For most of my life, I have been a complete sceptic about reported UFO sitings, thinking that most of it could be put down to natural phenomenons or overactive imaginations.
As this Under Investigation documentary shows, there is little doubt that UFOs (renamed UFP- unidentified flying phenomenon) are actually a thing. As the documentary shows, there have been a lot of sightings by military pilots that have been captured both visually and by other instruments such as radar, that they have not been able to explain.
So it seems to be that there is some unknown technology that is behind these reports. The main question seems to be whether this technology is of earthly or alien origin.
The likely earthly candidates would seem to be:
The US themselves? Possible. But would seem unusual they be exposing their technology in such a way that it could get into the main stream so easily.
China or Russia? Unlikely. If they possessed this sort of technology then why aren't they in charge of the world order now? And certainly unlikely to be Russia given their performance in Ukraine.
The Israelis? Possible. They have already demonstrated high technological advance with their high energy beam air defence system that seems straight out of science fiction. But why they would be buzzing the American airforce, their natural allies, would seem a bit strange.
As unlikely as all the above explanations are, those earthly possibilities are probably still more likely than an explanation attributed to aliens from another planet. But who knows:
Years ago almost pre-internet in an obscure publication I read a story of a UCLA researcher studying rocks from deep in the San Andreas fault by putting them in a crusher to study the cracking and deformation and they were surprised to find in some cases that forming just above the surface in the moments before collapse a very small example of ball lightning tracking the imminent fracture in the rock. This tweaked my interest because here in Marlborough there are historicly a lot of UFO reports and of the 4 or 5 I know of ( and one personally ) the movement of the phenomen generally followed known earthquake fault lines. One of the worlds best known and studied UFO events was the Kaikoura UFOs and it wasn't until the big quake down there that it was discovered that there were a huge number of previously unknown faults along that coast. It has long been known that large aerial light displays are common at the time of large earthquakes. There is a PhD in there somewhere.. oh if only I hadn't spent my university days pissing up walls and falling over drunk.
The buzzing of AirForce jets may be coincidental because generally these things are seen on radar and jets are scrambled to intercept them.
“One of the world’s best known and studied UFO events was the Kaikoura UFOs …”
There is a more mundane explanation for that phenomenon provided by the Met.Service at the time that everyone chose to ignore. After all, as we are frequently told by some… what do the experts know?
At the time of that incident, there was an intense high pressure system which, iirc, was centred off the East Coast of the South Island. An inversion had formed in the lower atmosphere at about 2000 feet caused by the air warming as it rose rather than the usual cooling process. In these conditions, dust and other particles get trapped in the air beneath the inversion often creating a low level haze visible to the naked eye. It is also possible if the inversion is over the sea for surface reflections to be captured during night time hours at the top of the inversion layer.
It was known that a Japanese fishing fleet was in the area and was probably fishing inside the 200 mile zone at the time. They were using bright lights and it is believed what was seen was a reflection of those lights as they bobbed around in a choppy sea. That could have given the appearance of flying saucers nipping around the skies in no coordinated pattern which I believe is what happened.
I’m not saying there are no genuine mysteries out there but I say… always look first at the Earth generated answer to such mysteries.
The ones in which fighter pilots tried to chase down flying saucers were always compelling – particularly when you read their personal descriptions of what they saw. No way can any of the usual feeble diversionary explanations fit those circumstances!
Was 1963 when I gave a talk to my third form class on UFOs. One of Adamski's books prompted that but in retrospect he's one of the dodgier authors. There are some compilations by diligent researchers with critical faculties that are worth buying (I own a selection).
Are you inferring that the Meteorological Service was indulging in feeble diversionary explanations to "fit the circumstances" of the Kaikoura sightings? That is nonsense. I was there.
Their observations etc. are based on scientific knowledge and how the atmosphere can create curious 'images' of one sort or another. They don't bother with fairy stories and they certainly are not party to political or ideological games.
No, I agree that atmospheric inversions could reflect lights somewhat. I regard that as semi-plausible. If there had been separate reports of them doing so on other non-ufo occasions, I would delete semi.
I had in mind some of the other loopier standard official explanations such as weather balloons or the planet Venus. Weather balloons are not know for their ability to perform sudden right-angle turns when chased by fighter jets. Indeed, it's almost as if weather balloons don't know when/if fighter jets are chasing them. But don't tell the authorities that – they may get upset…
Likewise, Venus has consistently demonstrated a strange inability to perform evasive action. It's remotely possible that officials are troubled by this. If so, I haven't seen them discuss their anxiety in the media – but perhaps their employment contract has a privacy clause.
Yes Anne the Metservice theory got a lot of traction at the time but was rejected because the mystery lights showed up on Wellington Radar and reflections would not have done that. The Earth contains huge amounts of static electricity which is sometimes verified by ultra fast photography that shows that lightning strikes seem to have a very, very fine precursor electric discharge from the ground up to the charged cloud which the large cloud discharge then follows to the Earth. Ball lightning is another phenomonen that has not been so far explained and one of the strange things about it is that it has been reported that it moves rapidly away from any approaches, and similar things have been seen in a very small way in large electric motors, physicists have theorised that it may even be evidence of a 5th dimension and the Large Hadron Collider is running experiments on trying to solve these mysteries at the moment. There are a lot more things in Heaven and Earth that we have no idea of yet…Who said that?
I don't think aliens are one of them but Putin does come close.
What you have to remember though… the air immediately beneath the inversion line would have been dense with trapped dust and other debris particles. Whether they would show up on a radar screen I would have no idea.
Yes Anne the Metservice theory got a lot of traction at the time but was rejected because the mystery lights showed up on Wellington Radar and reflections would not have done that. The Earth contains huge amounts of static electricity which is sometimes verified by ultra fast photography that shows that lightning strikes seem to have a very, very fine precursor electric discharge from the ground up to the charged cloud which the large cloud discharge then follows to the Earth. Ball lightning is another phenomonen that has not been so far explained and one of the strange things about it is that it has been reported that it moves rapidly away from any approaches, and similar things have been seen in a very small way in large electric motors, physicists have theorised that it may even be evidence of a 5th dimension and the Large Hadron Collider is running experiments on trying to solve these mysteries at the moment. There are a lot more things in Heaven and Earth that we have no idea of yet…Who said that?
I don't think aliens are one of them but Putin does come close.
"I had in mind some of the other loopier standard official explanations such as weather balloons or the planet Venus."
Oh yes. that one used to pop up intervals. I'm not sure they were official claims or rather the MSM trying to infer some mysterious 'goings on' high in the atmosphere. There were goings on alright. Met staff recording the wind directions and speeds plus temp. data at multiple levels. They wore that one out in the end.
The sightings coincided with the time there were hundreds of squid boats on the coast and a temperature inversion. Funny if aliens decided to visit exactly when that occurred. Camouflage?
I've seen a lot weirder things at sea during inversions than, "lights in the sky".
As for RADAR sightings, most of those date from earlier days of RADAR, before some of it's idiosynchrocies, such as false echos, beam width errors, reflection and double echos, were fully understood.
One of the series of UFO sightings, in NZ, still published in UFO literature, was an Otago University capping stunt. I knew some of the culprits, including an NAC pilot.
Alians are a definite possibility. However the chances of any being at a stage of development advanced enough to be peeking at earthlings, at exactly the same moment, over eons of time, when "supposedly intelligent", life is around on earth to record it, is statistically improbable!
I go with the Japanese squid boats/inversion theory because it is the most plausible and fits in with the meteorological conditions at the time.
Approx. every two years when the news flow is slow, Newshub come up with the flying saucers theory. I wrote to them once and told them to get a life and go with the scientific experts rather than spin fairytales. They never replied.
As I was sailing through the squid fleets and saw it, I definitely go with inversion Another interesting effect of the inversion was recieving Aussie VHF radio stations. Normally marine VHF has a max range around 60NM, depending on aerial heights. Can get similar effects with RADAR. Targets hundreds of miles away showing because of refraction. Of course the return pulse arrives after several scanner rotations, making the targets appear to be much closer.
Bob Corker, his wife Kay Baxter, the Koanga Institute, Peter Alexander the owner of Chantal Foods, versus a group of idealists who ponied up the money to live in idealistic togetherness inland from Wairoa.
Lots of court cases, lots of money lost, bunches of accusations, and a general mess.
Developments go down every day in Auckland, run by tradies who think they can step up.
But this one is a far cry from what was to have been, according to Corker and Baxter’s promotional material, “a shared dream of embracing a regenerative future through independent village living, local economies and co-evolution”.
An excellent report. Realising dreams has been a tough learning curve for those of us who did the hippie thing & the story resonates on several levels. Few people are even aware that realise originally meant make real, and nobody ever gets taught how to build on common ground. Such teaching ought to be part of education.
So the ethics of sharing become a focus of experiential learning. Mistakes made can be rectified but if those involved cover them up instead the situation will inevitably become toxic. Individuals in our culture of narcissism are entrained to think of themselves first, second, and third. Factoring in the views of others requires a serious cognitive shift. Responsibility and accountability aren't trendy…
I was talking with another engineer socially yesterday and he made the observation about how not all that many people actually know how the world works. And how people who think ideology and ideals are a substitute for experience and skill are the most accident prone of all.
"How the world works" is of course already in itself the expression of an ideology – and if you don't come from that milieu, or hold a contrary ideology, or are (sometimes) just too good a person, you will indeed get taken for a sucker.
Point is that, outside the pure sciences, there is not a privileged something called "how the world works" with everything else being reduced to mere ideology.
The Anglo-American system of politics and economics, like any system, rests on certain principles and beliefs. But rather than acting as if these are the best principles, or the ones their societies prefer, Britons and Americans often act as if these were the only possible principles and no one, except in error, could choose any others. Political economics becomes an essentially religious question, subject to the standard drawback of any religion—the failure to understand why people outside the faith might act as they do. To make this more specific: Today's Anglo-American world view rests on the shoulders of three men. One is Isaac Newton, the father of modern science. One is Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the father of liberal political theory. (If we want to keep this purely Anglo-American, John Locke can serve in his place.) And one is Adam Smith, the father of laissez-faire economics. From these founding titans come the principles by which advanced society, in the Anglo-American view, is supposed to work.
And then the writer shifts into a different paradigm…
In Japan economics has in effect been considered a branch of geopolitics—that is, as the key to the nation's strength or vulnerability in dealing with other powers. From this practical-minded perspective English-language theorists seem less useful than their challengers, such as Friedrich List.
Although List and others did not use exactly this term, the German school was more concerned with "market failures." In the language of modern economics these are the cases in which normal market forces produce a clearly undesirable result. The standard illustration involves pollution. If the law allows factories to dump pollutants into the air or water, then every factory will do so. Otherwise, their competitors will have lower costs and will squeeze them out. This "rational" behavior will leave everyone worse off. The answer to such a market failure is for the society—that is, the government—to set standards that all factories must obey.
Friedrich List and his best-known American counterpart, Alexander Hamilton, argued that industrial development entailed a more sweeping sort of market failure… The German view is more concerned with the welfare, indeed sovereignty, of people in groups—in communities, in nations. This is its most obvious link with the Asian economic strategies of today. Friedrich List fulminated against the "cosmopolitan theorists," like Adam Smith, who ignored the fact that people lived in nations and that their welfare depended to some degree on how their neighbors fared. In the real world happiness depends on more than how much money you take home. If the people around you are also comfortable (though, ideally, not as comfortable as you), you are happier and safer than if they are desperate.
Britons and Americans often act as if these were the only possible principles and no one, except in error, could choose any others
I think most honest observers would claim that these principles were simply the ones we have through painful centuries of trial and error found to be the least worst ways to organise a political economy. All the known alternatives having a much worse track record.
In crude terms we have tried over the past four centuries of industrialisation, liberal capitalism, socialism and fascism in a context when everything was growing. But as we enter a novel era of stable and declining populations, and constrained resources – I would suggest we have no idea what the optimal political economy might look like.
In recent times (due to deregulation) we have seen the rise of Financialization where the status of the financial sector has risen above that of the real sector,enhancing inequality.
Financialization is a process whereby financial markets, financial institutions, and financial elites gain greater influence over economic policy and economic outcomes.Financialization transforms the functioning of economic systems at both the macro and micro levels.
Its principal impacts are to (1) elevate the significance of the financial sector relative to the real sector, (2) transfer income from the real sector to the financial sector,and (3) increase income inequality and contribute to wage stagnation. Additionally, there are reasons to believe that financialization may put the economy at risk of debt deflation and prolonged recession.
This has lead to overpriced financial assets which when reaching the boundary positions of growth,have only one direction to travel.
Pop.
The biggest bond bubble in 800yrs continues to deflate after the latest inflation numbers shake up the bond markets. The value of global bonds has dropped by another $493bn this week, bringing total loss from ATH to $7.94tn. pic.twitter.com/w4OINKmebS
'There is no better snapshot of the Fed’s failure as a banking supervisor than this one fact that is called out every quarter in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Report on Bank Trading and Derivative Activities. Table 14 of this report (see page 19) shows that the 25 largest bank holding companies in the U.S. are sitting on $234 trillionnotional (face amount) in derivatives but just five bank holding companies are responsible for $200.18 trillion of that exposure or 86 percent of the total. Those mega bank holding companies are: JPMorgan Chase (ticker JPM), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Bank of America (BAC).'
As Euro states cooperate on gas supply now that Russia is turning the taps off, do we get to squint in to the horizon and call the Ukraine war a moment when the EU bloc is forced to view gas as a transitional energy?
Apologies, but the fact that any basic tax cut for those on lower incomes will inevitably affect the first 48k – 70k or so of rich people, is no excuse to not give lower income people a tax cut.
They refuse to even change the fricken tax brackets to more realistic and logical levels.
Because the current govt really is that uncaring and unkind
Edit: lets put it this way. Ardern temporarily has taken 25% off petrol excise tax.
Surely this is nasty to you given rich people don’t pay that 25%now either?
I have thought that even John key's govt should have adjusted the tax brackets. Paying 30% PAYE on income over $48k IMO is way too high. Wages have increased significantly sine 2009 or whenever those brackets came in, and $70k is no longer a 'rich pricks' income.
Why are you wasting our time & space with dim-witted comments? You asked a specific Q, I put in some effort to give a useful & helpful A, because you’re too lazy to do it yourself, and you screw it up not once, but twice!?
I will roll with your figures and your theory that the 58,820 people on 180K or more, you consider rich, must be really honest people to disclose their true incomes and pay their taxes, and that people who say they all avoid doing that are wrong.
[You’re too kind to roll with the figures provided by Inland Revenue, eventually.
You asked @ 4.1:
How many people do you actually think are on 180k or more in NZ?
I gave you the answer on a platter.
I did not give my personal theory on anything and you put those words in my mouth and made up a whole lot of BS about me.
Given that my first Mod note for you had not appeared yet, you escape a longer ban. Take a fortnight off – Incognito]
The only thing we know is your failure to understand the data and the bollocks you spout here, again and again. If you don’t like the answer then don’t ask the question and stay and go play in your sandpit.
Anyway, each bar represents an interval or band of $5,000 above the previous one and as any person can see from the graph I linked to there is a long tail at the higher end.
Thanks to this government, and certain overseas factors, someone on $180k this year will effectively only be on $167.4K by next march, but will still pay tax on $180k
someone on 70k will only be earning 65.1k effectively in twelve months but will still be considered in the top tax bracket
Pointing that out that wage earners are paying more tax on higher brackets while effectively earning in lower brackets is stupid because of a ratio difference of 100%?
A remarkably stupid observation from one renowned as an idiot
An Australian professor talking to the Australian Christian Lobby in 2020, during the pre-cursor to their "conversion therapy bill" being passed in several states. Similar to the one that was celebrated here on TS.
Why do I post this here, given the complete lack of robust debate?
I continue to hope that a long-standing left-wing platform will be able to withstand the discomfort of addressing these issues, and show how #NoDebate is a flawed approach. Also, there may be some reading here, that do look for information rather than rhetoric.
So, for them, Professor John Whitehall talks about some of the studies regarding the effects of "completely reversible" puberty blockers, and also cross-sex hormones. You can check the studies if you are that way inclined.
For those who are not concerned by evidence of harm, you may wish to add your names to the open letter – which has been signed by over 7,000 in response to the grave news that the current social and medical protocol for children is causing harm. Of course, they don't provide counter evidence – they just reiterate the same slogans and assertions that got them thus far.
'80% of children who just have therapy go on to live with their biological sex. 90% of children who are given puberty blockers go on to cross sex hormones…' Speaks out…gets cancelled.
Around 15 mins begins an interesting discussion around the paradox of trans people not wanting to be pathologised (ie treated like they are unwell), to be accepted as 'normal' … yet in order for them to feel comfortable in their bodies they often demand some seriously invasive and irreversible medical interventions.
Making a commitment to really understand what our daughter was telling us, just after leaving home (but which we couldn’t in all honesty make any sense of) involves taking the opportunity to explore a multitude of different voices and perspectives. Cutting to the quick, what we really started to see was the way that men (as lefty “woke” men, as trans women and as trans allies) were using social media to bully and silence women in order to protect and maintain their power and status – and this requires subjugating women’s voices and opinions. It soon became clear that it was only women putting in the emotional labour of forging some kind of pushback against the excesses of the gender jugganout. Most men weren’t much bothered by any of it, as they were simply benefiting from it by osmosis – and these benefits are also pretty invisible to the chaps.
Gender ideology doesn’t really impact men of course, too busy virtue signaling, and too preoccupied with manly stuff to actually give a moments thought to what’s happening to their daughters, wives, sisters. Many women without skin in the game, don’t see it either, life’s just too hectic. Just gotta carry on being kind. Support these “special” people, groomed and indoctrinated by men and their trans-supporting handmaidens.
I was finding a whole host of men (as non binary, or trans women) enjoying huge adulation and success as “non binary mayors”, brave cross-dressing chairmen of this corporation, or that organisation, gaining positions on shortlists, winning women’s prizes, and so on. Was there a balancing proportion of women of a similar age desperate to be middle-aged men, I wondered, identifying as nb or transmen enjoying the same privileges? Nope, the exact opposite. While around 85% of transwomen have NO SURGERY whatsoever, a much younger demographic of young women make irreversible changes to their bodies, endure failed phalloplasties, become medical patients for life, suffer early menopause, vaginal atrophy, loss of sexual function, increased risk to certain cancers, and many of these damaged young people end up detransitioning. Complaints that they were never fully assessed or other mental health issues addresses are rising fast, as the number of detransitioners grows. 29,000 last time I looked on a Reddit group for detransitioners…
…Almost 4 years ago now, in the absence of any meaningful discussion with our daughter, I was asked to Educate Myself. Well I did just that and I’ll be discussing more of it here. Please feel free to comment or discuss anything, or sign up for my newsletter once I get this set up.
Educate Yourself.
This might be the most important slogan of the gender ideology movement.
Of course, it meant Indoctrinate Yourself. But many have not been inculcated into the appropriation of language and did set out to learn without bias.
So, this one slogan I agree with: Educate Yourself.
Separation from family is a phase of psychological development which happens during mid-late teenage years to early adult hood. Most teens will want to hang out with peer group rather than participate in family activities. This seems to be part of forming their own personality.
I read up on this after looking at Stefan Molyneux, who may have been using his understanding of this (via his psychologist trained wife) to shepherd people into his amateur online counselling service, it seemed to often involve getting young people to separate from their families. There were similar accusations he was trying to setup a cult involved there also.
Don't assume that I am talking about the natural separation of a child from their parents. That's a natural part of growing up.
Diversity clubs in primary schools, are promoting the keeping of secrets from parents at young ages, and facilitating the premise that families that question their ideas are 'abusive'. We have school resources in NZ that both promote this idea, and the idea of setting up school clubs along the same lines of the US and the UK.
Given that medical interactions delay brain maturation and psychological development, we potentially have young children not going through the necessary pubertal maturation to allow for healthy division of self and family.
Look deeper than just writing it off as normal development. This is not what is happening.
I was suggesting there is a typical developmental mechanism where young adults separate their identity from their families. I don't think that implies these cases should be characterized as normal development. Quite the opposite in the case of Stefan in fact.
I do have some concerns about what seems to be taught as parts of it are patently untrue.
On the other hand I have found that some of the material presented around schools for political purposes by conservatives is rather miss leading, and I don't really think it has the impacts implied in those cases.
If any institution is determining what goes in the curriculum its going to be the MoE. That's appropriate, but clearly parents should be enabled to understand what is being taught.
In this case, using third party NGO's makes consistency and transparency impossible. If curriculum was produced and published by MoE then it would be better.
What are the sites you have found for curriculum?
I've only looked at UK's Transgender Trend resources, and they seem factual to me:
i may be misinterpreting you Nic, but separating from parents in the mid teens is age appropriate development. However that doesn't mean the parents abandon them or disappear. Parents need to connect with there teens in a way that helps them have some idea of what they are up too. Kids can get up to really bad shit and this is when a got parent steps in. The kids that truly go off the rails can be the ones whose parents are off duty from whats going on.
I agree, separation is maybe not the best description. Maybe individuation is better. But in almost all cases the young adults maintain contact with their families.
I just think its worth understanding that young adults may be more susceptible to certain ideas while they are going through this developmental stage. I also think if this was understood by the young people while going through it they may be able to understand where some of their motivations are coming from.
Agreed Nic. And I think we can all remember the things we did to individuate during our teens (horrors!). But mostly these things are not permanant like for example a double masectomy
Agreed Nic. And I think we can all remember the things we did to individuate during our teens (horrors!). But mostly these things are not permanant like for example a double masectomy
This is appallingly sad. Its not like a child growing up and leaving home. Those ones come back. This is a child who has been indocrinated into a religious cult with a set of imcomprehensible beliefs and encouraged to reject her family. This is the real conversion therapy. Yet in an owellian twist our legislation would condemn someone who tried to question a young person who wanted to have cosmetic surgery removing their sexual organs and breasts, about what the consequences of their actions might be as being guilty of conversion therapy. A big con.
I like you continue to hope that people of this left wing site will listen to what we post and start to think critically or at least engage in debate about gender ideology and the medical transitioning of children.
An interview with Ukrainian presidential advisor, Oleksiy Arestovych from back in 2019 where he gave an eerily accurate prediction of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine. He predicted the most at risk years of the invasion were 2020-2022, and gave a pretty much blow by blow account of what he predicted would happen, most of which actually has happened in the invasion.
Yes, I thought the Russians cutting off gas to Poland and Bulgaria was a pointed threat to Germany, showing that they are prepared to take this sort of action.
The problem for Russia is that they also depend on Germany for foreign funds to fight their war. So, cutting off gas to Russia would be a major problem for Russia as well.
I was in Germany a few years ago, and they were shutting off their nuclear and coal power stations back then. They may have to reactivate these in the short term I think.
Recognising this, Germany may be prepared to call Russia’s bluff and go without Russian gas for a month or two.
A good thing is that with summer coming gas is not so much needed for heating, so may make alternative sources adequate in the short-term anyway.
Just further to that video, I do find that Peter is a bit self-contradictory sometimes.
For instance, in one video he was talking about the oil service eompanies leaving Russia, and how that was going to affect China due to Russia not being able to fix them.
On the other hand, in a video I saw the other day, he was still expecting Russia to win due to overwhelming force, despite saying this was going to deteriorate into a long war of attrition that could last years. At that point, he didn't seem to recognise the fact that many aspects of the Russia arms manufacturing system has ground to a halt due to the sanctions, and all the other logistics such as rail that are dependent to some degree on Western expertise that could also start breaking down soon.
In a war of attrition, those who can replace their losses have the advantage. Given the problems Russia is facing and all the arms pouring into Ukraine from the west now, it seems that Ukraine has a huge advantage in a war of attrition.
And on the issue of German gas, on another video Peter was talking about how the Russians couldn't afford to shut down output to Europe long term because the issues such as pressure build up would result in them having to close the production off altogether.
Thus, my comment that Germany could call their bluff, because I don't think Russia could afford to cut output for very long.
‘Just further to that video, I do find that Peter is a bit self-contradictory sometimes.’
I agree. It would be really good to see more interviews where he is challenged on some of his conclusions.
I think what I value is not so much his predictions – but the broad geopolitical tools he brings to the discourse. Ideas around rivers, oceans, rainfall, terrain, security, agriculture and so on. His best argument is that these factors more than anything else determine the fate of nations.
Where I think he is weaker – and this is true for all of us – is in predicting the near-term chaos of events, where personalities and politics plays a greater role.
Also I tend to forgive some of his more provocative predictions – he is after all making an effort to bring some life and wit to a traditionally dull topic.
I think also because he commentates on such a wide array of geopolitical issues it must be hard to remember all the previous statements to stay consistent with.
And all the CEO's got paid big bucks to plan for a pandemic – one they were warned would eventually happen and actual planning had taken place for in NZ at least and there had been close calls with regionalised outbreaks.
Their planning amounted to head in sand ostrich-like behaviour.
Anthony Albanese says a Labor government will make it easier for 10,000 Australians per year to buy a home by taking an equity stake of up to 40 per cent in their property.
The scheme, called Help to Buy, is designed to help Australians buy a home with a smaller deposit, a smaller mortgage and smaller mortgage repayments.
It is claimed that, in some parts of Australia, this will cut the amount people will have to pay on their mortgage by up to $380,000. The government would contribute up to 40 per cent of the price and subsequently own that portion of the property. The owner would then be able to buy out the government’s stake.
The actual shortage of housing stock is the obvious problem, but I have long advocated that the hidden issue with housing is the inability of an increasing fraction of people to access a mortgage – at any price. Qualifying for a mortgage is more than just having a deposit and being able to service the payments – for example any kind of credit risk or criminal record is a show-stopper. Or a precarious income.
This seems one concrete way to address this – albeit very expensive for the govt.
I still think one of the better options is for the government to own the land (lease free if need be) and the householder to just have to pay for the house and infrastructure costs for new builds. Take land prices out of the equation.
1. Housing NZ should be turning over 5-10% of its total stock every year and replacing them with new affordable homes that it builds. NZ has a LOT of rubbish housing stock that needs either upgrading or bulldozing. HNZ should be leading the way in this.
2. All Residential LAND should be owned by the govt. Leasehold should be the norm. This would prevent banks from using land as security which is the main driver of price speculation.
3. The Govt should be the lender of first resort for all first home buyers. The shared equity scheme currently being trialled in a limited form is fundamentally a good idea. Indeed, most residential mortgages should be with New Zealand owned banks. It is flat out dumb to be paying billions of dollars in interest to Australian banks.
4. The interest paid by New Zealanders on their family home mortgages should be either tax deductable. This would eliminate most of the fiscal differential between home ownership and residential investment.
Can't disagree with any of that really. Singapore does with with the state owning the land. Just imagine all that money going into more productive (but maybe higher risk) investments such as start-ups and businesses who wish to expand.
4. The interest paid by New Zealanders on their family home mortgages should be either tax deductable. This would eliminate most of the fiscal differential between home ownership and residential investment.
Interest is an expense, and expenses should only be deductible against taxable revenue. Where is the revenue to come from which would support this arrangement. The wage/salary earners' income will already have been taxed at source.
Workers clothes already are. But, in NZ, only for employers.
Employees also cannot deduct travel. But, a sole trader can.
Until recently “Managers” were allowed to deduct two hour lunches. Which now attract FBT, much to the dismay of the posh restaurant industry.
You have a constant habit of claiming various accounting definitions, which are simply conventions set by tax law, are written in stone.
Income tax taxes revenue revenue, but allows deductions in respect of expenses which contribute to the earning of revenue. That's not just some "accounting or taxation definition not set set in stone" but just plain common sense. If one is not going to accept this method then there is no point in taxing income in the first place.
In the case of private residences there is no income, from the properties themselves, against which residential or private expenses can be deducted. The distinction between business and private expenses is one that has to be made, if taxation is to have any logic to it.
The "distinction between business and private expenses" is purely arbitrary
The distinction is not arbitrary. It's just that some persons are able to get away with breaking the law. eg Where a vehicle is used for both business and private uses, the owner is supposed to to include only the costs applicable to its business use on his tax return, but in all likelihood many don't. Clothing is only deductible if has been purchased only for, and is only worn on, the job.
Bus fares and interest are interesting cases. The IRD argues, probably correctly, that a worker doesn't start earning income until he enters his workplace, and that bus fares, which of course are incurred prior to that, should therefore not be deductible. I would argues that the same thing applies to interest. Income is not being earned until an investment is made, and, since borrowing is prior to investment, interest should also not be deductible. The IRD doesn't seem to agree with me on this, which is why I have always argued that deductibility of interest is an anomaly in the Income Tax Act.
Donations are tax deductable but have nothing to do with earning an income. In the past a non-working spouse was tax deductable as was a life insurance policy.
I my view absolutely nothing should be tax deductable and taxation should be based on turnover. Expenses should solely be between the shareholders and the people running the company.
Donations help to promote a good relationship with the wider community, and could therefor be seen as beneficial where profitability is concerned.
Deductions for non working non working spouses, and insurance premiums, were deductions in respect of personal incomes rather than business incomes, and were an indirect form of welfare similar to W4F.
Taxing revenue only might work if the tax rate was low enough, though I don't see it as an improvement on the present system. I think costs would be subject to a multiplier effect were stuff passes from one companiy to another before reaching the final customer.
Companies currently set up vertical structures to have each tier designed to reduce tax liability. Reducing that would save millions of dollars in unnecessary costs as there would no longer be a need to do that.
Reducing that would save millions of dollars in unnecessary costs as there would no longer be a need to do that.
I think just the opposite is the case. If there is no deductibility of expenses then those expenses get passed from firm to firm, and get taxed many times. The expenses would get taxed at each step of their journey. Under the present system each firm pays tax only on its own contribution to the final cost.
Vertical integration can save costs, and this is a good thing. However I don't think think the cost savings come from tax savings. The more profitable the firm the more tax it pays. However, a system in which tax liability was based on revenue, without deduction of expenses, would certainly encourage vertical integration
I would agree with points (2) and (3), and with point (1) inasmuch as I would agree that HNZ's housing stock should be kept up to scratch, though I'm not sure whether 5% – 10% would be the appropriate amount of churn. Point (4) I would not agree with, for the reasons given in my response to the comment.
I'm not personally opposed to 2 as that was originally the case in feudal England as all land was owned by the Crown who then leased it out e.g. 999 year leases. Likely to be decidedly unpopular however, and I'm not entirely sure how it makes any difference to the Public Works Act, as short term leases would be about as popular as leasehold currently is i.e. not popular at all.
4 would mean higher taxes somewhere else to replace the lost revenue (for every $1B of deductible interest, that's $300M @30% in tax reductions, more for higher tax rates), so also likely to be unpopular. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/c35 suggests approx. $10B p.a. in residential mortgage interest, and while some of that will be deducted anyway by home businesses, that's $2-3B to find from somewhere.
1 and 3 are the main ones to me – no reason other than ideology why the state can't just do both of those. 5% replacement looks more likely than 10% though as even that is a complete turnover in 20 years.
I would add:
5. Make the Income-Related Rent Subsidy (IRRS) exempt from requiring specific appropriations in line with the Accommodation Supplement and main benefits. From a conversation with ministers, my understanding is that's the main fiscal constraint on government activity in this area, not anything else, so unlocking that seems key to KO and other social housing providers building significantly more houses.
6. KO keeps building and does rent-to-own of houses to FHB at a multiple of their income which is reassessed annually so the payments are set at 1/4 of pre-tax household income for 12 years. Basically, pay rent set at the normal rates, and after 12 years, the FHB owns it. Normally, the cap on the 25% is market rate, but that would not apply here because the occupants will eventually own it. This would also have to come with some rules about selling at a profit for a set amount of time, but the point here is to get someone into a house, not overly moralise about potential Crown losses.
(7) Make it illegal to rent out houses unless the are owned freehold by the landlord. Competition from would-be landlords increases demand for, and probably pushes up the prices of, properties. If a landlord had to have sufficient funds to purchase, without having to borrow, before he entered the market then that competition would be reduced. Also, I think taking out a mortgage tends to push up rents since most landlords will try to recover their mortgage costs from the rents that they charge. I'm not sure what one would do about existing landlords who have mortgages though.
Not quite as generous from the looks, but a shared equity scheme exists here already in which KO will put in up to 25% or $200,000 and the first home buyer is expected to buy them out later (within 25 years at the latest).
Free speech except for the bits you have to pay for.
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When meeting with lenders, Musk pointed out that Twitter lags behind Facebook and Pinterest when it comes to its gross margin, and therefore could make more money. To help achieve this, Musk is mulling over monetizing tweets “that contain important information or go viral,” according to the report, as well as charging websites a fee to quote or embed tweets from verified accounts. He is also looking at having moderation policies that are “as free as possible.”
As always – who gets to define "possible" and who does not? What do we call someone who has the power to define "freedom" for the hundreds of millions of people who use the platform he owns? Where will it all end if we do not ultimately shut these things down and dispossess the owners of all their money?
‘Murdoch’s News Corp. acquired MySpace just over six years ago, paying $580 million dollar for the popular social network. Years of subsequent mismanagement and failure to compete with the meteoric rise of Facebook took their toll on the social network, and Murdoch eventually sold off MySpace to advertising company Specific Media and pop star Justin Timberlake last year for $35 million — a small fraction of its original purchase price.’-yahoo.news
May Day! Also known as International Workers' Day. A time to celebrate the victories of the labour movement and also remember the effectiveness of mass action; we can and must support each other in the struggle for a more equitable and free world.
On 21 April 1856, Australian stonemasons in Victoria undertook a mass stoppage as part of the eight-hour workday movement. It became a yearly commemoration, inspiring American workers to have their first stoppage. 1 May was chosen to be International Workers' Day to commemorate the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. In that year beginning on 1 May, there was a general strike for the eight-hour workday.
I’m most interested in the further advancement of worker democracy – measures to ensure democracy at work – board representation, shares and profit sharing, etc. I’d be pleased to see these concepts taken up by any party even if it is to get the topic into wider discussion, for the moment.
My suggestion is do something simple to start with, aim for 300 – 500 words, link as appropriate. Let me know if you want to submit it, and I will email you. You can email the main address too, although I'm not sure how often Lynn checks it, so reply here and I'll give him a heads up.
Some of what you have written in the past few days could easily make a post 🙂
Fair Pay Agreements will be vitally important to turning around Aotearoa New Zealand's low wage economy and ensuring that people's incomes grow so they can support themselves and their families properly and so that their working lives improve.
The legislation to make this hugely positive employment change will be under significant pressure from a small number of employers that benefit from low wages and insecure work and the groups that represent them.
That's why it is so important that the stories behind this legislation are heard. We need the decision-makers to understand the kind of good FPAs will do.
Doing your bit is easy. You don't need to be an expert on employment law – the CTU has a highly skilled policy team who will submit on the technical and legal detail of the legislation.
Our job is to illustrate why this law is needed.
And that's as easy as telling your story using the form on this page – and once the submission process is open we'll send your story on to the Select Committee.
Good for you Arkie. My Dad was a union man, rep and promoter.
He called the Union the worker's voice and opportunity to push for improved conditions and pay.
It is 20 years since I taught, and I was in NZEI all my working life. 95% of Primary teachers were. We had achieved equal pay before Bill Birch, so the treasury looked at allowances, stopping senior pay from counting towards super contributions. Wiping sick leave back to a week if you moved to a new position.
I think life is more difficult now with mbls and video of every comment and slip up, and the unkind choose the least flattering view.. powerplays and bullying.
Oh, and Matariki 24th June will be celebrated as a wonderful winter Holiday. Well done Labour. Cheers.
Are you aware that private contractors, such as Parnell and his fellow carpenters, clubbing together to set pay and conditions such as the 8 hour day, would nowadays be banned, under the commerce Act.
I gather that's why the Fair Pay Agreements Bill is going now in its current form of including employees only – the intention is to expand to contractors, but that's legally complex in part because of the Commerce Act and prohibitions on cartel behaviour.
This is funny, but it’s also scary. I’ve seen intelligent, educated people make this sane kind of argument in an attempt to deny that biological sex exists and in humans is binary, just without appearing so stupid. The level of disconnect is alarming.
Holy shit! Three News led with a new scientific assessment of sea-level rise that factored in coastal land-dropping rates for the first time ever, reducing the time-horizon to around a third of what it was. Parts of Auckland got hit.
Tomorrow I expect real estate values to head into free-fall. The exit door will clog up with desperate owners wanting to be the first out. Insurance industry? Gone already.
How long till multi-millionaire rows on the Takapuna waterfront feature in camera pans in news stories reporting that they're all uninsurable? A matter of weeks, perhaps. Denial will be the first default. Everyone will seek flaws in the science.
Fascinating thread about life, the ocean, and plastic.
OMG it literally took someone SWIMMING FROM HAWAII TO CALIFORNIA to discover this, but wow did we find something shocking in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch… [a thread 🧵]… Preprint: https://t.co/aWuSntbnBOpic.twitter.com/zeLKnBsqz1
It started when this guy name Ben Lecomte started swimming. He'd already freestyle'd his way from Japan to Hawaii, and now he was going to California. SWIMMING. And luckily for us… benlecomte.com
Braking And Entering: The CCTV recording of the ram-raid against Auckland’s Ormiston Mall is so disturbing, so inspiring of dread and rage, that no amount of rational commentary will make the slightest difference. It confirms in the most powerful fashion the stories so many New Zealanders have been telling themselves: ...
The Author of this Dorset Eye article, Ukraine – a beginner’s guide, says: “In 2014, the journalist and writer John Pilger wrote an article for The Guardian newspaper entitled ‘In Ukraine the US is dragging us towards war with Russia’.[i] Eight years later, in 2022, this prediction came true when ...
What's better than some Cranky Uncle cartoons scattered around here or there? A collection of them, cross-referenced with the fallacies they depict, of course! And this is what we highlight in this blog post. John Cook had made these cartoons available for download on his Cranky Uncle website in March 2021 ...
For decades now we've known that climate change will cause sea-level rise. In Aotearoa, the projections so far have been for 30cm by 2050, and 1m by 2100 - a level which is catastrophic to low-lying areas and coastal infrastructure and which is going to cost us billions of dollars ...
Losses to Australian teams over the weekend by both the Crusaders and Hurricanes have been greeted with shock and surprise by New Zealand rugby fans. Yet, an at least partial explanation is available; the two losses were both set in motion early in each match by a play that is ...
One of the more infuriating aspects of the current political debate is the way the National Party says it would be more rigorous, and more thriftily efficient in running social programmes that – left to its own devices – a National government would never have funded at all in the ...
On Friday the Government made some announcements about their Three Waters programme that were meant to assuage public concerns about the reforms. Instead, the announcements merely reinforced that Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta is determined to push the reforms through in the face of strong public opposition. The gist of ...
Unfortunately it looks like we’re going through a spate of ram raids in this country. Predictably, there comes the natural political rejoinder: “Alas, the youth are out of control in this country…” in various flavours of vitriol, and thus the Reckons. Those who were armchair epidemiologists concerning the ...
2022 is turning out to be a crap year – George Orwell would have been shocked. I guess reality is always different to predictions. Wars, economic and financial mayhem, and widespread censorship are now our lot. And on top of the censorship, there is disinformation and fake news. How ...
Completed reads for April: The Saga of Hervör and HeithrekThe Saga of Hromund GreipssonThe Tháttr of NornagestIphigenia among the Taurians, by EuripidesIphigenia at Aulis, by EuripidesRhesus, by Euripides?The Body in the Library, by Agatha ChristieWhy Didn’t They Ask Evans?, by Agatha ChristiePoirot Investigates, by Agatha ChristieThe Secret of Chimneys, ...
One thing is abundantly clear: the way we understand the world is largely a matter of narrative management. It is through the strength of narratives we frame concepts around politics, life, and our consequent approach to it. Personally. As Nations. Too often, we don’t even realise where these come ...
Stuff's Henry Cooke reports that the government is planning a significant increase in proactive release of official information, with plans to proactively release almost all advice to ministers. Which is an idea I love, and want to happen, but at the same time fear, because under this government it is ...
A few weeks ago it emerged that NZ Minister of Defence Peeni Henare had asked cabinet for approval to donate surplus NZDF Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) to Ukraine as part of the multilateral efforts to support the Ukrainian defence of its homeland against the Russian invasion that is now into ...
Reductions in effective productivity, largely as a result of events overseas, require reductions in real incomes. Ignore that and you cannot defeat inflation. What would you think of a doctor who treated only the symptoms and never tried to identify the causes? A quack? Skilled quacks will have accounts about ...
In an opinion piece in the Herald Bryce Edwards looks at rising inflation and the huge transfer of wealth to the rich under this Labour government. Some excerpts below detail the growing poverty gap. Business profitability is currently very high – banking profits were up 48 per cent last year, ...
The media's "honeymoon" with National's leader, Christopher Luxon, ended abruptly on 21 March when on Kerre McIvor's NewstalkZB show, he uttered these astonishing words:“If you want to have a go, and you want to make something of yourself -- we don't just do bottom feeding and just focus on the ...
Not Forgotten, Or Forgiven: At this moment our television screens are filled with stories featuring Ukrainians and Russians. Over the course of the past century, both of these peoples have endured almost unbelievable levels of pain, rage and guilt. The statue pictured above, entitled The Bitter Memory of Childhood is ...
A Dangerous Moment: Given the intense preparation which has gone into raising Māori expectations of co-governance, it would now be extremely dangerous for any political party to bring its institutional evolution to a halt. That said, the lack of any serious preparation of the non-Māori population for the revolutionary implications ...
Obviously not true for everyone. But it is amazing how many people take up a strong, emotional stance on the war in Ukraine despite being completely ignorant about what has been happening there. This short video does a great job of condensing the history of Ukraine – and presents ...
This month I finished working my way through the surviving corpus of Ancient Greek Drama (in translation). For those keeping track at home, that is forty-six plays – seven by Aeschylus, seven by ...
by Daphna Whitmore The Auckland University of Technology has just deplatformed a talk on cancel culture. Yes, you read that right. The cancellation was instigated by an “Inclusion Officer” (of course it was). A bit Orwellian isn’t it? I was invited to give a lecture at a Free Speech Union meeting ...
We can't go on like this Past and future warming – direct comparison on multi-century timescales walks us through the improvements in methods between the IPCC AR5 and AR6 leading to the latest report's startling conclusion about our rapid, ongoing effect on global mean temperature. Unleashing the fossil hydrocarbon genie has ...
As of yesterday, I can report that the 2022 SpecFicNZ anthology, Aftermath: Tales of Survival in Aotearoa New Zealand, was released: https://specfic.nz/2022/04/27/aftermath-tales-of-survival-in-aotearoa-new-zealand/ It features The Night of Parmenides, my take on a post-apocalyptic Dunedin. Also notable for referencing Scribes, the much-missed second-hand bookshop of North Dunedin. ...
The current cost of living crisis in the New Zealand economy could yet have severe political consequences. Warning signs could be seen in Monday’s French presidential election result – in which the nationalist-populist Marine Le Pen upset the status quo by getting through to the second round and winning an ...
Such is our devotion to the ordinary Kiwi battler, we ruthlessly tax the wages they earn and the stuff they buy, while letting people who amass wealth from speculative investment (and stash it in trusts) to go on their merry way, largely untroubled by the tax department. In the latest ...
Karl Marx’s Capital remains the most important theoretical work explaining the capitalist mode of production from a working class and socialist perspective. The Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ) is pleased to be hosting a series of monthly lectures introducing each part of Volume 1 by Andy Higginbottom, ...
I have always taken a dim view of entrenching the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA). In contrast to certain other online commentators, I consider subjecting parliamentary statutes to judicial review ...
There were two elections over the weekend. In France, neo-liberal Emmanuel Macro managed to defeat neo-fascist Marine Le Pen, which should be a relief to everyone (especially given what a le Pen victory would have meant for Ukraine). But its hardly a particularly inspiring choice, effectively just a question of ...
Aotearoa has an inequality problem. The top 1% own 20% of the wealth, and nearly half our total wealth is owned by the top 5% (and as that paper notes, it likely understates the problem, as wealthy individuals are poorly captured by the Household Economic Survey on which it is ...
National truly is the party of aspiration. Any centre-right voter who watched their champion’s trainwreck interview with Jack Tame on last Sunday’s Q & A programme would have to conclude that if Christopher Luxon can lead National to victory in 2023, any wealthy white man in a suit can do ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Dennis Laich, Larry Wilkerson, and Erik Edstrom The US military is about to find itself committed to yet another unwinnable mission costing trillions of dollars. No, we are not referring to the possibility of American escalation in Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine: ...
There are currently twenty DHB's servicing Aotearoa - a country with five million people. A population that would fit comfortably in eightyone cities around the world.The fragmented system has twenty CEOs; twenty Boards (with up to eleven members each); twenty IT systems (to be confirmed); twenty HR departments; twenty payroll ...
An interesting piece of news out of Fellowship of Fans today. Not one that we were realistically expecting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmc3sY0GQ0g) The news is that prior to his death in January 2020, Christopher Tolkien made some requests of Amazon, with regards to their impending Second Age adaptation, now called The Rings ...
https://freespeech.buzzsprout.com/370355/10486710-special-report-aut-cancel-a-free-speech-union-meeting The Free Speech Union has had a speaking event canceled by AUT. In the first public talk in what was to kick off a nationwide lecture series, Free Speech Union member Daphna Whitmore was to talk about (ironically) her experiences with women’s rights group ‘Speak Up For Women’ and ...
It’s a truism that the first casualty in war is the truth. But a close second is rational thought. We face this now where partisanship, wishful thinking and disinformation dominate what we read about the Ukraine-Russia war in our media. So, it is refreshing to come across an informed ...
A subject doing the rounds at the moment is the question of Tolkienian Canon. On one hand, there are the passionate Purists, for whom fidelity to Tolkien’s text is paramount in assessing Adaptations in general and The Rings of Power in particular. On the other, one finds discussions such ...
We do not go to war for free; we need to factor its economic costs and its consequences into public discussions.Wars are costly. People die, life is disrupted while wars divert resources to war use and wantonly destroy. We are currently involved in two major wars: the war against the ...
The Herald reports that a man who recoded a violent rant calling for genocide of Māori has been convicted for hate speech: Richard Jacobs, 44, filmed a video from his Pāpāmoa home in May last year where he called for the killing of Māori. The video was uploaded to ...
The Solomon Islands and PRC have signed a bilateral security pact. The news of the pact was leaked a month ago and in the last week the governments of both countries have confirmed the deal. However, few details have been released. What we do know is that Chinese police trainers ...
The Ministry of Education is currently attempting to decolonise the New Zealand schooling system, using some radical innovations. In this article, Prof Elizabeth Rata challenges some of the ideological underpinnings and practical outcomes of this agenda. Prof Rata welcomes debate on this issue, and the Democracy Project welcomes further submissions ...
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past. All of us labor in webs spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment, of desire and consequence, of history and eternity.” - William FaulknerIT WAS NEARLY SIX YEARS AGO that I defended New Zealanders’ historical ignorance as a ...
Inflation at 6.9% is a bad sign of the rising cost of living, and hidden within the headline numbers are some even grislier figures. As CTU economist Craig Renney has pointed out: Food prices rose nearly 7%, led by fruit and vegetables which rose 17%. Meat rose 7.2%. The price ...
Making Ourselves Heard: Is participatory democracy really that important? Yes, it is, because without returning effective political power to the people, there is no possibility of also returning their resources. No one involved in the management of local government will have failed to notice the fake subsidiarity of neoliberalism: making ...
Tony Simpson writes in a Newsroom article about a major shortcoming of the new history curriculum. Here’s an excerpt: I don’t disagree at all with what the Committee have come up with which is largely about Māori indigenous culture, where it came from and how it has responded to incomers ...
OK, this is a bit controversial as it is an interview of a surrendered combatant. Mind you he did personally ask for the interview (and specifically asked that fellow Brit Graham Phillips carry out the interview) as a chance to appeal for a prisoner exchange. He is technically a ...
Water packing heat: it's not only the oceans It's often remarked that we don't directly notice or feel most global warming because most excess energy being retained by the planet is ending up "stored" in Earth's oceans. Given its high specific heat capacity, liquid water is an effective sponge for ...
Co-governance is currently the most polarising issue in New Zealand politics. There’s something of a culture war over the concept of giving Māori voters or leaders a mandated equal political influence in public affairs. It’s an issue that has the potential to be socially explosive as plans are being developed ...
Mike Hosking continues to deliver what his paymasters pay him for, if today’s Herald is anything to go by. No surprise there – Hosking has always been under no illusion as to what it is that he has to sell. What is worth remarking on, however, is the evident emotional ...
PHOTO (cropped): Japan Meteorological Agency, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114321094 Jenny Stein, Resilience to Nature’s Challenges National Science ChallengeFollowing a volcanic eruption, local communities understandably have more pressing concerns than ensuring a sample of ash gets sent to a lab. But that sample will provide crucial insight into the extent ...
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Ella Gilbert, John King, and Ian Renfrew Scientists know the surface of the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica is melting, making it vulnerable to collapse. For the first time, we can rank the most important causes of melting over the recent past. ...
There are four types of bills that Parliament considers: most bills are government bills, but there are also members bills, private bills and local bills. Members bills are relatively well know (some important ones have passed over the last few years), but these latter three types are often grouped together. ...
The Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee has reported back on the Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Bill. The bill is one of those boring administrative ones, establishing a regulatory framework for providers of "digital identity services" - people who validate your identity online. Which normally isn't the sort of ...
A major, nation-wide challenge to our national well-being, such as the coronavirus pandemic, is not necessarily bad news for everybody. The government of the day has no choice but to take it on the chin, but opposition politicians, and other critics of the government, can have a field day; they ...
One word has largely been missing from the coverage of the MoH advice about MIQ: Omicron. The relevant memo was written in November. It was referring to the Delta outbreak and to the relative incidence of the Delta variant in the community as opposed to it coming over the border, ...
SpecFicNZ’s new post-apocalyptic themed anthology will be out soon, with Yours Truly providing one of the stories (specifically a Dunedin-centric piece titled The Night of Parmenides). Here’s a list of the other contributors, plus a look at the cover:
I recently read a critique of the market-oriented economic theory known as “neoliberalism” and decided to add some of my thoughts about it in a series of short messages on a social media platform dedicated to providing an outlet for short messaging. I have decided to expand upon those messages ...
Dane Giraud for the Free Speech Union interviews Don Franks. Don is a writer and editor for Redline. He talks to Dane about his involvement in Left-wing activism since the 1960s (starting with his opposition to the Vietnam War). Don is a published author and professional musician. He was a ...
I have always been opposed to virtue-signalling. It seems an easy way of supporting the current narrative and opposing any thoughtful opposition to it. And it does not require any exertion – of the mind, muscle, or (usually) wallet.Of course, these days the virtue signaler simply blocks ...
International analyst Geoffrey Miller examines the motivations behind Jacinda Ardern’s first foreign trip since February 2020 – and says her tour of Japan and Singapore is about much more than trade This is far from Jacinda Ardern’s first foreign trip – but it almost feels like one. Ardern’s tour of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Kristen Pope Hundreds of researchers from around the globe took turns collecting data in the Arctic aboard the German icebreaker RV Polarstern on an expedition that lasted over a year. Now, this data is rewarding the researchers with important and surprising insights about this ...
Exit Stage Right: If the next round of opinion polls reveal a level of Labour support beginning with a “2”, what would happen then?WHAT DOES THE LATESTRoy Morgan poll tell us about the future of the Sixth Labour Government? Technically speaking, it tells us nothing. All it describes, statistically, ...
As the Christian world began its Easter rituals, Ukraine marked 50 days since Russian troops crossed its borders and began the first European war in decades. But Ukraine - a country where at least three-quarters of the population describe themselves as Christian remains trapped in a Good Friday world of ...
The Human Rights Commission inquiry into housing quality confirms what the Green Party has been calling for - a rental Warrant of Fitness and a register of landlords and property managers. ...
The Green Party welcomes the next steps towards implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in Aotearoa, and calls on the Government to get on with the mahi of upholding Tangata Whenua rights. ...
Our economic recovery is gaining momentum and the latest figures show that the Government’s focus on jobs is working. We’ve delivered a record low unemployment rate as well as a steady fall in the number of New Zealanders receiving a main benefit. ...
The Green Party welcomes the release of the implementation plan for Te Mana o te Taiao Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy and calls on the Government to act faster to protect our oceans. ...
After weeks of advocacy by Green MPs, Immigration New Zealand has given assurances that West Papuan students whose scholarships were cancelled by the Indonesian Government will not be deported - and that a team will now be formed to assess the future needs of the students. ...
The release today of Environment Aotearoa 2022 is a sobering reminder of what is at stake if the Government does not step up and take urgent action to protect Aotearoa New Zealand’s native plants, wildlife, habitats and ecosystems. ...
The release today of Environment Aotearoa 2022 is a sobering reminder of what is at stake if the Government does not step up and take urgent action to protect Aotearoa New Zealand’s native plants, wildlife, habitats and ecosystems. ...
Throughout the pandemic, we’ve worked hard to protect lives and livelihoods – and thanks to these efforts, our economy is now recovering faster than almost anywhere else in the world. ...
Stats NZ’s monthly rental and food price indexes released today continue to show that over the last 12 months the essentials have gotten increasingly expensive for thousands of New Zealanders. ...
We’re celebrating a big milestone this week – the return of international visitors. New Zealand is open for business and our tourism destinations are among the world’s best. ...
I want to thank Rabobank for hosting us this morning, and all of you for making it along for an early start. Yesterday, New Zealand opened its borders again to tourists and business visitors from around 60 visa waiver countries as we continue our reconnection with the world. The resumption ...
Surpluses will be kept within a band of zero to two percent of GDP to ensure new day‑to‑day spending is not adding to debt. A new debt measure to be introduced to bring New Zealand closer in line with other countries. A debt ceiling will ensure New Zealand maintains some ...
The Government has welcomed Te Waihanga/New Zealand Infrastructure Commission’s first infrastructure strategy as a major milestone in building a more prosperous, resilient and sustainable future for all New Zealanders. Rautaki Hanganga o Aotearoa – New Zealand Infrastructure Strategy 2022–2052 set out the infrastructure challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has today announced further sanctions on Russian politicians and defence entities supporting Putin’s actions in Ukraine, as part of the Government’s ongoing response to the war. “Through these sanctions, we are demonstrating our intention to continue going after those who are responsible for Russia’s invasion ...
Introduction Kia ora koutou katoa, Today is a significant day for infrastructure in New Zealand. And that means it is a significant day for our productivity, our environment, our wellbeing and connections as people. That is because good quality infrastructure is core to improving all of those things. Today we ...
Ringitia mai, waetia mai Tuhi tuhia mai e Kei te manawa tonu te aroha me te whakapono Can I please acknowledge our co-chairs today Fran O’Sullivan and Michael Barnett. US Ambassador to New Zealand Tom Udall. The Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor. And the really excellent ...
New Zealand is back on the world map for international tourism and business travellers as the country opens up to visitors from around 60 visa-waiver countries who enjoy freer travel here from today. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash and Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi say the welcome mat is out for citizens ...
The Government is committed to improving student attendance at school and kura, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti said in a pre-Budget announcement today. “It’s clear that young people need to be at school, and yet attendance rates haven’t been good for a long time. It’s ...
Essential workers sent a clear message today that they no longer want to see their pay and conditions set through a race to the bottom, and that they support fair, good faith bargaining with employers through Fair Pay Agreements. On International Workers’ Day, Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Michael ...
The Government is partnering with Air New Zealand to trial an innovative new COVID-19 testing solution that uses Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) technology, Associate Minister for COVID-19 Response Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “As New Zealand reconnects with the world, we are exploring innovative COVID-19 testing technology to help keep ...
A warmer winter is on the horizon for over 1 million New Zealanders receiving either a main benefit or New Zealand Superannuation as the Winter Energy Payment begins today. “When we first came into office, we introduced the Winter Energy Payment as part of our Government’s December 2017 Families Package. ...
World-class Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) is now available in Haast, one of New Zealand’s most remote West Coast towns, Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications, David Clark announced today. “A reliable, fast and secure internet connection is an important asset in the digital economy and that is why this Government ...
Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall launched ‘Smokefree May’ today at an event at Manurewa Marae. This new campaign, developed with Hāpai Te Hauora, supports the Government’s plan to make New Zealand smokefree by 2025. At the event, a new brand was also unveiled for the Smokefree 2025 Action ...
Minister of Housing Hon Dr Megan Woods and Associate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing) Peeni Henare have today announced a new investment partnership with Ka Uruora to build up to 172 new homes for whānau who need them most. Ministers Henare and Jackson joined partners Ka Uruora at an event ...
Local councils ownership of water entities confirmed and new shareholding structure put in place Local community and council voice further strengthened in Regional Representative Groups with the majority of Working Group recommendations accepted Co-governance on the board of the four water entities ruled out by Local Government Minister with board ...
A new Pacific Business Village that will grow Pacific businesses, fundamental to our COVID-19 recovery, was launched by the Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio in Tauranga today. “The Government wants the Village used as a strategic framework for any long-term economic development work in our regions for Pacific ...
Health Minister Andrew Little says New Zealanders who contract COVID-19 now have access to six medicines proven to safely prevent the most severe and life-threatening symptoms of the virus. Andrew Little was in Auckland this afternoon to see the first shipment of molnupiravir, the second oral anti-viral COVID-19 medicine to ...
Changes to intensive winter grazing rules will make them more practical for farmers and effective in lifting environmental outcomes, Environment Minister David Parker and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “For New Zealand, our economy depends on our environment. Cleaning up our winter grazing practices protects our freshwater resources, the welfare of our animals, ...
Five Auckland suburbs to get improved infrastructure to boost supply of new housing, and support existing homes Up to 16,000 new homes enabled on crown-owned land including public, affordable and market homes Capacity created for an extra 11,000 homes on surrounding privately owned land. Projects include water main renewal, sewage ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be investigated as part of a range of actions taken by the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety in response to two deaths in the space of a week. “All New Zealanders should return from work safe and unharmed. Recently ...
Supporting older people to stay in the workforce and transition their skills as they age and their circumstances change is a key part of the new Older Workers Employment Action Plan, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni and Minister for Seniors Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “The Government ...
An initiative that has provided tourism workers with alternative employment into the lead up to New Zealand’s borders reopening is being extended to ensure staff are retained, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. It is one of two projects in the Waikato-Maniapoto to receive funding through the Government’s Jobs for Nature ...
From today New Zealanders can have their say on a proposed National Adaptation Plan to help communities across the country adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. “Aotearoa will soon have a plan to bring down our emissions and help prevent the worst effects of climate change, but we ...
Wetlands expert and advocate Dr Beverley Clarkson was today presented with New Zealand’s most prestigious conservation award, the Loder Cup by Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan. Dr Clarkson is a plant ecologist based at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research in Hamilton. She is nationally renowned for her knowledge and championing of ...
People who have genuine reasons for not being able to wear a face mask can access a new personalised exemption card from the end of May, Minister for COVID-19 Response Chris Hipkins and Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “We know that face masks are a crucial part ...
The Government intends to amend the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 (DIRA) to support Fonterra’s move to a new capital structure, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “The Fonterra cooperative is a key part of New Zealand’s world-leading dairy industry and a major export earner for our economy, sending product ...
Victoria University 26 April, 2022 Those coming here expecting announcements of new tax policy will be disappointed. None are being made. We have no secret plan to introduce a CGT nor a wealth tax or a deemed income tax, nor others. The IRD is not doing any work ...
Auckland harbour ferries are set to get quieter, cleaner and greener, thanks to two new fully-electric ferries for commuters and sightseers to travel on, Minister for Energy and Resources Dr Megan Woods announced today. Auckland Transport will operate the two electric fast ferries across all major inner and mid-harbour services, ...
New Zealand’s apples and pears industry is aiming to become spray-free by 2050 through a new Government-backed programme focused on world-leading sustainable production practices, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. The Government is investing in a seven-year programme through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Peeni Henare today announced that the Government has extended New Zealand’s commitment to three peace support deployments to the Middle East and Africa – the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the Multinational ...
Backing 15 big businesses to move away from fossil fuels in their production processes Equal to taking 14,400 cars off the road $13 million of Government funding matched by $32.66 million from industry Achieves a total of 900,631 t of carbon emissions saved over the project lifetimes The Government is ...
More than 50 jobs are being created across Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland with the launch of three new Government-backed initiatives, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “Tāmaki Makaurau has taken quite a hit over the past two years, with the region experiencing longer lockdown restrictions than anywhere else in the country. “Jobs for ...
The opening of the 2022-23 Great Walks booking season next week heralds 30 years of epic adventures in our backyard throughout the country, says Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan. Speaking from the Tongariro Northern Circuit,, the Minister acknowledged the importance of the Great Walks for conservation, recreation and tourism in ...
Let me start by saying how wonderful it is to see people up and down the country gathering together in person again this year, in commemoration of Anzac Day. At a time when the global pandemic has so often cancelled public gatherings, it is all the more precious to be ...
The shared nineteenth-century histories of Aotearoa-New Zealand have come to life with the official opening today of one of the most culturally significant sites of the 1860s New Zealand Wars. The Government-financed rebuild of the Rangiriri Pa Trenches complex in Waikato is the first project completed from a special ...
Japan and New Zealand’s strong partnership is built on a long tradition of official and industry engagement, underpinned by our natural complementarities and strong business relationships. Both countries share many similarities. Japan and New Zealand are island nations in the Pacific with rich soils and climates suited to temperate agriculture. Agriculture, ...
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta today announced the reappointment of four commissioners to the Tauranga City Council. “As the Council continues to face substantial infrastructure and funding challenges, it is clear that ensuring certainty for Tauranga is more important than ever,” Nanaia Mahuta said. “The reappointment of the current Tauranga ...
“We’ve now completed the first stage of the two-step engagement process to develop a Declaration Plan. This has provided us with valuable feedback to help with drafting a Declaration Plan that we will then take out to wider consultation,” Willie Jackson said. “Almost 70 targeted engagement workshops were held mainly ...
The Minister for Broadcasting and Media has confirmed the nine-member Establishment Board to lead the work on creating a new public media entity in New Zealand. “The Establishment Board will oversee the detailed design of the new entity and the change required to create it,” Kris Faafoi said. “The make-up ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had a productive meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo today. “Japan is one of New Zealand’s closest and most important partners in the Indo-Pacific region. We have a strong trade relationship, common values and a shared commitment to an open, inclusive, stable and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Senior Lecturer, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Shutterstock Australia Post workers are suffering more dog attacks than before with 1,170 incidents so far this financial year — up 400 on the same time in ...
A new round of sanctions imposed by the government on Russian politicians and defence entities targets 170 members of the upper house of Russia's parliament, known as the Federation Council, as well as six companies and organisations in the defence sec ...
ANALYSIS:By Michael Kabuni and Stephen Howes Central to the selection of the prime minister in Papua New Guinea following a general election is Section 63 of PNG’s Organic Law on Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC), which was passed in 2001 (and then amended in 2003). Section 63 ...
By Lian Buan in Manila The retraction of Kerwin Espinosa, one of the main accusers in the Philippines Bilibid drug trade allegations, has drummed up calls from different sectors to free jailed opposition senator Leila De Lima, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) is not budging. The difficulty with this ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva The University of the South Pacific’s latest international ranking is a “testament to the excellence” that pervades the university, says USP vice-chancellor and president Professor Pal Ahluwalia. He said this in a statement confirming USP had been ranked 401-600 out of 1406 institutions, with an ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Hamish Cardwell, RNZ News climate reporter Explosive new data shows the sea level is rising twice as fast as previously thought in some parts of Aotearoa, massively reducing the amount of time authorities have to respond. The major new projections show infrastructure and homes in Auckland and ...
RNZ News For the first time in more than two years, New Zealand’s border will reopen to international visitors at midnight tonight. On 19 March 2020, New Zealand snapped its border shut to anyone without citizenship or residency, before any covid-19-related deaths were recorded. It was the first time in ...
PNG Post-Courier A former election manager for Papua New Guinea’s National Capital District (NCD) who was charged with election fraud for corruptly receiving a large sum of money from a candidate during the 2017 election has been sentenced to seven years in prison by the National Court at Waigani. National ...
As the border opens to 60 visa waiver countries, there has already been an uptick in spending since New Zealand began welcoming Australian tourists two weeks ago, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. ...
Energy Resources Aotearoa has cautiously welcomed the release of the New Zealand Infrastructure Strategy but says that it overlooks the important role that the Emissions Trading Scheme and natural gas will play through and beyond the transition to a lower ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock Consumers using online retail marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon “have little effective choice in the amount of data they share”, according to the latest report of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Crowley, Adjunct Associate Professor, Public and Environmental Policy, University of Tasmania Russell Freeman/AAP A major poll published yesterday suggests the Greens are set to grow as a political force at this month’s election, showing its primary vote has risen ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union will launch a wide-scale "Protect Your Savings" campaign if Labour decides to introduce a wealth tax. Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "This morning on The AM Show Jacinda Ardern was given multiple opportunities ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Oliver Frank, Senior Research Fellow, Discipline of General Practice, and Specialist General Practitioner, University of Adelaide Shutterstock When you go to your usual GP, you probably sit down, tell her your health-care needs or problems, and she advises and discusses ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Shutterstock Each side is offering something for first homebuyers this election, but the nature of the support is quite different. The Coalition’s Home Guarantee The Coalition is promising ...
The BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) says it’s encouraging to see long-term infrastructure planning from the Government, and agrees that more of the same simply won’t cut it. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission has released New Zealand’s first ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jo Caust, Associate Professor and Principal Fellow (Hon), School of Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne Frankie Cordoba/Unsplash While artists struggle to get noticed in the Australian political arena, particularly in the lead up to an election, other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne AAP/Lukas Coch This week’s Newspoll, conducted April 27-30 from a sample of 1,538, gave Labor a 53-47 lead, unchanged since last week. Primary votes were 38% Labor ...
Now that it has set about implementing a de-colonialising curriculum on subjects such as science and history, the government is determined to get more kids into classes to lap up the new doctrine. ...
Explosive new sea level rise data released on the weekend highlights the urgency of acting on climate pollution from New Zealand’s intensive dairy industry, says Greenpeace Aotearoa. The modeling by NZ SeaRise shows sea level rise could be twice ...
The Government is forging ahead with its Three Waters reform process. Comments from the Government over recent months meant that its announcement last Friday was unfortunately predictable. The door was left open on governance and accountability for the Government-appointed ...
LGNZ President Stuart Crosby says the new Infrastructure Strategy is an important step towards addressing the critical issues affecting our communities. “Reliable infrastructure is the backbone to creating healthy, thriving communities and a resilient ...
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner supports the call of The Fairer Future group to adopt a seven-point plan of action to support low-income New Zealanders facing the high cost of living. The Seven Steps for Fairer Future report can be accessed ...
A major manufacturer of waterjets for boats fears it could miss out on millions of dollars worth of contracts if the government does not address urgent skilled worker shortages. ...
MBIE has opened consultation on proposed changes to the Building Code acceptable solutions and verification methods which cover plumbing and drainage, protection from fire, and structural stability of hollow-core floors. “As New Zealand’s ...
- New Zealand’s first-ever long-term infrastructure strategy - Strategy makes 68 recommendations to transform New Zealand The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga says New Zealand’s first long-term Infrastructure Strategy, sets a ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says while there will be no cap on the number of tourists allowed into New Zealand, tourism operators need to offer a quality experience with low environmental impact. ...
New Zealand’s leading animal welfare charity is celebrating a major milestone, as SPCA marks 150 years of improving the lives of vulnerable animals in Aotearoa. Since the charity’s formation in Canterbury in 1872, SPCA has rescued millions ...
Electricity generation, water services and responding to sea level rise are some of the priority investments identified in the Infrastructure Commission's first strategy. ...
Political Roundup is entirely subscriber-funded. The ethos behind this public service is to help foster a robust and informed public debate, with a great diversity of perspectives. If you appreciate what we are doing in providing non-partisan analysis and information about politics, economy, and society, please consider helping us keep ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lukas Wesemann, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Infectious diseases such as malaria remain a leading cause of death in many regions. This is partly because people there don’t have access to medical diagnostic tools that can detect ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Cockfield, Honorary Professor in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, University of Southern Queensland Dominic Giannini/AAP While the Liberal and Labor parties each face several nail-biting contests, the Nationals have fewer immediate concerns in this federal election. The party ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kun Zhao, Research fellow, BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University As Australians across the country prepare to vote, many will be reflecting on what can help build a prosperous and inclusive society. Over the last five years, we have been ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Harris, Senior Lecturer in Geography, The University of Queensland Flinders Beach has been growing since the 1950sKevin Welsh, Author provided In a warmer world, rising sea levels could render many coastlines, beaches, and reef islands uninhabitable, or destroy them altogether. ...
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Sam Uffindell has been selected by local party members as National’s candidate in the upcoming Tauranga by-election. Mr Uffindell is currently the Head of Financial Economic Crime for Rabobank and owns a small agribusiness based in the Bay of Plenty. ...
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Almost 60,000 students are missing at least 3 days of school every and nearly 40 percent of students are not attending regularly, says a teachers union, as the government announces funding to combat the problem. ...
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ACT Party Leader David Seymour, Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden and ACT Tauranga candidate Cameron Luxton have today unveiled the party’s campaign bus. “ACT is a serious contender in this race. We’re aiming to send a message to Wellington ...
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Asia Pacific Report newsdesk Plans to establish “food estates” were announced by the Indonesian government at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic because, it said, it wanted to ensure Indonesia’s food security. But as AwasMIFEE! and TAPOL show in their new report released today, Pandemic Power Grabs: Who benefits from ...
Political Roundup is entirely subscriber-funded. The ethos behind this public service is to help foster a robust and informed public debate, with a great diversity of perspectives. If you appreciate what we are doing in providing non-partisan analysis and information about politics, economy, and society, please consider helping us keep ...
Opposition parties should commit to protecting against privatising water assets, and front up with alternatives if they don't like the three waters reform, the government says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Clark, Deputy Engagement Editor, The Conversation Is there any such thing as the so-called “ethnic vote” in a country as multicultural as Australia? Do different cultural groups favour one side of politics over another? For instance, in Victoria’s most marginal seat ...
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Local councils will own the proposed four new water entities – and local voices will be strengthened, the government has confirmed today. As part of transforming how the three waters services are managed, the government has responded to a working ...
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The United Fire Brigades’ Association (UFBA) welcomes today’s announcement by Te Kawa Mataaho, the Public Service Commission, to appoint Belinda Clark QSO to lead an independent review into the progress that Fire and Emergency New Zealand has made ...
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29 April: Greenpeace says the Government’s updated intensive winter grazing rules cave in to intensive dairy and are a missed opportunity to improve environmental management and animal welfare. Greenpeace Aotearoa lead agriculture campaigner Christine ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Hepburn, Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin University Mick Tsikas/AAP Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week claimed Labor was planning a “sneaky carbon tax” should it win power, and Nationals senator Matt Canavan declared the goal of net-zero emissions by ...
Government has today announced further details of its proposed three waters reforms, which would see responsibility for the delivery of drinking, waste and storm water services removed from local authorities. Ministers Robertson and Mahuta have detailed ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University The Conversation Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party continues to make waves in the federal election campaign, most recently with advertisements on massive billboards pledging a “maximum 3% interest rate on all home loans ...
For most of my life, I have been a complete sceptic about reported UFO sitings, thinking that most of it could be put down to natural phenomenons or overactive imaginations.
However, the Pentagon has recently been forced to release its own information about UFO citings.
As this Under Investigation documentary shows, there is little doubt that UFOs (renamed UFP- unidentified flying phenomenon) are actually a thing. As the documentary shows, there have been a lot of sightings by military pilots that have been captured both visually and by other instruments such as radar, that they have not been able to explain.
So it seems to be that there is some unknown technology that is behind these reports. The main question seems to be whether this technology is of earthly or alien origin.
The likely earthly candidates would seem to be:
The US themselves? Possible. But would seem unusual they be exposing their technology in such a way that it could get into the main stream so easily.
China or Russia? Unlikely. If they possessed this sort of technology then why aren't they in charge of the world order now? And certainly unlikely to be Russia given their performance in Ukraine.
The Israelis? Possible. They have already demonstrated high technological advance with their high energy beam air defence system that seems straight out of science fiction. But why they would be buzzing the American airforce, their natural allies, would seem a bit strange.
As unlikely as all the above explanations are, those earthly possibilities are probably still more likely than an explanation attributed to aliens from another planet. But who knows:
Years ago almost pre-internet in an obscure publication I read a story of a UCLA researcher studying rocks from deep in the San Andreas fault by putting them in a crusher to study the cracking and deformation and they were surprised to find in some cases that forming just above the surface in the moments before collapse a very small example of ball lightning tracking the imminent fracture in the rock. This tweaked my interest because here in Marlborough there are historicly a lot of UFO reports and of the 4 or 5 I know of ( and one personally ) the movement of the phenomen generally followed known earthquake fault lines. One of the worlds best known and studied UFO events was the Kaikoura UFOs and it wasn't until the big quake down there that it was discovered that there were a huge number of previously unknown faults along that coast. It has long been known that large aerial light displays are common at the time of large earthquakes. There is a PhD in there somewhere.. oh if only I hadn't spent my university days pissing up walls and falling over drunk.
The buzzing of AirForce jets may be coincidental because generally these things are seen on radar and jets are scrambled to intercept them.
Yes, I do remember the Kaikoura lights which were never adequately explained.
I think those were initially attributed to lights from squid boats. The problem being I think they were caught on radar as well.
For a skeptic, it is one of these things that can’t be explained that tends to get put into the “too-hard” part of the brain.
There is a more mundane explanation for that phenomenon provided by the Met.Service at the time that everyone chose to ignore. After all, as we are frequently told by some… what do the experts know?
At the time of that incident, there was an intense high pressure system which, iirc, was centred off the East Coast of the South Island. An inversion had formed in the lower atmosphere at about 2000 feet caused by the air warming as it rose rather than the usual cooling process. In these conditions, dust and other particles get trapped in the air beneath the inversion often creating a low level haze visible to the naked eye. It is also possible if the inversion is over the sea for surface reflections to be captured during night time hours at the top of the inversion layer.
It was known that a Japanese fishing fleet was in the area and was probably fishing inside the 200 mile zone at the time. They were using bright lights and it is believed what was seen was a reflection of those lights as they bobbed around in a choppy sea. That could have given the appearance of flying saucers nipping around the skies in no coordinated pattern which I believe is what happened.
I’m not saying there are no genuine mysteries out there but I say… always look first at the Earth generated answer to such mysteries.
Yes, and the article I linked to does make some of those points.
The Pentagon stuff is a bit harder to explain though. The US government seems to think something is there, whether from earth or…
The ones in which fighter pilots tried to chase down flying saucers were always compelling – particularly when you read their personal descriptions of what they saw. No way can any of the usual feeble diversionary explanations fit those circumstances!
Was 1963 when I gave a talk to my third form class on UFOs. One of Adamski's books prompted that but in retrospect he's one of the dodgier authors. There are some compilations by diligent researchers with critical faculties that are worth buying (I own a selection).
Are you inferring that the Meteorological Service was indulging in feeble diversionary explanations to "fit the circumstances" of the Kaikoura sightings? That is nonsense. I was there.
Their observations etc. are based on scientific knowledge and how the atmosphere can create curious 'images' of one sort or another. They don't bother with fairy stories and they certainly are not party to political or ideological games.
No, I agree that atmospheric inversions could reflect lights somewhat. I regard that as semi-plausible. If there had been separate reports of them doing so on other non-ufo occasions, I would delete semi.
I had in mind some of the other loopier standard official explanations such as weather balloons or the planet Venus. Weather balloons are not know for their ability to perform sudden right-angle turns when chased by fighter jets. Indeed, it's almost as if weather balloons don't know when/if fighter jets are chasing them. But don't tell the authorities that – they may get upset…
Likewise, Venus has consistently demonstrated a strange inability to perform evasive action. It's remotely possible that officials are troubled by this. If so, I haven't seen them discuss their anxiety in the media – but perhaps their employment contract has a privacy clause.
Yes Anne the Metservice theory got a lot of traction at the time but was rejected because the mystery lights showed up on Wellington Radar and reflections would not have done that. The Earth contains huge amounts of static electricity which is sometimes verified by ultra fast photography that shows that lightning strikes seem to have a very, very fine precursor electric discharge from the ground up to the charged cloud which the large cloud discharge then follows to the Earth. Ball lightning is another phenomonen that has not been so far explained and one of the strange things about it is that it has been reported that it moves rapidly away from any approaches, and similar things have been seen in a very small way in large electric motors, physicists have theorised that it may even be evidence of a 5th dimension and the Large Hadron Collider is running experiments on trying to solve these mysteries at the moment. There are a lot more things in Heaven and Earth that we have no idea of yet…Who said that?
I don't think aliens are one of them but Putin does come close.
I can't say I heard about the radar image.
What you have to remember though… the air immediately beneath the inversion line would have been dense with trapped dust and other debris particles. Whether they would show up on a radar screen I would have no idea.
Yes Anne the Metservice theory got a lot of traction at the time but was rejected because the mystery lights showed up on Wellington Radar and reflections would not have done that. The Earth contains huge amounts of static electricity which is sometimes verified by ultra fast photography that shows that lightning strikes seem to have a very, very fine precursor electric discharge from the ground up to the charged cloud which the large cloud discharge then follows to the Earth. Ball lightning is another phenomonen that has not been so far explained and one of the strange things about it is that it has been reported that it moves rapidly away from any approaches, and similar things have been seen in a very small way in large electric motors, physicists have theorised that it may even be evidence of a 5th dimension and the Large Hadron Collider is running experiments on trying to solve these mysteries at the moment. There are a lot more things in Heaven and Earth that we have no idea of yet…Who said that?
I don't think aliens are one of them but Putin does come close.
Oh yes. that one used to pop up intervals. I'm not sure they were official claims or rather the MSM trying to infer some mysterious 'goings on' high in the atmosphere. There were goings on alright. Met staff recording the wind directions and speeds plus temp. data at multiple levels. They wore that one out in the end.
The sightings coincided with the time there were hundreds of squid boats on the coast and a temperature inversion. Funny if aliens decided to visit exactly when that occurred. Camouflage?
I've seen a lot weirder things at sea during inversions than, "lights in the sky".
As for RADAR sightings, most of those date from earlier days of RADAR, before some of it's idiosynchrocies, such as false echos, beam width errors, reflection and double echos, were fully understood.
One of the series of UFO sightings, in NZ, still published in UFO literature, was an Otago University capping stunt. I knew some of the culprits, including an NAC pilot.
Alians are a definite possibility. However the chances of any being at a stage of development advanced enough to be peeking at earthlings, at exactly the same moment, over eons of time, when "supposedly intelligent", life is around on earth to record it, is statistically improbable!
I go with the Japanese squid boats/inversion theory because it is the most plausible and fits in with the meteorological conditions at the time.
Approx. every two years when the news flow is slow, Newshub come up with the flying saucers theory. I wrote to them once and told them to get a life and go with the scientific experts rather than spin fairytales. They never replied.
As I was sailing through the squid fleets and saw it, I definitely go with inversion Another interesting effect of the inversion was recieving Aussie VHF radio stations. Normally marine VHF has a max range around 60NM, depending on aerial heights. Can get similar effects with RADAR. Targets hundreds of miles away showing because of refraction. Of course the return pulse arrives after several scanner rotations, making the targets appear to be much closer.
Another one was a whole series about "strange" lights around Pandora bank.
Funnily coinciding with a search with helicopters etc for a depth charge that went AWOL. Hopefully a practice one
Bruce Cathie and Trevor James Constable.
Two little known New Zealand researchers. Cathie, however, was better known overseas because of his gridline energy theory and software.
A team of some of the biggest and most respected names in the Green movement turn a small development into a legal quagmire.
Debt, distrust and deadlock: How peace at an idyllic eco-village was shattered | Stuff.co.nz
Bob Corker, his wife Kay Baxter, the Koanga Institute, Peter Alexander the owner of Chantal Foods, versus a group of idealists who ponied up the money to live in idealistic togetherness inland from Wairoa.
Lots of court cases, lots of money lost, bunches of accusations, and a general mess.
Developments go down every day in Auckland, run by tradies who think they can step up.
But this one is a far cry from what was to have been, according to Corker and Baxter’s promotional material, “a shared dream of embracing a regenerative future through independent village living, local economies and co-evolution”.
An excellent report. Realising dreams has been a tough learning curve for those of us who did the hippie thing & the story resonates on several levels. Few people are even aware that realise originally meant make real, and nobody ever gets taught how to build on common ground. Such teaching ought to be part of education.
So the ethics of sharing become a focus of experiential learning. Mistakes made can be rectified but if those involved cover them up instead the situation will inevitably become toxic. Individuals in our culture of narcissism are entrained to think of themselves first, second, and third. Factoring in the views of others requires a serious cognitive shift. Responsibility and accountability aren't trendy…
I was talking with another engineer socially yesterday and he made the observation about how not all that many people actually know how the world works. And how people who think ideology and ideals are a substitute for experience and skill are the most accident prone of all.
I'd be interested to know how you think the world…'works'.
For a start everything in the built environment has its origins in either a farm or a mine. When did you last make one of them work?
Including beaver dams and termite hills?
I love knowing how the world ‘works’, e.g., the flight of the bumblebee (https://www.animal-dynamics.com/the-bumblebee-flight-myth/#:~:text=The%20bumblebee%20flight%20myth%3A%20the,the%20size%20of%20their%20bodies.) and my all-time favourite, the effect of a wing flap of a butterfly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect).
Henry George was onto something!
"How the world works" is of course already in itself the expression of an ideology – and if you don't come from that milieu, or hold a contrary ideology, or are (sometimes) just too good a person, you will indeed get taken for a sucker.
Point is that, outside the pure sciences, there is not a privileged something called "how the world works" with everything else being reduced to mere ideology.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1993/12/how-the-world-works/305854/
And then the writer shifts into a different paradigm…
Britons and Americans often act as if these were the only possible principles and no one, except in error, could choose any others
I think most honest observers would claim that these principles were simply the ones we have through painful centuries of trial and error found to be the least worst ways to organise a political economy. All the known alternatives having a much worse track record.
In crude terms we have tried over the past four centuries of industrialisation, liberal capitalism, socialism and fascism in a context when everything was growing. But as we enter a novel era of stable and declining populations, and constrained resources – I would suggest we have no idea what the optimal political economy might look like.
or even if we will retain one
In recent times (due to deregulation) we have seen the rise of Financialization where the status of the financial sector has risen above that of the real sector,enhancing inequality.
https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_525.pdf
This has lead to overpriced financial assets which when reaching the boundary positions of growth,have only one direction to travel.
Pop.
A long way to go.
'There is no better snapshot of the Fed’s failure as a banking supervisor than this one fact that is called out every quarter in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Report on Bank Trading and Derivative Activities. Table 14 of this report (see page 19) shows that the 25 largest bank holding companies in the U.S. are sitting on $234 trillion notional (face amount) in derivatives but just five bank holding companies are responsible for $200.18 trillion of that exposure or 86 percent of the total. Those mega bank holding companies are: JPMorgan Chase (ticker JPM), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Bank of America (BAC).'
Proof for that assertion?
Or. Simply your! religious belief?
How about we just go by results.
"Results".
Not looking to flash at present, Eh!
As Euro states cooperate on gas supply now that Russia is turning the taps off, do we get to squint in to the horizon and call the Ukraine war a moment when the EU bloc is forced to view gas as a transitional energy?
Europe cooperates on gas, as Russia turns off taps to Poland and Bulgaria | News | DW | 30.04.2022
Gee the Natz really do 'care' about …people….I guess those all on $180,000 plus will respond saying why they need a tax cut to help them get..by.
National launches website for struggling Kiwis to share how cost of living crisis is affecting them (msn.com)
How many people do you actually think are on 180k or more in NZ?
I am genuinely curious.
i m also curious as to you not thinking NZ inflation has got out of hand. Even Ardern admits this.
High inflation is worldwide.
The point is the wealthy certainly do not need a..tax cut.
Reducing govt spending to fund one is…ludicrous.
Apologies, but the fact that any basic tax cut for those on lower incomes will inevitably affect the first 48k – 70k or so of rich people, is no excuse to not give lower income people a tax cut.
They refuse to even change the fricken tax brackets to more realistic and logical levels.
Because the current govt really is that uncaring and unkind
Edit: lets put it this way. Ardern temporarily has taken 25% off petrol excise tax.
Surely this is nasty to you given rich people don’t pay that 25%now either?
Or is that different somehow?
I have thought that even John key's govt should have adjusted the tax brackets. Paying 30% PAYE on income over $48k IMO is way too high. Wages have increased significantly sine 2009 or whenever those brackets came in, and $70k is no longer a 'rich pricks' income.
Use Google and get your abacus: https://figure.nz/chart/UnE8CtjDJuqPUk9U
4000 people!
My god! No wonder hey refuse to help poor people!
OMG! Try again, as your abacus evidently had a major failure and did not compute.
Fair call 4,220
Forgive me for rounding
Why are you wasting our time & space with dim-witted comments? You asked a specific Q, I put in some effort to give a useful & helpful A, because you’re too lazy to do it yourself, and you screw it up not once, but twice!?
Fair enough.
I will roll with your figures and your theory that the 58,820 people on 180K or more, you consider rich, must be really honest people to disclose their true incomes and pay their taxes, and that people who say they all avoid doing that are wrong.
[You’re too kind to roll with the figures provided by Inland Revenue, eventually.
You asked @ 4.1:
I gave you the answer on a platter.
I did not give my personal theory on anything and you put those words in my mouth and made up a whole lot of BS about me.
Given that my first Mod note for you had not appeared yet, you escape a longer ban. Take a fortnight off – Incognito]
Mod note
Adding together all those above $180,000 per annum is 47,290 not 4,000, but well done on having a go.
TBH I lost my faith in the reliability of that site when I noticed it says 40,000 on over 200k
Which I think we all know is bollocks
The only thing we know is your failure to understand the data and the bollocks you spout here, again and again. If you don’t like the answer then don’t ask the question and stay and go play in your sandpit.
Anyway, each bar represents an interval or band of $5,000 above the previous one and as any person can see from the graph I linked to there is a long tail at the higher end.
So why is Ardern not making these people pay full fuel prices?
Does she hate poor people?
[More inane drivel from you; you’re simply trolling again.
Not committing to taxing those higher incomes does not equate to hating poor people.
Your suggestion for fuel taxes for the well-offs is utter impractical and stupid.
Stop trolling and showing off your stupidity. This is your warning – Incognito]
Mod note
Fair enough and I won't compare them again.
I personally don't see the difference in concepts, but not worth getting picky over.
You don't see the difference because you're a dim-witted fool.
Thanks to this government, and certain overseas factors, someone on $180k this year will effectively only be on $167.4K by next march, but will still pay tax on $180k
someone on 70k will only be earning 65.1k effectively in twelve months but will still be considered in the top tax bracket
inflation sucks
The 39 cents per dollar tax they pay will be worth 32.5 cents per dollar.
Typical socialist tax maths.
39 less 7% is 36.2 FYI
Which doesn’t make inflation suck less
Pretty stupid statement,even for you.
The same dynamic applies if inflation is 2 or 3%.
Pointing that out that wage earners are paying more tax on higher brackets while effectively earning in lower brackets is stupid because of a ratio difference of 100%?
A remarkably stupid observation from one renowned as an idiot
An Australian professor talking to the Australian Christian Lobby in 2020, during the pre-cursor to their "conversion therapy bill" being passed in several states. Similar to the one that was celebrated here on TS.
Why do I post this here, given the complete lack of robust debate?
I continue to hope that a long-standing left-wing platform will be able to withstand the discomfort of addressing these issues, and show how #NoDebate is a flawed approach. Also, there may be some reading here, that do look for information rather than rhetoric.
So, for them, Professor John Whitehall talks about some of the studies regarding the effects of "completely reversible" puberty blockers, and also cross-sex hormones. You can check the studies if you are that way inclined.
For those who are not concerned by evidence of harm, you may wish to add your names to the open letter – which has been signed by over 7,000 in response to the grave news that the current social and medical protocol for children is causing harm. Of course, they don't provide counter evidence – they just reiterate the same slogans and assertions that got them thus far.
https://liztrussopenletter.wordpress.com/
'80% of children who just have therapy go on to live with their biological sex. 90% of children who are given puberty blockers go on to cross sex hormones…' Speaks out…gets cancelled.
Yes. Good interview. Ridiculous behaviour from Childline and University.
Around 15 mins begins an interesting discussion around the paradox of trans people not wanting to be pathologised (ie treated like they are unwell), to be accepted as 'normal' … yet in order for them to feel comfortable in their bodies they often demand some seriously invasive and irreversible medical interventions.
New Benjamin Boyce interview up.
Haven't watched it yet but will, as it has both Helen Joyce and Stephanie Davies-Arai.
Recent post from father of TiF who estranged from 'abusive family'. Seemingly, as common a part of transition as changing hair colour.
https://dentonyogacarter.substack.com/p/we-used-to-have-a-daughter?r=n5nv9&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Educate Yourself.
This might be the most important slogan of the gender ideology movement.
Of course, it meant Indoctrinate Yourself. But many have not been inculcated into the appropriation of language and did set out to learn without bias.
So, this one slogan I agree with: Educate Yourself.
Separation from family is a phase of psychological development which happens during mid-late teenage years to early adult hood. Most teens will want to hang out with peer group rather than participate in family activities. This seems to be part of forming their own personality.
I read up on this after looking at Stefan Molyneux, who may have been using his understanding of this (via his psychologist trained wife) to shepherd people into his amateur online counselling service, it seemed to often involve getting young people to separate from their families. There were similar accusations he was trying to setup a cult involved there also.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/15/family-relationships-fdr-defoo-cult
Separation of family from child has been legislated from the age of 4, in Scottish Education.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9888899/Scotland-let-pupils-aged-FOUR-change-gender.html
Don't assume that I am talking about the natural separation of a child from their parents. That's a natural part of growing up.
Diversity clubs in primary schools, are promoting the keeping of secrets from parents at young ages, and facilitating the premise that families that question their ideas are 'abusive'. We have school resources in NZ that both promote this idea, and the idea of setting up school clubs along the same lines of the US and the UK.
Given that medical interactions delay brain maturation and psychological development, we potentially have young children not going through the necessary pubertal maturation to allow for healthy division of self and family.
Look deeper than just writing it off as normal development. This is not what is happening.
I was suggesting there is a typical developmental mechanism where young adults separate their identity from their families. I don't think that implies these cases should be characterized as normal development. Quite the opposite in the case of Stefan in fact.
Sorry, unsure about the point of your comment, and misread it.
However, do you have concerns about gender ideology being taught in schools?
Do you think relationship and sexuality curriculum resources should be created and provided by the MoE to ensure quality, accuracy and transparency?
I do have some concerns about what seems to be taught as parts of it are patently untrue.
On the other hand I have found that some of the material presented around schools for political purposes by conservatives is rather miss leading, and I don't really think it has the impacts implied in those cases.
If any institution is determining what goes in the curriculum its going to be the MoE. That's appropriate, but clearly parents should be enabled to understand what is being taught.
In this case, using third party NGO's makes consistency and transparency impossible. If curriculum was produced and published by MoE then it would be better.
What are the sites you have found for curriculum?
I've only looked at UK's Transgender Trend resources, and they seem factual to me:
https://www.transgendertrend.com/schools-resources/
i may be misinterpreting you Nic, but separating from parents in the mid teens is age appropriate development. However that doesn't mean the parents abandon them or disappear. Parents need to connect with there teens in a way that helps them have some idea of what they are up too. Kids can get up to really bad shit and this is when a got parent steps in. The kids that truly go off the rails can be the ones whose parents are off duty from whats going on.
I agree, separation is maybe not the best description. Maybe individuation is better. But in almost all cases the young adults maintain contact with their families.
I just think its worth understanding that young adults may be more susceptible to certain ideas while they are going through this developmental stage. I also think if this was understood by the young people while going through it they may be able to understand where some of their motivations are coming from.
Agreed Nic. And I think we can all remember the things we did to individuate during our teens (horrors!). But mostly these things are not permanant like for example a double masectomy
I did educate myself – that is why I signed up for Team TERF – Truth Exclaiming Real Females!
Yes, probably the most self-defeating exhortation gender ideologists could have made.
Agreed Nic. And I think we can all remember the things we did to individuate during our teens (horrors!). But mostly these things are not permanant like for example a double masectomy
This is appallingly sad. Its not like a child growing up and leaving home. Those ones come back. This is a child who has been indocrinated into a religious cult with a set of imcomprehensible beliefs and encouraged to reject her family. This is the real conversion therapy. Yet in an owellian twist our legislation would condemn someone who tried to question a young person who wanted to have cosmetic surgery removing their sexual organs and breasts, about what the consequences of their actions might be as being guilty of conversion therapy. A big con.
Worse than "conversion therapy" it is permanent mutilation & loss of sexual function, and does not help the underlying problem
great talk Molly.
I like you continue to hope that people of this left wing site will listen to what we post and start to think critically or at least engage in debate about gender ideology and the medical transitioning of children.
Here is an example of why some people get paid the big bucks.
An interview with Ukrainian presidential advisor, Oleksiy Arestovych from back in 2019 where he gave an eerily accurate prediction of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine. He predicted the most at risk years of the invasion were 2020-2022, and gave a pretty much blow by blow account of what he predicted would happen, most of which actually has happened in the invasion.
Time traveler.
Maybe he had been reading Peter Zeihan's stuff?.
Speaking of which:
Yes, I thought the Russians cutting off gas to Poland and Bulgaria was a pointed threat to Germany, showing that they are prepared to take this sort of action.
The problem for Russia is that they also depend on Germany for foreign funds to fight their war. So, cutting off gas to Russia would be a major problem for Russia as well.
I was in Germany a few years ago, and they were shutting off their nuclear and coal power stations back then. They may have to reactivate these in the short term I think.
Recognising this, Germany may be prepared to call Russia’s bluff and go without Russian gas for a month or two.
A good thing is that with summer coming gas is not so much needed for heating, so may make alternative sources adequate in the short-term anyway.
Just further to that video, I do find that Peter is a bit self-contradictory sometimes.
For instance, in one video he was talking about the oil service eompanies leaving Russia, and how that was going to affect China due to Russia not being able to fix them.
On the other hand, in a video I saw the other day, he was still expecting Russia to win due to overwhelming force, despite saying this was going to deteriorate into a long war of attrition that could last years. At that point, he didn't seem to recognise the fact that many aspects of the Russia arms manufacturing system has ground to a halt due to the sanctions, and all the other logistics such as rail that are dependent to some degree on Western expertise that could also start breaking down soon.
In a war of attrition, those who can replace their losses have the advantage. Given the problems Russia is facing and all the arms pouring into Ukraine from the west now, it seems that Ukraine has a huge advantage in a war of attrition.
And on the issue of German gas, on another video Peter was talking about how the Russians couldn't afford to shut down output to Europe long term because the issues such as pressure build up would result in them having to close the production off altogether.
Thus, my comment that Germany could call their bluff, because I don't think Russia could afford to cut output for very long.
‘Just further to that video, I do find that Peter is a bit self-contradictory sometimes.’
I agree. It would be really good to see more interviews where he is challenged on some of his conclusions.
I think what I value is not so much his predictions – but the broad geopolitical tools he brings to the discourse. Ideas around rivers, oceans, rainfall, terrain, security, agriculture and so on. His best argument is that these factors more than anything else determine the fate of nations.
Where I think he is weaker – and this is true for all of us – is in predicting the near-term chaos of events, where personalities and politics plays a greater role.
Also I tend to forgive some of his more provocative predictions – he is after all making an effort to bring some life and wit to a traditionally dull topic.
I think also because he commentates on such a wide array of geopolitical issues it must be hard to remember all the previous statements to stay consistent with.
Yes, that is why all the financial experts get paid such big bucks-because they all accurately predicted the GFC back in 2008….oh hang on a minute….
Whether they deserve to get the big bucks is another matter.
And all the CEO's got paid big bucks to plan for a pandemic – one they were warned would eventually happen and actual planning had taken place for in NZ at least and there had been close calls with regionalised outbreaks.
Their planning amounted to head in sand ostrich-like behaviour.
An interesting home affordability proposal from the ALP:
The actual shortage of housing stock is the obvious problem, but I have long advocated that the hidden issue with housing is the inability of an increasing fraction of people to access a mortgage – at any price. Qualifying for a mortgage is more than just having a deposit and being able to service the payments – for example any kind of credit risk or criminal record is a show-stopper. Or a precarious income.
This seems one concrete way to address this – albeit very expensive for the govt.
Probably less expensive than the long term social consequences of homelessness and young families reliant on landlords.
Look at the cost of the accomodation subsidy and paying for motels here.Billions.
Soft loans for FHB 's with conditions re selling are an obvious model going by past experiences in NZ.
I still think one of the better options is for the government to own the land (lease free if need be) and the householder to just have to pay for the house and infrastructure costs for new builds. Take land prices out of the equation.
I did a quick search and came up with this:
Back in 2008.
Can't disagree with any of that really. Singapore does with with the state owning the land. Just imagine all that money going into more productive (but maybe higher risk) investments such as start-ups and businesses who wish to expand.
4. The interest paid by New Zealanders on their family home mortgages should be either tax deductable. This would eliminate most of the fiscal differential between home ownership and residential investment.
Interest is an expense, and expenses should only be deductible against taxable revenue. Where is the revenue to come from which would support this arrangement. The wage/salary earners' income will already have been taxed at source.
You seem to have it completely backwards.
You seem to have it completely backwards.
You seem incapable of presenting a cogent argument.
Isn't having somewhere to live also an "expense" incurred in order to earn taxable income?
No home no work
No groceries = no food = no energy = no work.
So, by your reasoning, groceries should be a deductible expense. And what about clothes. A worker can't go to work naked.
Workers clothes already are. But, in NZ, only for employers.
Employees also cannot deduct travel. But, a sole trader can.
Until recently “Managers” were allowed to deduct two hour lunches. Which now attract FBT, much to the dismay of the posh restaurant industry.
You have a constant habit of claiming various accounting definitions, which are simply conventions set by tax law, are written in stone.
Income tax taxes revenue revenue, but allows deductions in respect of expenses which contribute to the earning of revenue. That's not just some "accounting or taxation definition not set set in stone" but just plain common sense. If one is not going to accept this method then there is no point in taxing income in the first place.
In the case of private residences there is no income, from the properties themselves, against which residential or private expenses can be deducted. The distinction between business and private expenses is one that has to be made, if taxation is to have any logic to it.
The "distinction between business and private expenses" is purely arbitrary and nothing to do with "common sense" as the examples I've given, show.
In fact claimable "private or business expenses" have varied greatly since my first aquantance with Accounting Standards.
Individuals in the past allowed to claim, "clothing for work". Just one example of many.
The "distinction between business and private expenses" is purely arbitrary
The distinction is not arbitrary. It's just that some persons are able to get away with breaking the law. eg Where a vehicle is used for both business and private uses, the owner is supposed to to include only the costs applicable to its business use on his tax return, but in all likelihood many don't. Clothing is only deductible if has been purchased only for, and is only worn on, the job.
Bus fares and interest are interesting cases. The IRD argues, probably correctly, that a worker doesn't start earning income until he enters his workplace, and that bus fares, which of course are incurred prior to that, should therefore not be deductible. I would argues that the same thing applies to interest. Income is not being earned until an investment is made, and, since borrowing is prior to investment, interest should also not be deductible. The IRD doesn't seem to agree with me on this, which is why I have always argued that deductibility of interest is an anomaly in the Income Tax Act.
Donations are tax deductable but have nothing to do with earning an income. In the past a non-working spouse was tax deductable as was a life insurance policy.
I my view absolutely nothing should be tax deductable and taxation should be based on turnover. Expenses should solely be between the shareholders and the people running the company.
https://www.sars.gov.za/tax-rates/turnover-tax/
Donations help to promote a good relationship with the wider community, and could therefor be seen as beneficial where profitability is concerned.
Deductions for non working non working spouses, and insurance premiums, were deductions in respect of personal incomes rather than business incomes, and were an indirect form of welfare similar to W4F.
Taxing revenue only might work if the tax rate was low enough, though I don't see it as an improvement on the present system. I think costs would be subject to a multiplier effect were stuff passes from one companiy to another before reaching the final customer.
Companies currently set up vertical structures to have each tier designed to reduce tax liability. Reducing that would save millions of dollars in unnecessary costs as there would no longer be a need to do that.
Reducing that would save millions of dollars in unnecessary costs as there would no longer be a need to do that.
I think just the opposite is the case. If there is no deductibility of expenses then those expenses get passed from firm to firm, and get taxed many times. The expenses would get taxed at each step of their journey. Under the present system each firm pays tax only on its own contribution to the final cost.
Vertical integration can save costs, and this is a good thing. However I don't think think the cost savings come from tax savings. The more profitable the firm the more tax it pays. However, a system in which tax liability was based on revenue, without deduction of expenses, would certainly encourage vertical integration
Those 4 points are a far too sensible solution,so had no chance of being adopted.
I would agree with points (2) and (3), and with point (1) inasmuch as I would agree that HNZ's housing stock should be kept up to scratch, though I'm not sure whether 5% – 10% would be the appropriate amount of churn. Point (4) I would not agree with, for the reasons given in my response to the comment.
I'm not personally opposed to 2 as that was originally the case in feudal England as all land was owned by the Crown who then leased it out e.g. 999 year leases. Likely to be decidedly unpopular however, and I'm not entirely sure how it makes any difference to the Public Works Act, as short term leases would be about as popular as leasehold currently is i.e. not popular at all.
4 would mean higher taxes somewhere else to replace the lost revenue (for every $1B of deductible interest, that's $300M @30% in tax reductions, more for higher tax rates), so also likely to be unpopular. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/c35 suggests approx. $10B p.a. in residential mortgage interest, and while some of that will be deducted anyway by home businesses, that's $2-3B to find from somewhere.
1 and 3 are the main ones to me – no reason other than ideology why the state can't just do both of those. 5% replacement looks more likely than 10% though as even that is a complete turnover in 20 years.
I would add:
5. Make the Income-Related Rent Subsidy (IRRS) exempt from requiring specific appropriations in line with the Accommodation Supplement and main benefits. From a conversation with ministers, my understanding is that's the main fiscal constraint on government activity in this area, not anything else, so unlocking that seems key to KO and other social housing providers building significantly more houses.
6. KO keeps building and does rent-to-own of houses to FHB at a multiple of their income which is reassessed annually so the payments are set at 1/4 of pre-tax household income for 12 years. Basically, pay rent set at the normal rates, and after 12 years, the FHB owns it. Normally, the cap on the 25% is market rate, but that would not apply here because the occupants will eventually own it. This would also have to come with some rules about selling at a profit for a set amount of time, but the point here is to get someone into a house, not overly moralise about potential Crown losses.
I would add:
(7) Make it illegal to rent out houses unless the are owned freehold by the landlord. Competition from would-be landlords increases demand for, and probably pushes up the prices of, properties. If a landlord had to have sufficient funds to purchase, without having to borrow, before he entered the market then that competition would be reduced. Also, I think taking out a mortgage tends to push up rents since most landlords will try to recover their mortgage costs from the rents that they charge. I'm not sure what one would do about existing landlords who have mortgages though.
https://kaingaora.govt.nz/home-ownership/first-home-partner/
Not quite as generous from the looks, but a shared equity scheme exists here already in which KO will put in up to 25% or $200,000 and the first home buyer is expected to buy them out later (within 25 years at the latest).
Free speech except for the bits you have to pay for.
/
When meeting with lenders, Musk pointed out that Twitter lags behind Facebook and Pinterest when it comes to its gross margin, and therefore could make more money. To help achieve this, Musk is mulling over monetizing tweets “that contain important information or go viral,” according to the report, as well as charging websites a fee to quote or embed tweets from verified accounts. He is also looking at having moderation policies that are “as free as possible.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-twitter-charging-fee-quote-tweets-1344973/
You will pardon me a frisson of pleasure for having boycotted Twitter from the get go.
I can understand boycotting Bookface, but why Twitter?
“as free as possible”
As always – who gets to define "possible" and who does not? What do we call someone who has the power to define "freedom" for the hundreds of millions of people who use the platform he owns? Where will it all end if we do not ultimately shut these things down and dispossess the owners of all their money?
Reminds me of when Justin Timberlake purchased MySpace for $35 million. A money hole. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy
An even 'nicer ' guy sold it to him!
‘Murdoch’s News Corp. acquired MySpace just over six years ago, paying $580 million dollar for the popular social network. Years of subsequent mismanagement and failure to compete with the meteoric rise of Facebook took their toll on the social network, and Murdoch eventually sold off MySpace to advertising company Specific Media and pop star Justin Timberlake last year for $35 million — a small fraction of its original purchase price.’-yahoo.news
May Day! Also known as International Workers' Day. A time to celebrate the victories of the labour movement and also remember the effectiveness of mass action; we can and must support each other in the struggle for a more equitable and free world.
New Zealand's history of the eight hour day with Parnell is interesting.
Bill Birch's Contract Act scuppered the last vestiges.
The Fair Pay Agreement Legislation is a baby step to a fairer future.
Plus legislation in 2022 . Well done Labour.
History can be very inspiring.
I’m most interested in the further advancement of worker democracy – measures to ensure democracy at work – board representation, shares and profit sharing, etc. I’d be pleased to see these concepts taken up by any party even if it is to get the topic into wider discussion, for the moment.
Imagine if there was a website dedicated to discussing the labour movement in Aotearoa..
You could make the suggestion to the National Party. They're open to new discussion forums and have a sense of humour.
We can but try to encourage the discussions we want to see!
And so; if anyone is interested this is a long but worthy video overview of the evidence around worker democracy from Unlearning Economics:
TL;D
RW:Would you be interested in writing a guest post?
I could well be, I'll see if I can assemble something I'm happy with, haha
don't let perfection be the enemy of the good 😉
My suggestion is do something simple to start with, aim for 300 – 500 words, link as appropriate. Let me know if you want to submit it, and I will email you. You can email the main address too, although I'm not sure how often Lynn checks it, so reply here and I'll give him a heads up.
Some of what you have written in the past few days could easily make a post 🙂
And in that spirit, here's the CTU's easy form to make a submission on the Fair Pay Agreements or those who would like to; https://www.together.org.nz/fpa_submission
Good for you Arkie. My Dad was a union man, rep and promoter.
He called the Union the worker's voice and opportunity to push for improved conditions and pay.
It is 20 years since I taught, and I was in NZEI all my working life. 95% of Primary teachers were. We had achieved equal pay before Bill Birch, so the treasury looked at allowances, stopping senior pay from counting towards super contributions. Wiping sick leave back to a week if you moved to a new position.
I think life is more difficult now with mbls and video of every comment and slip up, and the unkind choose the least flattering view.. powerplays and bullying.
Oh, and Matariki 24th June will be celebrated as a wonderful winter Holiday. Well done Labour. Cheers.
Are you aware that private contractors, such as Parnell and his fellow carpenters, clubbing together to set pay and conditions such as the 8 hour day, would nowadays be banned, under the commerce Act.
I gather that's why the Fair Pay Agreements Bill is going now in its current form of including employees only – the intention is to expand to contractors, but that's legally complex in part because of the Commerce Act and prohibitions on cartel behaviour.
This is funny, but it’s also scary. I’ve seen intelligent, educated people make this sane kind of argument in an attempt to deny that biological sex exists and in humans is binary, just without appearing so stupid. The level of disconnect is alarming.
When one can pretend that men give birth and even teach that to midwives in training all is possible.
may as well just stick us in the Matrix right now.
There is a lot of conflation and confusion, and no clarity. Because liars are trying to deceive the public.
Holy shit! Three News led with a new scientific assessment of sea-level rise that factored in coastal land-dropping rates for the first time ever, reducing the time-horizon to around a third of what it was. Parts of Auckland got hit.
Tomorrow I expect real estate values to head into free-fall. The exit door will clog up with desperate owners wanting to be the first out. Insurance industry? Gone already.
How long till multi-millionaire rows on the Takapuna waterfront feature in camera pans in news stories reporting that they're all uninsurable? A matter of weeks, perhaps. Denial will be the first default. Everyone will seek flaws in the science.
Denial is the order of the day for 25,000 Christchurch seaside residents. Southshore is a lovely spot, though. Lived there for 5 years or so.
Fascinating thread about life, the ocean, and plastic.
It started when this guy name Ben Lecomte started swimming. He'd already freestyle'd his way from Japan to Hawaii, and now he was going to California. SWIMMING. And luckily for us…
benlecomte.com
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1520107539785871362.html