ever “civil government” means, and law (i.e. statute and common law)? Enlighten us.
    - xtasy 7.2.1.2
      
      2 April 2013 at 10:48 pm
      
      KP – a bit of a ridiculous cop out argument you deliver. What about voting Mana or Greens, what about starting a NEW, real progressive, NEW LEFT PARTY???
Dv 8

1 April 2013 at 11:55 am

http://www.3news.co.nz/Salisbury-School-Closure-in-disguise/tabid/367/articleID/291882/Default.aspx

Here is a disgraceful example

The Govt lost a legal battle to close Salsburry

BUT

The committe to recommend pupils now only has MOE members

AND

There have been no recommendations for enrolment this year.

Closure by starvation.

Disgraceful.
- Puddleglum 8.1
  
  1 April 2013 at 12:32 pm
  
  Yes, it’s stealth bombing in the political sphere – under the radar stuff.
  
  As I mentioned in another post, Colin James has claimed that Ministers are already privately boasting about this tactic.
  
  It is a form of ‘radical incrementalism’ dressed up as pragmatism. All the supposedly ‘pragmatic’ decisions just happen to head in the same ideological direction, cumulatively producing the desired result. In addition, the size of the ‘increments’ has been ramped up over time to accelerate the process while still not ‘scaring the voters’.
  
  Clever, but a very deceptive approach to politics when you don’t make clear the destination you have in mind and that you hope becomes locked in by your incremental, structural and technical changes.
  
  As well as being morally repugnant it undermines the very idea of democracy as an open and transparent debate over fundamental ideas and values.
  
  The current government has attempted to make this tactic an art form.
  - aerobubble 8.1.1
    
    3 April 2013 at 1:41 pm
    
    One way to create consent is to reverse the timing of events. For example, Austerity policies in the UK preceding rather than following the UK riots would have had a whole different outcome.
    
    Now imagine the newsspeak media doing that to real events, say the attack by N.Korea on a boat, is brought forward to after N.Korea’s declaration of war. It could be used as documented proof of an attack, to garner massive public support for a war on N.Korea.
    
    This is why we can’t trust the media, Murdoch papers played with the truth about Saddam’s WMDs to invade Iraq.
    
    The west is no longer free in the full sense of the term while media-government-industry work together for their interests at the expense of the people. Poverty should not be happening in the world, starvation, diseases long since cured running rampant, etc. We gave our economy to bankers and they sowed up compliance of the media-govt-industry with lavish cash hordes.
- johnm 8.2
  
  1 April 2013 at 1:07 pm
  
  Hi DV
  This government is hell bent on ruining the public commonwealth in all respects and substituting a privatised predatory bank funded profit oriented system where they’ll just sit back and watch without any responsibility to the people of New Zealand, until finally NZ becomes N$Z, a money grubber’s paradise. :-(. Salisbury is an example. They really have 100% loyalty to the business shark side of things people don’t matter.
millsy 9

1 April 2013 at 11:59 am

I have always thought that Thatcher had her limits and knew where to stop.

Cameron doesnt.
- Colonial Viper 9.1
  
  1 April 2013 at 1:33 pm
  
  Thatcher had very powerful political enemies eg the mining unions. Cameron doesn’t have that constraint.
- xtasy 9.2
  
  1 April 2013 at 10:56 pm
  
  The loss of an empire and privilege make for a nasty mix of resentment, and here we have it, the upper class and privileged in the UK, once again, dishing out against the weak and poor, to show they can “survive”. For damned shit sake, start another LONDON BURNING!
  - The Al1en 9.2.1
    
    1 April 2013 at 11:07 pm
    
    “For damned shit sake, start another LONDON BURNING!”
    
    Or give the leaderless someone to follow and their votes will burn much brighter and longer than any lawlessness ever will.
    
    And loss of empire as a motive for bene bashing, do they teach that in the colonies? Is that why the nats and Shearer do it?
    As always it’s about money, who owns it, who wants to keep it and who wants more of it.
    Just greed and an easy target to scapegoat all the way to the bank.
big bruv 10

1 April 2013 at 1:29 pm

“so goes democracy, social security and a fair and functional economy and society.”

Lol….

A fair and functional society would be one where every member of that society took personal responsibility for their actions. A fair society would be one that took the attitude that to be on a benefit is something to be ashamed of, something that made the beneficiary strive to get off and find there own form of legitimate income.

The trouble with the left is that you people keep telling the bludgers that it is their right to be on a benefit, that they have “entitlements” when the only entitlement that society should expect from parasites is for them to work, pay tax and contribute to society.
- One Tāne Huna 10.1
  
  1 April 2013 at 2:58 pm
  
  The trouble with wingnut trash is illustrated perfectly by the likes of Capill, Garrett and Banks.
  
  Look at this creep, calling fellow citizens “parasites”. What a low-life.
- kiwi_prometheus 10.2
  
  1 April 2013 at 3:00 pm
  
  “the only entitlement that society should expect from parasites is for them to work, pay tax and contribute to society.”
  
  LOL
  
  big bruv it is the ultra rich and the global corporations who don’t pay their tax contributing to public deficits.
  
  Is engaging in criminal activity like laundering Mexican drug cartel proceeds considered ‘work’ by you? If not, none of the ultra rich banksters like JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon are working.
  
  Is collapsing entire economies with financial manipulation, shoving 100 000 000s of people into financial hardship or poverty “contributing to society”?
  
  big bruv, the ultra rich seem to think it is their right to trash democracies and economies.
  
  And all you right whingers can come up with is benefit bashing.
- xtasy 10.3
  
  1 April 2013 at 3:02 pm
  
  big bruv or “big bluff”?
  
  “A fair society would be one that took the attitude that to be on a benefit is something to be ashamed of, something that made the beneficiary strive to get off and find there own form of legitimate income.”
  
  You should be bloody ashamed for bludging off the public of NZ by ripping them off as a selfish workaholic on a too low tax rate, who wants to make sick and disabled suffer and be pushed to self harm and suicide.
  
  Here you go on again about your paranoia, phobia and madness, “parasites”, “parasites” and more “parasites”. The biggest parasites there are is people with a mindset you propose.
  
  Have you not phoned the help line to see a counsellor yet, as I strongly advised you to do?
- Plan B 10.4
  
  1 April 2013 at 3:02 pm
  
  big bruv
  where to start? Of course you are right, when will we get the bludgers off welfare. Why did we bail out South Canterbury Finance? Why did we bail out leaky home owners why all this fuss about the red zone. Why vcan’t these people stand on their own two feet. If they can’t stand up to predatory insurance companies with deep pockets then that is there problem. It has nothing to do with us.
  
  Why do we allow a complete lack of real competition in sector after sector of our economy. Why is the side show of people on benefits allowed to dominate all discussions about welfare. The welfare they get is a pittance when contrasted with welfare for insiders?
  
  Do you know that 60 ‘insider firms get 30 million a year from NZTE that the funds are handed out in such a way that makes it almost impossible to find out who got what and why?
  
  In sector after sector you see , low or zero competition sanctioned by government. in each of these areas you get, low competition, low innovation, low investment, and high profits for those inside the tent.
  
  NZ is being squeezed to death not by people on benefits that we can see but by corporate interests on benefits that we can’t see. People are on benefits because it suits some people to keep them there. To keep wages down at the margin. To help us live in fear of a feral underclass.
  
  Take your brilliant statement.
  
  The trouble with the left is that you people keep telling the bludgers that it is their right to be on a benefit, that they have “entitlements” when the only entitlement that society should expect from parasites is for them to work, pay tax and contribute to society.
  
  If you only aimed that statement at the real bludgers you would gain a lot more from the insight.
  
  People on welfare need an economy that needs them. We have to invest in our own people. If we do not then what is the point of democratic capitalism? Our only purpose in life is to tend and nuture the next generation. The fact that in modern society parasitic, sociopaths can prey on the population at large is something we have to recognise and act against in our own best interests.
  
  Our investmenst as a society should be in our own, through our school system, our sport, our parks, our local environments, our health system. We have to over invest in areas that many people have trouble investing in for whatever reason.
  - Mel 10.4.1
    
    1 April 2013 at 3:48 pm
    
    @Plan B
    +1
  - johnm 10.4.2
    
    1 April 2013 at 4:43 pm
    
    Plan B
    +100%
- millsy 10.5
  
  1 April 2013 at 3:54 pm
  
  There was nothing to stop you from drawing up a private members bill to chop the social safety net when you were in Parliament, David. Why didnt you do so? Would have had a better chance for getting public support than posting on here…
- Brian 10.6
  
  1 April 2013 at 10:23 pm
  
  It has always amazed me, why it is that when Tories hate benificiaries so much, they always end up creating thiousands more.
  As for your parasites comment it merely demonstrates what a twat you are.
- Ugly Truth 10.7
  
  2 April 2013 at 12:07 pm
  
  A fair and functional society would be one where every member of that society took personal responsibility for their actions.
  
  Personal responsibility has strings attached, it implies that an obligation is owed to the state, which isn’t always the case. A just society would be one in which every member was responsible for their own.
  - karol 10.7.1
    
    2 April 2013 at 12:27 pm
    
    In my view, a just society is one where people are socially responsible; ie have some responsibility for the way others in the society are treated.
    - Ugly Truth 10.7.1.1
      
      2 April 2013 at 1:43 pm
      
      I agree that it benefits society when there is some kind of mechanism to assist the less well off. What I’m wary of is this mechanism being overused or hijacked for political ends.
      
      I’m wary of assumed responsibility, it’s too easy to abuse IMO.
      - karol 10.7.1.1.1
        
        2 April 2013 at 1:48 pm
        
        I’m wary of a focus solely on self-responsibility – too easy to become just about a selfish, “what’s in it for me? – damn the rest of you” approach: one that ignores the fact that humans are social beings in societies that require extensive collaboration with those beyond the home fire.
kiwi_prometheus 11

1 April 2013 at 11:13 pm

The UK IS MORE BANKRUPT THAN CYPRUS.

EVERY BANK (aka crime syndicates) IN THE WEST INCLUDING THE RESERVES IS INSOLVENT.

Even Marx couldn’t have dreamed this up in his wildest dialectical materialist wet dream!

EXTEND AND PRETEND, it is just a matter of time…
- Ugly Truth 11.1
  
  2 April 2013 at 11:42 am
  
  This is quite a good introduction to the Feral[sic] Reserve from a mainstream source.
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P8nNzA7v7JA
johnm 12

2 April 2013 at 11:32 am

‘I could live on £53 a week’: Iain Duncan Smith defends welfare cuts claiming new system will let people ‘break free’ of benefits

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2302343/I-live-53-week-Iain-Duncan-Smith-defends-welfare-cuts-claiming-new-let-people-break-free-benefits.html

‘Not with the lifestyle you expect you pompous prat and it’s not just one week it’s every week. God I despise these rich idiots they truly have no idea.’

‘Yes —–He probably could live for ONE week on £53—just for show—— Let him try to live for TWO YEARS on £53 a week ——That would soon shut him up.’

‘Really? What rubbish, he has no idea of what a struggle it is. I would love to see him try. My husband has just got a job earning £18k per year, he comes out with just over £1k a month which is not enough to cover our mortgage, bills, food and our old car. I can’t get a job, have been trying for over 6 months but only one interview, because of my age and medical history. My ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) has been stopped because my husband works over 24 hours per week so I now have to ask him for money for my sanitary towels. It is like going back to Victorian times. I hate the smug arrogance of politicians like IDS and Clegg who think they can live on the breadline or stay at home all day caring for children. They never had to and thus they have no idea.’

‘”But when challenged on whether he could live on £7.57 per day, Mr Duncan Smith replied: ‘If I had to, I would.”, But you and your parasitic cronies don’t have to! Not when as well as collecting your high salaries you continue to take, take take, from the taxpayers funding to pay for your second/third mortgages, food, fuel, dog food, holidays, pay for your parents, children’s pretentious lifestyle leaving the poor and vulnerable to go hungry, cold and without any life!! Time to remove these parasitic, freeloading sc+m from office!! Stand up and be counted!!!’

‘Why do people lump everyone together who are benefits has scroungers, drink and drug users! I lost my job and can’t get another I volunteer 16 hours a week to contribute back into society! I get sick of being called horrible names because a few give the rest a bad name!’

‘Another rich boy plonker living in cloud cuckoo land.!!!! Prove it, but then I don’t suppose you have the courage to. Ridiculous little man, paid far too much.’

‘Fine, Mr Smith. Give me a job now – I desperately want one! I speak languages, I have degree and certificates as well as years of experience, I work as a volunteer for over 30 hours a week so I am not afraid of work, I am smart, reliable and hard working. Where is the payed job you are telling me someone does not want, Mr Smith? I am here and ready to start this job tomorrow morning at 8 am.’

‘Seems a rather strange comment to make from a man who was embroiled in a scandal years ago when the charge against him was that he was fleecing the public purse when paying his wife to carry out so called “secretarial ” duties.’
- millsy 12.1
  
  2 April 2013 at 11:43 am
  
  Hmph.
  
  Cabinet ministers always say “I can live on that” when they cut benefits.
  
  Earlier this year, the Australian families minister, Jenny someone or rather, she said that she could live on 240-something a week, and our own Katherine O’Reagan, back in the dark and horrible 1990’s, reckoned she could live on a newly slashed DPB.
  - Colonial Viper 12.1.1
    
    2 April 2013 at 11:46 am
    
    As long as they’ve stocked their fridge up with Veuve the week before
    - xtasy 12.1.1.1
      
      2 April 2013 at 10:54 pm
      
      As long as the wealthy or at least employed rellies and mates are around to chip in, to keep the courage up, to lobby for a job through the network. Those that are up the top have those damned networks and also old boys and girls ones, they would never have to suffer longer term benefit dependence.
      
      Have you heard of any MP for instance, who has ended up on the scrap heap, in a Housing NZ house to be taken off them at some stage, struggling on UB, SB or IB, or also DPB for any longer period?
      
      No, the only one who may have some real life experience on benefit life and survival is Sue Bradford. She though takes a stand, no others do, not even the left of the Labour brigade or of the Greens!!!
  - aerobubble 12.1.2
    
    2 April 2013 at 12:19 pm
    
    With savings and some assets (a home), and no car, freeze in winter, its entirely possible without any outgoings like friends, family, or hobbies, to live on the benefit. Its not a life unless you are a hermit whose self identity comes from things intellectual, so no politician could survive as they are noted social people who crave attention. And as anyone, anyone but a politician, would recognize, we live in a society where money is necessary for social activity. A human right, to food, housing, health AND social connection. But hey, lets just turn a sector of society into a open concentration camp, deprived of basic human needs.
    - Colonial Viper 12.1.2.1
      
      2 April 2013 at 12:35 pm
      
      An open concentration camp? Shit dude, why not make it an actual concentration camp? You know, with poor people in their own isolated suburbs etc. Oh look, that’s happening in AKL right now…
      - Rob 12.1.2.1.1
        
        2 April 2013 at 12:37 pm
        
        and you know this how….
        
        Colonial Viper 12.1.2.1.1.1
        
        2 April 2013 at 12:40 pm
        
        Poor houses not allowed in Herne Bay.
        
        aerobubble …
        
        3 April 2013 at 1:08 pm
        
        The new motorway will only make it easier for them to get out of S.Auckland.
  - Colonial Weka 12.1.3
    
    2 April 2013 at 11:02 pm
    
    “Katherine O’Reagan, back in the dark and horrible 1990′s, reckoned she could live on a newly slashed DPB.”
    
    It was Jenny Shipley, and she lived on the DPB for two weeks, just to prove that it could be done. Unfortunately she failed to realise that she had proved just that – that one can live on the DPB for two weeks 🙄 The media seems particularly dense as well.
- rosy 12.2
  
  3 April 2013 at 12:23 am
  
  Who’s the National MP from the 90s who wrote up menus to show it was possible to feed your kids properly on a benefit?
  
  Said she’d live on it for a month but then reneged because she was ill and it wouldn’t be good for her health.
Russell 13

2 April 2013 at 1:09 pm

Austerity? When did the government stop borrowing billions a year to fund existing spending?
- karol 13.1
  
  2 April 2013 at 1:21 pm
  
  Austerity for the least well off, more money for NAct’s cronies.
- trickldrown 13.2
  
  4 April 2013 at 12:25 pm
  
  from 2000 till 2007 Russell and even Cullen managed to save money by taxing the well off!
  Austerity has forced chancellor Osborne to admit that his borrowings have gone up as opposed to going down as he had promised when he started his austerity program!
  Even Osbourne backers big business have lambasted Osbournes failings!
  Reagans chief econmic adviser has taken to G W Bushes shambolic destruction of the US economy during his reign (huffington post )
johnm 14

3 April 2013 at 10:19 am

Monbiot comments on the U$K Austerity class war on the poor. 🙁

“With a most inhuman cruelty, they who have put out the people’s eyes reproach them of their blindness.” This government, whose mismanagement of the economy has forced so many into the arms of the state, blames the sick, the unemployed, the underpaid for a crisis caused by the feral elite – and punishes them accordingly. Most of those affected by the bedroom tax, introduced today, are disabled. Thousands will be driven from their homes, and many more pushed towards destitution. Relief for the poor from council tax will be clipped; legal aid for civil cases cut off. Yet at the end of this week those making more than £150,000 a year will have their income tax cut.

Two days later, benefit payments for the poorest will be cut in real terms. A week after that, thousands of families who live in towns and boroughs where property prices are high will be forced out of their homes by the total benefits cap. What we are witnessing is raw economic warfare by the rich against the poor.”

Seventy years ago, in the United Kingdom, the transformative idea was freedom from want and fear through the creation of a social security system and a National Health Service. It swept a Labour government to power which was able, despite far tougher economic circumstances than today’s, to create a fair society from a smashed, divided nation. This is the achievement which – through a series of sudden, spectacular and unmandated strikes – Cameron’s government is now demolishing.

“A basic income removes the stigma of benefits while also breaking open what politicians call the welfare trap: because taking work would not reduce your entitlement to social security, there would be no disincentive to find a job: all the money you earn is extra income. The poor are not forced by desperation into the arms of unscrupulous employers: people will work if conditions are good and pay fair, but will refuse to be treated like mules. It redresses the wild imbalance in bargaining power that the current system exacerbates. It could do more than any other measure to dislodge the emotional legacy of serfdom. It would be financed by progressive taxation: in fact it meshes well with land value tax.”

http://www.monbiot.com/2013/04/01/the-spark-of-hope/
johnm 15

3 April 2013 at 10:59 am

‘Millionaire Tories take benefits from millions: How Dare They’
‘A blizzard of cuts is set to rob billions from people on benefits this month.

Ministers with spare mansions think they can punish poor people for having spare bedrooms.

The MPs who fleeced their expenses say disabled people are scroungers.

“I’m actually afraid to sit down and figure out the impact the bedroom tax will have on me,” said Marion Nisbet in Glasgow. “My benefits are being cut while my rent is going up.’

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=31016

The NHS under privatisation attack:
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=31029

A simple fact about the market: The market that John Yankee subscribes to doesn’t give a flying fuck if YOU end up in the workhouse. 🙁 That is the market’s history.
johnm 16

3 April 2013 at 11:10 am

‘The Tory offensive on benefits enrages poor’

‘The millionaire Tories running the government are on the rampage.

This week they launched the biggest offensive in generations against the welfare state and the lives of working class people.

They declare this is not solely about saving money. In fact Tory millionaire and baron George Osborne has the gall to claim that benefits “trap people in poverty” and that the cuts will help them.

So what’s his answer to the trap of poverty? To cut welfare and make the poor even poorer.’

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=31018

The Artist taxi driver http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-4NYsPJN_8&list=UUGThM-ZZBba1Zl9rU-XeR-A&index=21
johnm 17

3 April 2013 at 11:55 am

Margaret Thatcher’s Legacy

“”We understood the Conservative government’s determination to use the state machine against us. In order to dismember the welfare state, they had to break the trade union movement and they needed to break the miners first.” – Mick McGahey, Vice President of the National Union of Mineworkers 1972-87.”

Confer John Yankee’s attacks on what’s left of our own unionised workforce: The teachers and Port Workers.
‘With an economy no longer underpinned by manufacturing, but by finance capital, speculation, hedge funds, credit derivatives and all manner of secretive dodgy dealings that eventually hit the fan, ordinary folk are now being saddled with paying off the debt incurred by covering the losses of those who indulged in such criminality. What price a sound manufacturing infrastructure and decent wages and jobs now? ‘

‘During the Thatcher years, as Britain de-industrialised, mass unemployment kicked in. Britain witnessed a spiraling gap between rich and poor. Thatcher’s legacy is a banking crisis coupled with a vulnerable and weak economy, worklessness, unemployment, consequent social breakdown and a pervasive greed culture of me-first acquisitive individualism, the effects of which are so graphically witnessed in our towns and cities today: a descent into drugs, alcohol, crime, community breakdown, fear for personal safety, youth offending and a range of other social problems. According to a study by York University in 2006, British children were among the unhappiest and unhealthiest in Europe. A UNICEF report came to similar conclusions: children growing up in the United Kingdom suffer greater deprivation, worse relationships with their parents and are exposed to more risks from alcohol, drugs and unsafe sex than those in any other wealthy country in the world.’

Basically a country that doesn’t look after its own people eventually goes to sh*t . That is the route asset stripper John yankee is doing here: he can retire to Hawaii. 🙁

Thatcher’s destruction was covered up by the oil bonanza of the North Sea. Now that’s going going gone the sh*t is hitting the fan in ole U$K.
- aerobubble 17.1
  
  3 April 2013 at 1:32 pm
  
  Riots bad. I noted when the UK riots took place that they seem odd, almost as if some group had needed to back burn social unrest. Now people know the consequences of rioting there is less likelihood of them taking place. Which is good. But it does chime into the new government timetable of introducing austerity.
johnm 18

3 April 2013 at 11:58 pm

“British people are committing suicide to escape poverty. Is this what the State wants?”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2117718/British-people-committing-suicide-escape-poverty-Is-State-wants.html

“Anxious wait: Thousands of sick and disabled people are waiting to hear whether the DWP considers them fit to work – even though some have been given mere months to live”

“it is very clear that Cameron and Co are guilty of mass genocide to the amount of 11,000 deaths. will he learn when millions take to the streets, there is going to be civil unrest on a scale that has never been seen in the uk before, with every tory and libdem council, mp, atos and dwp the brunt of uk citizens anger. the queen needs to remove these fools now. they are not fit for purpose. she is the only one that can do so. Has everybody forgotten that mad woman thatcher wrecked this country and cameron is going to completely destroy it”

“Unfortunately I’m one of these unlucky people. I use a crutch at all times and I have nerve damage and a twisted knee cap and I’m still under the hospital, I have been advised another operation is needed. Yet, somehow I’ve been deemed fit for work, yes I’d love to work but I suffer with mobility problems – which quite frankly wasn’t assessed at my ATOS assessment. I’m unable to socialise and the only means of socialisation I have is with close family and the internet, however, this is one of the causes why I’m apparently fit for work – how do I get there? And the DWP have cut my finances by £150 a fortnight. I study online, and now I’m going to struggle to access my study needs as I won’t have the financial support I had previously. This is another reason why I gained zero points, for studying – but it’s in my own home, on a computer and I am unable to attend tutorials. Well, I thought proving that I actually do something proactive would go in my favour, how wrong I was. ”

“My benefits are due to stop at the end of April. I have received a phone call to confirm this. I have done this before, but this is my list of medical problems. How can I work? There’s no possible way I can. I did for 22 years until I became too ill to. This government is casting aside the sick and disabled, it is cruel and evil. DIABETIC AUTONOMIC NEUROPATHY (GASTRIC, CAUSING UNPREDICTABLE AND SEVERE DIARRHOEA), GASTROPAERESIS (CAUSING UNPREDICTABLE AND SEVERE BOUTS OF VOMITING), DIABETIC RETINOPATHY, PARTIALLY SIGHTED (LOSS OF PERIPHERAL VISION IN BOTH EYES AND SOME CENTRAL VISION IN LEFT EYE), NEWLY DISCOVERED HEART CONDITION (NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED WITH ANGIOGRAM SO IT CAN BE RIGHTED), CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE- Egfr 11 (BEING PLACED ON LIST FOR KIDNEY/PANCREAS TRANSPLANT), VITAMIN B12 DEFICIENCY, ANAEMIA, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HIGH CHOLESTEROL, UNDERACTIVE THYROID, CHRONIC TIREDNESS DUE TO COMBINATION OF MULTIPLE MEDICAL CONDITIONS, ASTHMA”
- Colonial Viper 18.1
  
  4 April 2013 at 12:03 am
  
  It’s only a matter of time before people self-immolate in UK town squares and in front of government buildings
johnm 19

4 April 2013 at 1:12 am

“Fine, our IDS petition is a ‘stunt’ – a stunt to shame the oblivious aristocrats

So far 350,000 have challenged Iain Duncan Smith to show he really can live on £53 a week. No wonder he seems rattled”

“While I really would like to see Duncan Smith trying to live as he obliges others to live, I suppose you could call our petition a stunt, if you mean an act whose purpose is to draw attention to something. It highlights the hypocrisy of a government of millionaires which arraigns the profligacy of the poor. It dramatises the character of a government which, insulated by inherited wealth, accuses people living on a few pounds a day of suffering from a “culture of entitlement”.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2013/apr/03/iain-duncan-smith-petition-ids-stunt
johnm 20

4 April 2013 at 11:48 am

“There will be much more of that soon. You can only kick people so far till they turn and hit back. …even if the target for revenge are not really the ones to blame.
I know it’s irrational to attack people just because of their accent, but the class war being created by this government and the Daily Mail means millions of people are being attacked for simply being, unlucky, poor and disabled. They will hit back!
Welcome to the world the rich and privileged have created, best book your place in a gated community asap.”

Don’t get mad about the Mail’s use of the Philpotts to tarnish the poor – get even

Thirty years of widening inequality stoked by post-2010 rhetoric have built a Tory Narnia riven by distrust. It doesn’t have to be like this

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/03/dont-get-mad-about-use-of-philpotts-tarnish-poor

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2303120/Mick-Philpott-vile-product-Welfare-UK-Derby-man-bred-17-babies-milk-benefits-GUILTY-killing-six.html
- karol 20.1
  
  4 April 2013 at 12:06 pm
  
  It is very disturbing to see how the class war is developing under Cameron’s Tories.
  
  I don’t think the class war was created by them, but they are certainly intensifying it. From the 50s – late 70s, the working classes made inroads into decreasing the inequalities and animosity between classes. But even when I was living there, up to the mid 90s, speech was still a significant marker of class that people attended to.
  
  For the less well-off classes, their language was often embraced as a marker of class solidarity, while the upper classes used it to reinforce their sense of entitlement. Those of us born and raised in non-England, English language countries, often fell outside this division – Kiwis, Aussies, Scots, Irish, Welsh, etc. Though for the upper classes, the Aus & NZ accents were often seen as being a bit uncouth like working class accents.
  
  The Philpott case, and the way it is used to demonise all beneficiaries, is chilling.
  
  Thanks for the links, johnm.
  - trickldrown 20.1.1
    
    4 April 2013 at 12:11 pm
    
    Karol yet the madoff’s are loners according to the same soyrces
    - karol 20.1.1.1
      
      4 April 2013 at 12:21 pm
      
      Who are the madoffs?
Mike S 21

5 April 2013 at 5:22 am

More on UK austerity, possibility of general strike? (not likely but would be awesome)

Sorry if link already posted, didn’t have time to read through all posts.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/britains-biggest-unions-put-weight-behind-plan-for-general-strike-8559027.html
Walter 22

8 April 2013 at 4:09 pm

The only party to vote for is the National party, because all labour governments sell the hard working tax payers out to dry while providing every thing from housing to food for the non working. no wonder every country thats had a labour government was broke at the end of their term.

People should get ahead by there own actions not on the tail of the tax payer.
- lprent 22.1
  
  8 April 2013 at 5:02 pm
  
  Unfortunately, you have just revealed yourself as being a political moron about NZ (and probably everywhere else.).
  
  The 4th Labour government stopped the ever rising debt level caused by Muldoon and his National government who’d raised so much debt that the country was in danger of defaulting on debts to the IMF.
  
  The 5th Labour government dropped the debt down to virtually nothing, but has been followed a pack of spendthrift bozo’s who are raising the countries debt by millions of dollars per day.
  
  But don’t let reality get in the way of your fantasies. I’m also *sure* that sure that the image you’re watching on the screen is really in love with you and really is sighing at the size of…..
  
  Ummm. Fantasy addicts – whatever will they think of next eh?

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1 day ago

The Greater Of Two Evils.
Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very rarely is an opposition party elected ...
Bowalley Road
1 day ago

Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2023
Open access notables "Net zero is only a distraction— we just have to end fossil fuel emissions." The latter is true but the former isn't, or not in the real world as it's likely to be in the immediate future. And "just" just doesn't enter into it; we don't have ...
Skeptical Science
2 days ago

Chris Trotter: Losing the Left
IN THE CURRENT MIX of electoral alternatives, there is no longer a credible left-wing party. Not when “a credible left-wing party” is defined as: a class-oriented, mass-based, democratically-structured political organisation; dedicated to promoting ideas sharply critical of laissez-faire capitalism; and committed to advancing democratic, egalitarian and emancipatory ideals across the ...
Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
2 days ago

Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
2 days ago

Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
2 days ago

Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
More than a fieldingBy David Slack
2 days ago

Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
Labour’s Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the leaders’ debate on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of the pundits rated him the winner against National’s Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New Zealanders start casting their ballots? The problem for Hipkins is that voters are all too ...
Point of OrderBy tutere44
2 days ago

Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
Buzz from the Beehive Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
2 days ago

MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?
The D&W analysis Michael Grimshaw writes – Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
2 days ago

FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?
Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes- Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
2 days ago

California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
Skeptical Science
2 days ago

Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
2 days ago

Try A Little Kindness.
My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
2 days ago

What makes NZFirst tick
New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
PolitikBy Richard Harman
2 days ago

September AMA
Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
David FarrierBy David Farrier
2 days ago

Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
3 days ago

More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements. There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
3 days ago

ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
Alex Holland writes – In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
3 days ago

If not now, then when?
Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
3 days ago

THE FACTS: 77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
The Facts has posted – KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
3 days ago

Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
3 days ago

Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
3 days ago

Old habits
Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
Real ClimateBy rasmus
3 days ago

Bennie Bashing.
If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
3 days ago

The kindest cuts
Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
PolitikBy Richard Harman
3 days ago

Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
4 days ago

At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
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
4 days ago

How could this happen?
Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
Open ParachuteBy Ken
4 days ago

Always Be Campaigning
The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
4 days ago

STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push back
The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
4 days ago

Competing on cruelty
The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
4 days ago

Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
4 days ago

Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
4 days ago

Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
Voters are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris Hipkins’ valiant rearguard action. So where are they heading? Clearly not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that the outcome will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a few weeks ago was ...
Point of OrderBy tutere44
4 days ago

GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes – With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
4 days ago

Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
4 days ago

Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
4 days ago

After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
Skeptical Science
4 days ago

September-23 AT Board Meeting
Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
Greater AucklandBy Matt L
4 days ago

Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
4 days ago

Big money brings Winston back
National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
PolitikBy Richard Harman
4 days ago

20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
exhALANtBy exhalantblog
5 days ago

A night out
Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
5 days ago

A pallid shade of Green III
Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
5 days ago

A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
5 days ago

More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
5 days ago

Letter To Luxon.
Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
5 days ago

LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
Lindsay Mitchell writes – While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
5 days ago

BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Brian Easton writes – Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
5 days ago

CRL Progress – Sep-23
It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
Greater AucklandBy Matt L
5 days ago

Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
5 days ago

Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
PolitikBy Richard Harman
5 days ago

Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
6 days ago

MIKE GRIMSHAW: It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…
Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
6 days ago

2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 17, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 23, 2023. Story of the Week Opinion: Let’s free ourselves from the story of economic growth A relentless focus on economic growth has ushered in ...
Skeptical Science
6 days ago

The End Of The World.
Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...
Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
1 week ago

Climate Town: The Brainwashing Of America's Children
Climate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...
Skeptical Science
1 week ago

Has There Been External Structural Change?
A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...
PunditBy Brian Easton
1 week ago

Another Labour bully
Back in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
1 week ago

Climate Change: Ignoring our biggest problem
Its that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...
No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
1 week ago

JERRY COYNE: A good summary of the mess that is science education in New Zealand
JERRY COYNE writes – If you want to see what the government of New Zealand is up to with respect to science education, you can’t do better than listening to this video/slideshow by two exponents of the “we-need-two-knowledge-systems” view. I’ve gotten a lot of scary stuff from Kiwi ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
1 week ago

Release: National’s plan means more cuts, more kids in poverty
National’s fiscal plan has failed to fill the massive fiscal hole in its dodgy tax scheme, it will mean more cuts to public services, more children being put into poverty and an end to action on climate change. ...
Labour Blog
1 day ago

Release: Labour will continue to back Kiwis when the going gets tough
Labour’s Social Development Plan will build on the social welfare safety net, rather than strip it back. ...
Labour Blog
1 day ago

Policy Announcements: Law & Order and Justice, Courts & Corrections
New Zealand First Policy Announcement: Law and Order New Zealand First believes that keeping society safe should be the priority of law-and-order policies. Every New Zealander deserves to feel safe, secure, and have their person and property respected. That is why New Zealand First continues to fix the flaws in ...
NZ First Press Release
2 days ago

Labour's Dirt Campaign Exposed With Media Help
In last night’s leaders debate Labour Leader Chris Hipkins referred to a quote without giving any explanation of its content, which was about the ‘disease of co-governance’ that is perpetuated by the Māori elite, and he said it was racist. Then, without even examining the content, National leader Christopher Luxon agreed with ...
NZ First Press Release
2 days ago

Labour's Dirt Campaign Exposed With Media Help
In last night’s leaders debate Labour Leader Chris Hipkins referred to a quote without giving any explanation of its content, which was about the ‘disease of co-governance’ that is perpetuated by the Māori elite, and he said it was racist. Then, without even examining the content, National leader Christopher Luxon agreed with ...
NZ First News
2 days ago

Chris Hipkins: Speech Progressing Together
Today, Chris Hipkins delivered a speech about Labour’s relationship with and ongoing commitment to Māori. ...
Labour Blog
2 days ago

Release: National out of ideas on law and order, copies Labour’s policies and costings
After years of criticising the Government on law and order, National have embarrassed themselves by conceding they have no new ideas and instead copied Labour’s Police policy announced three weeks ago, Labour Police spokesperson Ginny Andersen says. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Release: Labour releases balanced, costed and credible fiscal plan
Labour’s fiscal plan will continue its focus on carefully managing the books while protecting critical public services like health and education and investing to deliver high wage jobs and a low carbon economy. ...
Labour Blog
3 days ago

Policy Announcement: Capped Time-Period For Job Seeker Beneficiaries
New Zealand First today is announcing a policy on adjusting the rules and restrictions around access to the Job Seeker Benefit. New Zealand First’s policy is to introduce a capped time-period for any person to access the Job Seeker Benefit during their lifetime. Any individual will have the ability to access the Job Seeker ...
NZ First Press Release
4 days ago

Policy Announcement: Capped Time-Period For Job Seeker Beneficiaries
New Zealand First today is announcing a policy on adjusting the rules and restrictions around access to the Job Seeker Benefit. New Zealand First’s policy is to introduce a capped time-period for any person to access the Job Seeker Benefit during their lifetime. Any individual will have the ability to access the Job Seeker ...
NZ First News
4 days ago

Release: National’s traffic light system has child poverty reduction stalling
National’s cuts to funding for beneficiaries will once again leave children and their parents with less, Spokesperson for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Labour Blog
4 days ago

Green Party will end child poverty
The Green Party will double the Best Start payment and make it available for every child under three years of age - and it will be paid for with a fair tax system. ...
Greens
4 days ago

Release: Labour pledges billion-dollar medicines boost
Labour will fund more medicines for more New Zealanders by investing over $1 billion of new funding into Pharmac if re-elected, Chris Hipkins announced today. ...
Labour Blog
4 days ago

National's welfare policy is cruel
The National Party’s job seeker policy announced today is heartless. ...
Greens
4 days ago

Labour's PHARMAC Policy A Placebo
Labour has just announced a policy to increase Pharmac funding by $1billion over four years to fund additional medicines. With the current Pharmac budget of $1.2billion per year and needing a further $213million, by Minister Verrall’s own admission, just to keep up with current costs - then this is nothing ...
NZ First Press Release
4 days ago

Labour's PHARMAC Policy A Placebo
Labour has just announced a policy to increase Pharmac funding by $1billion over four years to fund additional medicines. With the current Pharmac budget of $1.2billion per year and needing a further $213million, by Minister Verrall’s own admission, just to keep up with current costs - then this is nothing ...
NZ First News
4 days ago

Re: The Call For Corporate Manslaughter Legislation
This matter begins with the Pike River investigation being inadequate, inexplicably lengthy, and after millions of dollars, the evidence that should have been placed before the public still has not been. We have always believed that Pike River is a crime scene, and that a proper investigation would have come to that conclusion. Blue ...
NZ First Press Release
5 days ago

Re: The Call For Corporate Manslaughter Legislation
This matter begins with the Pike River investigation being inadequate, inexplicably lengthy, and after millions of dollars, the evidence that should have been placed before the public still has not been. We have always believed that Pike River is a crime scene, and that a proper investigation would have come to that conclusion. Blue ...
NZ First News
5 days ago

Release: Labour releases New Zealand’s first climate manifesto
New Zealand faces a stark choice this election – vote for Labour to continue to confront the climate emergency with eyes wide open or bury your head in the sand alongside Christopher Luxon. ...
Labour Blog
5 days ago

Green voice crucial for climate action
The Green Party is today welcoming Labour’s climate manifesto, but is clear that much more will need to be done to tackle the climate crisis. ...
Greens
5 days ago

Speech: Chris Hipkins – Wellington Rally, 24 September
...
Labour Blog
6 days ago

People need a government that will build many more homes
Labour’s plan to build more homes is a welcome step forward, but it lacks ambition. ...
Greens
6 days ago

Release: Supercharging public housing
Labour is supercharging its plan to solve the public housing shortfall created by National, promising another 6,000 homes on top of what has already been committed says Labour Housing spokesperson Dr Megan Woods. ...
Labour Blog
6 days ago

Release: New Super Visa for migrants’ parents and rights for Dawn Raid victims
Labour will back migrant working families by introducing a 10-year multiple-entry parents’ and grandparents’ Super Visa, and make good on the Dawn Raids apology by providing a one-off visa for overstayers who have been in the country ten years or more, Labour’s Immigration Spokesperson Andrew Little says. ...
Labour Blog
7 days ago

Only the Greens will deliver a fair amnesty for overstayers
The Green Party is today welcoming Labour coming to the table to ensure an amnesty for overstayers, but only the Greens will ensure immigration settings actually reflect the reality of people who have been failed by our immigration system. ...
Greens
7 days ago

Climate future of communities on the line this election
Green Party co leader James Shaw attended a South Dunedin Future street meeting today to discuss local responses to climate change. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Green Party calls for stronger action by Auckland Council to protect urban trees and native forest
The Green Party is calling on Auckland Council to do more to protect urban trees and housing developer Aedifice Property Group to restore and replant the native forest it cleared, and protect all the remaining trees on Ngahere Road in Pukekohe after a significant number of native trees were cut ...
Greens
1 week ago

Release: Ram Raids drop to two-year low
Latest Police data shows monthly ram raids have hit a two-year low, laying waste to Christopher Luxon’s false claim that there are two ram raids a day says Labour’s Police Spokesperson Ginny Andersen. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Every party needs to step up on school lunches
Labour has finally said it would continue free school lunches - and the Green Party is calling on every party to step up. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Release: School lunches on the line this election
Free and healthy school lunches will be here to stay if Labour is re-elected, guaranteeing food for our kids who need it most and significant cost saving for parents. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: Labour commits to a new hospital for the people of Hawke’s Bay
The next Labour Government will build a new hospital in Hawke’s Bay, Labour leader Chris Hipkins and Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall announced. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Govt changes fall short of what’s needed for migrant protection
The Green Party will keep up the fight to support exploited migrant workers, including pushing to end single employer visas, after the government picked up Green recommendations to improve immigration settings. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Clean Power Payment the smartest way forward to reduce emissions and bills
Green Party co leader James Shaw visited a home in Auckland today that has been upgraded with a wide range of energy improvements, similar to those that would be supported through the Green Party’s Clean Power Payment. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Foreign Minister's Action – A Contempt For “Caretaker Government” Convention
The Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s presence in New York today at the United Nations General Assembly is a contempt of New Zealand’s “caretaker government” convention. Despite the long-standing caretaker convention, Minister Mahuta is today at the UN to sign a highly contentious “Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement”, delivering a ...
NZ First Press Release
1 week ago

Back To Black Responsibly
The Pre-Election Fiscal Update Changes Everything Within an hour of this speech there is going to be a debate between the political parties that the media, under MMP, still think are the only parties that matter in this campaign. Both of those parties are riddled with inexperience, as evidenced by ...
NZ First Press Release
1 week ago

Stop the cuts before they start – Labour launches new TV ad
National and ACT's tax plans don't add up, and that means deep cuts to the public services New Zealanders rely on, says Labour Campaign Chair Megan Woods. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Free school lunches paid for with a wealth tax
The Green Party will expand free school lunches and pay for it with a fair tax system. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

The Pacific Reset & the Blue Continent
Thank you for your invitation to speak with you this afternoon about New Zealand Foreign Policy. After offering one or two general thoughts about the nature of foreign policy, the focus today will be the Pacific Reset and why its goals remain even more important today as when they were ...
NZ First Press Release
2 weeks ago

Release: Huge hole in National’s climate budget
National’s plan to cut policies that are reducing New Zealand’s climate emissions will result in a huge gap in the country’s emissions budgets and could see Kiwis paying significantly more at the petrol pump as a result of Christopher Luxon hiking the ETS price. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Greens would push Labour much further on solar power
Labour’s plan to support rooftop solar is a step in the right direction, but falls short of what could be achieved through the Green Party’s Clean Power Payment. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Immigration settings updates
Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga Hohepa
Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Renewable energy fund to support community resilience
40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

COVID-19 funding returned to Government
The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Appointment of District Court Judge
Susie Houghton of Auckland has been appointed as a new District Court Judge, to serve on the Family Court, Attorney-General David Parker said today. Judge Houghton has acted as a lawyer for child for more than 20 years. She has acted on matters relating to the Hague Convention, an international ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience
The Government has today confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant. “As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up
Another $2.1 million to boost capacity to deal with waste left in Cyclone Gabrielle’s wake. Funds for Hastings District Council, Phoenix Contracting and Hog Fuel NZ to increase local waste-processing infrastructure. The Government is beefing up Hawke’s Bay’s Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Taupō Supercars revs up with Government support
The future of Supercars events in New Zealand has been secured with new Government support. The Government is getting engines started through the Major Events Fund, a special fund to support high profile events in New Zealand that provide long-term economic, social and cultural benefits. “The Repco Supercars Championship is ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarter
The economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “The New Zealand economy is doing better than expected,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s continuing to grow, with the latest figures showing ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs
The Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs), Environment Minister David Parker announced today. “Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

More support for victims of migrant exploitation
Temporary package of funding for accommodation and essential living support for victims of migrant exploitation Exploited migrant workers able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV), giving people more time to find a job Free job search assistance to get people back into work Use of 90-day ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Strong export boost as NZ economy turns corner
An export boost is supporting New Zealand’s economy to grow, adding to signs that the economy has turned a corner and is on a stronger footing as we rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and lock in the benefits of multiple new trade deals, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The economy is ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te Karaka
The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Further business support for cyclone-affected regions
The Government is helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attract more people back into their regions. “Cyclone Gabrielle has caused considerable damage across North Island regions with impacts continuing to be felt by businesses and communities,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Building on our earlier business support, this ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underway
Defence Minister Andrew Little has turned the first sod to start construction of a new Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) at Burnham Military Camp today. “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our Defence Force to better maintain and repair equipment,” Andrew Little said. “This Government ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General Assembly
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will represent New Zealand at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, before visiting Washington DC for further Pacific focussed meetings. Nanaia Mahuta will be in New York from Wednesday 20 September, and will participate in UNGA leaders ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

Midwives’ pay equity offer reached
Around 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO), Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “Addressing historical pay ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

New Zealand provides support to Morocco
Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilience
The Government is investing over $22 million across 18 projects to improve the resilience of roads in the West Coast that have been affected by recent extreme weather, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. A dedicated Transport Resilience Fund has been established for early preventative works to protect the state ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

Government invests in Greymouth’s future
The Government has today confirmed a $2 million grant towards the regeneration of Greymouth’s CBD with construction of a new two-level commercial and public facility. “It will include a visitor facility centred around a new library. Additionally, it will include retail outlets on the ground floor, and both outdoor and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

Nanaia Mahuta to attend PIF Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in Suva, Fiji alongside New Zealand’s regional counterparts. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply committed to working with our pacific whanau to strengthen our cooperation, and share ways to combat the challenges facing the Blue Pacific Continent,” ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 weeks ago

PREFU shows no recession, growing economy, more jobs and wages ahead of inflation
Economy to grow 2.6 percent on average over forecast period Treasury not forecasting a recession Inflation to return to the 1-3 percent target band next year Wages set to grow 4.8 percent a year over forecast period Unemployment to peak below the long-term average Fiscal Rules met - Net debt ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 weeks ago

New cancer centre opens in Christchurch
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall proudly opened the Canterbury Cancer Centre in Christchurch today. The new facility is the first of its kind and was built with $6.5 million of funding from the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group scheme for shovel-ready projects allocated in 2020. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 weeks ago

Government invests in top of the south’s roading resilience
$12 million to improve the resilience of roads in the Nelson, Marlborough and Tasman regions Hope Bypass earmarked in draft Government Policy Statement on land transport $127 million invested in the top of the south’s roads since flooding in 2021 and 2022 The Government is investing over $12 million to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 weeks ago

New Zealanders continue to support the revitalisation of te reo as we celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Mā...
Ko tēnei te wiki e whakanui ana i tō tātou reo rangatira. Ko te wā tuku reo Māori, e whakanuia tahitia ai te reo ahakoa kei hea ake tēnā me tēnā o tātou, ka tū ā te Rātū te 14 o Mahuru, ā te 12 o ngā hāora i te ahiahi. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 weeks ago

NZ election 2023: Police investigate after invasion of Te Pāti Māori candidate’s home
RNZ News New Zealand police are investigating after the home of Te Pāti Māori election candidate Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke was invaded, vandalised, and a threatening letter left behind. They said the burglary of a Huntly home was reported to police on Monday. On Friday, Te Pāti Māori issued a statement saying ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
43 mins ago

ACT's business plan: Removing January holiday, putting minimum wage on hold
The ACT Party says it would abolish Fair Pay Agreements, put a hold on minimum wage increases for three years, and remove the 2 January public holiday. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 hour ago

Police investigate after invasion of Te Pāti Māori candidate's home
Police are investigating after the home of Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke was invaded, vandalised, and a threatening letter left behind. ...
Radio NZ – political
3 hours ago

Election 2023: All the latest developments on 30 September
There's no break in sight for the political party leaders as they continue to campaign in communities on Saturday. Follow RNZ's live blog for more. ...
Radio NZ – political
4 hours ago

Andy Foster plots his glorious return
Former Wellington mayor Andy Foster is attempting a political comeback as a candidate for NZ First. He talks to Joel MacManus. Fear not, Wellingtonians, your leader has returned from exile: Andy Foster is back. After nine terms on council and one term as mayor, Foster lost his re-election bid to ...
The SpinoffBy Joel MacManus
5 hours ago

Andy Foster plots his glorious return
Former Wellington mayor Andy Foster is attempting a political comeback as a candidate for NZ First. He talks to Joel MacManus. Fear not, Wellingtonians, your leader has returned from exile: Andy Foster is back. After nine terms on council and one term as mayor, Foster lost his re-election bid to ...
The SpinoffBy Joel MacManus
5 hours ago

‘Who’s that?’ says Peters of Luxon in at times jovial, at times furious interview
In an interview that swung from jovial to furious and back again, Winston Peters joked about National leader Christopher Luxon’s claim not to know him, and denied his party was responsible for race-baiting that’s led to an escalation in vitriol towards Māori. In an interview on Newshub Nation this morning, ...
The SpinoffBy Alice Neville
5 hours ago

‘Who’s that?’ says Peters of Luxon in at times jovial, at times furious interview
In an interview that swung from jovial to furious and back again, Winston Peters joked about National leader Christopher Luxon’s claim not to know him, and denied his party was responsible for race-baiting that’s led to an escalation in vitriol towards Māori. In an interview on Newshub Nation this morning, ...
The SpinoffBy Alice Neville
5 hours ago

‘I had to drive into a wheelbarrow’: Miriama Smith on the TV ad that haunts her
The star of Shortland Street, The Gone and now Celebrity Treasure Island shares some of her favourite TV moments. Name a New Zealand television show, and Miriama Smith has probably been in it. For the past 30 years, the actor and presenter has been a welcome fixture on our TV ...
The SpinoffBy My Life in TV
6 hours ago

The Week in Detail: Tiny homes, mental health awareness, and Afghan refugees
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, the big problems with tiny homes, how we can do our bit to mitigate climate change (besides recycling), why it's so difficult to keep our drinking water safe, the limits of mental health 'awareness', and the case of an ...
Newsroom
9 hours ago

VOTE2023: Q&A with James Shaw
In this week's episode of VOTE2023, we talk to Green Party co-leader and Climate Change Minister James Shaw about student-focused policies, electric vehicles, the Emissions Trading Scheme, and whether the Green Party would form a coalition government with National This series is made by politics students and aims to entertain ...
Newsroom
9 hours ago

Their house, my garden: Growing things in pots
See ya later, ground. This week on Their house, my garden, it’s all pots, balconies, window ledges and the kitchen bench. Sometimes you move into a tiny CBD apartment to live out your urbanite dreams. You put on your sparkly eyeshadow and smile till 3am behind the bar of a ...
The SpinoffBy Gabi Lardies
10 hours ago

Getting the brain back on track: Is there new hope for sufferers of chronic illness?
After a mild traumatic brain injury turned her life into a ‘game of snakes and ladders with no ladders’, Ursula Cochran discovered a powerful tool she could use to start getting better – her own brain. Here, she explores the potential of mind-body training for sufferers of other chronic illnesses, ...
The SpinoffBy Ursula Cochran
10 hours ago

Long Read: The food lobby in Aotearoa
This is The Detail's Long Read – one in-depth story read by us every weekend This week, it's a story from RNZ's In Depth team: 'Fully embedded': The food lobby in Aotearoa. Investigative reporter Guyon Espiner has come out with a new series, Off the Shelf, looking at the quiet struggle to stop New Zealanders eating ...
Newsroom
10 hours ago

Media targeting public for a war with China, warns Declassified Australia
Pacific Media Watch Barely a day passes without a story in the British or Australian media that ramps up fear about the rulers in Beijing, reports the investigative website Declassified Australia. According to an analysis by co-editors Antony Loewenstein and Peter Cronau, the Australian and British media are ramping up ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
15 hours ago

Indonesian police raid church office, home in Nduga – arrest six, torture 12
Asia Pacific Report Members of Indonesia’s Nduga District Police and the Damai Cartenz Police Task Force have raided a residential house and the local head office of the Papuan Tabernacle Church (Kingmi Papua) in the town of Kenyam, Nduga Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province, reports Human Rights Monitor. Before raiding the ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
17 hours ago

Candidate's home broken into, vandalised, threat left behind
The home of Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana Maipi-Clarke was broken into, vandalised, and a threatening letter left behind this week. ...
Radio NZ – political
17 hours ago

‘Politically motivated attack’: Te Pāti Māori candidate’s home vandalised, ‘threatening le...
Te Pāti Māori’s candidate for Hauraki-Waikato says her home was “invaded, vandalised, and left with a threatening letter” in what the party is calling a “politically motivated attack”. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clark said the “premeditated and targeted attack” was the latest of three incidents to take place at her home just ...
The SpinoffBy Stewart Sowman-Lund
18 hours ago

Ghoulish smoke and mirrors: Reaction to National's fiscal plan
The National Party's fiscal plan is ghoulish smoke and mirrors that will put more children into poverty, if you listen to Labour and the Green Party. ACT is critical, too. ...
Radio NZ – political
18 hours ago

Taking The Politics Out Of The Covid-19 Royal Commission
“ACT will take the politics out of the Royal Commission into the Government’s Covid-19 response by allowing all New Zealanders to have their say on what should be investigated through a new crowdsourced terms of reference”, says ACT Leader ...
Scoop politics
18 hours ago

Te Pāti Māori Candidate Hana Maipi-Clark’s Home Invaded In Politically Motivated Attack
Te Pāti Māori are not strangers to hate speech and online threats. Today however, a line was crossed. Our Hauraki-Waikato candidate, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clark’s home was invaded, vandalised, and left with a threatening letter. This premeditated and ...
Scoop politics
18 hours ago

The disability royal commission recommendations could fix some of the worst living conditions – bu...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, La Trobe University The bite mark on Ashlee’s cheek, her broken teeth and other photos of injuries from assaults in disability housing are some of the haunting images emerging from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
20 hours ago

The Week in Politics: Luxon likely to get what he doesn't want
Analysis - Christopher Luxon's announcement that he'll work with Winston Peters after the election if he has to boosts NZ First's chances of getting back into Parliament, writes Peter Wilson. ...
Radio NZ – political
21 hours ago

National's big guns come out in Tāmaki
National has wheeled out its stars into the blue, blue seat of Tāmaki which is under friendly fire attack from Act deputy leader Brooke van Velden First Bill English, then Christopher Luxon fronted within two days of each other for Simon O'Connor in the previously safe National heartland of the east ...
Newsroom
21 hours ago

Concern at candidate's assault: 'He shook me, slapped my cheeks'
Chris Hipkins has condemned the increased risk of campaign trail violence as police investigate an assault on Labour’s Angela Roberts Labour’s candidate for Taranaki-King Country has confirmed she was assaulted following an election debate at the Inglewood Rotary Club earlier this week. Angela Roberts explained in a Facebook post after ...
Newsroom
22 hours ago

National's fiscal plan doesn't answer tax cut questions
National may have hoped its detailed fiscal plan would put to bed the lingering questions about how it will pay for its tax cuts, but there are no satisfactory answers in sight, Marc Daalder writes Analysis: Grant Robertson says National's new fiscal plan has a $537 million hole in it and ...
Newsroom
22 hours ago

Beneficiary Bashing Continues This Election With National, ACT & NZ First Policies
“People who experience poverty as sanctioned by a capitalist system shouldn’t be punished for the predicament they’re in” says Brooke Pao Stanley, AAAP Coordinator. These parties use fear based politics to gain popularity and continue to push a narrative ...
Scoop politics
22 hours ago

Foreign policy has been missing from NZ’s election campaign – voters deserve answers to these bi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Tax cuts, crime, the cost of living, potholes and co-governance … these and various other issues are now familiar to most voters. But there has been one major election area missing the serious debate ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
22 hours ago

Labour candidate slapped following debate in Taranaki
Labour candidate Angela Roberts, a list MP campaigning in Taranaki-King Country, was shaken and slapped by a member of the public following a debate on Tuesday this week. She described the incident on Facebook. While talking about education policy with an attendee after an event at Inglewood Rotary Club, the ...
The SpinoffBy Shanti Mathias
23 hours ago

Forest Owners Welcome National's Forest Policy But Hold Reservations On Planting Restrictions
The Forest Owners Association generally welcomes the National Party forestry policy announcement that National wants to give certainty and support to the forestry and wood processing industry clearly recognising its economic and environmental advantages. ...
Scoop politics
23 hours ago

Funding The Basics Brilliantly Would Be A Start
Both major parties needed to have prioritised ongoing new investment in children and education in their allowances for new spending, NZEI Te Riu Roa president Mark Potter said today. “The two fiscal plans released this week made pre-commitments ...
Scoop politics
23 hours ago

National’s Fiscal Plan Continues Attack On Low Income Households
National has finally released its fiscal plan after much delay and it reveals a plan to cut the incomes and essential public services the poorest New Zealanders rely on, just so they can pay for tax cuts for landlords and the well-off, says NZCTU ...
Scoop politics
23 hours ago

Governor-General’s Official Visit To Malaysia
The Governor-General of New Zealand, Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro, and Dr Richard Davies will depart for an official visit to Malaysia on Sunday 1 October 2023. Their Excellencies are travelling to Malaysia at the invitation of His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

‘Forcing more children into poverty’: Labour responds to National’s fiscal plan
Labour says National’s plan to index benefits to inflation rather than wages will result in more children living in poverty. Speaking in Lower Hutt today, party leader Chris Hipkins said National was proposing “$2 billion in benefit cuts”. “In the middle of a cost of living crisis, they’re cutting benefits ...
The SpinoffBy Alice Neville
1 day ago

Review Of Wellbeing Strategy Needed As Police Recruitment Declines; Suicides Continue
Hatikvah Blue Hope Foundation is gravely concerned following the suicide of another serving police officer in the past month, and we extend our deepest sympathy to the grieving family. This tragedy comes as NZ Police is seeing a staggering 48.5% decline ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Here’s how to fix Australia’s approach to soil carbon credits so they really count towards our c...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aaron Simmons, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, University of New England William Edge, Shutterstock Australia’s plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 relies heavily on carbon credits. These credits are awarded to projects that avoid the release ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Tough Times Ahead For Children In Hardship Under Next Government, CPAG Warns
The Child Poverty Action Group is asking the National Party to make good on its commitment to children in poverty, but says the party’s fiscal plan reveals it has no desire or intention to help those living in the greatest poverty in Aotearoa. ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Review: Patricia Highsmith play never quite reaches its subject’s brilliance
Sam Brooks reviews Auckland Theatre Company’s Switzerland, which can’t quite meet its subject straight in the eye. What is it? The last show in Auckland Theatre Company’s programme is somewhat of a pivot from the rest of its programme this year. It’s a psychological thriller by an Australian playwright (Joanna ...
The SpinoffBy Sam Brooks
1 day ago

The Friday Poem: ‘farm to table’ by kī anthony
A new poem by kī anthony. farm to table there is a story in my body that you want to hear. pull me apart like supermarket pizzabread and tell me who i am. narrative unspools my broken cassette; pick up your fork. wind me up. present me on masterchef and ...
The SpinoffBy kī anthony
1 day ago

'Completely unacceptable': Labour candidate Angela Roberts 'slapped' following p...
The candidate for Taranaki-King Country says she was going to let it go, but realised it was important to take a stand against aggressive and unacceptable behaviour. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending September 29
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Vintage, $26) Gamer Queen of the list! ...
The SpinoffBy The Spinoff Review of Books
1 day ago

Taxpayers’ Union Slams National’s Alternative Fiscal Plan
The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming the plan released by the National Party today saying it barely touches the sides in terms of cutting waste, and realigning the sector to live within the country’s means. Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Jordan ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Nicola Willis confirms plan for pre-Christmas mini-budget
A National-led government would deliver “a mini-budget before Christmas”, Nicola Willis has confirmed, with the intention of “setting out some of the savings and reprioritisations we believe are necessary to get New Zealand back on track”. Speaking as National unveiled its revised, post-Prefu fiscal plan, she said heads of government ...
The SpinoffBy Toby Manhire
1 day ago

National sets aside funding for predicted rise in prison population
National’s “tough-on-crime” approach will result in a higher prison population, and $700 million has been set aside to deal with this, Nicola Willis has confirmed. “We do expect the prison population to rise as a result of our sentencing policy,” National’s finance spokesperson said at the announcement of the party’s ...
The SpinoffBy Alice Neville
1 day ago

National promises bigger surplus by 2027
National is promising a bigger surplus and lower debt than Labour in its fiscal plan, which has just been released by leader Christopher Luxon and finance spokesperson Nicola Willis in Auckland. National’s plan says a surplus of $2.9 billion will be reached in 2027 – the same year as Labour. ...
The SpinoffBy Alice Neville
1 day ago

Election 2023: National Party fiscal plan promises lower taxes, disciplined government spending
The National Party has released its fiscal plan, saying it will lower taxes and reduce net debt. Watch a live stream with leader Christopher Luxon and finance spokesperson Nicola Willis here. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Meet the Gen Z politics nerd who’s made a game out of the election
Can learning about politicians and policies be fun? A 23-year-old Ōtautahi illustrator thinks so, if you turn it all into a card game. A pencil drawn Chris Hipkins, with freckles and a big wide smile, looks like a little school boy. Underneath the portrait, he is briefly and somewhat ruthlessly ...
The SpinoffBy Gabi Lardies
1 day ago

Parties use Facebook less – and don’t always share accurate information
Smaller parties contending the 2023 election use social media most, shows a new study. Conducted by Victora University’s Internet, Social Media and Politics Research Lab, researchers analysed 681 posts made by political parties and party leaders on Facebook. Act posted almost twice as much as any other party. “Most of ...
The SpinoffBy Shanti Mathias
1 day ago

Election Study Tracks Facts And Fiction In Political Parties’ Social Media Campaigns
In the lead-up to the general election on 14 October, ACT is pipping other parliamentary parties for the number of Facebook posts. However, some of its posts contain “half-truths”, said Dr Mona Krewel, director of the Internet, Social Media and Politics Research ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Ngāi Tahu Marks 25 Years Since Crown Settlement
Ngāi Tahu is celebrating the anniversary of its Crown Settlement by holding a tribal climate change symposium with whānau today. In 1998, Ngāi Tahu received an apology from the Crown, cultural and tribal redress, and $170 million compensation. It was ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Election 2023: ACT Party would call for public submissions on Covid-19 inquiry terms of reference
It is "wrong" that the government gets to set the terms of reference of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into its Covid-19 response, the ACT Party says. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

National to release its fiscal plan today
It’s Friday, September 29. Welcome to The Spinoff’s election live updates. Learn more about the political parties at Policy.nz The agenda Coming up today: National is releasing its fiscal plan in Auckland at midday, after which leader Christopher Luxon is doing a walkabout in St Heliers and attending ...
The SpinoffBy Alice Neville
1 day ago

Māori leaders pen open letter condemning racism from political candidates
Māori leaders, including Dame Naida Glavish, Tā Mark Solomon and Tukoroirangi Morgan, have released an open letter to politicians this morning calling on them to “call out racism and race-baiting and publicly condemn it”. The letter appears to reference a line from National leader Christopher Luxon’s speech at Waitangi this ...
The SpinoffBy Anna Rawhiti-Connell
1 day ago

A taste of democracy: What political leaders eat (or don’t eat) on the campaign trail
With just over two weeks till election day, we asked party leaders about the kai that fuels them along the campaign trail. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. One of the great (or only) joys of election campaign season is the abundance of footage and ...
The SpinoffBy Charlotte Muru-Lanning
1 day ago

Save The Children Calls For Children To Be Back On The Agenda In Election 23
Save the Children is asking politicians and voters to put children’s needs at the top of the agenda ahead of Election 23, with five vital asks for tamariki. The child rights organisation, that has been gathering children and youth voices in recent ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

Election 2023: The foreign affairs, trade and defence policies in two minutes
New Zealand makes lots of money from foreign trade, and spends lots of money on the defence force. What role do the parties want the country to play overseas? Policy.nz has the full version, but we can tell you the basics in two minutes. One of the roles of a ...
The SpinoffBy Shanti Mathias
1 day ago

Election 2023: ACT Party would amend Inquiries Act to allow public submissions on Covid-19 inquiry
It is "wrong" that the government gets to set the term of reference of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into its Covid-19 response, the ACT Party says. It is "wrong" ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Election 2023: Māori leaders call on politicians to condemn racism
In an open letter, Māori and community leaders are calling for an end to a "divisive style of politics", and asking National leader Christopher Luxon to condemn race-baiting by NZ First and ACT. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

The Bulletin: Willis scores big with CEOs in Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom
National leader Chris Luxon beats his Labour rival – though not overwhelmingly so – in the NZ Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom survey out this morning. The regular pre-election survey of 100 business leaders asks them to rank government ministers and opposition MPs on their handling of economic issues and overall political ...
The SpinoffBy Catherine McGregor
1 day ago

Media And Police Attribute Success Of Operation Dickinson To The Firearms Registry
The Sporting Shooters Association of New Zealand (SSANZ) is concerned about the political neutrality of New Zealand Police in the leadup to the 2023 General Election. We also have concerns about the media’s understanding of the Firearms Registry ...
Scoop politics
1 day ago

A search for links between two of the universe’s most spectacular phenomena has come up empty – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Howell, OzGrav Associate Investigator; Adjunct Research Fellow in Astrophysics, The University of Western Australia Carl Knox / OzGrav, CC BY Every so often, astronomers glimpse an intense flash of radio waves from space – a flash that lasts only ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Lions to roar or Magpies to soar? It’s a remarkable revival story either way on grand final day
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Saturday’s premiership tussle between Collingwood and Brisbane features the two top-ranked teams from 2023. Hopefully, unlike last year’s final, it will be a gripping match. The 2023 finals series has so ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Handkerchief or tissue? Which one’s better for our health and the planet?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Shutterstock Maybe you have hay fever, COVID, a cold or the flu, and are reaching for a tissue or handkerchief. But which one’s better ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

‘You’re constantly worrying’: pregnant women, bushfire smoke and the impossibility of safety
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Lou Rasmussen, Professor, School of Sociology, Australian National University Smoke covered large swathes of Australia during the catastrophic summer fires of 2019-2020. You could see the plumes from space. Over 20% of Australia’s forests went up in smoke and flame. ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
1 day ago

Michael Woodhouse is prepared to lose in Dunedin one last time
The former cabinet minister withdrew from National’s list after implying the party had valued his experience below the need for diversity. Shanti Mathias speaks to him in Dunedin as he contemplates what comes after 15 years in politics. Michael Woodhouse is always repping – both Otago and the National Party. ...
The SpinoffBy Shanti Mathias
1 day ago

Michael Woodhouse is prepared to lose in Dunedin one last time
The former cabinet minister withdrew from National’s list after implying the party had valued his experience below the need for diversity. Shanti Mathias speaks to him in Dunedin as he contemplates what comes after 15 years in politics. Michael Woodhouse is always repping – both Otago and the National Party. ...
The SpinoffBy Shanti Mathias
1 day ago

Boos and strong language mark forum on housing
Political candidates have heard the plight of renters at a forum in Wellington, with all promising to continue funding tenant services. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

ACT climate policy could see NZ Paris Agreement pledge walked back
The ACT Party has raised the possibility it would renege on New Zealand's international climate pledge under the Paris Agreement. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Public sector headcount rises in last pre-election recruitment drive
The public administration and safety sector takes on 2,300 new workers in a month ...
Newsroom
1 day ago

Weet-bix case shows size of mountain supermarket challengers need to climb
It’s just one product, in one chain of stores. But few stories symbolise the ongoing power of the supermarket duopoly as well as The Warehouse’s Weet-bix situation, 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 ...
The SpinoffBy Catherine McGregor
1 day ago

Election 2023: All the latest developments on 29 September
The National Party is set to reveal its fiscal plan today after much controversy over how viable its foreign buyer's tax is and Labour's release of their fiscal plan on Wednesday. ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

Try queen almost quit her Black Ferns dream
A prolific try-scorer in any team she makes, Martha Mataele is looking to cross the try line for the Black Ferns, as she's named in the squad for the first time. Martha Mataele almost gave up on her Black Ferns dream before her call-up came this month. When the Black ...
Newsroom
1 day ago

Short story of a NZ Loyal Party candidate
"They're using cloud seeding to alter the atmosphere!": a NZ Loyal candidate is sadly imagined by Jack Remiel Cottrell, in our series of short stories set in the election campaign "Andy, what you're saying is unhinged." Despite Ethan being one of the sheeple, Andy does appreciate that he visits. ...
Newsroom
1 day ago

Hipkins commits to calling out racism and defending Te Tiriti
Labour leader Chris Hipkins is continuing to target his political opponents over their rhetoric around Māori, saying it's race-baiting, while those accusing say he's "desperate". ...
Radio NZ – political
1 day ago

It’s happening: There’s finally construction on Wellington’s Golden Mile
The revitalisation of the city centre that Wellington has been debating for years is finally actually happening. Joel MacManus explains what that means. There’s a handful of road cones and some tradies hanging around Grey Street this morning, and it’s possibly the best thing to happen in Wellington since Elijah ...
The SpinoffBy Joel MacManus
1 day ago