* Big delays are expected in the Auckland CBD on Friday morning due to a section of Victoria St West still being closed.
* The busy road, between Nelson St and Hobson St, closed afternoon when a panel fell from an apartment building.
* Auckland Transport is advising people to consider using alternative modes of transport into the CBD.
* The weather will be slightly better than yesterday, with only occasional showers forecasted, mainly in the afternoon.
Meh! So what? It is still going to take me just 10 minutes to get to work, rain or shine. Looking outside it looks a bit ok… I’m not going to get damp on my ride today.
A couple of years ago, I’d have been interested in these kinds of blockages. When there is any blockage in the CBD or motorways, then Auckland crawls to a halt. Not just where the problem is, but back along roads 10s of kilometres away.
This is a direct result of piss poor decisions made by central and local government as a direct result of stupid short sighted dipshits – like Mike Hosking and his ancestral shock jocks more interested in their ratings than reality.
But I cycle to work every day down the Grafton cycleway. It means that instead of taking between 15 and 45 minutes, it now takes 9-10 minutes. I pass over the people sitting in stalled or slow cars on the expensive motorway as I travel on cheap cycleways.
Look at a Mike’s recent rant about bike paths. Mike is apparently a technophobe too ignorant to add a link (here is).
There is not a lot to understand when it comes to the cycleway, it’s peddled (no pun intended) by zealots who are driven by ideology.
They operate on the “build it and they will come” scenario, except they have built it, and we didn’t come. When it all becomes obvious it doesn’t work it leads to anger frustration and upset for the rest of us who feel duped — hence the bikelash.
Ah no. It is mostly ‘peddled’ by cyclists and ex-cyclists who have been forced off the roads by fuckwit drivers who (apparently like Mike) who seem to be intent on trying to kill them.
I used to cycle to school in Auckland when I was a kid. Many years ago I had to give up and confined my cycling to the open road in the country. These days there are few parents who allow their kids to ride to school. It is too dangerous because of the cars. Instead they drive them to school – in the rush hours.
The number of cars on the road has increased dramatically in the last 50 years. The cars have gotten far larger. And of course the population has gotten far larger in Auckland.
It is a rare household today that doesn’t have the same number of vehicles as the number of adults with licenses. This is why the berms are illegally filled with parked cars and Wilsons parking taking in money hand over fist.
What hasn’t increased in proportion to the population and vehicles is the available land and road space. It never will. Land is simply too valuable to keep getting covered by bitumen for space hogging cars carrying a single person.
The same conservatives who will whine about the small amounts of room taken up with foot paths and bike paths, are also exactly the same whinging arseholes who don’t want to pay for expensive roads in cities. This isn’t hard to determine. All you have to do is to look at the expenditures on urban roads compared to the conservative nature of governments.
For instance it was no coincidence that roads planned by National’s “Roads of National Significance” were largely planted in the countryside. But the great dearth of building urban roads in Auckland coincides with National’s proxy Citizens and Ratepayers controlling councils in the urban area.
Now look at what was actually said in the article Mike Hosking was referring to.
The team observed that opposition to bike lanes often erupted only when lanes were being built, when planners and bike lane supporters had assumed the job was done.
“The level of opposition encountered can genuinely take people by surprise, and it’s tapping into an underlying concern about change.”
From their interviews, they found strong support among the cycling community for new lanes, largely for safety reasons.
Yeah, that is right. Despite the large amounts of public notification, planning, meetings budget allocations and all of the other bullshit that slows down the actual creation of cycle lanes – the whining only ever seems to start when they get built. That is because whingers like Mike Hosking simply aren’t interested in their community or the actual hard jakka that is required to maintain society. Like other hard line conservatives like Mike, they are often unproductive parasites who are only interested in their own convenience.
Somehow they appear to find it strange that other ratepayers would like to have safe places to cycle.
And Mike, our court fool, was a simple liar when he said :-
Last time I wrote about this questions had been raised about estimates for some Auckland cycleways and the reality when it was actually measured seemed to bear little resemblance to what they’d forecast by way of usage.
Umm I remember that (and again it’d be very helpful if our fool could put in links).
The basic problem was that the raisers of the question apparently couldn’t read estimates, and in particular the time column. They were saying that the expected user numbers in a decade should be expected to happen immediately after opening. It is hard to take this kind of twaddle seriously.
The reality is that growth in cycling along bike paths is growing rapidly. It is also measurable because there are automatic counters on most of the paths. Greater Auckland blog periodically does posts on them. Generally most cycle ways start growing in users a few years after they’re constructed and then grow in percentage double digits year on year.
What is noticeable is what happens when the final connections in the bike paths are connected up. An April GA post looked the North Western cycle way.
Perhaps the most impressive, given it’s not coming off as low of a base as others and the constant growth it’s seen over the last few years, remains the NW Cycleway at Kingsland which is almost certainly benefiting from recent addition of the Ian Mckinnon Cycleway. To give a sense of scale for the increase, back in March-2011 just 11k were recorded at this location for the whole month. This March 40k were and this meant that during the month the 30-day rolling average peak at just under 1,400 bikes a day.
That is a lot of people off the roads using the space of a footpath. You can see the recent year on year growth. And I’m certainly noticing the increased numbers of cyclists where I intersect on the last part of the NW cycle way – especially at the terminating lights.
People like this person who has done about 7000 kms commuting and dropping the kid off.
It’s been a year since I’ve started biking to work, and this is a summary of my thoughts and observations. I work in Newmarket and live in Te Atatu Peninsula. My one way trip is about 17.5km and it takes me about 35-40 mins. I cycle every workday.
Mostly they have cycle ways but..
I’ve only had a few experiences with being squeezed against the curb (generally buses along Park Rd) or really close passes, but it never feels quite safe to be on the road. I ride quite defensively – and when I don’t feel it’s safe to overtake me, I take the lane. I have been shouted at a few times, but I haven’t encountered other intentionally threatening behaviours.
Generally motorists and parked cars aren’t intentionally dangerous. They’re just careless and need to be segregated from other more vulnerable rate payers who aren’t interested in taking up enormous areas of roadways.
I’m a bit worried about this myself. Later in the year, work is moving to a different location and I’m going to have to ride on roads and semi-segregated lanes. But coincidentally, my preparatory new hi visibility helmet arrived this morning while I was writing this post….
In the meantime, I feel sympathy for those parked on the roads this morning. I’m heading off for my 10 minute commute with a lit up helmet.
Updated with a few editorial cleanups after I got to work. Helmet works great, turning signals and all. Not sure how well the automatic braking system operates. How am I going to be able to test it?
Isn't Hosking the one who wants all public transport canned? So everyone can enjoy the pleasure of driving themselves to work and observing all the others 'driving' to work? And parking, um, where?
I must get a bell on my bike to warn pedestrians on shared footpaths.
In London some footpaths are dual use and they work OK but dedicated bike lanes are better. Some Underground Stations have huge bike stands outside the door. So go the support for a NZ massive trend towards biking. And with a flash helmet like that even Mike could not deny seeing you as he tries to accidentally run you down.
Compulsory Ferraris I say. Lacking the 'excellence' and 'personal responsibility' to afford one? Then die in a ditch loser! Roads are for winners (like Mike).
And another great way of unclogging the roads would be if everyone worked less. Didn't some guy back in the '70's say we would all be working 10-hour weeks by now due to technology? Clearly Toffler was extraordinarily naive about the nature of capitalism – or believed that technology somehow transcended the economic system within which it was deployed.
I had to go to Ponsonby after work yesterday afternoon rather than straight home to Mt Eden, so I jumped on an InnerLink in Queens St and got caught in the almighty traffic shit-fight in Nelson/Victoria Streets. While I was sitting on the bus (like forever) watching the cyclists flying along the Nelson Street cycle way and wondering what the hell was going on it crossed my mind that of course my normal commute home i.e. train from Britomart to Kingsland station would have been completely immune to the chaos on the roads.
Hosking is the most selfish, self centred and ill-tempered "journo" in the country. I haven't read any of his contributions for years but feedback suggests he's worse than ever.
Look at his most recent tantrum over the demise of plastic bags. He doesn't give a damm about the awful consequences. All he's interested in is his own personal inconvenience. The rest of us get on with finding alternatives but no… he's too precious. He has to bellow his annoyance to all and sundry. In short, he's a narcissist.
What's the bet he complained that he should be behind the pay wall too cos he's NZ's premium current affairs expert.
Yet Hosking gets listened to muchly. What does that say about a large number of NZs who must find him agreeable in his constant bad-tempered argument. I think people who listen to him need to think for themselves, they might find they can become problem solvers instead of joining his followers who are all constipated, curmudgeonly cyclops.
TalkBack radio outlets like ZB and radio live are based on opinionators agitating and pitching memes. Their advertisers don't want the independent thinkers.
Heard a piece in a cab from the mediawanks stable that would've had them seeing the authorities if broadcast in Oz.
Wilfully inaccurate to manufacture consent with hand picked callers aligned. Immigration dogwhistling.
Dedicated cycleways are OK but in Christchurch they all have curbs so people with mobility issues are effectively shut out of every area that has a cycle path. People with walkers have to use the precious energy walking out of their way to find a gap as do people in wheelchairs. To be honest the town planners have not taken into account the ageing population and the fact that in 10 years time the cycle ways should have been constructed to accommodate mobility scooters and wheelchairs as there will be more people using these than bikes.
Ye Lucy so true. Nelson has a big number of retirees but their needs are overlooked in the rush to get modern, and help non-car users. We need to make it easier to get public transport, and have a toll system that starts to lessen car use for a start. And shared pathways need to have median fences. It has taken ages and tons of crashes for authorities to finally stop blaming individuals for not driving perfectly, and usually once they are up the crashes go way down.
That the authorities are allowed to introduce fast moving mechanical devices on footpaths, in a city with many old people and where Green Prescriptions advise people to walk more for good health and a relief from stress. The ability to do so has at the same time been jeopardised by thoughtless she'll-be-right planning; just a repeat of the bone-headed approach of not bothering to ensure suitable and safe lanes appropriate for users.
Ironic that Hoskin's rant today is about centralising the health system and bemoaning that different regions set their own policy.
Not that I don't think centralisation isn't necessary but it's odd to see him and Farrar champion the practise while railing against it so hard in other areas of social policy – education, for instance.
LOL. I've often wondered how I'd react to him if he turned up in the audience. Possibly walk off and refuse to entertain him. Possibly bend over for the cheque…
I think the size of the check is the determinate factor. We all dance for the organ grinder, but his is a particularly pernicious piece.
Absolutely. I'm gonna recycle your beard joke on furry folk in the audience (passing cloud). Bloody good line. Impromptu, yours?
Heres one for the greenies.
Speaking of #metoo. Pandas are a pack of wife beaters. That's why they're not breeding. Give them a bamboo buffet and running water, ambient music, years to figure it out. Whadda ya got? Two black eyes, no babies.
That having been said, where there are no cycle lanes cycling still has the issue with either being squished by heavy machinery, or squishing people who are just walking along. That's just a fact of putting thousands of people together: someone will screw up and hit someone else. The trouble with cyclists is that if one is a jerk and acts like a hazard, there's no reggo to report.
An interesting idea someone floated was to abandon "vehicle", "pedestrian" and "cycle" designations and run the same lanes as speed criteria: <10kph, 10-30kph, 30+kph. That would deal to new tech (e.g. scooters, "It") as well as keep everyone safe because speeder just flip into the next lane to avoid slower people.
Would need wider roads and pavements to get the lanes and need to put a rego on the walkers as well.. But personally I'd prefer fully separated lanes with a barrier. It is a whole lot safer for everyone.
I have had issues with some pedestrians on the combined cycle/walkway taking up the whole of the path in both directions going one way despite the clearly marked lanes, especially around the university. Apparently it makes talking to each other much easier when you are doing it 5 kids wide. But most pedestrians are pretty good about using the lanes, just as I am pretty good about how I use pedestrian pavements.
The only injury I have had so far was from my own inattention. Was crossing the off-ramp on Newton road just down the hill from home one very rainy night. Was watching for cars, and missed a runner coming down the hill. Spotted him out of the side of my eye as I started to cross from a standing start, jerked, and slid the front wheel out from under me. Belted my right knee on the road.
Nearest to a serious accident that I have had was some munter on Don McKinnon drive on the old cycle/walkway. After dusk one friday night, on a blind corner, without turning his car lights on, he'd backed almost all the way across the cycleway from his parked position to try to get on to the road. I came down the hill on the bike at about 20km watching out for walkers in the cycle lane (the usual problem) and didn't have lot of time to react to a car lunging out backwards into my path. I think that the driver was rather startled as I started to scream at him. He certainly reversed direction and went out the correct way pretty damn fast.
But it is a continual issue, especially at my age. Nothing heals particularly fast any more.
I’ve seen some cyclists doing some pretty appalling things as well. Mostly going across pedestrians crossing with the lights against them. Frigging dangerous.
I have had issues with some pedestrians on the combined cycle/walkway taking up the whole of the path in both directions going one way despite the clearly marked lanes…
I got a broken bone in my hand out of that one – too old to be doing emergency stops when I come round a corner and find the path completely blocked by pedestrians 5-abreast.
Scares the hell out of me. These days I slow down before corners and try to contain my temper with gaggles of young 'adults' trying to kill themselves.
In my general accumulation of safety equipment, I've ordered a programmable battery powered horn so I can give a good raspberry (or whatever else I want to plug in) as the 'horn' sound. I was thinking about programming the noise of a old diesel land rover and programming it to turn on loudly just before known blind corners..
I'll be heading out more on to the road – I wonder what volume I can get off it. See if I can penetrate the thickness between me and car drivers…
Pedestrians like that piss me off, too, but I've never thought something like "holy fuck I would have been flying if that prick had been two inches to the left, I swear his caot brushed the hairs on the back of my hand" about pedestrians.
Look at the Mess he has got Auckland into! I think we are all hoping he doesn't go over the edge in St Helliers. There are enough dead fish there already.
He has been hopping in and out of gentlemens pockets for years. And knows nothing of real life. He goes under the famous Blanket of ZB. It's time they washed and rinsed that smelly Blanket out.
You do realise a lot of people don't live a 10 minute bike ride from their work and have to live fricken miles away to afford a place and there are no trains or buses?
Oh yeah. That is what I mean about conservatives being short sighted. I brought here deliberately because of the transport screwup I saw coming.
Back in late 1997 I looked at how National and their proxy C&R had been running Auckland into the ground. I figured that they would retain control for some time in Auckland doing the same stupid things. Encouraging inwards migration, not putting in parking or roads, selling off critical assets, not fixing the public transport or water or sewerage and generally being short-sighted conservatives – whoc couldn't be trusted to not screw things up in the long term.
So I brought a inner city apartment right next to the end of all of the motorways, near the hub of what public transport remained operating, and close to the largest concentration of work in NZ in my chosen field.
I was right on.
The only thing that was irritating was the leaky building crap and the changes to the legislation requiring cavity wall when repairs were made to a monolithic wall. I also made sure that where I brought was properly inspected by the council – so the C&R arseholes would up paying for the repairs despite their stupid inspector privatisation.
I'd have also preferred to have a bit more area. But I couldn't find an apartment at the time with a larger floor area and a high ceiling.
But when the traffic got to be a pain, I shifted to public transport for a while. Then I stopped taking jobs that were more than a 10 minute commute. I could do it because of forethought.
Conservatives suck at forward thinking… Hosking is just a prime example.
What were the estimates for the usage of cycling lanes prior to them being built?
And what is the usage now? You appear to know the numbers. Why not provide the people who don't remember ever having seen them? Not everyone reads the Herald you know, and I presume they were published there. Then we could have someone who follows the approach recommended in this post.
"Umm I remember that (and again it’d be very helpful if our fool could put in links)."
Will dig them out when I have time – maybe after I fix search.
However they were written up at Greater Auckland blog when Hosking went inane. Look there I’d you want them sooner. They specialise in that type of data.
I don’t think that I have ever seen them the herald. They aren’t very good on detail (or links) and perhaps you should request Hosking should do that… After all he is paid for it I am not.
"Oh yeah. That is what I mean about conservatives being short sighted. I brought here deliberately because of the transport screwup I saw coming.
Back in late 1997 I looked at how National and their proxy C&R had been running Auckland into the ground. I figured that they would retain control for some time in Auckland doing the same stupid things. Encouraging inwards migration, not putting in parking or roads, selling off critical assets, not fixing the public transport or water or sewerage and generally being short-sighted conservatives – whoc couldn't be trusted to not screw things up in the long term.
So I brought a inner city apartment right next to the end of all of the motorways, near the hub of what public transport remained operating, and close to the largest concentration of work in NZ in my chosen field."
Sorry LP – but "Auckland" is no-longer just "CBD" (did you miss the Dame Bazley dissonance ?)
Just what is your "work" ? – if "the largest concentration of work in NZ in my chosen field." – is at the end of all the motorways ?
The majority of Aucklanders do not live or work in the CBD – have no need to commute to the CBD – and from what I can see, significant CBD employers are contracting headcount. (Skycity excluded)
Auckland CBD is a minion in the future of AUCKLAND.
You appear to have not read the comment carefully without introducing your biases
The highest concentration in the country of programming jobs of the type I prefer (essentially ones who build software doe export) are within 5km of where I live.
All of the transport routes for Auckland isthmus converge here.
Also relevant in 1997 was that this was one of the few places in the country you could get good comms.
It was a case of live in near the transport or work offshore. I chose here in the city fringe (why would I live in the CBD? It has always sucked in there for any kind of transport).
And I anticipated that the short sighted dumbarse conservatives couldn't run Auckland properly…
From where I live I could get to Albany, and Manakau and much of the west within 20 minutes by car in 1998. All that has happened since then was that my limits have contracted because the traffic got worse. Now on average at rush hours it takes 30 minutes to get to Penrose or over the bridge. But I still have the highest choice of employers within 20 minutes. Now with bike lanes, 20 minutes gets me most of the way to the parts of west Auckland nowhere south or north (no bike lanes). But most places in the city fringe and every where in the CBD. I also get excellent comms.
Still max choices for a programmer.
Your comment is just nuts… Try reading mine for a change.
Yes – I do read and respect your ascriptions – you are rarely infallible in reason. I just wish to emphasise the trend of irrelevance of location in contemporary commerce.
Getting somewhere quickly is a virtue of diminishing value – hospitals and good curries excluded.
I used to think that as well – 20 years ago. I'm glad now that I was cautious about moving to Glenorchy and coding from there (the lack of decent comms was finally the deciding factor).
20 years ago I was programming education simulations running on US servers targeted mostly at US customers. So I started working from home and running a team of programmers remotely. Worked well. Still does – my partner is slowly building a business that does a lot of content and QA based on the same thing. She works with people scattered everywhere – quite a few in New York for some reason.
I still do those. I just got off a wee R&D project where I was working with a team that was mostly in Austin Texas, others in aussie, and a couple of us in Auckland. Daily standups via webex. That was mostly code for androids and providing sources for generic data analytics.
But these days I work mostly by writing code for specialised vertical market bespoke hardware – it is more fun. That means I need to be at or very close to mechanical, electronics, system, firmware, testing and god knows what other kind of engineers all the time when I'm on those projects.
I need to have someone who can actually measure the voltage on a line. Someone who can find and fix a crimped rs485 line. Someone who can test the actual power on a power amp. Looks that the frequencies actually being transmitted. Or solder a wire into a PCB to get around a flaw in a prototype board.
Similarly I need to be around those bods because they need to get me to look at what they're seeing. They need me to immediately fix the blocker that they just showed me. It is a VERY collaborative process.
Sure I could probably do the project managers and project engineers and other programmers remotely. But it is a hell of a lot faster when we get a few relevant people in a room together. The easiest way to do that is to have them in the same location. Similarly the suppliers of prototype gear. Sure we can do a lot from overseas with PCBs etc. But hell – we test production, assembly and QA processes here before shipping them elsewhere. We have what is essentially a prototype manufacturing plant to do it.
I write export code. Most of which is about making sure that it works, and increasingly that is causing R&D and bespoke concentrations rather than dispersal. This isn't hard to see – it is why you're seeing the bigger cities getting even bigger.
This is the 3rd of of 5 firms of this kind that I have done the last decade and a bit. It isn’t hard to find work of this export kind in Auckland. But I’ve lived in Hamilton, Dunedin, Wellington in NZ, and it wasn’t and still isn’t possible in any of those. You can find a couple of firms, but that is it. A paucity of opportunity. There are more in ChCh, but half of the people I know of there are actually working for Auckland firms (including my line boss). They move there for the housing prices and spend a lot of time in Auckland hotels.
So for many things you can do everything from anywhere. But not everything, and especially not over decades, and also the really high value things that I like to work on.
Yep – a few Albany / East Tamaki / Constellation initiatives fit your brief in AUCKLAND. RS485 hardwired issues are often mitigated in the field by ZigBee adoption – those old differential gambits have no place in delivering to a contemporary GPIO dependent environment – too much sporadic E out there.
Which R&D concentrations are specifically in Auckland ?
It would be weird to restrict your residential locale apropos the odd escalated issue – but it is fair to seek reason. I live outside the CBD fringe – but coastal, the echo of surf resonates.
I have now realised that CBD proximity is not critical – so much is Rosedale and Rosebank.
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The proposed negotiation of an Australia–Papua New Guinea defence treaty will falter unless the Australian Defence Force embraces cultural intelligence and starts being more strategic with teaching languages—starting with Tok Pisin, the most widely spoken language in ...
Bishop ignores pawnPoor old Tama Potaka says he didn't know the new RMA legislation would be tossing out the Treaty clause.However, RMA Minister Bishop says it's all good and no worries because the new RMA will still recognise Māori rights; it's just that the government prefers specific role descriptions over ...
China is using increasingly sophisticated grey-zone tactics against subsea cables in the waters around Taiwan, using a shadow-fleet playbook that could be expanded across the Indo-Pacific. On 25 February, Taiwan’s coast guard detained the Hong Tai ...
Yesterday The Post had a long exit interview with outgoing Ombudsman Peter Boshier, in which he complains about delinquent agencies which "haven't changed and haven't taken our moral authority on board". He talks about the limits of the Ombudsman's power of persuasion - its only power - and the need ...
Hi,Two stories have been playing over and over in my mind today, and I wanted to send you this Webworm as an excuse to get your thoughts in the comments.Because I adore the community here, and I want your sanity to weigh in.A safe space to chat, pull our hair ...
A new employment survey shows that labour market pessimism has deepened as workers worry about holding to their job, the difficulty in finding jobs, and slowing wage growth. Nurses working in primary care will get an 8 percent pay increase this year, but it still leaves them lagging behind their ...
Big gunBig gun number oneBig gunBig gun kick the hell out of youSongwriters: Ascencio / Marrow.On Sunday, I wrote about the Prime Minister’s interview in India with Maiki Sherman and certainly didn’t think I’d be writing about another of his interviews two days later.I’d been thinking of writing about something ...
The Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on Australian aluminium and steel has surprised the country. This has caused some to question the logic of the Australia-United States alliance and risks legitimising China’s economic coercion. ...
OPINION & ANALYSIS:At the heart of everything we see in this government is simplicity. Things are simpler than they appear. Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Behind all the public relations, marketing spin, corporate overlay e.g. ...
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Wang Zhongying, chief national expert, China Energy Transformation Programme of the Energy Research Institute, and Kaare Sandholt, chief international expert, China Energy Transformation Programme of the Energy Research Institute China will need to install around 10,000 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar capacity ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...
With many of Auckland’s political and bureaucratic leaders bowing down to vocal minorities and consistently failing to reallocate space to people in our city, recent news overseas has prompted me to point out something important. It is extremely popular to make car-dominated cities nicer, by freeing up space for people. ...
When it comes to fleet modernisation programme, the Indonesian navy seems to be biting off more than it can chew. It is not even clear why the navy is taking the bite. The news that ...
South Korea and Australia should enhance their cooperation to secure submarine cables, which carry more than 95 percent of global data traffic. As tensions in the Indo-Pacific intensify, these vital connections face risks from cyber ...
The Parliament Bill Committee has reported back on the Parliament Bill. As usual, they recommend no substantive changes, all decisions having been made in advance and in secret before the bill was introduced - but there are some minor tweaks around oversight of the new parliamentary security powers, which will ...
When the F-47 enters service, at a date to be disclosed, it will be a new factor in US air warfare. A decision to proceed with development, deferred since July, was unexpectedly announced on 21 ...
All my best memoriesCome back clearly to meSome can even make me cry.Just like beforeIt's yesterday once more.Songwriters: Richard Lynn Carpenter / John BettisYesterday, Winston Peters gave a State of the Nation speech in which he declared War on the Woke, described peaceful protesters as fascists, said he’d take our ...
Regardless of our opinions about the politicians involved, I believe that every rational person should welcome the reestablishment of contacts between the USA and the Russian Federation. While this is only the beginning and there are no guarantees of success, it does create the opportunity to address issues ...
Once upon a time, the United States saw the contest between democracy and authoritarianism as a singularly defining issue. It was this outlook, forged in the crucible of World War II, that created such strong ...
A pre-Covid protest about medical staffing shortages outside the Beehive. Since then the situation has only worsened, with 30% of doctors trained here now migrating within a decade. File Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest: The news this morning is dominated by the crises cascading through our health system after ...
Bargaining between the PSA and Oranga Tamariki over the collective agreement is intensifying – with more strike action likely, while the Employment Relations Authority has ordered facilitation. More than 850 laboratory staff are walking off their jobs in a week of rolling strike action. Union coverage CTU: Confidence in ...
Foreign Minister Penny Wong in 2024 said that ‘we’re in a state of permanent contest in the Pacific—that’s the reality.’ China’s arrogance hurts it in the South Pacific. Mark that as a strong Australian card ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...
In the past week, Israel has reverted to slaughtering civilians, starving children and welshing on the terms of the peace deal negotiated earlier this year. The IDF’s current offensive seems to be intended to render Gaza unlivable, preparatory (perhaps) to re-occupation by Israeli settlers. The short term demands for the ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 16, 2025 thru Sat, March 22, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...
In recent months, I have garnered copious amusement playing Martin, chess.com’s infamously terrible Chess AI. Alas, it is not how it once was, when he would cheerfully ignore freely offered material. Martin has grown better since I first stumbled upon him. I still remain frustrated at his capture-happy determination to ...
Every time that I see ya,A lightning bolt fills the room,The underbelly of Paris,She sings her favourite tune,She'll drink you under the table,She'll show you a trick or two,But every time that I left her,I missed the things she would doSongwriters: Kelly JonesThis morning, I posted - Are you excited ...
Long stories shortest this week in our political economy:Standard & Poor’s judged the Government’s council finance reforms a failure. Professional investors showed the Government they want it to borrow more, not less. GDP bounced out of recession by more than forecast in the December quarter, but data for the ...
Each day at 4:30 my brother calls in at the rest home to see Dad. My visits can be months apart. Five minutes after you've left, he’ll have forgotten you were there, but every time, his face lights up and it’s a warm happy visit.Tim takes care of almost everything ...
On the 19th of March, ACT announced they would be running candidates in this year’s local government elections. Accompanying that call for “common-sense kiwis” was an anti-woke essay typifying the views they expect their candidates to hold. I have included that part of their mailer, Free Press, in its entirety. ...
Even when the darkest clouds are in the skyYou mustn't sigh and you mustn't crySpread a little happiness as you go byPlease tryWhat's the use of worrying and feeling blue?When days are long keep on smiling throughSpread a little happiness 'til dreams come trueSongwriters: Vivian Ellis / Clifford Grey / ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...
ACT up the game on division politicsEmmerson’s take on David Seymour’s claim Jesus would have supported ACTACT’s announcement it is moving into local politics is a logical next step for a party that is waging its battle on picking up the aggrieved.It’s a numbers game, and as long as the ...
1. What will be the slogan of the next butter ad campaign?a. You’re worth itb.Once it hits $20, we can do something about the riversc. I can’t believe it’s the price of butter d. None of the above Read more ...
It is said that economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. That may be an exaggeration but an even better response is to point out economists do know the difference. They did not at first. Classical economics thought that the price of something reflected the objective ...
Political fighting in Taiwan is delaying some of an increase in defence spending and creating an appearance of lack of national resolve that can only damage the island’s relationship with the Trump administration. The main ...
The unclassified version of the 2024 Independent Intelligence Review (IIR) was released today. It’s a welcome and worthy sequel to its 2017 predecessor, with an ambitious set of recommendations for enhancements to Australia’s national intelligence ...
Yesterday outgoing Ombudsman Peter Boshier published a report, Reflections on the Official Information Act, on his way out the door. The report repeated his favoured mantra that the Act was "fundamentally sound", all problems were issues of culture, and that no legislative change was needed (and especially no changes to ...
The United States government is considering replacing USAID with a new agency, the US Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance (USIHA), according to documents published by POLITICO. Under the proposed design, the agency will fail its ...
Hi,Journalism was never the original plan. Back in the 90s, there was no career advisor in Bethlehem, New Zealand — just a computer that would ask you 50 questions before spitting out career options. Yes, I am in this photo. No, I was not good at basketball.The top three careers ...
Mōrena. Long stories shortest: Professional investors who are paid a lot of money to be careful about lending to the New Zealand Government think it is wonderful place to put their money. Yet the Government itself is so afraid of borrowing more that it is happy to kill its own ...
As space becomes more contested, Australia should play a key role with its partners in the Combined Space Operations (CSpO) initiative to safeguard the space domain. Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States signed the ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
“Make New Zealand First Again” Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, thank you for being here today. We know your lives are busy and you are working harder and longer than you ever have, and there are many calls on your time, so thank you for the chance to speak ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Progressing a holistic strategy to unlock the potential of New Zealand’s geothermal resources, possibly in applications beyond energy generation, is at the centre of discussions with mana whenua at a hui in Rotorua today, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is in the early stages ...
New annual data has exposed the staggering cost of delays previously hidden in the building consent system, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I directed Building Consent Authorities to begin providing quarterly data last year to improve transparency, following repeated complaints from tradespeople waiting far longer than the statutory ...
Increases in water charges for Auckland consumers this year will be halved under the Watercare Charter which has now been passed into law, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say. The charter is part of the financial arrangement for Watercare developed last year by Auckland Council ...
There is wide public support for the Government’s work to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity protections, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. “The Ministry for Primary Industries recently completed public consultation on proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act and the submissions show that people understand the importance of having a strong biosecurity ...
A new independent review function will enable individuals and organisations to seek an expert independent review of specified civil aviation regulatory decisions made by, or on behalf of, the Director of Civil Aviation, Acting Transport Minister James Meager has announced today. “Today we are making it easier and more affordable ...
The Government will invest in an enhanced overnight urgent care service for the Napier community as part of our focus on ensuring access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown has today confirmed. “I am delighted that a solution has been found to ensure Napier residents will continue to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey attended a sod turning today to officially mark the start of construction on a new mental health facility at Hillmorton Campus. “This represents a significant step in modernising mental health services in Canterbury,” Mr Brown says. “Improving health infrastructure is ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has welcomed confirmation the economy has turned the corner. Stats NZ reported today that gross domestic product grew 0.7 per cent in the three months to December following falls in the June and September quarters. “We know many families and businesses are still suffering the after-effects ...
The sealing of a 12-kilometre stretch of State Highway 43 (SH43) through the Tangarakau Gorge – one of the last remaining sections of unsealed state highway in the country – has been completed this week as part of a wider programme of work aimed at improving the safety and resilience ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says relations between New Zealand and the United States are on a strong footing, as he concludes a week-long visit to New York and Washington DC today. “We came to the United States to ask the new Administration what it wants from ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has welcomed changes to international anti-money laundering standards which closely align with the Government’s reforms. “The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) last month adopted revised standards for tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism to allow for simplified regulatory measures for businesses, organisations and sectors ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he welcomes Medsafe’s decision to approve an electronic controlled drug register for use in New Zealand pharmacies, allowing pharmacies to replace their physical paper-based register. “The register, developed by Kiwi brand Toniq Limited, is the first of its kind to be approved in New ...
The Coalition Government’s drive for regional economic growth through the $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund is on track with more than $550 million in funding so far committed to key infrastructure projects, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. “To date, the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) has received more than 250 ...
[Comments following the bilateral meeting with United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; United States State Department, Washington D.C.] * We’re very pleased with our meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this afternoon. * We came here to listen to the new Administration and to be clear about what ...
The intersection of State Highway 2 (SH2) and Wainui Road in the Eastern Bay of Plenty will be made safer and more efficient for vehicles and freight with the construction of a new and long-awaited roundabout, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop. “The current intersection of SH2 and Wainui Road is ...
The Ocean Race will return to the City of Sails in 2027 following the Government’s decision to invest up to $4 million from the Major Events Fund into the international event, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown says. “New Zealand is a proud sailing nation, and Auckland is well-known internationally as the ...
Improving access to mental health and addiction support took a significant step forward today with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announcing that the University of Canterbury have been the first to be selected to develop the Government’s new associate psychologist training programme. “I am thrilled that the University of Canterbury ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened the new East Building expansion at Manukau Health Park. “This is a significant milestone and the first stage of the Grow Manukau programme, which will double the footprint of the Manukau Health Park to around 30,000m2 once complete,” Mr Brown says. “Home ...
The Government will boost anti-crime measures across central Auckland with $1.3 million of funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “In recent years there has been increased antisocial and criminal behaviour in our CBD. The Government ...
The Government is moving to strengthen rules for feeding food waste to pigs to protect New Zealand from exotic animal diseases like foot and mouth disease (FMD), says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. ‘Feeding untreated meat waste, often known as "swill", to pigs could introduce serious animal diseases like FMD and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held productive talks in New Delhi today. Fresh off announcing that New Zealand and India would commence negotiations towards a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the two Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for further cooperation between the two countries across ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the forestry sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new Family Court Judges. The new Judges will take up their roles in April and May and fill Family Court vacancies at the Auckland and Manukau courts. Annette Gray Ms Gray completed her law degree at Victoria University before joining Phillips ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU). “This unit will boost critical care services in the lower North Island, providing extra capacity and relieving pressure on the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and emergency department. “Wellington Regional Hospital has previously relied ...
Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal, kia ora and good afternoon everyone. What an honour it is to stand on this stage - to inaugurate this august Dialogue - with none other than the Honourable Narendra Modi. My good friend, thank you for so generously welcoming me to India and for our ...
Check against delivery.Kia ora koutou katoa It’s a real pleasure to join you at the inaugural New Zealand infrastructure investment summit. I’d like to welcome our overseas guests, as well as our local partners, organisations, and others.I’d also like to acknowledge: The Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and other Ministers from the Coalition ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese is set to announce on Friday that Australians will go to the polls on May 3, after he makes an early morning visit to Governor-General Sam Mostyn. The prime minster’s timing means Thursday ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Daria Nipot/Shutterstock The opposition has unveiled its response to Labor’s A$17 billion “top-up” tax cuts outlined in Tuesday night’s federal budget: cheaper fuel for Australians. Opposition ...
Marques is the youngest student to be selected for Youth Parliament, a nationwide development opportunity for those aged 16-18 to experience the political process and represent their communities. ...
Parliament spent much of this week debating bills under urgency. The government can get more done in the House that way, but it also slows down progress in committees. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Hammond, PhD Student, Flinders University Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has adopted a heavy-handed approach to cutting any perceived wasteful spending in the US government. One of the more recent institutions targeted by Trump’s team, Voice of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, Edith Cowan University SBS PublicityAlone Australia is back this week for a third season on SBS. And its ten contestants are learning what it means to be really hungry. They’ve been dropped ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. While World War Two (WW2) always was a set of intersecting conflicts – with Japan fighting a war of imperialism in East Asia and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Prudence Upton Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) is widely regarded as one of America’s greatest playwrights. A prolific and unabashedly autobiographical writer, Williams’ career spanned four decades of the 20th century. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Keneally, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Environmental Microbiology, University of Adelaide Darcy Whittaker, CC BY You might know South Australia’s iconic Coorong from the famous Australian children’s book, Storm Boy, set around this coastal lagoon. This internationally important wetland is ...
“The Government needs to go full cold turkey and ditch the extra public servants. Trimming a little off the top won’t cut it. Nicola must show she’s serious in Budget 2025 and bring staffing at least back to 2017 levels." ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University Department of Defence Australia’s defence spending is on the rise. The future defence budget has already been increased to 2.4% of GDP. There is pressure from the new Trump administration in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rodrigo Rossi Nogueira Rizzo, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neuroscience Research Australia Monika Wisniewska/Shutterstock Jason, a 42-year-old father of two, has been battling back pain for weeks. Scrolling through his phone, he sees ad after ad promising relief: chiropractic alignments, acupuncture, back braces, ...
‘The Way I See It, Report by the Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier, December 2015 - March 2025, on leaving Office’ contains his personal thoughts on the jurisdiction and constitutional position of the Ombudsman in New Zealand. ...
Alex Casey meets a curious outlier from last year’s local music charts. At the end of last year, Aotearoa’s 2024 listening habits were revealed and some clear trends were observed: the proliferation of country music, the domination of the “pop girlies”, and the unwavering popularity of L.A.B. But there were ...
The annual Memorial Lecture is dedicated to the memory of Ernie and all those who have given their lives in service of working people and is focused on labour, trade union, and socialist history in Aotearoa. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda Mussell, Senior Lecturer, Political Science and International Relations, University of Canterbury Paremoremo Maximum Security Prison near Auckland.Getty Images With the government’s Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill about to become law within days, New Zealand’s already high incarceration rate will almost certainly ...
Corrections’ latest change proposal would result in a net reduction of 49 roles in its already stretched People and Capability, said Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Andrews, Senior Manager, Policy & Engagement, Australian National University The year 2000 marked an inflection point for many Western countries, including Australia, in their outlook towards the world. The focus began to shift away from the peacekeepinginterventions that had ...
Health NZ today confirmed an IT security incident in October 2024 that resulted in unauthorised access to some staff information from 2020 to 2024 at Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley, and Wairarapa districts. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul McGreevy, Professor, School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney Chernika 888/Shutterstock In the wild, dogs spend a lot of their time chewing on bones, carcasses, sticks and kernels. For example, Australian dingoes can feed for up to 108 minutes in ...
It’s a response that has nothing to do with children and everything to do with adults. On Sunday, my family had a picnic. We went to Grey Lynn Park, lazed around in the autumn sun, and appreciated the corny, wholesome vibe of being together. My siblings and I are ...
Green MP Tamatha Paul was widely criticised for suggesting not everyone wants to see more police on the beat. Is that really such a crazy idea? Lyric Waiwiri-Smith argues with Lyric Waiwiri-Smith. Comments made by Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul that she had heard from “a lot” of her constituents ...
Parliament is preoccupied with pointless points of order, and speaker Gerry Brownlee is absolutely done with it. Here’s what happened in question time yesterday: Chris Hipkins asked Chris Luxon a bunch of questions about something bad his government had done. Luxon got flustered because he struggles to give an answer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Changyan He, Lecturer, School of Engineering, University of Newcastle Photo supplied. Most brain surgery requires doctors to remove part of the skull to access hard-to-reach areas or tumours. It’s invasive, risky, and it takes a long time for the patient to ...
I’ve worked hard to cut negative self-talk out of my life. How do I stop my friend from picking up the slack? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera, I’ve recently been getting annoyed with my friend because she will include me in her negative self-talk and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jill Sheppard, Senior Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University With another election campaign unofficially underway, voters may feel it hasn’t been long since they were last at the voting booth. Australia’s Constitution dictates: every House of ...
Sentencing reform legislation has passed its final reading, writes Alice Neville in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Sentencing reform legislation passed its final reading The government’s sentencing reform legislation passed its final reading in parliament yesterday, marking “a significant milestone in this ...
Concerns about an increased likelihood of bird-strike at Queenstown Airport were raised directly with the district’s mayor and chief executive last week.At a media briefing yesterday, Queenstown’s council confirmed it was considering using emergency powers to discharge “highly treated wastewater” into the Shotover River, after the failure of its land ...
Isn't Hosking the one who wants all public transport canned? So everyone can enjoy the pleasure of driving themselves to work and observing all the others 'driving' to work? And parking, um, where?
I must get a bell on my bike to warn pedestrians on shared footpaths.
In London some footpaths are dual use and they work OK but dedicated bike lanes are better. Some Underground Stations have huge bike stands outside the door. So go the support for a NZ massive trend towards biking. And with a flash helmet like that even Mike could not deny seeing you as he tries to accidentally run you down.
Compulsory Ferraris I say. Lacking the 'excellence' and 'personal responsibility' to afford one? Then die in a ditch loser! Roads are for winners (like Mike).
And another great way of unclogging the roads would be if everyone worked less. Didn't some guy back in the '70's say we would all be working 10-hour weeks by now due to technology? Clearly Toffler was extraordinarily naive about the nature of capitalism – or believed that technology somehow transcended the economic system within which it was deployed.
I had to go to Ponsonby after work yesterday afternoon rather than straight home to Mt Eden, so I jumped on an InnerLink in Queens St and got caught in the almighty traffic shit-fight in Nelson/Victoria Streets. While I was sitting on the bus (like forever) watching the cyclists flying along the Nelson Street cycle way and wondering what the hell was going on it crossed my mind that of course my normal commute home i.e. train from Britomart to Kingsland station would have been completely immune to the chaos on the roads.
Hosking is the most selfish, self centred and ill-tempered "journo" in the country. I haven't read any of his contributions for years but feedback suggests he's worse than ever.
Look at his most recent tantrum over the demise of plastic bags. He doesn't give a damm about the awful consequences. All he's interested in is his own personal inconvenience. The rest of us get on with finding alternatives but no… he's too precious. He has to bellow his annoyance to all and sundry. In short, he's a narcissist.
What's the bet he complained that he should be behind the pay wall too cos he's NZ's premium current affairs expert.
Yet Hosking gets listened to muchly. What does that say about a large number of NZs who must find him agreeable in his constant bad-tempered argument. I think people who listen to him need to think for themselves, they might find they can become problem solvers instead of joining his followers who are all constipated, curmudgeonly cyclops.
TalkBack radio outlets like ZB and radio live are based on opinionators agitating and pitching memes. Their advertisers don't want the independent thinkers.
Heard a piece in a cab from the mediawanks stable that would've had them seeing the authorities if broadcast in Oz.
Wilfully inaccurate to manufacture consent with hand picked callers aligned. Immigration dogwhistling.
Hosking is an "Opinionist" rather than a Journalist. I don't know if he has any qualifications in anything other than kissing up to the NACTs.
Hosking has clearly forgotten that the undisputed champion of cycle ways was his hero-John Key.
Dedicated cycleways are OK but in Christchurch they all have curbs so people with mobility issues are effectively shut out of every area that has a cycle path. People with walkers have to use the precious energy walking out of their way to find a gap as do people in wheelchairs. To be honest the town planners have not taken into account the ageing population and the fact that in 10 years time the cycle ways should have been constructed to accommodate mobility scooters and wheelchairs as there will be more people using these than bikes.
Ye Lucy so true. Nelson has a big number of retirees but their needs are overlooked in the rush to get modern, and help non-car users. We need to make it easier to get public transport, and have a toll system that starts to lessen car use for a start. And shared pathways need to have median fences. It has taken ages and tons of crashes for authorities to finally stop blaming individuals for not driving perfectly, and usually once they are up the crashes go way down.
That the authorities are allowed to introduce fast moving mechanical devices on footpaths, in a city with many old people and where Green Prescriptions advise people to walk more for good health and a relief from stress. The ability to do so has at the same time been jeopardised by thoughtless she'll-be-right planning; just a repeat of the bone-headed approach of not bothering to ensure suitable and safe lanes appropriate for users.
Ironic that Hoskin's rant today is about centralising the health system and bemoaning that different regions set their own policy.
Not that I don't think centralisation isn't necessary but it's odd to see him and Farrar champion the practise while railing against it so hard in other areas of social policy – education, for instance.
Hosking? HOLD MY F*#%IN' BEER!
LOL. I've often wondered how I'd react to him if he turned up in the audience. Possibly walk off and refuse to entertain him. Possibly bend over for the cheque…
I think the size of the check is the determinate factor. We all dance for the organ grinder, but his is a particularly pernicious piece.
Now I'm curious Bleep. What sort of audience?
Comedy. You'd be surprised who turns up at times. I've had a hiatus but back at it now.
You're joking!
Recycling is in.
New material from old material?
Absolutely. I'm gonna recycle your beard joke on furry folk in the audience (passing cloud). Bloody good line. Impromptu, yours?
Heres one for the greenies.
Speaking of #metoo. Pandas are a pack of wife beaters. That's why they're not breeding. Give them a bamboo buffet and running water, ambient music, years to figure it out. Whadda ya got? Two black eyes, no babies.
Hosking's a cock.
That having been said, where there are no cycle lanes cycling still has the issue with either being squished by heavy machinery, or squishing people who are just walking along. That's just a fact of putting thousands of people together: someone will screw up and hit someone else. The trouble with cyclists is that if one is a jerk and acts like a hazard, there's no reggo to report.
An interesting idea someone floated was to abandon "vehicle", "pedestrian" and "cycle" designations and run the same lanes as speed criteria: <10kph, 10-30kph, 30+kph. That would deal to new tech (e.g. scooters, "It") as well as keep everyone safe because speeder just flip into the next lane to avoid slower people.
Would need wider roads and pavements to get the lanes and need to put a rego on the walkers as well.. But personally I'd prefer fully separated lanes with a barrier. It is a whole lot safer for everyone.
I have had issues with some pedestrians on the combined cycle/walkway taking up the whole of the path in both directions going one way despite the clearly marked lanes, especially around the university. Apparently it makes talking to each other much easier when you are doing it 5 kids wide. But most pedestrians are pretty good about using the lanes, just as I am pretty good about how I use pedestrian pavements.
The only injury I have had so far was from my own inattention. Was crossing the off-ramp on Newton road just down the hill from home one very rainy night. Was watching for cars, and missed a runner coming down the hill. Spotted him out of the side of my eye as I started to cross from a standing start, jerked, and slid the front wheel out from under me. Belted my right knee on the road.
Nearest to a serious accident that I have had was some munter on Don McKinnon drive on the old cycle/walkway. After dusk one friday night, on a blind corner, without turning his car lights on, he'd backed almost all the way across the cycleway from his parked position to try to get on to the road. I came down the hill on the bike at about 20km watching out for walkers in the cycle lane (the usual problem) and didn't have lot of time to react to a car lunging out backwards into my path. I think that the driver was rather startled as I started to scream at him. He certainly reversed direction and went out the correct way pretty damn fast.
But it is a continual issue, especially at my age. Nothing heals particularly fast any more.
I’ve seen some cyclists doing some pretty appalling things as well. Mostly going across pedestrians crossing with the lights against them. Frigging dangerous.
I have had issues with some pedestrians on the combined cycle/walkway taking up the whole of the path in both directions going one way despite the clearly marked lanes…
I got a broken bone in my hand out of that one – too old to be doing emergency stops when I come round a corner and find the path completely blocked by pedestrians 5-abreast.
Scares the hell out of me. These days I slow down before corners and try to contain my temper with gaggles of young 'adults' trying to kill themselves.
In my general accumulation of safety equipment, I've ordered a programmable battery powered horn so I can give a good raspberry (or whatever else I want to plug in) as the 'horn' sound. I was thinking about programming the noise of a old diesel land rover and programming it to turn on loudly just before known blind corners..
I'll be heading out more on to the road – I wonder what volume I can get off it. See if I can penetrate the thickness between me and car drivers…
Pedestrians like that piss me off, too, but I've never thought something like "holy fuck I would have been flying if that prick had been two inches to the left, I swear his caot brushed the hairs on the back of my hand" about pedestrians.
Crikey – I thought Mr Hoskin was a Mr Fixit.
Look at the Mess he has got Auckland into! I think we are all hoping he doesn't go over the edge in St Helliers. There are enough dead fish there already.
He has been hopping in and out of gentlemens pockets for years. And knows nothing of real life. He goes under the famous Blanket of ZB. It's time they washed and rinsed that smelly Blanket out.
Nailed it, thankyou for calling out this muppet.
His article on marijuana legalization is almost as narrow minded and short sighted as this self centered opinion on cycleways.
Just out of interest
You do realise a lot of people don't live a 10 minute bike ride from their work and have to live fricken miles away to afford a place and there are no trains or buses?
Who's faults that?
Oh yeah. That is what I mean about conservatives being short sighted. I brought here deliberately because of the transport screwup I saw coming.
Back in late 1997 I looked at how National and their proxy C&R had been running Auckland into the ground. I figured that they would retain control for some time in Auckland doing the same stupid things. Encouraging inwards migration, not putting in parking or roads, selling off critical assets, not fixing the public transport or water or sewerage and generally being short-sighted conservatives – whoc couldn't be trusted to not screw things up in the long term.
So I brought a inner city apartment right next to the end of all of the motorways, near the hub of what public transport remained operating, and close to the largest concentration of work in NZ in my chosen field.
I was right on.
The only thing that was irritating was the leaky building crap and the changes to the legislation requiring cavity wall when repairs were made to a monolithic wall. I also made sure that where I brought was properly inspected by the council – so the C&R arseholes would up paying for the repairs despite their stupid inspector privatisation.
I'd have also preferred to have a bit more area. But I couldn't find an apartment at the time with a larger floor area and a high ceiling.
But when the traffic got to be a pain, I shifted to public transport for a while. Then I stopped taking jobs that were more than a 10 minute commute. I could do it because of forethought.
Conservatives suck at forward thinking… Hosking is just a prime example.
What were the estimates for the usage of cycling lanes prior to them being built?
And what is the usage now? You appear to know the numbers. Why not provide the people who don't remember ever having seen them? Not everyone reads the Herald you know, and I presume they were published there. Then we could have someone who follows the approach recommended in this post.
"Umm I remember that (and again it’d be very helpful if our fool could put in links)."
Will dig them out when I have time – maybe after I fix search.
However they were written up at Greater Auckland blog when Hosking went inane. Look there I’d you want them sooner. They specialise in that type of data.
I don’t think that I have ever seen them the herald. They aren’t very good on detail (or links) and perhaps you should request Hosking should do that… After all he is paid for it I am not.
Updated: a two minute search
directly on the topic
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2018/11/13/the-heralds-latest-cycling-smear/
locations for data.
https://www.bikeauckland.org.nz/resources/cycling-facts-figures/
this one is just amusing
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12159988
and so is this
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/15-11-2018/if-you-think-cycleways-are-financially-disastrous-wait-till-you-hear-about-roads/
LP – why are you so CBD centric ?
"Oh yeah. That is what I mean about conservatives being short sighted. I brought here deliberately because of the transport screwup I saw coming.
Back in late 1997 I looked at how National and their proxy C&R had been running Auckland into the ground. I figured that they would retain control for some time in Auckland doing the same stupid things. Encouraging inwards migration, not putting in parking or roads, selling off critical assets, not fixing the public transport or water or sewerage and generally being short-sighted conservatives – whoc couldn't be trusted to not screw things up in the long term.
So I brought a inner city apartment right next to the end of all of the motorways, near the hub of what public transport remained operating, and close to the largest concentration of work in NZ in my chosen field."
Sorry LP – but "Auckland" is no-longer just "CBD" (did you miss the Dame Bazley dissonance ?)
Just what is your "work" ? – if "the largest concentration of work in NZ in my chosen field." – is at the end of all the motorways ?
The majority of Aucklanders do not live or work in the CBD – have no need to commute to the CBD – and from what I can see, significant CBD employers are contracting headcount. (Skycity excluded)
Auckland CBD is a minion in the future of AUCKLAND.
You appear to have not read the comment carefully without introducing your biases
The highest concentration in the country of programming jobs of the type I prefer (essentially ones who build software doe export) are within 5km of where I live.
All of the transport routes for Auckland isthmus converge here.
Also relevant in 1997 was that this was one of the few places in the country you could get good comms.
It was a case of live in near the transport or work offshore. I chose here in the city fringe (why would I live in the CBD? It has always sucked in there for any kind of transport).
And I anticipated that the short sighted dumbarse conservatives couldn't run Auckland properly…
From where I live I could get to Albany, and Manakau and much of the west within 20 minutes by car in 1998. All that has happened since then was that my limits have contracted because the traffic got worse. Now on average at rush hours it takes 30 minutes to get to Penrose or over the bridge. But I still have the highest choice of employers within 20 minutes. Now with bike lanes, 20 minutes gets me most of the way to the parts of west Auckland nowhere south or north (no bike lanes). But most places in the city fringe and every where in the CBD. I also get excellent comms.
Still max choices for a programmer.
Your comment is just nuts… Try reading mine for a change.
Lynn
Yes – I do read and respect your ascriptions – you are rarely infallible in reason. I just wish to emphasise the trend of irrelevance of location in contemporary commerce.
Getting somewhere quickly is a virtue of diminishing value – hospitals and good curries excluded.
I used to think that as well – 20 years ago. I'm glad now that I was cautious about moving to Glenorchy and coding from there (the lack of decent comms was finally the deciding factor).
20 years ago I was programming education simulations running on US servers targeted mostly at US customers. So I started working from home and running a team of programmers remotely. Worked well. Still does – my partner is slowly building a business that does a lot of content and QA based on the same thing. She works with people scattered everywhere – quite a few in New York for some reason.
I still do those. I just got off a wee R&D project where I was working with a team that was mostly in Austin Texas, others in aussie, and a couple of us in Auckland. Daily standups via webex. That was mostly code for androids and providing sources for generic data analytics.
But these days I work mostly by writing code for specialised vertical market bespoke hardware – it is more fun. That means I need to be at or very close to mechanical, electronics, system, firmware, testing and god knows what other kind of engineers all the time when I'm on those projects.
I need to have someone who can actually measure the voltage on a line. Someone who can find and fix a crimped rs485 line. Someone who can test the actual power on a power amp. Looks that the frequencies actually being transmitted. Or solder a wire into a PCB to get around a flaw in a prototype board.
Similarly I need to be around those bods because they need to get me to look at what they're seeing. They need me to immediately fix the blocker that they just showed me. It is a VERY collaborative process.
Sure I could probably do the project managers and project engineers and other programmers remotely. But it is a hell of a lot faster when we get a few relevant people in a room together. The easiest way to do that is to have them in the same location. Similarly the suppliers of prototype gear. Sure we can do a lot from overseas with PCBs etc. But hell – we test production, assembly and QA processes here before shipping them elsewhere. We have what is essentially a prototype manufacturing plant to do it.
I write export code. Most of which is about making sure that it works, and increasingly that is causing R&D and bespoke concentrations rather than dispersal. This isn't hard to see – it is why you're seeing the bigger cities getting even bigger.
This is the 3rd of of 5 firms of this kind that I have done the last decade and a bit. It isn’t hard to find work of this export kind in Auckland. But I’ve lived in Hamilton, Dunedin, Wellington in NZ, and it wasn’t and still isn’t possible in any of those. You can find a couple of firms, but that is it. A paucity of opportunity. There are more in ChCh, but half of the people I know of there are actually working for Auckland firms (including my line boss). They move there for the housing prices and spend a lot of time in Auckland hotels.
So for many things you can do everything from anywhere. But not everything, and especially not over decades, and also the really high value things that I like to work on.
Yep – a few Albany / East Tamaki / Constellation initiatives fit your brief in AUCKLAND. RS485 hardwired issues are often mitigated in the field by ZigBee adoption – those old differential gambits have no place in delivering to a contemporary GPIO dependent environment – too much sporadic E out there.
Which R&D concentrations are specifically in Auckland ?
It would be weird to restrict your residential locale apropos the odd escalated issue – but it is fair to seek reason. I live outside the CBD fringe – but coastal, the echo of surf resonates.
I have now realised that CBD proximity is not critical – so much is Rosedale and Rosebank.
What language is that? What bubble are you from?