Unitec logged another 31 million dollar loss, calling into question it’s viability.
Meanwhile, the architect of the corporate hatchet job that wrecked the place and led to the institutions decline – failed and grossly overpaid CEO Rick Ede – bailed out last year to become CEO of a large TAFE in Melbourne.
Other members of his disastrous leadership team have also done the chicken run to Australia, picking up management sinecures across the continent.
Oh, to be a member of the teflon managerial corporate class.
You’ll need at least an empathy bypass, a diploma in sociopathic behaviour or be a club member who has others do the spade work.
Seen plenty aspiring to be allowed into that club executing scripts but it’s fairly exclusive so they often have to jump back offshore.
Such a boys club at the upper levels of NZ corporate, SOE, Co-op and trust troughs even the drop ins struggle to get to grips with them in order to do what’s being asked of them.
Unitec’s problems are the same as any other polytechnic across the country:
the economy’s overall unemployment rate is a bit above 4%, so people are going straight to jobs.
Plenty of polytechnics from north, south, east and west are in statutory management or some other form of very strong oversight or frankly no longer viable.
Polytechnics are a counter-cyclic sponge to the economy.
When the economy is doing badly, polytechnics are full of people retraining.
When it’s doing overall well, people doing see the need to retrain, so they enroll.
We need them to retrain for new jobs sunshine,, as jobs are changing all the time due to compamies moving to automation.
Evidence is here already;
My son served an appprenticship in germany and come home with his German diploma in Master Electrician, but he was foced to be retrained theorough a Unitech for two years at cost to him before he could work as an electician.
The first year free fees should help a lot for apprentices, as industry based courses allow it for 2 years.
The NZQA course level to qualify starts at level 3 and up ( a bachelors degree is level 8), so you can see it will help a lot of non university level courses.
Ad’s is the explanation that the RW neolibs can offer, under their present regime.
True, as far as it goes. However if the polytechnics/institutes and NZ skill and job seekers, and those wanting to upgrade their knowledge, were able to come together for each others’ benefit, with good outcomes for us all making us an advanced country the outcome as presently discussed would not occur.
Those of the upper class should not be allowed to associate with one another as they are worse than gangs when they get together, and the damage they do far more wide reaching. I propose a non-associative law to keep these crooks from gathering. Zero contact policy. Also, a state house between every mansion.
Then, I propose a course of correction for these narcissistic nonces.
Gardening. Using their hands as the tools they were designed for CEO’s can transport excrement from their heated lavatories to the dirt outside. Here they will learn to grow and shuck corn, to make biofuel for their helicopters.
Rehab. These coke fuelled brandy swafflers are deep into their own denial. P is a common utility for that ‘extra big job’, replacing the speed, ephedrine and temgesics of yesteryear. Using HNZ guidelines for P, we can identify these hypocritical hubris hummers by the residues on their marble counters. I recommend letting the Salvation Army in on this phase, they can deliver the 12 steps, and there in the fine print, Jesus! CEO’s love a bit of fine print.
Community service. Picking up rubbish is normally a Herald journalists job, but CEO’s do it as well. Operation clean streets will see CEO’s armed with litter sticks and refuse bags descend upon our populated areas to leave them in better shape than when they arrived.
Those who do not commit suicide through self-realisation will all be given a participation certificate, vouchers for a haircut, and directions to WINZ.
They should be treated the same so a CEO that turns up to work high one P/Alcohol/Marijuana etcetera gets fired and sent to prison just like the minimum wage worker.
Paula Bennett should resign from political life after her disgraceful handling of the Meth housing issue.
Appalling, just appalling.
Demonising the vulnerable to gain votes:
Scum like behaviour.
And shame on those New Zealanders who fall for such dog whistle Politics. If you really would vote for National after these revelations, look in the mirror.
Who are you?
What do you stand for?
Is it just greed and your own selfish interests?
And if so you are as bad as Bennett.
Speaking of resigning…
I heard a sentence on checkpoint yesty that has echoed since.
…paid $46,000 a month…
A big wig in HNZ refusing to respond to checkpoint’s inquiries.
Perhaps he should be re-reading his job description…
I think you’ll find @gsays that the Minister has confidence in his “official”, and that he’s probably met or exceeded his KPIs – possibly even exceeded some of them going forward.
Possibly the only thing that would cause the Minister to lose confidence would be if he jumped up and slit his throat over a P fuelled ‘conversation’ over accountability overseen by a previous responsible Minister for Housing and Feral Affairs.
It’s possible of course that Phil T might be a bit of a masochist.
I’m not sure when it will be that when Ministers rely SOLELY on the advice of their officials, they’ll get the advice of the Fox in charge of the Henhouse. Today, in our neo-liberal corporatised Western Whurl, there is no such thing as a public or a society. The public is the disposable plastic bag and the “official” the Gucci designed Maggie handbag.
I heard Phil T this morning tell us his officials acted on the best advice available (at the time).
Well actually, they didn’t.
They had people closer to the coalface telling a different and antithetical story.
But….you know, unless Ministers want to open their eyes a little wider to possibilities (better still, science and probabilities), this transformational government is pushing shit uphill (which is why I wonder if Phil T) might not be a bit of a masochistic martyr
Basically, a minister saying they’ve lost confidence in an official makes the official’s role untenable and the official is in line for a massive payout, because all they did was fulfill the requirements of the previous administration.
Otherwise you end up with the US model, where a change in regime is accompanied by wholesale culls of thousands of public servants. Which means that the new policy is implemented by people new to their roles and of doubtful competence, or (in the case of the current US regime) entire departments are sabotaged by simply not filling the vacancies. Or even worse, bad policies get competent zealots enforcing their objectives – Pruitt springs to mind, neutering the EPA and removing all mention of climate change.
So give me competent moral vacuums to administer government policy. And then we merely get the government we deserve, rather than revolving-door zealots who spend their time as consultants in corporate sinecures whenever their team is out of power.
What was it….. something like “Like Sand Through the Hour Glass, So Are the Days of Our Lives…”
I actually agree McF in terms of your worry about the US model.
The problem is that for many in senior and sometimes muddle management positions, it ISN’T just a case of “all they did was fulfill the requirements of the previous administration.” More often than not they were instrumental in advising on policy and then implementing it
And it doesn’t alter my point : I’m not sure when it will be that when Ministers rely SOLELY on the advice of their officials, they’ll get the advice of the Fox in charge of the Henhouse.
That can happen, but at the same time I think it’s a rehash of the problem with democracy in general – it’s the worst possible system, until you look at everything else that’s been tried.
Even policy advice rests largely on trying to satisfy the objectives of the boss. And if someone has their own barrow to push, if they push it too hard and it’s in conflict with the boss, the boss wins.
But I agree that relying solely on the advice of a ministry tends to make the minister a passive respondent rather than an active leader. Which is one reason I like the reviews the govt is doing currently – make their thinking and priorities open, rather than simply be an edifice from whence decisions are implemented.
“But I agree that relying solely on the advice of a ministry tends to make the minister a passive respondent rather than an active leader. Which is one reason I like the reviews the govt is doing currently ….”
absofuckinglootly! And truly independent reviews which take account of both Muntries/departments, but also various advocacy groups that represent the people (sometimes also known as the victims) those Munstries/departments supposedly s e r v e
HCNZ and Gluckman, case in point.
but then: https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/358747/changes-to-student-visas-could-restrict-post-study-employment
and you’ll see what I mean (above). An excellent piece by Alistair McClymont.
Thankfully, today (the next from when we last posted), there is a first ‘small step’ – in this case towards remedying some of the horrendous cases of exploitation I know the responsibly Minister is aware of.
(From what I hear, he still has faith in his ‘officials’)
So we’ve used HCNZ and INZ (part of MoBIE) as examples, we could go on, as I’m sure you’re aware.
If you compare that to New Zealand it would represent around about 60 people. I am quite sure we have a lot more Political appointments in New Zealand when you count all the ones in Ministers offices.
Indeed, by the US system of Government it would include all the Cabinet Ministers so we could say it includes half the comparable number in the New Zealand Ministerial positions alone. They would all qualify for your description of policy being implemented by “people new to their roles and of doubtful competence”.
That would describe the entire New Zealand Cabinet, wouldn’t it?
Good example of how the CEOs have so much control. Everything can be shed by the Minister ‘Oh that’s an operational matter”. The leaders of some government agencies have king-like authority it seems to me, Transport Agency etc.
The CEO is in charge of administering the law, the Minister looks as if he/she is sitting on the eggs, but there is an incubating actually keeping them warm and hatching them etc. that is quite separate to the facade that we imagine as reality.
Being a top manager in NZ under neolib is never having to say you are sorry.
I said that about farmers the other day, and this is just another bunch to add to the group, the Naked Executives that parade and challenge us to accuse them of unseemly behaviour; ‘When the king made his appearance, Andersen cried out, “Oh, he’s nothing more than a human being!’ [Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor’s New Clothes.]
Willie Jackson and Judith Collins were on the AM Show today regarding the flawed meth testing. He dominated Judith and left her gasping for air.
Willie stated that National and Bennett knew the testing method was flawed and ignored it because it suited thier narrative and benifit bashing. That idiot Garner then called Willie a nut-job
I give top marks to Willie Jackson for having the guts to publically call-out the National Party lies.
Garner is golums great grandson one voice is reasonable and calm then the true cave dwelling troglodyte turns up to leave you under no illusion as to who garner really is
Of the people I see fairly regularly only two are National party voters and they’re both adamant they won’t ever vote National whilst she is deputy leader (or leader). They are good, kind people which is unusual for National voters but I doubt they’re the only two feeling that way.
Unitec’s problems are largely the result of the botched restructuring. Rick Ede was appointed to do a root and branch hatchet job on an institute that had until then largely resisted neoliberal “modernisation”.
A large corporate management structure was created complete with a lavishly refurbished office block in building 48 (isolated from the rest of the hoi-pilloi and nick-named “the palace” by the staff) for all the be-suited widget sellers of the managerial class. They then proceeded to apply all the worst aspects of outdated 1990s management practices to a 1980s institution.
There was no clear educational end goal, and no clearly articulated vision of how Unitec wished to position itself in the marketplace. All the staff got was an isolated and out of touch new management elite distracted by the glamour of turning themselves into a property development company.
All sorts of appallingly bad decisions were made, with a deliberate HR policy of stripping out the “dead wood” of long service staff that in the process all to frequently threw the baby out with the bathwater and eviscerated the institutional memory of the place. For instance, the centre of excellence TV and film school was abolished for no reason other than cost cutting. The automotive department, in dire need of modernisation, was simply butchered for short term savings and left crippled and with plummeting enrolments.
The outsourcing of enrollments was a complete fiasco. the outsourcing of some IT functions like the service desk was bungled. Lack of consultation saw staff morale crash to all time lows. Salaries were and are no longer competitive to attract the best academic or general staff, and the quality of teaching crashed with the departure of the best and/or most experienced staff.
The whole exercise of the Unitec restructure under Ede was textbook example of how NOT to do such a thing, and when the chickens started to come home to roost he did what everyone in his class does – evaded personal responsibility and bailed out.
“There was no clear educational end goal, and no clearly articulated vision of how Unitec wished to position itself in the marketplace.”
I recall that there were discussions a few years ago that the ‘face of education was changing’ and that ‘learning environments were evolving…’ and such talk. Unitec was not going to need so many actual buildings and land to put them on because learning would be on line, via an intra-web set ip.
Lecturers and tutors and students would all interact over the interweb and would not have to actually meet face to face, in person. No need for libraries (on the net) and most manual training could be done out in the community utilising industry.
In fact…quite possible to have a ‘virtual’ educational establishment.
At the time, the counter talk was around how there would be little or no opportunity for teaching staff and students to form real face to face relationships….so important for socialisation, forming support networks and friendships and physical gatherings for political activity…which used to be one of the de facto functions of tertiary institutions.
That peer-peer relationship forming is very important. How else do we learn to be social animals without socialising. The online models largely divide and separate based on algorithms, and they are designed for efficiency and money savings, not people.
University is the melting pot we should all be exposed to in some way. A multi-cultural environment where all walks of life come together to learn. But now, instead of institutes of higher learning, they’re fast becoming institutes of higher returns.
Draining and separating society, till there’s no society left to support it.
Much of (the) learning takes place in and through face-to-face interactions with peers, teachers, mentors, etc. Similarly, there’s research that shows that note-taking (by hand!) helps too – I don’t have links at hand at this very moment [double pun].
I see the crackpot wing of the right are going nuts over the scrapping of the three strikes law, with political giants like David Garrett confidently predicting the end of civilisation and the rise of immortan joe. Then again, these are the same crazies who love Judith and thought getting rid of charter schools would see riots on the streets.
At a glance AWW, my guess would be that HNZ has in mind a particular type of tenant for this property….one perhaps who uses a wheelchair…hence removing the dishwasher (to get wheelchair under the sink) and some of the carpets (an absolute pain in the arse for wheelchair users).
If it is being suggested that Shaman does not have a regular NZ sound to it, well Bidois doesn’t either, makes me think of bidet, and that has associations that are negative.
What Labour’s Halbert should do is erect a huge banner in a place that is not impeding access outside the mall consorting voters to boycott the mall for the duration of the campaign. Make sure someone is present all day with a camera and record all abuse (physical and verbal) from the opposition and post it online for everyone to see. The MSM would pick up on it.
Interesting that they can claim the defence of ‘private property’ for their anti-democratic instincts.
How private is a property that thousands of citizens visit daily? Can the mall owners defecate in the foodcourt for example – as they would be allowed to do inside their own house if they so wished?
In any case – it seems like another good reason for not allowing malls in addition to them be soul-less temples to needless consumption.
David Garrett in a kiwiblog ‘discussion’ about Ashley Peacock (who has never been convicted of any crime yet still remains incarcerated.)
“David Garrett
What a compassionate society we are…I heard the list of things wrong with this guy on the radio: autism, schizophrenia, retardation etc. etc….In by far the majority of countries such a flawed organism would be quietly done away with…We spend thousands of dollars and thousands of man hours on him…”
Stuart M
I do think you should be careful about having any sort of association with Gosman, and his moral vacuum in case the sucking power reaches out across space and time and sucks you into his eerie wormhole in space or even into a black hole from whence you will never return.
Surely amongst the records of the Health Department, HNZ, the office of the Chief Scientific Adviser, etc etc, among the records of journalists and the media, amongst all the tweets and e-mails and correspondence from both sender and recipient, pertaining to the question of who knew what and when, there is enough to sheet home this claim to those irresponsible.
How can Bridges, Collins and Bennett claim they did not know when journalists, bloggers, government scientists, and the departments themselves knew the science in2016? When Bennett herself admits to not thinking the advice was right?
Bennett needs this nailed well and truly to her door. Along with her fellow- travelling cover-up mates. They knew, and covered up. Or, they did not know and thereby fail every test of responsible management. Which is it?
At least Twyford is now acting honourably, with apology and promise of action in today’s news.
I hope he goes further and undertakes a Ministerial inquiry.
I was very interested to see Twyford answer in the affirmative this morning when Morning Report asked him if he still had confidence in the goverance of Housing New Zealand. He must be playing a pretty long game internally if that’s the case.
I can understand Twyford’s initial petulance over the situation. The almost unbelievable muck-up of a previous minister of housing must have infuriated him. Why should this government have to carry the can for the gross incompetence of a previous government. Once his anger had subsided he saw reason and that is to his credit.
My own view is: it was the attitude of the last government and Paula Bennett in particular that was the real cause. They were so determined to paint beneficiaries as drug taking, work shy losers for political gain… they were willing to clutch at any straws to ‘prove their point’. Meth contamination met all the requirements, so they ignored the warnings and concerns being expressed and it was full steam ahead via Housing NZ.
The methmyth was a convenient little gift for the nats:
Tenants are evicted because of dirty poor people doing drugs;
The cost of “decontamination” makes that property uneconomic to maintain, so could be sold at a loss;
The dividend extraction by the government means less funds to make up the lost home;
And blaming meth is a great way to pretend that the degrading of the housing system is the fault of dirty poor people rather than government policy.
Anne
I don’t think that it was gross incompetence of the National Minister of Housing.
It was a malicious policy to wreak misery on poor people on benefits. The policies of hate and ruthless contempt sum up the RW attitude of all in government who have enabled this legislation.
It’s not that other countries don’t have pollution problems, Swizerland’s Lake Zurich looks good in photos but they have regular problems with its water quality.
None other European country “sprays” more pesticides in agriculture than Switzerland. More than 2,000 tons of toxins land in our fields every year – even though the government wanted to reduce pesticide usage to 1,500 tons by 2005. The goal was never approached. https://save-energy.tips/2018/01/26/water-pollution/
Yet there have been detailed studies of Lake Zurich and efforts to improve water condition. The Europeans won’t tolerate us telling fibs about our standards in our ‘she’ll be right’ way of pushing boundaries, guidelines and even regulations until they pop. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201094250.htm
When we say we are wonderful and give the impression that we are an unspoilt country of the world, we attract people a long way off the beaten track to come here. The rest of the world is also wonderful and if we oversell ourselves, people will stop coming here. Or they will make it a possible extra to an Australian trip, an add-on.
Thailand has had to ban tourists from one of its beaches for part-year because of numbers who were visiting for a few hours for a quick look, selfie, and then departing. The result was a degraded environment, and no financial return to the locals; the reason for tourism, which is a business! We need less tourists staying longer, paying more, ie less freedom campers! Organise our tourism so it doesn’t rely on skimming large numbers, wilfully misleading them and rorting ourselves in the process.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/thailand/articles/the-idyllic-cove-from-the-beach-is-closing-due-to-overtourism/ The idyllic cove that starred in The Beach, Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Alex Garland’s novel about the search for untouched backpacker paradise, has long been the victim of its own fame. The film encouraged waves of tourists to visit the once little-known Phi Phi Islands, where Maya Bay is located, and the sheltered strip of sand is now a far cry from the unspoiled utopia depicted on the big screen.
As many as 5,000 people arrive each day on boat trips from the bustling mainland resorts of Krabi and Phuket, but fears about damage to the local reefs have finally spurred local authorities into action and tourists will be prevented from visiting for four months – from June 1 to September 30 – to let the corals recover.
Oh dear, the headlines on Granny Herald’s ‘The Business’ supplement scream out ‘FROM GLOOMY TO GLOOMIER’. For Gawd’s sake Liam Dann – OK maybe he didn’t come up with the heading on the cover, but the inside heading reads ‘Heading for winter of discontent’ – the article goes on to wax on about the pessimism of the Business Bigwigs, despite a business-friendly budget with a less than flattering photo of the Minister of Finance. What the bigwigs are muttering about is the proposed changes to employment law and how terrible things will be once the Employment Relations Bill. Doom and gloom I tells ya.
Oh, then there’s Matthew Hooten’s weekly rant – nuff said. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12062090
Well Jilly Bee, they realise banks may be hit by the bovis infection, that making money both sides of the meth trade just got harder, and their lies about how they were paying people correctly have been shown up.
They are now beginning to believe their own doom and gloom, and it is the first day of winter, so tradition says it will be a cold snap.
The business sector see unions flexing, and feel the pinch of profit sharing.
Bring it on, with unemployment low and the promised benefits 4 weeks away, we will see how the cassandras feel after people start putting their money into the economy.
We must look after our precious Water ways and stop putting $$$$$$$$ in front of te mokopunas future stop pouring man made chemicals on the land and having it leach into our waterways the farmers believe the lies the big companies tell them that organic farming is unprofitable . The big companys tell them these lies so they buy there products nitrogen ect its all about the $$$$$$$$$ to them so primeval so unbelievable short sighted they can not even thing about te mokopunas future so self centered .
When people first started farming in Aotearoa there were storys of how fast and big everything grew and after a few years that phenomenon stopped these people had a excuse they did not no that they had to replace the nutrients of te whenua we know now we can farm organically and profitably the soil is hooked on nitrogen so it takes a few years for organic farms to catch chemical farming when it does organic farming is much more profitable and sustainable and leaves chemical farms in there dust.
We can not have farmers making there own nutrients worm farms crushed rock lime ect the big companys wont be able to milk the farmers who farm organically thats the way of Papatuanuku at the minute enough said here the link below
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This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
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Unitec logged another 31 million dollar loss, calling into question it’s viability.
Meanwhile, the architect of the corporate hatchet job that wrecked the place and led to the institutions decline – failed and grossly overpaid CEO Rick Ede – bailed out last year to become CEO of a large TAFE in Melbourne.
Other members of his disastrous leadership team have also done the chicken run to Australia, picking up management sinecures across the continent.
Oh, to be a member of the teflon managerial corporate class.
You’ll need at least an empathy bypass, a diploma in sociopathic behaviour or be a club member who has others do the spade work.
Seen plenty aspiring to be allowed into that club executing scripts but it’s fairly exclusive so they often have to jump back offshore.
Such a boys club at the upper levels of NZ corporate, SOE, Co-op and trust troughs even the drop ins struggle to get to grips with them in order to do what’s being asked of them.
Unitec’s problems are the same as any other polytechnic across the country:
the economy’s overall unemployment rate is a bit above 4%, so people are going straight to jobs.
Plenty of polytechnics from north, south, east and west are in statutory management or some other form of very strong oversight or frankly no longer viable.
Polytechnics are a counter-cyclic sponge to the economy.
When the economy is doing badly, polytechnics are full of people retraining.
When it’s doing overall well, people doing see the need to retrain, so they enroll.
UNITECH’s;
Some are good; – some are bad.
We need them to retrain for new jobs sunshine,, as jobs are changing all the time due to compamies moving to automation.
Evidence is here already;
My son served an appprenticship in germany and come home with his German diploma in Master Electrician, but he was foced to be retrained theorough a Unitech for two years at cost to him before he could work as an electician.
The first year free fees should help a lot for apprentices, as industry based courses allow it for 2 years.
The NZQA course level to qualify starts at level 3 and up ( a bachelors degree is level 8), so you can see it will help a lot of non university level courses.
Ad’s is the explanation that the RW neolibs can offer, under their present regime.
True, as far as it goes. However if the polytechnics/institutes and NZ skill and job seekers, and those wanting to upgrade their knowledge, were able to come together for each others’ benefit, with good outcomes for us all making us an advanced country the outcome as presently discussed would not occur.
Those of the upper class should not be allowed to associate with one another as they are worse than gangs when they get together, and the damage they do far more wide reaching. I propose a non-associative law to keep these crooks from gathering. Zero contact policy. Also, a state house between every mansion.
Then, I propose a course of correction for these narcissistic nonces.
Gardening. Using their hands as the tools they were designed for CEO’s can transport excrement from their heated lavatories to the dirt outside. Here they will learn to grow and shuck corn, to make biofuel for their helicopters.
Rehab. These coke fuelled brandy swafflers are deep into their own denial. P is a common utility for that ‘extra big job’, replacing the speed, ephedrine and temgesics of yesteryear. Using HNZ guidelines for P, we can identify these hypocritical hubris hummers by the residues on their marble counters. I recommend letting the Salvation Army in on this phase, they can deliver the 12 steps, and there in the fine print, Jesus! CEO’s love a bit of fine print.
Community service. Picking up rubbish is normally a Herald journalists job, but CEO’s do it as well. Operation clean streets will see CEO’s armed with litter sticks and refuse bags descend upon our populated areas to leave them in better shape than when they arrived.
Those who do not commit suicide through self-realisation will all be given a participation certificate, vouchers for a haircut, and directions to WINZ.
100% DB I agree fully, it smacks of greesy paims entirely here.
“Those of the upper class should not be allowed to associate with one another as they are worse than gangs when they get together,”
Ah, so upper class drug users are bad and lower class ones deserve sympathy and help.
The stifling discrimination of low expectations on the left astounds me
Ah!!!!!! Aha!!!!! Gotcha!!!!
Except is that what he’s saying?
They should be treated the same so a CEO that turns up to work high one P/Alcohol/Marijuana etcetera gets fired and sent to prison just like the minimum wage worker.
Do you need some counsel Tuppence, maybe a hug?
You’re full of it!!
This comment was aimed at Tuppence.*$#@!!
DB Great ideas.
Paula Bennett should resign from political life after her disgraceful handling of the Meth housing issue.
Appalling, just appalling.
Demonising the vulnerable to gain votes:
Scum like behaviour.
And shame on those New Zealanders who fall for such dog whistle Politics. If you really would vote for National after these revelations, look in the mirror.
Who are you?
What do you stand for?
Is it just greed and your own selfish interests?
And if so you are as bad as Bennett.
If only she had resigned when she was still minister.
Speaking of resigning…
I heard a sentence on checkpoint yesty that has echoed since.
…paid $46,000 a month…
A big wig in HNZ refusing to respond to checkpoint’s inquiries.
Perhaps he should be re-reading his job description…
I think you’ll find @gsays that the Minister has confidence in his “official”, and that he’s probably met or exceeded his KPIs – possibly even exceeded some of them going forward.
Possibly the only thing that would cause the Minister to lose confidence would be if he jumped up and slit his throat over a P fuelled ‘conversation’ over accountability overseen by a previous responsible Minister for Housing and Feral Affairs.
It’s possible of course that Phil T might be a bit of a masochist.
I’m not sure when it will be that when Ministers rely SOLELY on the advice of their officials, they’ll get the advice of the Fox in charge of the Henhouse. Today, in our neo-liberal corporatised Western Whurl, there is no such thing as a public or a society. The public is the disposable plastic bag and the “official” the Gucci designed Maggie handbag.
I heard Phil T this morning tell us his officials acted on the best advice available (at the time).
Well actually, they didn’t.
They had people closer to the coalface telling a different and antithetical story.
But….you know, unless Ministers want to open their eyes a little wider to possibilities (better still, science and probabilities), this transformational government is pushing shit uphill (which is why I wonder if Phil T) might not be a bit of a masochistic martyr
Basically, a minister saying they’ve lost confidence in an official makes the official’s role untenable and the official is in line for a massive payout, because all they did was fulfill the requirements of the previous administration.
Otherwise you end up with the US model, where a change in regime is accompanied by wholesale culls of thousands of public servants. Which means that the new policy is implemented by people new to their roles and of doubtful competence, or (in the case of the current US regime) entire departments are sabotaged by simply not filling the vacancies. Or even worse, bad policies get competent zealots enforcing their objectives – Pruitt springs to mind, neutering the EPA and removing all mention of climate change.
So give me competent moral vacuums to administer government policy. And then we merely get the government we deserve, rather than revolving-door zealots who spend their time as consultants in corporate sinecures whenever their team is out of power.
What was it….. something like “Like Sand Through the Hour Glass, So Are the Days of Our Lives…”
I actually agree McF in terms of your worry about the US model.
The problem is that for many in senior and sometimes muddle management positions, it ISN’T just a case of “all they did was fulfill the requirements of the previous administration.” More often than not they were instrumental in advising on policy and then implementing it
And it doesn’t alter my point : I’m not sure when it will be that when Ministers rely SOLELY on the advice of their officials, they’ll get the advice of the Fox in charge of the Henhouse.
Self fulfilling…….and certainly non-transformational
That can happen, but at the same time I think it’s a rehash of the problem with democracy in general – it’s the worst possible system, until you look at everything else that’s been tried.
Even policy advice rests largely on trying to satisfy the objectives of the boss. And if someone has their own barrow to push, if they push it too hard and it’s in conflict with the boss, the boss wins.
But I agree that relying solely on the advice of a ministry tends to make the minister a passive respondent rather than an active leader. Which is one reason I like the reviews the govt is doing currently – make their thinking and priorities open, rather than simply be an edifice from whence decisions are implemented.
“But I agree that relying solely on the advice of a ministry tends to make the minister a passive respondent rather than an active leader. Which is one reason I like the reviews the govt is doing currently ….”
absofuckinglootly! And truly independent reviews which take account of both Muntries/departments, but also various advocacy groups that represent the people (sometimes also known as the victims) those Munstries/departments supposedly s e r v e
HCNZ and Gluckman, case in point.
but then:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/358747/changes-to-student-visas-could-restrict-post-study-employment
and you’ll see what I mean (above). An excellent piece by Alistair McClymont.
Thankfully, today (the next from when we last posted), there is a first ‘small step’ – in this case towards remedying some of the horrendous cases of exploitation I know the responsibly Minister is aware of.
(From what I hear, he still has faith in his ‘officials’)
So we’ve used HCNZ and INZ (part of MoBIE) as examples, we could go on, as I’m sure you’re aware.
You talk about “culls of thousands”.
There are thousands of Political appointments but it really isn’t as many as it might sound when you consider the size of the country and the number of Federal employees.
There are about 4,000 Political appointees out of a civilian work force of around 2.7 million.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_appointments_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_civil_service
If you compare that to New Zealand it would represent around about 60 people. I am quite sure we have a lot more Political appointments in New Zealand when you count all the ones in Ministers offices.
Indeed, by the US system of Government it would include all the Cabinet Ministers so we could say it includes half the comparable number in the New Zealand Ministerial positions alone. They would all qualify for your description of policy being implemented by “people new to their roles and of doubtful competence”.
That would describe the entire New Zealand Cabinet, wouldn’t it?
Aaand then we look at the state dept for how that works in practice.
Good example of how the CEOs have so much control. Everything can be shed by the Minister ‘Oh that’s an operational matter”. The leaders of some government agencies have king-like authority it seems to me, Transport Agency etc.
The CEO is in charge of administering the law, the Minister looks as if he/she is sitting on the eggs, but there is an incubating actually keeping them warm and hatching them etc. that is quite separate to the facade that we imagine as reality.
Being a top manager in NZ under neolib is never having to say you are sorry.
I said that about farmers the other day, and this is just another bunch to add to the group, the Naked Executives that parade and challenge us to accuse them of unseemly behaviour; ‘When the king made his appearance, Andersen cried out, “Oh, he’s nothing more than a human being!’ [Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor’s New Clothes.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baVkpul4XoU
Thanks for the lecture Ed
Willie Jackson and Judith Collins were on the AM Show today regarding the flawed meth testing. He dominated Judith and left her gasping for air.
Willie stated that National and Bennett knew the testing method was flawed and ignored it because it suited thier narrative and benifit bashing. That idiot Garner then called Willie a nut-job
I give top marks to Willie Jackson for having the guts to publically call-out the National Party lies.
That would be why the host had to apologise to willie and said he left his brain in the car park and only his mouth turned up – and that was on meth.
The guy came across as unhinged.
I agree with you that Garner came across as unhinged.
Garner is golums great grandson one voice is reasonable and calm then the true cave dwelling troglodyte turns up to leave you under no illusion as to who garner really is
Nope – he massacred Collins totally
This all fits the pattern. National are dangerously incompetent at social policy if not downright malevolent.
Adds to the narrative that a Labour led government has to come in and pick up the pieces.
100% perfectly said there MB
“Paula Bennett should resign”
Yes, I got my hopes up last week when she said “I’m ley ving”
No no no… she should stay.
Of the people I see fairly regularly only two are National party voters and they’re both adamant they won’t ever vote National whilst she is deputy leader (or leader). They are good, kind people which is unusual for National voters but I doubt they’re the only two feeling that way.
She should have been jailed for a minimum of two years when she gave out the private details of a couple of beneficiaries.
Unitec’s problems are largely the result of the botched restructuring. Rick Ede was appointed to do a root and branch hatchet job on an institute that had until then largely resisted neoliberal “modernisation”.
A large corporate management structure was created complete with a lavishly refurbished office block in building 48 (isolated from the rest of the hoi-pilloi and nick-named “the palace” by the staff) for all the be-suited widget sellers of the managerial class. They then proceeded to apply all the worst aspects of outdated 1990s management practices to a 1980s institution.
There was no clear educational end goal, and no clearly articulated vision of how Unitec wished to position itself in the marketplace. All the staff got was an isolated and out of touch new management elite distracted by the glamour of turning themselves into a property development company.
All sorts of appallingly bad decisions were made, with a deliberate HR policy of stripping out the “dead wood” of long service staff that in the process all to frequently threw the baby out with the bathwater and eviscerated the institutional memory of the place. For instance, the centre of excellence TV and film school was abolished for no reason other than cost cutting. The automotive department, in dire need of modernisation, was simply butchered for short term savings and left crippled and with plummeting enrolments.
The outsourcing of enrollments was a complete fiasco. the outsourcing of some IT functions like the service desk was bungled. Lack of consultation saw staff morale crash to all time lows. Salaries were and are no longer competitive to attract the best academic or general staff, and the quality of teaching crashed with the departure of the best and/or most experienced staff.
The whole exercise of the Unitec restructure under Ede was textbook example of how NOT to do such a thing, and when the chickens started to come home to roost he did what everyone in his class does – evaded personal responsibility and bailed out.
“There was no clear educational end goal, and no clearly articulated vision of how Unitec wished to position itself in the marketplace.”
I recall that there were discussions a few years ago that the ‘face of education was changing’ and that ‘learning environments were evolving…’ and such talk. Unitec was not going to need so many actual buildings and land to put them on because learning would be on line, via an intra-web set ip.
Lecturers and tutors and students would all interact over the interweb and would not have to actually meet face to face, in person. No need for libraries (on the net) and most manual training could be done out in the community utilising industry.
In fact…quite possible to have a ‘virtual’ educational establishment.
At the time, the counter talk was around how there would be little or no opportunity for teaching staff and students to form real face to face relationships….so important for socialisation, forming support networks and friendships and physical gatherings for political activity…which used to be one of the de facto functions of tertiary institutions.
Which, I imagine, was part of Ede’s brief.
That peer-peer relationship forming is very important. How else do we learn to be social animals without socialising. The online models largely divide and separate based on algorithms, and they are designed for efficiency and money savings, not people.
University is the melting pot we should all be exposed to in some way. A multi-cultural environment where all walks of life come together to learn. But now, instead of institutes of higher learning, they’re fast becoming institutes of higher returns.
Draining and separating society, till there’s no society left to support it.
It’s not Capitalism, it is Ouroboros.
Much of (the) learning takes place in and through face-to-face interactions with peers, teachers, mentors, etc. Similarly, there’s research that shows that note-taking (by hand!) helps too – I don’t have links at hand at this very moment [double pun].
If overall unemployment stays just above 4% for another two years, it’s very hard to see more than a handful of polytechs surviving.
I see the crackpot wing of the right are going nuts over the scrapping of the three strikes law, with political giants like David Garrett confidently predicting the end of civilisation and the rise of immortan joe. Then again, these are the same crazies who love Judith and thought getting rid of charter schools would see riots on the streets.
Political giants like David Garrett? Did you deliberately leave out the other adjective ‘intellectual’?
True as said Ed 100%
Someone won the social housing lottery. Hope the carpet etc stays.
You lucky buggers! Better mow the lawn.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northland-age/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503399&objectid=12061971
At a glance AWW, my guess would be that HNZ has in mind a particular type of tenant for this property….one perhaps who uses a wheelchair…hence removing the dishwasher (to get wheelchair under the sink) and some of the carpets (an absolute pain in the arse for wheelchair users).
If this is the case….good on them.
Makes sense.
Hopefully this is the start of disabled being provided for rather than abandoned in preference for the easier to house cases.
National party aligned Glenfield Mall bans Shanan Halbert from campaigning but is happy to let Bidiot do so…
…until the media found out.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/05/security-called-into-northcote-by-election-mall-confrontation.html
Shop somewhere fair, I say Boycott Glenfield Mall.
If you take it from the mall manager’s point of view its not surprising she doesn’t want witch doctors (‘Shaman campaigning’) in the mall. lol
If it is being suggested that Shaman does not have a regular NZ sound to it, well Bidois doesn’t either, makes me think of bidet, and that has associations that are negative.
It was more Countdown allowed Bridges and Bidiot to do it. Bidiot works for Countdown!
I don’t know the place. Is Countdown not on the mall premises?
What Labour’s Halbert should do is erect a huge banner in a place that is not impeding access outside the mall consorting voters to boycott the mall for the duration of the campaign. Make sure someone is present all day with a camera and record all abuse (physical and verbal) from the opposition and post it online for everyone to see. The MSM would pick up on it.
Take banner down overnight. 😈
Interesting that they can claim the defence of ‘private property’ for their anti-democratic instincts.
How private is a property that thousands of citizens visit daily? Can the mall owners defecate in the foodcourt for example – as they would be allowed to do inside their own house if they so wished?
In any case – it seems like another good reason for not allowing malls in addition to them be soul-less temples to needless consumption.
Guest post from David Garrett about the three strikes law if anyones interested
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2018/06/guest_post_david_garrett_on_manifestly_unjust.html
David Garrett in a kiwiblog ‘discussion’ about Ashley Peacock (who has never been convicted of any crime yet still remains incarcerated.)
“David Garrett
What a compassionate society we are…I heard the list of things wrong with this guy on the radio: autism, schizophrenia, retardation etc. etc….In by far the majority of countries such a flawed organism would be quietly done away with…We spend thousands of dollars and thousands of man hours on him…”
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/03/10_staff_for_one_patient.html#comment-1896581
Thats nice
David Garrett should be an expert on law and order issues and he obviously has high moral standards
Admitted stealing a dead baby’s identity to obtain a false passport. Assault conviction for brawling outside a bar in Tonga.
Did he do that, well I never. Thats the first time I’ve ever heard that therefore three strikes must be wrong.
Wonders will never cease. Puckered says three strikes must be wrong.
That would make Metiria Turei an expert on benefit fraud then.
By no means.
But we are becoming experts on the bottom feeding trolling by Gosman, flat earth economist and moral vacuum.
Stuart M
I do think you should be careful about having any sort of association with Gosman, and his moral vacuum in case the sucking power reaches out across space and time and sucks you into his eerie wormhole in space or even into a black hole from whence you will never return.
But at my back I always hear
Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie.
Deserts of nutjobbery.
Last line – Oh dear!
They’re almost Lovecraftian really – lurkers on thresholds, colours out of time, sliggoth fanciers, tragic figures like the colossus of Ylournge.
Thanks Stuart M
Don’t give me anything more to think about as I will be occupied with what has just gone up for a while. I may be some time.
as is Bill English, Housing Beneficiary Fraudster.
🙂
AND then LIED on an afadavit as to previous convictions
Isn’t that 3 strikes?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10674161
First day of winter.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Deja5jpU8AAVOHH.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dejge5CUwAA877x.jpg
Yep. Really good trot of frosts in Central Otago this week, and looks like continuing for a few days yet.
Last few winters have been very mild, hardly had a frost last year.
Plumbers will be rubbing their hands with glee and looking to upgrade the ute to off-set the tax bill….
Jeez,tell that to the spring bulbs popping up in colyton and my quince tree that is blossoming again.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/05/national-had-no-idea-meth-guidelines-were-wrong-judith-collins.html
Surely amongst the records of the Health Department, HNZ, the office of the Chief Scientific Adviser, etc etc, among the records of journalists and the media, amongst all the tweets and e-mails and correspondence from both sender and recipient, pertaining to the question of who knew what and when, there is enough to sheet home this claim to those irresponsible.
How can Bridges, Collins and Bennett claim they did not know when journalists, bloggers, government scientists, and the departments themselves knew the science in2016? When Bennett herself admits to not thinking the advice was right?
Bennett needs this nailed well and truly to her door. Along with her fellow- travelling cover-up mates. They knew, and covered up. Or, they did not know and thereby fail every test of responsible management. Which is it?
At least Twyford is now acting honourably, with apology and promise of action in today’s news.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12062668
Calling for a report is a good start.
I hope he goes further and undertakes a Ministerial inquiry.
I was very interested to see Twyford answer in the affirmative this morning when Morning Report asked him if he still had confidence in the goverance of Housing New Zealand. He must be playing a pretty long game internally if that’s the case.
I can understand Twyford’s initial petulance over the situation. The almost unbelievable muck-up of a previous minister of housing must have infuriated him. Why should this government have to carry the can for the gross incompetence of a previous government. Once his anger had subsided he saw reason and that is to his credit.
My own view is: it was the attitude of the last government and Paula Bennett in particular that was the real cause. They were so determined to paint beneficiaries as drug taking, work shy losers for political gain… they were willing to clutch at any straws to ‘prove their point’. Meth contamination met all the requirements, so they ignored the warnings and concerns being expressed and it was full steam ahead via Housing NZ.
The methmyth was a convenient little gift for the nats:
Tenants are evicted because of dirty poor people doing drugs;
The cost of “decontamination” makes that property uneconomic to maintain, so could be sold at a loss;
The dividend extraction by the government means less funds to make up the lost home;
And blaming meth is a great way to pretend that the degrading of the housing system is the fault of dirty poor people rather than government policy.
And blaming meth is a great way to pretend that the degrading of the housing system is the fault of dirty poor people rather than government policy.
A succinct way of saying in a sentence what took me a paragraph to say. 🙁
Anne
I don’t think that it was gross incompetence of the National Minister of Housing.
It was a malicious policy to wreak misery on poor people on benefits. The policies of hate and ruthless contempt sum up the RW attitude of all in government who have enabled this legislation.
For those of you who just hate banks, ANZ Australia is about to get done for knowingly taking part in a cartel:
https://www.theage.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/anz-bank-facing-cartel-prosecution-20180601-p4zisr.html
Guaranteed the ANZ legal team will be defending this tooth and nail.
But it would be great to see them taught a real lesson.
Collective decision making…..
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12062544
international media cottoning on to the nz-not-quite-100%Pure claims:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12062183
It’s not that other countries don’t have pollution problems, Swizerland’s Lake Zurich looks good in photos but they have regular problems with its water quality.
Zurich has a beautiful lake but has a cyanobacteria, different to ours.
https://www.livescience.com/21645-toxic-algae-global-warming-european-
lakes.html
None other European country “sprays” more pesticides in agriculture than Switzerland. More than 2,000 tons of toxins land in our fields every year – even though the government wanted to reduce pesticide usage to 1,500 tons by 2005. The goal was never approached.
https://save-energy.tips/2018/01/26/water-pollution/
Yet there have been detailed studies of Lake Zurich and efforts to improve water condition. The Europeans won’t tolerate us telling fibs about our standards in our ‘she’ll be right’ way of pushing boundaries, guidelines and even regulations until they pop.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201094250.htm
When we say we are wonderful and give the impression that we are an unspoilt country of the world, we attract people a long way off the beaten track to come here. The rest of the world is also wonderful and if we oversell ourselves, people will stop coming here. Or they will make it a possible extra to an Australian trip, an add-on.
Thailand has had to ban tourists from one of its beaches for part-year because of numbers who were visiting for a few hours for a quick look, selfie, and then departing. The result was a degraded environment, and no financial return to the locals; the reason for tourism, which is a business! We need less tourists staying longer, paying more, ie less freedom campers! Organise our tourism so it doesn’t rely on skimming large numbers, wilfully misleading them and rorting ourselves in the process.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/thailand/articles/the-idyllic-cove-from-the-beach-is-closing-due-to-overtourism/
The idyllic cove that starred in The Beach, Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Alex Garland’s novel about the search for untouched backpacker paradise, has long been the victim of its own fame. The film encouraged waves of tourists to visit the once little-known Phi Phi Islands, where Maya Bay is located, and the sheltered strip of sand is now a far cry from the unspoiled utopia depicted on the big screen.
As many as 5,000 people arrive each day on boat trips from the bustling mainland resorts of Krabi and Phuket, but fears about damage to the local reefs have finally spurred local authorities into action and tourists will be prevented from visiting for four months – from June 1 to September 30 – to let the corals recover.
Oh dear, the headlines on Granny Herald’s ‘The Business’ supplement scream out ‘FROM GLOOMY TO GLOOMIER’. For Gawd’s sake Liam Dann – OK maybe he didn’t come up with the heading on the cover, but the inside heading reads ‘Heading for winter of discontent’ – the article goes on to wax on about the pessimism of the Business Bigwigs, despite a business-friendly budget with a less than flattering photo of the Minister of Finance. What the bigwigs are muttering about is the proposed changes to employment law and how terrible things will be once the Employment Relations Bill. Doom and gloom I tells ya.
Oh, then there’s Matthew Hooten’s weekly rant – nuff said.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12062090
Well Jilly Bee, they realise banks may be hit by the bovis infection, that making money both sides of the meth trade just got harder, and their lies about how they were paying people correctly have been shown up.
They are now beginning to believe their own doom and gloom, and it is the first day of winter, so tradition says it will be a cold snap.
The business sector see unions flexing, and feel the pinch of profit sharing.
Bring it on, with unemployment low and the promised benefits 4 weeks away, we will see how the cassandras feel after people start putting their money into the economy.
Some ECO MAORI music link below Ka kite ano.
https://youtu.be/FM7MFYoylVs
We must look after our precious Water ways and stop putting $$$$$$$$ in front of te mokopunas future stop pouring man made chemicals on the land and having it leach into our waterways the farmers believe the lies the big companies tell them that organic farming is unprofitable . The big companys tell them these lies so they buy there products nitrogen ect its all about the $$$$$$$$$ to them so primeval so unbelievable short sighted they can not even thing about te mokopunas future so self centered .
When people first started farming in Aotearoa there were storys of how fast and big everything grew and after a few years that phenomenon stopped these people had a excuse they did not no that they had to replace the nutrients of te whenua we know now we can farm organically and profitably the soil is hooked on nitrogen so it takes a few years for organic farms to catch chemical farming when it does organic farming is much more profitable and sustainable and leaves chemical farms in there dust.
We can not have farmers making there own nutrients worm farms crushed rock lime ect the big companys wont be able to milk the farmers who farm organically thats the way of Papatuanuku at the minute enough said here the link below
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/104351892/i-am-ashamed-a-rivers-pollution-starts-a-cultural-debate P.S we know that processed food is bad for US well so processed nutrients is bad for the land and water ka kite ano