Onya Michael

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, May 8th, 2021 - 34 comments
Categories: business, capitalism, Economy, employment, Living Wage, michael wood, national, same old national, Unions, wages, workers' rights - Tags:

It has been an interesting week for Labour.  On Wednesday they announced a wage freeze for public servants earning over $60,000 unless, for those on lower salary levels, there were exceptional circumstances.  The left did not take this well.

Then yesterday Michael Wood, the twenty first century version of Micky Savage, led the announcement of a policy that conceivably could do more to address the decline in workers wages and conditions over the past 40 years than anything else tried recently.

Radio New Zealand said this:

The government has released details around employers and unions setting minimum standards to implement the Fair Pay Agreements

It brings into action the system proposed by a working group led by former prime minister Jim Bolger in 2019.

In a statement, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood said Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) would improve wages and conditions for employees, encourage businesses to invest in training, and level the playing field.

Wood said FPAs were about ensuring working Kiwis got a fair go.

“For too long New Zealanders working in critical roles like cleaners, supermarket workers, and bus drivers whose work was essential to keep our country going during the pandemic, have been undervalued by our workplace relations system,” he said.

“We’re taking a balanced approach and have designed Fair Pay Agreements to be negotiated between business and unions who are familiar with the particular sector or occupational group being negotiated for. Industrial action cannot occur during Fair Pay Agreement negotiations.

“Fair Pay Agreements will help good employers by stopping the race to the bottom we’ve seen in various industries and encourage competition that isn’t based on low wages, but on better products, services, and innovation.”

The government would also provide support for BusinessNZ and the Council of Trade Unions, “as well as potentially providing a support person and direct financial assistance to bargaining parties”, he said.

The government will now draft legislation, which will be introduced later this year, and is expected to pass in 2022.

National’s social media team lept into action.

It is a shame they did not /engage sarcasm chip/ read the background material including the report from the Fair Pay Agreements working group which included employer and union representatives and was chaired by, check my notes, former National Prime Minister Jim Bolger.

The report said this in italics and bolded:

There is no recourse to industrial action during bargaining

And typical National.  They are totally indifferent to the poverty that workers who perform vital roles are experiencing but are happy to lie about industrial action so that they can try and prevent something beneficial happening.

The proposal, so far, does not suggest or even hint at the possibility of compulsory unionism being reintroduced.  The recommendation of the working group was that negotiated fair pay agreements should cover both union members and non union members.

Of course this will mean that unions may not be properly resourced to do the job.  The working party report says “[t]he Government will need to consider whether additional resources for bodies involved in dispute resolution and enforcement are needed during the detailed design and implementation of the overall system.

There will be attacks from the right on this proposal.  They are already warming up their attack lines.  From Jason Walls at the Herald:

BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said employers were not interested in compulsory nationwide pay agreements, irrespective of funding offered.

“They would take away business’ right to a say over wage-setting and would lead to labour disputes and strikes.”

He added they are contrary to international law, which says collective agreements should always be negotiated voluntarily.

“Business cannot support the plan to implement them.”

The Canterbury Chamber of Commerce said fair pay agreements had no place in New Zealand’s modern workplace.

“Fair pay agreements would force payment of higher wages within sectors which could force some newer, smaller firms out of business, reducing competition, productivity and growth,” chamber chief executive Leeann Watson said.

“It would also destroy contracting, as it would cover all contractors in a sector.”

National is similarly sceptical: “Labour’s so-called fair pay agreements may be celebrated by unions who are struggling for survival, but they will not improve things for individual workers.”

The party’s workplace relations spokesman Scott Simpson said the new rules would see 90 per cent of a workforce at the mercy of the other 10 per cent.

Entire industries would be bound by agreements whether they participate in the FPA bargaining process or not, Simpson said.

The breach of international law claim is an interesting one.  Australia has had a similar model for the past eleven years.    It has consistently protected unions and collective bargaining better than New Zealand over the past four decades and wages are higher there.  Clearly below all the bluster this is the right’s main concern, workers being paid properly.

This proposal could do more to reverse the damage caused by the Employment Contracts Act than anything else tried since the 1990s.  Let’s do this.

34 comments on “Onya Michael ”

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  1. Ad 1
    8 May 2021 at 8:59 am

    The decision by Minister Robertson to put a wage freeze of much of the public sector without warning, 24 hours before Minister Wood rolled out his labour sector regulation by fiat, shows that they have already set aside one of the two key triggers of their own recommendations: the Public interest trigger where there are "harmful labour conditions in the nominated sector or occupation."

    The state is of course a monopoly employer to nearly a quarter of our population.

    In many public service sectors COVID19 and accelerating poverty has massively increased the harmful labour conditions.

    With the remaining unionised capacity within the public service, I hope the Minister and the CTU start bending the accusing finger of labour re-regulation back on themselves before they step outside their own patch.

  2. Tricledrown 2
    8 May 2021 at 9:00 am

    How could Labour get this so wrong dumb idea..

    • mickysavage 2.1
      8 May 2021 at 9:03 am

      Don't you think cleaners and bus drivers should be paid more?

    • ghostwhowalksnz 2.2
      8 May 2021 at 9:10 am

      Tell that to Australia…. industry wide agreements are a central part of their collective bargaining system

      It is of course minimum standards

      https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/legislation/the-fair-work-system

      Its probably the only way NZ can 'catch up with Australia' -TM John Key- in wages . When I returned to NZ in late 80s from Melbourne I got more pay here.

      • alwyn 2.2.1
        8 May 2021 at 11:26 am

        "I returned to NZ in late 80s from Melbourne I got more pay here."

        Did you say thank you to Roger Douglas? After all, given the date you state, he would have been Minister of Finance for about 4 years then. Unfortunately about the time you returned was the time that Lange had his unfortunate brain fade, decided it was time for a cup of tea and sacked Douglas.

        Wouldn't things be so much better if it had been Lange who went and Douglas who had stayed?

    • Louis 2.3
      8 May 2021 at 2:06 pm

      @ Tricledrown "Last year the Public Service Commissioner issued guidance to Public Service agencies asking them to have nil or minimal pay increases for public servants until June 2021.

      “Today the Public Service Commissioner is updating that guidance to make clear that pay restraint will need to continue to be exercised across the Public Service for the next three years”

      https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-sets-pay-and-workforce-expectations-public-sector

  3. Pat 3
    8 May 2021 at 9:16 am

    An odd week of announcements from what appears to be a bi polar Government.

    The Fair Pay Agreement suggests the Goverments moves on minimum wages, holidays and sick leave wont achieve the desired outcomes….strange given they havnt had time to take effect.

    Unless this is part of a comprehensive realignment of the economy that has yet to be revealed (perhaps at Budget 2021) this makes little sense…especially in light of the previously announced PS wage freeze.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 3.1
      8 May 2021 at 9:40 am

      Fair pay agreements include different minimum wages for different industries.

      Minimum pay say for a cafe worker would be different to a supermarket chain or in a call centre. Those with higher skills and qualifications get more.

      based on Australia, their Fair Pay system doesnt cover state government workers- who have different collective agreements.

      Here the individual ministries negotiate with PSA, so theres variations between them

      • Pat 3.1.1
        8 May 2021 at 10:02 am

        Am well aware of that and would suggest that they are also an exceeding inefficient method of attempting to achieve better wages/ conditions than the blanket minimums outlined.

        There is always a push effect from the increased minimum when the base is increased to maintain relativity.

        On its own this is not going to improve the position of low paid workers or encourage investment in NZ industries but it will make importing look even more attractive.

        • RedBaronCV 3.1.1.1
          8 May 2021 at 12:26 pm

          Importing. We could have a border health and safety levy on goods to prevent countries with no standards undercutting our labour market. Plus tax measures on overseas remittances – they could be non deductible – that would fix a lot of it.

          • Pat 3.1.1.1.1
            8 May 2021 at 12:55 pm

            As stated…

            "Unless this is part of a comprehensive realignment of the economy that has yet to be revealed (perhaps at Budget 2021) this makes little sense…"

            Industry bargaining will achieve nothing especially if we continue to turn a blind eye to the exploitation that continues to ignore (largely with impunity) even the basic legislated minimums.

    • Corey Humm 3.2
      9 May 2021 at 6:44 pm

      Not odd. Perfect. Bash high paid 100 k earning public servants who the public think gets paid too much anyway 24 hours before announcing an unprecedented, in the last fourty years, reform of unionization. This drowns out the noise from the nats from a bunch of insane PSA activist's and greenies who are going ballistic over winz managers not getting a payrise.

      Brilliant.

      This govt is getting exceptional at coms. They were able to attack the lanyard mafia in wellington and be pro union at same time and the two stories cancelled themselves out

      Machiavelli would be impressed.

      More moves like this would be nice

      • Pat 3.2.1
        9 May 2021 at 6:48 pm

        Perfect??…what pray tell will it achieve, apart from signalling to all and sundry that wage inflation is off the table?

  4. RedLogix 4
    8 May 2021 at 9:45 am

    At last. This more than anything else is what I expected a Labour govt to do.

    I recall having a beer with Sir Michael Cullen about 13 yrs ago and asked him why Clark's govt never got around to labour reform like this – and his answer was that they judged the general environment too hostile for it to succeed.

    Well I think now is the time. Unions in this country have been given an opportunity to show they can step up as a responsible and constructive element of our economy.

    • Incognito 4.1
      8 May 2021 at 2:19 pm

      Agree 100%!

      Going by the reception it has received here on this site, which would be among the more welcoming receptions, I’d have thought, I can see why it would have been impossible previously.

  5. Sabine 5
    8 May 2021 at 10:52 am

    We have different industrial wage agreement in Germany, and general the government buts out of these and says very little.

    They are conducted between the different Unions and their counterparts the Employers Groups also sorted by industry.

    At the moment i think they are simply announcing the upheaval of everything to literally hide that they can't even organise a piss up in a brewery.

    We have homeless that are not being looked after, our schools still fall apart and some even need to demolish class rooms, we have our hospitals not coping, understaffed and under payed, we have toddlers in preschool that don't get breakfast or lunch, and so on and so forth, open crime, vandalism etc and these guys want to take another thing apart cause why not?

    Good grief, they are useless.

    https://www.eu-gleichbehandlungsstelle.de/eugs-en/what-is-a-collective-agreement-tarifvertrag–599212

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_unions_in_Germany

    As for fair pay, someone send Mr. Wood to speak to the people that were just told that they wont' be getting any increases for a few years? Or is that 'fair pay' only for some, but not all?

  6. Byd0nz 6
    8 May 2021 at 10:53 am

    On wage freeze.
    Hard working people who have been on the minimum wage for years and years never get a wage rise from the greedy employer, wages only go up when the minimum wage is raised, but it still falls short of a living wage. Pensioners have been on a wage freeze since Ruth Richardson stomped on them, if you compare the pension to a 40 hour week, it's about 7 dollars an hour, or in other words, way below the poverty line.

    But oh, those poor buggers on 100,000 +, finding it hard to pay the mortgage on their second or more property that they rent out at robbery rates, they should at least get a box of tissues from the Gvt.

    • Descendant Of Smith 6.1
      8 May 2021 at 1:06 pm

      "Pensioners have been on a wage freeze since Ruth Richardson stomped on them"

      Ahhh no they haven't. Pensions have always, as benefits once were, been 65% of the average wage and have continued to rise accordingly.

      Only benefits were decoupled from the average wage to the point that from being the same they are now $140 or more apart from each other. Richardson did cut NZS by $20 per week which was reinstated by Helen's labour government. She did not put it back on benefits nor did she re-instate benefit rates back.

      Youth were most affected with a triple whammy – $20-00 per week cut, increases linked to CPI which moves much slower than average wage and the movement of the lower under 18 youth rate (which was mainly paid to kids delivering papers / milk boys etc) to 24.

      • Descendant Of Smith 6.1.1
        8 May 2021 at 1:13 pm

        "Hard working people who have been on the minimum wage for years and years never get a wage rise from the greedy employer, wages only go up when the minimum wage is raised, but it still falls short of a living wage."

        Agree it sucks but that's why workers need to join together and unionise. I have always believed governments, in the absence of wide spread unionism should announce general wage orders that deliver minimum payrises each year. Move the minimum and everyone else up to say $100,000 ) since this government seems to like this figure) by a % increase that reflects inflation . Either that or make it manadatory for contracts to have annual cost of living increases.

  7. RedBaronCV 7
    8 May 2021 at 12:22 pm

    How many times has this been "announced" now. They have had 4 years in power – why was this policy (even if useless) not ready to go the minute the opportunity arose.

    As to the policy itself

    – Labour could stop channelling the likes of David Cameron and the Uk tory party with state sector austerity wages.

    – Who decides what "industry" an employer is in. Them ?

    – Who decides how to classify a worker. I can see a lot of cleaners becoming sanitising specialists.in a hurry.

    – Can a worker decide to join and how easy is that likely to be.

    OTOH a couple of measures to improve things straight away could be:

    – all contractors become permanent staff after 6 months.

    – all work visa holders are joined up to a union with the fees paid by the employer and unions notified of their whereabouts. These would cover compulsory workplace inspections of such things as salary records and other business compliance. No compliance and prosecution follows plus if the employer is on some sort of visa they get booted. I'm sick of reading stories about exploited workers when we could front load the system so that there was compliance from day 1 and save all the expensive state intervention through Courts etc. It would benefit better emplyers too who follow the rules so they don't lose business to the rule dodging cost cutters.

    • Incognito 7.1
      8 May 2021 at 2:12 pm

      How many times has this been "announced" now. They have had 4 years in power – why was this policy (even if useless) not ready to go the minute the opportunity arose.

      Short answer: MMP

      I have no idea “[h]ow many times has this been “announced” now” but I don’t know either why this would be relevant.

      • RedBaronCV 7.1.1
        8 May 2021 at 9:44 pm

        Yes I understand that this is the sort of policy NZF would possibly hang up on but it doesn't even now feel "well prepared". It's as if the work on it has started only recently – surely it could have been good to go long before now. They had a few years in opposition to sort this sort of stuff out beforehand.

        As to "announcing " it more than once – it's the doing that counts. Talking about it repeatedly is just kicking the can down the road with no actual action. Trying too pacify the plebs without actually improving their ability to act in their own interests in the free fire zone of the local workplace. Frankly this workplace stuff sounds like Nanny knows what's best for the workforce after consulting with employers. I'm just not that impressed – sorry.

        • Incognito 7.1.1.1
          8 May 2021 at 11:47 pm

          All good, please don’t say “sorry” to me!

          I think some of the thinking has been in place for a while but to get it to the policy stage requires a lot of preparation and checking for consistency with other and existing policies and a lot of legal details, I’d imagine, which can only be done when in Government. It does indeed feel a little rushed but the election clock is ticking and Covid-19 threw a huge spanner in the works.

          I don’t get your second paragraph, sorry cheeky

          • RedBaronCV 7.1.1.1.1
            10 May 2021 at 10:59 am

            Labour have had years in opposition and time in government to work out what policy for the wage earner workforce they want to implement when they have the power which they now do. But they still appear to be developing policy – rather late in the day – and frankly I don't see it reining in the mess in the modern workforce. Nor do I like the nanny state attitude – I would have thought empowering people to help themselves would give faster more widespread results.

  8. Tiger Mountain 8
    9 May 2021 at 10:56 am

    Well this announcement certainly surprised–did not expect Fair Pay Agreements to be greenlit during this term even a few months back. Some of my Labour loyalist friends in unions were looking sheepish whenever I asked how FPAs were going. One confessed earlier this year that it would take strong campaigning to get it over the line.

    Now I actually support FPAs due to the wage and condition floor they should provide. In my Northland and Far North region various business initiatives, particularly Iwi based, are underway, but traditional organising methods likely may not be quick enough to make the progress needed to capitalise on the flow of Pacific “slave” labour being cut off due to COVID. Effectively paying the union fee is a good touch too for workers with no or little institutional memory of collective workplace organisation.

    As long as there remains a two tier system of FPAs plus enterprise bargaining, I am ok with the policy. It is a form of centralised wage fixing and a form of a return to arbitration, no doubt about that. It is the most substantial restorative move since National tried to, and almost succeeded in, wiping out unionism totally with the Employment Contracts Act.

    I remain a trenchant critic of this timid majority Govt. until they act on a state house mega build, raise benefits, and start rolling back the State Sector Act and all the rest of it. But, while awaiting real world implementation of FPAs, they appear to have got this substantially right. The wailing from the EMA and all the rest clearly illustrates the mildest of reforms will not be tolerated by the arsehole employer class who have become way too accustomed to having things totally their way since 1991.

    • Patricia Bremner 8.1
      9 May 2021 at 11:26 am

      As you say Tiger Mountain, screaming at the mildest reforms is usual for the entitled.

      Many reforms need careful consideration to avoid unintended consequences, so take time.

      Personally I am delighted to see FPAs coming in, along with the surge in house building and consents is a great sign, and the beginning of the tunnel in Auckland, the Three Waters Policy work, the Maori Wards on Councils, the banking reforms, the tenor and direction is good. The respect for Law and Science by this Government at home and Internationally, and not forgetting progress with mycoplasma bovis and covid.

      So yes, to see the end of Bill Birch's Contract Act as the basis of our employment relations is great. That ruined many lives and reduced skilled workers to a spiral of penury, applying for lower and lower paid contracts.

  9. Incognito 9
    9 May 2021 at 12:39 pm

    This is fairly good piece on the new Fair Pay Agreement system by Luke Malpass. It contains some interesting detail & info.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/125059465/government-announces-fair-pay-agreements-plan-in-radical-overhaul-of-new-zealand-employment-laws

  10. georgecom 10
    9 May 2021 at 2:49 pm

    If anyone in National bothered to read the FPA proposal they would see it prohibits strikes for a FPA. So there will be no return to the 1970s. A possible downside for unions is that they don't bother trying to organise further than they already have in the private sector. FPA should have a supporting commitment to organise and build power in the private sector.

    • Enough is Enough 10.1
      10 May 2021 at 9:15 am

      The right to strike should be fundamental. Why is it prohibited?

      • Incognito 10.1.1
        10 May 2021 at 12:52 pm

        Because it runs counter to good faith negotiating and bargaining.

      • Craig Hall 10.1.2
        10 May 2021 at 12:54 pm

        To make it easier to maintain social license for the changes and to minimise National's ability to rage about the ferry strikes in the school holidays etc. Hence the Employment Relations Authority can make a binding determination if the parties bargaining for the FPA don't ratify it.

  11. Descendant Of Smith 11
    9 May 2021 at 2:59 pm

    Part of the decline in rural areas has been the undercutting of local employers by out of towners paying less to their workers and winning contracts. This not only wrecked local livelihoods but in some cases meant things that wouldn't be fixed later by the locals who either said "go get those wankers from Auckland who you got to build it" – that's an actual quote or the locals were no longer around and more as their businesses folded. Lots of good employers who paid decent wages vanished in this way.

    Hopefully this will encourage local people to start up again knowing they are less likely to be undercut.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago

  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    7 days ago

  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    7 days ago

  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago

  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 week ago

  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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