Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
It was 7 degrees in Auckland last night.
It was 5 degrees in Christchurch last night.
It was 4 degrees in Dunedin last night.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a car.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a container.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a garage.
Not very warm to be sleeping on the street.
‘More benefit payment issues uncovered
Payment problems at the Social Development Ministry could be bigger than previously thought, with a review finding more than 30 examples where it was not complying with the law – six of which could require reimbursements’
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Lucky we have a marae that cares……..
‘Homeless newborn baby given shelter at marae
A family with a newborn baby has been given shelter at a South Auckland marae after spending some of the first days of her life in a tent at Whakatane.
The Te Puea Memorial Marae at Mangere Bridge, which opened its doors to the homeless last week, has appealed for a house for 14-day-old baby Mereana and her parents.
“The family was living in a tent at Whakatane. They drove up yesterday to the marae because they had nowhere else,” said marae worker Moko Templeton.
TVNZ reported that the baby’s mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had been sleeping rough for 18 months.
“The car that we did have got impounded so we were just camping out in a tent in Whakatane but we’d get stopped by the police, we’d get moved on by the police saying, ‘This is a public place not a camping ground’,” Mereana’s mum told One News reporter Yvonne Tahana.’
Gemeindebau is a German word for “municipality building” It refers to residential buildings erected by a municipality, usually to provide low-cost public housing.
Apartments in the building can be rented from the respective municipality.
The city of Vienna, Austria, famous for its rich cultural and architectural heritage, is also recognized for its unique social housing program. In practice for nearly a century, Vienna’s social housing system is known as an effective and innovative model for providing superior, affordable housing to the city’s residents.
Public housing in Singapore
Public housing in Singapore is managed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB). The majority of the residential housing developments in Singapore are publicly governed and developed. As of 2013, 80% of the resident population live in such accommodation. These flats are located in housing estates, which are self-contained satellite towns with schools, supermarkets, clinics, hawker centres, and sports and recreational facilities.
There are a large variety of flat types and layouts which cater to various housing budgets. HDB flats were built primarily to provide affordable housing for the poor and their purchase can be financially aided by the Central Provident Fund. Due to changing demands, there were more up-market public housing developments in recent years.
The other great thing that complements public housing in Vienna is that rents are controlled for almost all private housing so if public housing is unavailable, the private housing remains affordable. The controls are based on floor area, not location, so this helps keep mixed social strata as well. It’s not perfect, but housing is cheaper than most developed European countries. Regulations also mean security of tenure, insulation and heating, and relatively high minimum maintenance standards.
A housing research department is an integral part of the State apparatus and helps ensure that supply of the right type of housing keeps up with demand. Currently there is pressure for smaller inner city units, along with the big brownfield developments that are underway on the edge of the city. Note also that public transport and infrastructure in these developments is in place before the first crane goes up.
The last housing satisfaction survey I saw (last year sometime) was 97 odd percent of respondents happy or very happy with their housing.
Political pressure to deregulate housing is strong due to national level politics, but Vienna government remains Red/Green so hopefully the Neolib economics will fall out of fashion before Vienna is required to submit.
Both Breakfast TV channels especially Henry & Rawdon are going full bore with,
~ can’t understand the Lab – Green agreement.
~ Is it about the electorate seats, no can’t be.
~ Agreement ends on election day, where parties will backstab eachother.
Nothing positive at all, the media is complicit with National.
Yep henry s going as far to read out emails from the hateful led denizens of late night talk back.
Filthy little pig he is , I’m sure a knight hood is coming his way
I’m not used to Henry on a daily basis, gawd how do people watch that day in day out. I was hoping for at least some attempt at neutrality to show some actual journalism was taking place. I should have known better though when they bring on Nats Bishop and Boag for comment on a Lab-Gre announcement and noone from a Green background.. Wtf!
I have a gas operated club for you stunned mullet, to operate just stand under it each morning, self operating.
Or more simply go else where you add more than nothing to any debate, do what most of your rightwingnut mates do, clip the ticket but actually do nought.
sell edit and moderation the club is a metaphor, as is stunned mullet.
It’s a known problem with getting stuff from countries where corruption and influence-peddling is endemic, and should have been predictable. I used to see it all the time in Kuwait – all the certification and paperwork completed, none of it worth the paper it was printed on.
Chinese steel profiles have changed to mimic NZ steel rebar. Now it is not immediately obvious if it is imported or NZ manufactured.
(Observation from living close to a new-build subdivision area, and having a partner who works with steel going over to check the formwork on the new builds whenever he does his daily walk).
“Stating that it is Chinese steel would strongly suggest so.”
Given that my partner is involved in the manufacturing of steel rebar in this country, the initial imports had different profiles and were clearly visible even to non-steel workers.
Current imports now mimic the NZ rebar profiles and he now has to physically pick up the rebar and check the markers marks on them to tell the difference.
No. I was mentioning how the imported product has duplicated the NZ steel one, so that it becomes harder at a first cursory look to see whether NZ rebar is being used in your building or not.
About two years ago, the difference was immediately noticeable because the profiles were markedly different. Now, even if you wish to support NZ steel you will have to identify each bar. Many of the houses being built locally have a mixture of both imported and NZ steel.
. I would have thought that steel which makes bridges safe should be of the standards required by New Zealand.
The “lowest Tender” and “you get what you pay for” has nothing to do with the Swindle reportedly committed by the Chinese. They deliberately sent us low quality steel, labeled as high quality.
Every tender should meet the NZ Standards irrespective.
The problem is that the Chinese and other Asian nations do not have a background in Ethics or Western Morals. And this means that everything that Asia and particularly China wants to send us or grab from from us here, must be thoroughly checked by New Zealand Engineers and Customs.
In a matter of this importance, a gaol term for the Chinese who reportedly did it would be the proper punishment. Plus restitution.
I took Molly’s comments to mean that, put simply, there’s good steel made domestically and shit steel from China.
They used to be obviously different, so everyone who worked with the stuff could see whether the rebar was good steel or shit steel. Everyone from pourer to supervisor to manager to truck driver could look at it and go “oh, they’ve supplied the shit steel, the contract said the good stuff needed to be used”.
Now, the shit steel looks like the good stuff, and you can’t tell the difference without closer examination or testing.
So the number of people who know whether the contractor or supplier is cutting corners suddenly diminishes.
OK, let’s go with the “swindled” idea (rather than poor processes, crap lab, whatever). That’s for contracts and the courts to sort out.
You take the crap rebar, stack it in a corner, buy new rebar from NZ that does the job. Stack that in another corner.
A week or so later, tell the forklift driver “take the good rebar out from the corner and put it on the truck that goes to the site. Put the good rebar on the truck that goes to the manufacturer”. How do you know the forklift driver got the correct rebar onto the correct trucks?
Late answer, but the point you are missing is that NZ Steel and imported steel is now visually similar, and failures in imported steel is likely to cause some backlash against NZ steel here and overseas.
That doesn’t seem to be a problem for you, but it could be for another one of our manufacturing sectors, especially when we have builders mixing both NZ steel and imported steel on building sites. They will both be implicated with any future failures.
(Just read further and saw Kevin, McFlock and Invino’s comments – which made the point above. Thanks. Don’t get to the computer much at the moment to get into timely discussions)
Old proverb. You gets what you paid for!
Radio commenter this morning saying that the tender or order for steel tubes for bridge support was given to firm about 20-30% below others, at a time when there was much cheap stuff going because of the downturn in construction in China and elewhere. And the steel was certified in China, checked in New Zealand (I looked at the papers, and looked at the cargo, yes it was steel and as described, says spokesman in a firm, strong voice./sarc) Luckily someone cottoned on and the news got out about the rort. Some was used knowingly, but extra reinforcing and concrete was needed. That will upset the profit dimension! And was that done to specification? People can’t rely on conforming to standard (except here) these days as warned in the clip I’ve included below.
Steel piles fail on Waikato Expressway
7:25 am today (on RadioNZ) 4.04m
Cheap Chinese steel certified as strong enough to hold up four bridges has been exposed as too weak, forcing a major fix-up on a huge new highway. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201802845
Industry group warns to watch out for dodgy steel
8:23 am today (3m+)
An industry lobby group says the failure of cheap imported steel used in piles shows the need for contractors to be extra vigilant. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201802857
One other concern is – what will it be used for now? Will someone responsible from the Engineers and Construction official body keep an eye on that for the people, as we can’t trust this shonkey government to do that. After all they are built on faulty materials themselves. It can be used no doubt, but would need testing like the reinforcing, and be put where though weak, it provides enough strength for purpose, and that process should be followed through by an observer, till the concrete is poured and dries around it. We don’t want more CCTV building collapses, so make that a reputable Civil Engineer, prepared to be rude if necessary.
It’s an analogy for everything in NZ commerce from RW business these days.
Looking for cheap, okay if it looks glossy, no-one cares about the substance, the integrity. Cheap shoes, dearer shoes splitting across the sole – goods in general tend to have some cheap component that will ensure they are unfit for purpose in a very short time.
This is selling out the country, literally because NZ money is taken away from home here to pay overseas for the imported stuff we consume. That money should be going into purchasing NZ goods, employing NZ people now un- or partly employed, likely a bit hungry, surely cold in winter, scrabbling and scraping to manage, homeless.
Shed a tear and then galvanise yourself and most of us, into NZrs doing something to improve the situation. With every complaint here attach a para about what is being done about it, you, a group, the Council, and what pressure is going on government, and how the public is being informed.
The Chinese used to put up posters when citizens were trying to reach the populace. That country has risen and they have helped us from falling by making their investments, but we have to, really have to, act strongly for ourselves, for NZ. Social welfare, caring about each other not just our immediate circle, needs more jobs, better wages to diminish the cost to the country and the poor ones suffering, not lower taxes for the wealthy, perhaps bring GST down to 5%. Otherwise more disgraceful conditions. You gets what you paid for, and if you didn’t pay enough, the end result is failure, and this time of a country with respect for itself.
edited
Will someone responsible from the Engineers and Construction official body keep an eye on that for the people, as we can’t trust this shonkey government to do that.
Well, if the Chinese got faulty goods from us there’d be a ban on imports from NZ quick smart. They’ve done it before and they’ll probably do it again. NZ should now be doing the same and banning the importation of steel from China.
Draco T Bastard
+100
People should know that the Chinese have rejected NZ stuff. I have heard comment that now we have a freetrade agreement with China that NZ can’t do this as well.. If they can, so can we. What are we, mice.?
Yeah I heard that. When are they going to wake up to the fact that the cheapest is not always the best in fact not the wisest of moves.
As my lovely old boss I worked for many years liked to quote,
John Ruskin 1819-1900 who said:-
“It’s unwise to pay too much, it’s worse to pay too little.
When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all.
When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, becuase the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.
The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot- it can’t be done.
If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.”
Not sure if its tactical or just plain old miscommunication but the co-leaders of the Greens should probably nut out the Greens position before contradicting each other
Unfortunately its not a case of comparing apples with apples. National is in power and are a known quantity whereas a Labour/Greens coalition isn’t.
Its also not a good look when announcing a MOU (whatever that means) that the co-leaders are saying different things as it just plays into Nationals hands of saying why they aren’t fit to govern because they can’t even agree with themselves let alone another party
Unfortunately its not a case of comparing apples with apples. National is in power and are a known quantity whereas a Labour/Greens coalition isn’t.
Its also not a good look when announcing a MOU (whatever that means) that the co-leaders are saying different things as it just plays into Nationals hands of saying why they aren’t fit to govern because they can’t even agree with themselves let alone another party
The only difference between the apples and the oranges is your blindness to anything the Nat’s may do wrong. They are clearly examples of the exact same lack of communication. However you are simply willing to let the Nat’s slide because:
a) They are your team and to admit you may have miss judged them would be an ego hit you can’t take, and
b) They are an established party in power. Here’s another way to look at it. They have been in power for 2 and a half terms and they still can’t sort out basic communications between ministers on major policy. That seems far worse than your perceived miss communication between the two leaders of a small party.
You’re missing the point though, National are in power right now and have been since 2008 which means the people of NZ know what National are about and are ok with what National gets up to
Labour/Greens aren’t in power and have gone through a number of leaders so the people of NZ don’t know what they’re about which means, fairly or unfairly, they’ll get more attention for any minor mistakes they make
So yes National have had miscommunications but people are used to John Key doing that and so its not a big deal (as borne out by the polling) but the biggest mistake to think is its a level playing field and that what one party does the other party can do, it simply doesn’t work that way
Yes I do vote National but only because they’re the least worst party for me to vote for. I think National are too far to the left but what are my options? Act, not until they get back to their roots and stop faffing about with inconsequentialities (so basically never again) NZfirst, sorry but I’m not racist so for me I vote National but I would like them to move more to the right (at this point even moving to the centre would please me)
I get your point. You think it is not harmful what ever National do because they are in power and people have come to know them. By that logic Governments never change because they are in power and people know them. Tell that to Helen Clark.
Her Government pretty much kept doing the same things through out the term. People knew who they were and what they were getting from them. There were a few incidents that got a lot of press (paintings and trips to the rugby) that really did nothing. It was the ability of National to paint Labour with an image imagined or real that finally ousted them. Nanny state was said so often I was waiting for a government minister to come and deliver me my own nappy.
National not being able to get on message after this long is exactly the kind of thing that could hurt them. Especially if their supports choose it as a point of weakness in the opposition to hammer on. By highlighting it in the greens they provide the opportunity taken above to point out when National do it and the only defence is a simplistic “apples and oranges” that is easily shredded.
Well I like to think of a political party in power being like…I dunno inertia maybe
Helen Clark had a lot of momentum and was extremely difficult to stop but eventually that momentum slowed and National came to power
I see the same thing happening here, National is losing support, the momentum is slowing but theres enough momentum in the juggernaut for National to make it over the line in 2017, it might be limping but it’ll still be in power and that’s because of the power built up
So I actually agree with you on pretty much everything you’ve said, the only difference is when it’ll happen
That is very true. I do get what you mean. Normally Government benches are lost as opposed to won. I do think if something does not change soon National will show that there is no 3 term rule and that unless the opposition works for it as well they won’t just win in time.
It is possible this MOU is the first real step in that direction. I guess we will have to wait and see.
“which means the people of NZ know what National are about and are ok with what National gets up to”
Lying. Lying. Telling lies. Misrepresenting the facts. Skewing statistics in their favour. Advancing half-truths and misinformation. Being evasive. Forgetting stuff. Oh, and lying.
And I think you’ll find that increasing numbers of Kiwis are most definitely not okay with “what National gets up to.”
The Greens co-leaders weren’t saying different things at the MoU announcement. Metiria led the speaking, after Andrew Little. James Shaw was a bystander, as was Annette King.
James Shaw said there was a possibility of working with National, leaving the door ajar (pretty smart really, keeping some options open no matter how unlikely) Metiria Turei said no deal with National this morning
“James Shaw said there was a possibility of working with National, leaving the door ajar (pretty smart really, keeping some options open no matter how unlikely) Metiria Turei said no deal with National this morning”
You know better than that PR. Cite or it didn’t happen and I get to call you a liar again.
(btw, as I’m pretty sure you also know, ‘working with’ means something specific for the Greens, which means what you are implying is a crock of shit, but we’ll get to that once you provide the citation).
Why would anyone choose to believe that NZ is as crap as the opposition claim it is. The evidence to the contrary is clear. This is a great place to live. Stop bagging it.
I understand why the left is pursuing this line, NZ is going well so theres no need for voters to change the government so if the left can make people think that NZ isn’t going well then that might force a mood change
The problem for the left is that while National is slipping in support its still strong enough to get (limp) over the line in 2017
For most yes it is good. I am one of those. It doesn’t make me blind to Dairy farmers who have bleak times ahead. I also can’t but feel compassion for working families living in cars in south Auckland.
It is not a matter of saying NZ has gone to hell. It is a matter of seeing the problems and disagreeing with what the current government believes to be the answers.
Heres the thing though, NZ is going mostly well. Our economy is going well, employment is low but there’ll always be poor to look after
Billions are poured into welfare but it never seems enough and all it seems to be is a political football (well to National and Labour anyway) to be kicked around
More money is poured into the rich than the poor. For some reason the idea seems to be that the best thing you can do to help and economy get better is to make it easy for the rich to do what they do. This is of course the original trickle down idea. It has lead to well documented inequality and very little trickle down. So giving the rich more makes them better off.
However when it comes to the poor. If you ever try and argue that you should try and give them more people cry waste. We have been giving them progressively less over the years and that sure hasn’t worked. How about we try treating them like the rich and give them some carrot instead of keeping on hammering with the stick as seems to be the current trend.
The original trickle down idea was ironic language but the Left still think it is the actual thinking. Point being. Do not be ironic with the Left. They do not understand it. PS John Key eats babies!
So, in your own words, what’s the point of making the rich richer and the poor poorer then?
BTW, the Left have always known that ‘trickle down’ was a load of bollocks. It was called that back in the 1980s when Roger Douglass introduced it but it’s still the excuse that the RWNJs use to justify the robbing of society.
Billions are poured into welfare but it never seems enough and all it seems to be is a political football (well to National and Labour anyway) to be kicked around
Worthwhile to remember that we are pouring billions into beneficiaries and superannuitants yes…but most of that money goes straight to landlords and local businesses. Shop owners, hairdressers and the local lunch bar.
So its a pretty good way for the government to keep the base economy ticking over.
And a lot of that money quickly finds its way back into the government coffers via GST and other taxes.
Our economy is not growing above the margin of error. The government is lazy, inept, blind, corrupt and stupid.
Unemployment is at least 10%, and the property cancer consumes the fruits of any tiny trickle of growth before it can effect quality of life let alone cover the debt incurred by the Key kleptocracy’s manifest economic failings.
The media now report mostly lies, DOC is poisoning kiwi on a large scale, and lowland rivers have been converted into bovine open sewers.
Paradise for far right nutjobs – all they’re missing is a nuclear accident.
NZ is fucked. That’s not just because of National either but simply because of capitalism. The only reason NZ even has a slight recorded growth is because of the housing bubble we’ve got going. Take that away and the economy goes into recession. Take away the Christchurch rebuild and we’d be in a depression.
Thing is, this is what always happens in a capitalist society. Recessions and depressions until final collapse.
Actually, I’d say it is because it requires the government to form the rules and regulations that allow capitalism to exist. Then, of course, the capitalists buy up the government through donations and lobbying.
Back in the dark ages I am sure they thought a Dictatorship wasn’t the best but was preferable to any other. Of course that is true until someone actually works out something better. That is how capitalism was developed and I am sure it is how the next system is found as well.
Legatum is a private investment firm headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a long-term perspective, Legatum invests proprietary capital in global capital markets…
Legatum was founded in December 2006 in the United Arab Emirates by Christopher Chandler. Previously, Chandler was the president of Sovereign Global, or Sovereign, which he co-founded with his brother Richard Chandler in 1986. Sovereign invested capital in companies located in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe, and in industries including telecommunications, electric utilities, steel, oil and gas, banking and oil refining.”
NZ is a great place to live for a lot of people – I just want to stop National from destroying it bit by bit by bit as they have over the last 8 years.
And for the people who aren’t finding it great, I want them to get a fair go.
This country is leaving tho many behind ,but I expect you know that ,and are going to run the latest parrot lines of , its all good don’t be a downer instead.
National are incompetent $30 mill trying to sell houses no one wants .
$26 mill failing to change a flag. More homeless every day the list is endless.
Lanthanide pointed out that they aren’t all lies because when uttered they have to be known to be wrong. ‘To be or not to be’? So let’s call them FFs (faux fabrications), AM (artful machinations), DCs (deliberate confabulations). We know what they are, and where they live.
National under dishonest john have taken us backwards in everything …..
Inequality —–up
Water quality ——- down
Homeless children and families —— up
World education rankings —– down 7 th to 23rd ….. so far,
Corruption —– up
New Zealand is a great place ……………. national have turned it into a overseas speculators paradise complete with a tax haven for rich overseas criminals.
Did you mean stop telling the truth fisiani??? ……….
Two points:
1. It’s a sign of things to come. That without fossil fuels that factory will keep going and it can be extended to every other factory.
2. Over time even the production, delivery and laying of concrete will be done with renewables. From the mining of the resources to make it to the earth moving equipment to flatten the ground and lay down the concrete itself.
You seem stuck in the belief that these things need fossil fuels when all they really need is an energy source and a means to change that to motive force. Electric motors do that a hell of a lot better than combustion engines and they have more torque, more reliability and cost less to run and maintain.
None yet. Because steelmakers don’t have to pay for disposing of their waste CO2 pollution. But when it becomes too expensive to continue polluting, production will switch over to electrolytic methods rather than do without steelmaking.
Let me know when they convert enough capacity to make 10% of global steel output in this fashion. I am guessing that will take twenty years as it will be more cost efficient to run todays capital equipment into the ground and just wear the resulting carbon charges.
As I said, you’re stuck in the belief that things need to continue as they are when there’s a huge amount of evidence around showing that that won’t be the case.
We don’t need fossil fuels to power factories – just electricity.
We don’t need fossil fuels to do mining – just electricity.
We don’t need fossil fuels to cart stuff around – just electricity (or a horse and cart).
In other words, my position is that we are well run out of transition time.
Transition time from what to what?
You do realise that the only thing stopping the transition from fossil oil to substitutes is the current low price of fossil oil? In less than twenty years the infrastructure was developed to the point that cars outnumbered horses in NYC. Hell, how long was it before the vast majority of people had a cellphone?
When fossil 91 octane hits $3 or $4 a litre, people will be flocking to build better production sources. And that’s without any significant advances in battery tech.
At the moment, only about a quarter of a percent of global fuel production is synthetic, according to wikipedia. But the basic processes are well known, and were developed before WW2. It’s a production problem, not a development problem.
You do realise that the only thing stopping the transition from fossil oil to substitutes is the current low price of fossil oil?
Not true. Whether the price is high or low, powerful vested interests protect their interests. In the case of oil companies….
And there’s a huge difference between transitioning one aspect of a society (horses to cars, say) than there is in transforming an entire energy system. It’s pretty clear that the infrastructure for energy supply simply can’t be built in the time frame we have left for ourselves in which to deliver an outside chance of avoiding dangerous levels of warming.
So we have to crash our energy demand. And on the basis that not a single climate change report allows for yearly CO2 reductions above about 5% when we need yearly reductions somewhere in the order of 15%…hold the economy and burn or burn the economy. Which one of those options do you reckon we’ll choose?
Those powerful interests are also the ones that are reorienting themselves for post-fossil: e.g. BP’s greenwashing also includes renewables development.
But that’s also why I asked “Transition time from what to what?”: if Cv was simply talking about an energy crash caused by a fuel shortage, that’s bollocks. But if he was talking about voluntarily stopping use of fossil fuels in the hope of avoiding climate change, it’s A) too late without active intervention; and B) requires government intervention to either outlaw or make fossil fuels more expensive, thus bringing about the industrial shift.
We might heat the planet to the point of routine twisters in NZ, followed by blizzards and droughts, but we’re not going to run out of fossil fuels before that happens. Industry won’t collapse.
Sorry, missed the bit about fossil depletion. I agree it’s not going to be happening and that any ‘peak oil to the rescue’ scenario is woefully wrong headed.
Cigarettes are the government’s popular scapegoat for bringing in laws to diminish use. Why don’t they put the price of petrol tax up gradually but inexorably? They can do it with a health issue like tobacco they can do it with a life issue like vehicle fuel. It sends good market signals. More efficient.
You do realise that the only thing stopping the transition from fossil oil to substitutes is the current low price of fossil oil? In less than twenty years the infrastructure was developed to the point that cars outnumbered horses in NYC. Hell, how long was it before the vast majority of people had a cellphone?
I had to laugh at this.
Apparently the right wing has been correct all along.
True price discovery and a free market is all we need to save the world from climate change and fossil fuel depletion.
In other words, my position is that we are well run out of transition time.
We don’t actually need a transition time. We could stop using fossil fuels tomorrow and still be able to build up the factories and other infrastructure to maintain an industrial society.
The rest is off this fucking planet though. The closest that could be achieved with regards maintaining an industrial society would be decades of mothball and a slow rebuild/restart using emerging non-fossil energy sources.
We don’t actually need a transition time. We could stop using fossil fuels tomorrow and still be able to build up the factories and other infrastructure to maintain an industrial society.
I like you Draco, but it’s clear that you’ve never been involved in constructing or commissioning any manufacturing or industrial facility in your life.
The thing I find interesting about this conversation is that the peak oil theorists discussed all this a decade ago. Much of that conversation included people in the relevant industries including oil and engineers. The main issue is the relationship between cheap oil availability, the economy and eroei. It’s easy to solve tech transition on paper, but once you start looking at real world scenarios it doesn’t look so flash.
The closest that could be achieved with regards maintaining an industrial society would be decades of mothball and a slow rebuild/restart using emerging non-fossil energy sources.
Yes and that stops industrial society how?
but it’s clear that you’ve never been involved in constructing or commissioning any manufacturing or industrial facility in your life.
I’m quite aware of the physical requirements. It’s a major complaint of mine when people go on about getting things done for less when it’s actually physically impossible to do that.
My point is that we already have the knowledge to create an industrial society that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels. I’ve been trying to make that point for months now.
we already have the knowledge to create an industrial society that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels.
Again, you’re saying something that’s essentially true. But…okay, here’s a link to Germany. They’re turning out renewables ‘cheap and fast’…and have to put the brakes on because they can’t upgrade the bloody infrastructure fast enough.
And when you hit on an alternative to cement (a huge source of CO2), enjoy your international fame and what not. But until then, get your head around the fact that on seriously large structures there is no known alternative for foundations and that we have to stop using the stuff…which doesn’t bode well on a whole number of fronts.
@Bill, the CO2 from concrete comes from the heat required to make cement, and from chemical reactions in the production of cement. But the process heat could be electric, it doesn’t have to be from burning fossil fuel. And the CO2 emitted from chemical reactions during the production of cement is mostly re-absorbed as the concrete cures and those reactions reverse. So a zero fossil carbon emissions world does not mean the end of concrete.
They’re turning out renewables ‘cheap and fast’…and have to put the brakes on because they can’t upgrade the bloody infrastructure fast enough.
That’s just it – they probably could if they shifted the focus of some of their economy.
And it’s a rather interesting problem there. You’d think that their electricity grid would already be able to take the full weight of their electricity demand. Seems strange that they’d suddenly start having problems just because some renewables were installed. I suspect the real problem is that some others don’t want to take their fossil fuelled generation off line.
And then, of course, I was just pointing out that industrial processes weren’t going away with the reduction in fossil fuel use as some people have been predicting on here for some time.
And when you hit on an alternative to cement (a huge source of CO2), enjoy your international fame and what not.
My point is that we already have the knowledge to create an industrial society that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels. I’ve been trying to make that point for months now.
*Shrug*.
We’ve had the means and the knowledge to end world hunger and world poverty for at least 50 years.
And that fact still doesn’t mean shit half a century later, except in theory.
Blair government’s rendition policy led to rift between UK spy agencies
MI5 chief’s complaint over MI6 role in ‘war on terror’ abductions caused prolonged breakdown in relations
“It raised 27 questions they said would need to be answered if the full truth about the way in which Britain waged its “war on terror” was to be established.
The questions include:
• Did UK intelligence officers turn a blind eye to “specific, inappropriate techniques or threats” used by others and use this to their advantage in interrogations?
• If so, was there “a deliberate or agreed policy” between UK officers and overseas intelligence officers?
• Did the government and its agencies become “inappropriately involved in some renditions”?
• Was there a willingness, “at least at some levels within the agencies, to condone, encourage or take advantage of a rendition operation”? “
Cutting corporate tax won’t create jobs. It’s yesterday’s solution to our problems
Wayne Swan
As a solution to Australia’s jobs and growth challenges, a corporate tax cut doesn’t make it even into the top 10 of sensible policy responses
So the after last years clear rejection of the Super City model in Northland dirty Natcorp push through Paula Bennett a super city type merger with the councils in Northland.
A possible 3% saving within 10 years is laughable;
Cripes Skinny. Local feeling, pulling together, is the biggest thing that Northland has got. A bit of judicious hand-holding, swopping ideas and shared projects from Councils talking and working together but no corporate disdain thank you for Northland. That would be bad.
But Poorer Benefit has the mojo for it or anything. She has the smile, the aspiration, the determination, the teeth to bite with.
Thinking about Northland – in Whangarei the month of June is for thinking about the Hundertwasser flourish of colour that is their planned museum for his and Maori taonga. See if you can help them raise more and make it a challenge to the beige, the grey, the black, the white that I see so much of around me. It’s like the grinch stole all the colouring books and pencils at Christmas and now we have the black and white of the world of the grey corporate soldier. Hundertwasser is a challenge to all that.
Latest News June is Hundertwasser Awareness Month!
Posted: 21/05/16
Help us celebrate this wonderful artist, and his incredible gift to our city with the inaugural Hundertwasser Awareness Month! …
HQ is full of Hundertwasser-inspired artwork and staffed by knowledgeable volunteers ready to answer all your art centre questions.
The beautiful Vienna-made scale model of the HUNDERTWASSER ART CENTRE with
Wairau Maori Art Gallery is on proud display.
“I am very worried about the U.S. conventional advantage. The loss of that advantage is terribly destabilizing,” said Elbridge Colby, a military analyst with the Center for a New American Security.
Because the US having such a powerful military wasn’t destabilising in the first place /sarc
The US losing it’s military pre-eminence could only be considered destabilising from the point of view of the US. For the rest of the world life will probably become more stable as unaccountable powerful forces are no longer arraigned against them
the F35 dog is sucking up a lot of the US funding.
Not to mention actually having much of its military deployed at any one time.
That having been said, they’ve just launched the USS Zumwalt and the littoral combat ships are coming online, they’ve begun development on a new sub, and laser weapons are close to active deployment. Also some interesting ideas on arsenal planes to support the F35 as a sensor platform, and I haven’t read much on rail guns lately so they probably work ok.
The army cancelled the BigDog quadriped robot late last year because its engine was too noisy. I would have thought they’d invest in a muffler – it was pretty cool…
The USS Zumwalt has been in the pipe line for a while – nice looking boat. Bit much 9.6 Billion for 3 boats.
Lasers and rail guns have more trials (big ones this year), then been around for a while, just weren’t viable. The Russians been spending large on lasers and rail guns as well.
Ouch the cost per flight/cost per hour on the F35 is unsustainable. That will bankrupt the air-force. I see why you called it a dog. So much for a vaunted Lightening II.
Haven’t the US and China both throwing money at exo-skeletons in a big way. Another tech, if put into the public realm would be great. I know NASA is spending big on it, I thought the military were as well.
I don’t think those Littoral Combat Ships are going to be reliable operationally for another 1-2 years minimum. Significant troubleshooting is ongoing. Reports of major issues arising during exercises and deployments have continued into 2016.
I can’t find anything wrong with the ships themselves. There’s some concern that they don’t fill the role that they were envisioned for but they are still capable ships.
Five hundred tonnes of steel from China has been found to be too weak for four bridges on the $450 million Huntly bypass that forms part of the $2 billion Waikato Expressway.
Contractors building the ‘Road of National Significance’ chose a very low bid for the steel tubes.
We’ve got some of the best steel manufacturing here in NZ and our own supplies of iron so how can it possibly be cheaper to buy offshore?
The answer is that it can’t be unless it’s simply not up to standard.
The contractors, Fulton Hogan and HEB Construction, have admitted to RNZ News the steel tubes were not good enough. They did not comply with standards for structural steel, which for bridges were very high as they must resist impacts, heavy loads and low temperatures.
It was only after a third lot of testing that the contractors found out. The first tests were done in China by the steel mill and the tube manufacturer; it is understood the second tests were done in New Zealand on samples sent here from China.
Both lots of tests said the steel met the New Zealand standard.
As for the third testing, there are two versions of events. The contractors and the New Zealand Transport Agency say that, following established quality control processes, they tested the tubes after they arrived and immediately found out the steel was no good.
But RNZ News has been told it was only when workers began pounding the tubes into the ground, and the steel ballooned on the ends, that tests were done by an accredited laboratory.
Which version to believe?
The patented Cover Your Arse version of the management or the workers on the job?
Oh look Hone was right about the roads of national significance, they are producing the exact same results as what happened in Greece. Corruption, more money being spent offshore, and passing the buck culture cemented in place. Oh and debt, more and more debt – which will be lumped onto working people, and the middle class.
What a truly wonderful national government, I wonder which minister won’t be taking responsibility for this…
Draco T bASTARD
I thought I would tell you that I did an extensive piece on the steel at 11.37 a.m. 7.1.2 or something. I put links and everything. Nice if people bother to read what others have written or else what’s the point.
By now, we should all realize that we have a major crisis on our hands. Every day the media report harrowing stories of families who are suffering. Mothers and their ragged children look out at us from our television screens and newspaper pages with hollow eyes and pale, drawn faces. Social workers tell us heartbreaking stories and beg for more resources. Each evening news features John Campbell and Andrew Little with tears in their eyes as they recount the latest tales of poverty and want.
It is not enough, we are told, to leave this tragedy to be resolved by market forces. The politicians must take immediate action. John Key and Bill English can no longer shelter behind their uncaring lack of empathy for the needy and duck away by foisting the blame on local council regulations. We pride ourselves in being a first world country, and it is a disgrace that many of our people are living in such deprivation.
I am, of course, referring to the supply and distribution of food in this country.
Do you realize that there are many people making substantial profits out of the food industry? Even worse, some of them not even New Zealand citizens! Surely, in a country like ours, this should not be permitted. Something, indeed, should be done. Why just the other day I bought an apple at a local shop and I’m absolutely sure that the shopkeeper was a Chan or a Singh.
We also hear that there are a large number of people who set themselves up in business running supermarkets, coffee shops, butchers, delicatessens and fruiterers with the absolute intention of making a profit out of this activity. How dare they take advantage of the public like this. The right to food is implicit within our society, Shocking! Graeme Wheeler, have you ordered a case study on the advantages of restricting the finance that a bank can be allowed to offer to an asian national who sets out to buy a fruit and vege shop in Remuera? That sort of restriction can’t be bad, and may well reduce the rate of price inflation on such places for, um, a few days.
Having borrowed the money to establish their food business these people then compete with ordinary hard-working kiwis when they get their supplies. It is scandalous that they are allowed to deduct the cost of buying their potatoes, their cabbages and their bananas off their tax bill whereas you and I cannot do that when we buy our own families groceries. Unfair competition in the market. Not only that, but when they pay their rent, their power bill and their insurance they can also claim those costs as a tax deduction. You and I, sitting at home, cannot do that. How can we compete? We are disadvantaged. Mr Little, Mr Twyford, please come to our rescue. It is so unfair. This loophole in the law must be closed.
Even worse, when these people have built up their business on the basis of all these tax-free perks and they come to sell out at a substantial capital gain, that capital gain is completely tax free! They walk away with many thousands of dollars, all unearned, and do not pay a single cent in tax. How dare they. Tax the bastards till their eyes water and their toenails ache I say.
The Government must step in right now and do something to relieve this tragedy. We can’t just leave it to the market. At the very least they should set up Government stores where affordable food would be available to those in need. A catchy name for these places would be great – Great Union Markets sounds about right, and GUM would be an interesting acronym, reminiscent of those Soviet Russia food stores of the 1950s who had the worthy aim of “democratizing consumption for workers and peasants nationwide”. Equal lack of choice for all.
Some people argue, and say that the Government has no business to be in the food business. I disagree. We have many reports from university academics and top public servants saying that this is the way to go. Sure, these people have all spent their entire working lives sheltered on a secure and protected government funded salary, but they have read plenty of books and have lots of letters after their names so they must know what is the right thing to do.
We then need to set up an affordability benchmark, your weekly food bill should be no more than ten per cent of your weekly income. Any subsidy that might be needed to achieve this could easily be raised by imposing a fair tax on private food suppliers. Sure, what you and I might consider to be a fair tax may well be regarded by them as a punishing imposition, but the Green Party says that our view of what is fair is what counts and anyway we all know that when we levy a tax on anything it always brings the price down, don’t we?
Should we then allow anybody and everybody to shop at GUM? Of course not. The self employed, the thrifty and the hard-working are all undesirables and should be barred from access. We don’t want to encourage such bad behavior. My suggestion is that there should be a statutory means test, and legislation passed that those who fail the test should have to shop only in the private markets. Naturally, if such legislation is enacted, everybody will obey that law just like they already obey laws like those against using cell phones in cars. We are, after all, a thoroughly law-abiding society.
Of course, if we look at history, every single attempt to control a market, regulate supply, impose price controls and subsidize everything and everybody has always inevitably lead to failure, shortages, corruption, disaster and eventual collapse. But we are different. From Vogel to Muldoon, we have long history of trying to outfox the market. Admittedly that has never worked in the past. Regulations have always begat more regulations. Subsidies have always become more complex and byzantine. The market has always won in the end. But it might just possibly work next time. Surely we should give it a go.
After all, King Canute was not a Kiwi.
Of course, if we look at history, every single attempt to control a market, regulate supply, impose price controls and subsidize everything and everybody has always inevitably lead to failure, shortages, corruption, disaster and eventual collapse.
Why are you so afraid of true competition?
If Government can source materials and funds to provide goods and services cheaper than you can, why do you have a problem with that?
Afraid that your personal profit margin might have to be cut right?
Peter Lewis
You are a low life. Spending a lot of time writing a long comment that starts off purporting to be about the dire state of things for those at the bottom in NZ. But all the time you are just being a sarky smart-arse, in your own opinion. Keep your trashy thoughts to yourself and your circle of giggling mates and their wives.
What extensive insight were you intending to demonstrate when you wrote this? Do you realize that there are many people making substantial profits out of the food industry? Even worse, some of them not even New Zealand citizens! Surely, in a country like ours, this should not be permitted. Something, indeed, should be done. Why just the other day I bought an apple at a local shop and I’m absolutely sure that the shopkeeper was a Chan or a Singh.
Odd url but the article is positing Shaw standing in Dunne’s seat and winning if Labour don’t stand. I think Shaw got a big vote where he stood last time, don’t know if that translates to Ohariu. Article doesn’t address issue of National not standing and gifting their votes to Dunne but still interesting.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
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. ...
“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 to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
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 ...
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 ...
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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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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
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Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
It was 7 degrees in Auckland last night.
It was 5 degrees in Christchurch last night.
It was 4 degrees in Dunedin last night.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a car.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a container.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a garage.
Not very warm to be sleeping on the street.
‘More benefit payment issues uncovered
Payment problems at the Social Development Ministry could be bigger than previously thought, with a review finding more than 30 examples where it was not complying with the law – six of which could require reimbursements’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/305273/more-benefit-payment-issues-uncovered
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, ugly and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Lucky we have a marae that cares……..
‘Homeless newborn baby given shelter at marae
A family with a newborn baby has been given shelter at a South Auckland marae after spending some of the first days of her life in a tent at Whakatane.
The Te Puea Memorial Marae at Mangere Bridge, which opened its doors to the homeless last week, has appealed for a house for 14-day-old baby Mereana and her parents.
“The family was living in a tent at Whakatane. They drove up yesterday to the marae because they had nowhere else,” said marae worker Moko Templeton.
TVNZ reported that the baby’s mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had been sleeping rough for 18 months.
“The car that we did have got impounded so we were just camping out in a tent in Whakatane but we’d get stopped by the police, we’d get moved on by the police saying, ‘This is a public place not a camping ground’,” Mereana’s mum told One News reporter Yvonne Tahana.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11648248
Public housing in Austria.
Gemeindebau is a German word for “municipality building” It refers to residential buildings erected by a municipality, usually to provide low-cost public housing.
Apartments in the building can be rented from the respective municipality.
The city of Vienna, Austria, famous for its rich cultural and architectural heritage, is also recognized for its unique social housing program. In practice for nearly a century, Vienna’s social housing system is known as an effective and innovative model for providing superior, affordable housing to the city’s residents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemeindebau
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_featd_article_011314.html
Public housing in Singapore
Public housing in Singapore is managed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB). The majority of the residential housing developments in Singapore are publicly governed and developed. As of 2013, 80% of the resident population live in such accommodation. These flats are located in housing estates, which are self-contained satellite towns with schools, supermarkets, clinics, hawker centres, and sports and recreational facilities.
There are a large variety of flat types and layouts which cater to various housing budgets. HDB flats were built primarily to provide affordable housing for the poor and their purchase can be financially aided by the Central Provident Fund. Due to changing demands, there were more up-market public housing developments in recent years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_housing_in_Singapore
Public Housing Works: Lessons from Vienna and Singapore
The other great thing that complements public housing in Vienna is that rents are controlled for almost all private housing so if public housing is unavailable, the private housing remains affordable. The controls are based on floor area, not location, so this helps keep mixed social strata as well. It’s not perfect, but housing is cheaper than most developed European countries. Regulations also mean security of tenure, insulation and heating, and relatively high minimum maintenance standards.
A housing research department is an integral part of the State apparatus and helps ensure that supply of the right type of housing keeps up with demand. Currently there is pressure for smaller inner city units, along with the big brownfield developments that are underway on the edge of the city. Note also that public transport and infrastructure in these developments is in place before the first crane goes up.
The last housing satisfaction survey I saw (last year sometime) was 97 odd percent of respondents happy or very happy with their housing.
Political pressure to deregulate housing is strong due to national level politics, but Vienna government remains Red/Green so hopefully the Neolib economics will fall out of fashion before Vienna is required to submit.
Both Breakfast TV channels especially Henry & Rawdon are going full bore with,
~ can’t understand the Lab – Green agreement.
~ Is it about the electorate seats, no can’t be.
~ Agreement ends on election day, where parties will backstab eachother.
Nothing positive at all, the media is complicit with National.
Yep henry s going as far to read out emails from the hateful led denizens of late night talk back.
Filthy little pig he is , I’m sure a knight hood is coming his way
Paid puppets of the transnational corporates.
Did you really expect any other reaction?
I’m not used to Henry on a daily basis, gawd how do people watch that day in day out. I was hoping for at least some attempt at neutrality to show some actual journalism was taking place. I should have known better though when they bring on Nats Bishop and Boag for comment on a Lab-Gre announcement and noone from a Green background.. Wtf!
Rawdon Christie is NZ’s version of Fox News’ Stuart Varney. Obnoxious blow-hards, the pair of them.
Another month and the start of daily Mike seems to be locked in to its usual wails of despondancy.
Feel free to exercise your right and stop visiting but we all know it’s your role mulleto.
I have a gas operated club for you stunned mullet, to operate just stand under it each morning, self operating.
Or more simply go else where you add more than nothing to any debate, do what most of your rightwingnut mates do, clip the ticket but actually do nought.
sell edit and moderation the club is a metaphor, as is stunned mullet.
Drats that should say self edit.
“wails of despondency”? You are so right, and they are all from the Right.
maui
I know about bog so who’s Bishop. Another Nat pawn no doubt but not a pill I have taken yet. Why is he of importance to Appear before the Nation?
Hosking? Of course, pusillanimous little twerp that he is.
Good article on The Grauniad today – “The Death of Neoliberalism”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/31/witnessing-death-neoliberalism-imf-economists
Encouraging!!
Cheap Chinese steel certified as strong enough to hold up four bridges has been exposed as too weak, forcing a major fix-up on a huge new highway.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201802845/steel-piles-fail-on-waikato-expressway
It’s a known problem with getting stuff from countries where corruption and influence-peddling is endemic, and should have been predictable. I used to see it all the time in Kuwait – all the certification and paperwork completed, none of it worth the paper it was printed on.
Indeed.
Chinese steel profiles have changed to mimic NZ steel rebar. Now it is not immediately obvious if it is imported or NZ manufactured.
(Observation from living close to a new-build subdivision area, and having a partner who works with steel going over to check the formwork on the new builds whenever he does his daily walk).
“Now it is not immediately obvious if it is imported or NZ manufactured.”
Stating that it is Chinese steel would strongly suggest so.
“Stating that it is Chinese steel would strongly suggest so.”
Given that my partner is involved in the manufacturing of steel rebar in this country, the initial imports had different profiles and were clearly visible even to non-steel workers.
Current imports now mimic the NZ rebar profiles and he now has to physically pick up the rebar and check the markers marks on them to tell the difference.
Does that clarify the comment for you?
It has been reported the steel was imported from China.
You seem to be the only one questioning that.
No. I was mentioning how the imported product has duplicated the NZ steel one, so that it becomes harder at a first cursory look to see whether NZ rebar is being used in your building or not.
About two years ago, the difference was immediately noticeable because the profiles were markedly different. Now, even if you wish to support NZ steel you will have to identify each bar. Many of the houses being built locally have a mixture of both imported and NZ steel.
I don’t understand your damage Heather.
You stated above it is not immediately obvious if it is imported or NZ manufactured.
Again, it has been reported the steel was imported from China. No one is questioning that apart from you.
.
.The Chinese swindle us
. I would have thought that steel which makes bridges safe should be of the standards required by New Zealand.
The “lowest Tender” and “you get what you pay for” has nothing to do with the Swindle reportedly committed by the Chinese. They deliberately sent us low quality steel, labeled as high quality.
Every tender should meet the NZ Standards irrespective.
The problem is that the Chinese and other Asian nations do not have a background in Ethics or Western Morals. And this means that everything that Asia and particularly China wants to send us or grab from from us here, must be thoroughly checked by New Zealand Engineers and Customs.
In a matter of this importance, a gaol term for the Chinese who reportedly did it would be the proper punishment. Plus restitution.
It’s a good bet the swindle allowed them to put forward a lower tender, resulting in the ‘you get what you paid for’ outcome.
Good thing that a NZ dairy company wasn’t involved in poisoning thousands of Chinese babies, then eh.
Or stealing native timbers from protected forests to sell to the Chinese for $$$.
Or turning down local NZ steel suppliers and hence putting NZers lives at risk so that they could make a bigger $$$ margin on a government contract.
Or happily pocketing massive property value rises even as more and more Kiwis end up living in garages and cars unable to afford accommodation.
Or annihilating entire tribes of peoples when they object to you taking their land and clearing it for your own personal profit.
By the way, that Ivon Watkins Dow plant down the road is totally safe, the western corporation and the western NZ Government told us so.
Those kinds of western morals?
You fucking idiot.
How is she questioning it?
She stated that Chinese rebar now mimics the NZ style so anyone on a building site would not be able to tell the difference at first glance.
She was adding to the discussion, not questioning anything.
Some people…
I gathered that (re: Chinese rebar now mimics the NZ style).
However, in the context of the discussion I thought she was also implying it wasn’t obvious in this particular case.
I took Molly’s comments to mean that, put simply, there’s good steel made domestically and shit steel from China.
They used to be obviously different, so everyone who worked with the stuff could see whether the rebar was good steel or shit steel. Everyone from pourer to supervisor to manager to truck driver could look at it and go “oh, they’ve supplied the shit steel, the contract said the good stuff needed to be used”.
Now, the shit steel looks like the good stuff, and you can’t tell the difference without closer examination or testing.
So the number of people who know whether the contractor or supplier is cutting corners suddenly diminishes.
Yep, I support Molly too, and I move a vote of no confidence in the over-punctilious Chairman.
It was initially tested in China, showing it was of merit.
Therefore, it wasn’t a case of not being able to tell, it was they were swindled.
OK, let’s go with the “swindled” idea (rather than poor processes, crap lab, whatever). That’s for contracts and the courts to sort out.
You take the crap rebar, stack it in a corner, buy new rebar from NZ that does the job. Stack that in another corner.
A week or so later, tell the forklift driver “take the good rebar out from the corner and put it on the truck that goes to the site. Put the good rebar on the truck that goes to the manufacturer”. How do you know the forklift driver got the correct rebar onto the correct trucks?
Late answer, but the point you are missing is that NZ Steel and imported steel is now visually similar, and failures in imported steel is likely to cause some backlash against NZ steel here and overseas.
That doesn’t seem to be a problem for you, but it could be for another one of our manufacturing sectors, especially when we have builders mixing both NZ steel and imported steel on building sites. They will both be implicated with any future failures.
(Just read further and saw Kevin, McFlock and Invino’s comments – which made the point above. Thanks. Don’t get to the computer much at the moment to get into timely discussions)
Old proverb. You gets what you paid for!
Radio commenter this morning saying that the tender or order for steel tubes for bridge support was given to firm about 20-30% below others, at a time when there was much cheap stuff going because of the downturn in construction in China and elewhere. And the steel was certified in China, checked in New Zealand (I looked at the papers, and looked at the cargo, yes it was steel and as described, says spokesman in a firm, strong voice./sarc) Luckily someone cottoned on and the news got out about the rort. Some was used knowingly, but extra reinforcing and concrete was needed. That will upset the profit dimension! And was that done to specification? People can’t rely on conforming to standard (except here) these days as warned in the clip I’ve included below.
Steel piles fail on Waikato Expressway
7:25 am today (on RadioNZ) 4.04m
Cheap Chinese steel certified as strong enough to hold up four bridges has been exposed as too weak, forcing a major fix-up on a huge new highway.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201802845
Industry group warns to watch out for dodgy steel
8:23 am today (3m+)
An industry lobby group says the failure of cheap imported steel used in piles shows the need for contractors to be extra vigilant.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201802857
One other concern is – what will it be used for now? Will someone responsible from the Engineers and Construction official body keep an eye on that for the people, as we can’t trust this shonkey government to do that. After all they are built on faulty materials themselves. It can be used no doubt, but would need testing like the reinforcing, and be put where though weak, it provides enough strength for purpose, and that process should be followed through by an observer, till the concrete is poured and dries around it. We don’t want more CCTV building collapses, so make that a reputable Civil Engineer, prepared to be rude if necessary.
It’s an analogy for everything in NZ commerce from RW business these days.
Looking for cheap, okay if it looks glossy, no-one cares about the substance, the integrity. Cheap shoes, dearer shoes splitting across the sole – goods in general tend to have some cheap component that will ensure they are unfit for purpose in a very short time.
This is selling out the country, literally because NZ money is taken away from home here to pay overseas for the imported stuff we consume. That money should be going into purchasing NZ goods, employing NZ people now un- or partly employed, likely a bit hungry, surely cold in winter, scrabbling and scraping to manage, homeless.
Shed a tear and then galvanise yourself and most of us, into NZrs doing something to improve the situation. With every complaint here attach a para about what is being done about it, you, a group, the Council, and what pressure is going on government, and how the public is being informed.
The Chinese used to put up posters when citizens were trying to reach the populace. That country has risen and they have helped us from falling by making their investments, but we have to, really have to, act strongly for ourselves, for NZ. Social welfare, caring about each other not just our immediate circle, needs more jobs, better wages to diminish the cost to the country and the poor ones suffering, not lower taxes for the wealthy, perhaps bring GST down to 5%. Otherwise more disgraceful conditions. You gets what you paid for, and if you didn’t pay enough, the end result is failure, and this time of a country with respect for itself.
edited
Well, if the Chinese got faulty goods from us there’d be a ban on imports from NZ quick smart. They’ve done it before and they’ll probably do it again. NZ should now be doing the same and banning the importation of steel from China.
Draco T Bastard
+100
People should know that the Chinese have rejected NZ stuff. I have heard comment that now we have a freetrade agreement with China that NZ can’t do this as well.. If they can, so can we. What are we, mice.?
Yeah I heard that. When are they going to wake up to the fact that the cheapest is not always the best in fact not the wisest of moves.
As my lovely old boss I worked for many years liked to quote,
John Ruskin 1819-1900 who said:-
“It’s unwise to pay too much, it’s worse to pay too little.
When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all.
When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, becuase the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.
The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot- it can’t be done.
If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.”
Wise words.
Yet, unfortunately the influx of inferior products seems to be widespread and growing.
Timeless wisdom and sound advice for the day.
I like that quote Halfcrown. It’s worth a whole crown.
Seen this?
http://m.democracynow.org/stories/16256
It’s Not Just the Speeches: Hillary Clinton Questioned over Son-in-Law’s Ties to Goldman Sachs
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
Not sure if its tactical or just plain old miscommunication but the co-leaders of the Greens should probably nut out the Greens position before contradicting each other
You mean like how English and Key nutted out the national party’s position on tax cuts so they wouldn’t contradict each other?
Unfortunately its not a case of comparing apples with apples. National is in power and are a known quantity whereas a Labour/Greens coalition isn’t.
Its also not a good look when announcing a MOU (whatever that means) that the co-leaders are saying different things as it just plays into Nationals hands of saying why they aren’t fit to govern because they can’t even agree with themselves let alone another party
Or Paula’s announcement of $5000 for the poor to leave Auckland while Bill did not know anything about it on budget day.
Like how Key, English and Bennett carefully nutted out the government’s response to the housing crisis and the $5000 payment to leave Auckland?
Unfortunately its not a case of comparing apples with apples. National is in power and are a known quantity whereas a Labour/Greens coalition isn’t.
Its also not a good look when announcing a MOU (whatever that means) that the co-leaders are saying different things as it just plays into Nationals hands of saying why they aren’t fit to govern because they can’t even agree with themselves let alone another party
The only difference between the apples and the oranges is your blindness to anything the Nat’s may do wrong. They are clearly examples of the exact same lack of communication. However you are simply willing to let the Nat’s slide because:
a) They are your team and to admit you may have miss judged them would be an ego hit you can’t take, and
b) They are an established party in power. Here’s another way to look at it. They have been in power for 2 and a half terms and they still can’t sort out basic communications between ministers on major policy. That seems far worse than your perceived miss communication between the two leaders of a small party.
You’re missing the point though, National are in power right now and have been since 2008 which means the people of NZ know what National are about and are ok with what National gets up to
Labour/Greens aren’t in power and have gone through a number of leaders so the people of NZ don’t know what they’re about which means, fairly or unfairly, they’ll get more attention for any minor mistakes they make
So yes National have had miscommunications but people are used to John Key doing that and so its not a big deal (as borne out by the polling) but the biggest mistake to think is its a level playing field and that what one party does the other party can do, it simply doesn’t work that way
Yes I do vote National but only because they’re the least worst party for me to vote for. I think National are too far to the left but what are my options? Act, not until they get back to their roots and stop faffing about with inconsequentialities (so basically never again) NZfirst, sorry but I’m not racist so for me I vote National but I would like them to move more to the right (at this point even moving to the centre would please me)
I get your point. You think it is not harmful what ever National do because they are in power and people have come to know them. By that logic Governments never change because they are in power and people know them. Tell that to Helen Clark.
Her Government pretty much kept doing the same things through out the term. People knew who they were and what they were getting from them. There were a few incidents that got a lot of press (paintings and trips to the rugby) that really did nothing. It was the ability of National to paint Labour with an image imagined or real that finally ousted them. Nanny state was said so often I was waiting for a government minister to come and deliver me my own nappy.
National not being able to get on message after this long is exactly the kind of thing that could hurt them. Especially if their supports choose it as a point of weakness in the opposition to hammer on. By highlighting it in the greens they provide the opportunity taken above to point out when National do it and the only defence is a simplistic “apples and oranges” that is easily shredded.
Well I like to think of a political party in power being like…I dunno inertia maybe
Helen Clark had a lot of momentum and was extremely difficult to stop but eventually that momentum slowed and National came to power
I see the same thing happening here, National is losing support, the momentum is slowing but theres enough momentum in the juggernaut for National to make it over the line in 2017, it might be limping but it’ll still be in power and that’s because of the power built up
So I actually agree with you on pretty much everything you’ve said, the only difference is when it’ll happen
That is very true. I do get what you mean. Normally Government benches are lost as opposed to won. I do think if something does not change soon National will show that there is no 3 term rule and that unless the opposition works for it as well they won’t just win in time.
It is possible this MOU is the first real step in that direction. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Theres many a slip twixt the cup and the lip or something so nothings set in stone ‘specially with Winston on the scene
“which means the people of NZ know what National are about and are ok with what National gets up to”
Lying. Lying. Telling lies. Misrepresenting the facts. Skewing statistics in their favour. Advancing half-truths and misinformation. Being evasive. Forgetting stuff. Oh, and lying.
And I think you’ll find that increasing numbers of Kiwis are most definitely not okay with “what National gets up to.”
The Greens co-leaders weren’t saying different things at the MoU announcement. Metiria led the speaking, after Andrew Little. James Shaw was a bystander, as was Annette King.
James Shaw said there was a possibility of working with National, leaving the door ajar (pretty smart really, keeping some options open no matter how unlikely) Metiria Turei said no deal with National this morning
so when did James Shaw say that, Puckish Rogue. Wasn’t it some time ago …. things have changed since then, and the Greens are on-side with Labour.
“James Shaw said there was a possibility of working with National, leaving the door ajar (pretty smart really, keeping some options open no matter how unlikely) Metiria Turei said no deal with National this morning”
You know better than that PR. Cite or it didn’t happen and I get to call you a liar again.
(btw, as I’m pretty sure you also know, ‘working with’ means something specific for the Greens, which means what you are implying is a crock of shit, but we’ll get to that once you provide the citation).
More like comparing apples with RWNJ.
http://www.prosperity.com/#!/ranking
Why would anyone choose to believe that NZ is as crap as the opposition claim it is. The evidence to the contrary is clear. This is a great place to live. Stop bagging it.
I understand why the left is pursuing this line, NZ is going well so theres no need for voters to change the government so if the left can make people think that NZ isn’t going well then that might force a mood change
The problem for the left is that while National is slipping in support its still strong enough to get (limp) over the line in 2017
For most yes it is good. I am one of those. It doesn’t make me blind to Dairy farmers who have bleak times ahead. I also can’t but feel compassion for working families living in cars in south Auckland.
It is not a matter of saying NZ has gone to hell. It is a matter of seeing the problems and disagreeing with what the current government believes to be the answers.
Heres the thing though, NZ is going mostly well. Our economy is going well, employment is low but there’ll always be poor to look after
Billions are poured into welfare but it never seems enough and all it seems to be is a political football (well to National and Labour anyway) to be kicked around
More money is poured into the rich than the poor. For some reason the idea seems to be that the best thing you can do to help and economy get better is to make it easy for the rich to do what they do. This is of course the original trickle down idea. It has lead to well documented inequality and very little trickle down. So giving the rich more makes them better off.
However when it comes to the poor. If you ever try and argue that you should try and give them more people cry waste. We have been giving them progressively less over the years and that sure hasn’t worked. How about we try treating them like the rich and give them some carrot instead of keeping on hammering with the stick as seems to be the current trend.
+1
The original trickle down idea was ironic language but the Left still think it is the actual thinking. Point being. Do not be ironic with the Left. They do not understand it. PS John Key eats babies!
So, in your own words, what’s the point of making the rich richer and the poor poorer then?
BTW, the Left have always known that ‘trickle down’ was a load of bollocks. It was called that back in the 1980s when Roger Douglass introduced it but it’s still the excuse that the RWNJs use to justify the robbing of society.
performance art? 🙂
Worthwhile to remember that we are pouring billions into beneficiaries and superannuitants yes…but most of that money goes straight to landlords and local businesses. Shop owners, hairdressers and the local lunch bar.
So its a pretty good way for the government to keep the base economy ticking over.
And a lot of that money quickly finds its way back into the government coffers via GST and other taxes.
Our economy is not growing above the margin of error. The government is lazy, inept, blind, corrupt and stupid.
Unemployment is at least 10%, and the property cancer consumes the fruits of any tiny trickle of growth before it can effect quality of life let alone cover the debt incurred by the Key kleptocracy’s manifest economic failings.
The media now report mostly lies, DOC is poisoning kiwi on a large scale, and lowland rivers have been converted into bovine open sewers.
Paradise for far right nutjobs – all they’re missing is a nuclear accident.
Hieronymus Bosch would love this place.
Our economy is going well, and this winter is seeing a bumper crop of homeless. All hail the brighter future!
That’s the trouble with winter. Too much hail on all outside the pale.
NZ is fucked. That’s not just because of National either but simply because of capitalism. The only reason NZ even has a slight recorded growth is because of the housing bubble we’ve got going. Take that away and the economy goes into recession. Take away the Christchurch rebuild and we’d be in a depression.
Thing is, this is what always happens in a capitalist society. Recessions and depressions until final collapse.
Capitalism may not be the best system of government but its still preferable to any other
No, really, it isn’t. Hierarchies are never a good form of government.
Democracy is a far better and more stable form of government.
erm – capitalism isnt a form of govt
Actually, I’d say it is because it requires the government to form the rules and regulations that allow capitalism to exist. Then, of course, the capitalists buy up the government through donations and lobbying.
well now you put it that way…. 🙂
Back in the dark ages I am sure they thought a Dictatorship wasn’t the best but was preferable to any other. Of course that is true until someone actually works out something better. That is how capitalism was developed and I am sure it is how the next system is found as well.
We should change your name to Chief Wiggum, Puckish Rougue.
Almost ever comment you make when you are on a love national bender is “Nothing to see here, move along”
Some people get to define what you pay for…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legatum
NZ is a great place to live for a lot of people – I just want to stop National from destroying it bit by bit by bit as they have over the last 8 years.
And for the people who aren’t finding it great, I want them to get a fair go.
This country is leaving tho many behind ,but I expect you know that ,and are going to run the latest parrot lines of , its all good don’t be a downer instead.
National are incompetent $30 mill trying to sell houses no one wants .
$26 mill failing to change a flag. More homeless every day the list is endless.
If we need to remind ourselves about National’s faailings look up Blip’s list.
http://thestandard.org.nz/the-great-big-list-of-john-keys-big-fat-lies-updated/
Lanthanide pointed out that they aren’t all lies because when uttered they have to be known to be wrong. ‘To be or not to be’? So let’s call them FFs (faux fabrications), AM (artful machinations), DCs (deliberate confabulations). We know what they are, and where they live.
National under dishonest john have taken us backwards in everything …..
Inequality —–up
Water quality ——- down
Homeless children and families —— up
World education rankings —– down 7 th to 23rd ….. so far,
Corruption —– up
New Zealand is a great place ……………. national have turned it into a overseas speculators paradise complete with a tax haven for rich overseas criminals.
Did you mean stop telling the truth fisiani??? ……….
What would you expect a neo-liberal think tank to say?
It is not a badge of honour to be told we are a slavish neo-liberal country.
For that think that industrialisation is going away with the decline of fossil fuels, check out this factory and the renewables powering it.
How did they carry and lay the thousands of square metres of concrete with renewables?
Yep, figured you’d come back with that bollocks.
Two points:
1. It’s a sign of things to come. That without fossil fuels that factory will keep going and it can be extended to every other factory.
2. Over time even the production, delivery and laying of concrete will be done with renewables. From the mining of the resources to make it to the earth moving equipment to flatten the ground and lay down the concrete itself.
You seem stuck in the belief that these things need fossil fuels when all they really need is an energy source and a means to change that to motive force. Electric motors do that a hell of a lot better than combustion engines and they have more torque, more reliability and cost less to run and maintain.
How about the metal rebar in the concrete, was that made without fossil fuels?
Not yet. But it certainly could be. Google something like “electrolytic steel making” and you’ll get all kinds of articles like:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cleaner-cheaper-way-to-make-steel-uses-electricity/
What percentage of last year’s global steel output was made using this new process?
None yet. Because steelmakers don’t have to pay for disposing of their waste CO2 pollution. But when it becomes too expensive to continue polluting, production will switch over to electrolytic methods rather than do without steelmaking.
Let me know when they convert enough capacity to make 10% of global steel output in this fashion. I am guessing that will take twenty years as it will be more cost efficient to run todays capital equipment into the ground and just wear the resulting carbon charges.
DTB’s starting point for this thread was that industrialisation is not going to go away with the decline in fossil fuels.
His point was predicated on us being able to lay down massive reinforced concrete pads and build big factories without the use of fossil fuels.
I agree it can be done in theory.
But my position is that it unachievable in practice today, and for the foreseeable future.
~30 years until access to fossil fuels is restricted to the privileged few.
As I said, you’re stuck in the belief that things need to continue as they are when there’s a huge amount of evidence around showing that that won’t be the case.
We don’t need fossil fuels to power factories – just electricity.
We don’t need fossil fuels to do mining – just electricity.
We don’t need fossil fuels to cart stuff around – just electricity (or a horse and cart).
And electricity can be generated renewably.
I recognise system inertia Draco. You do not appear to. You say that electricity can be generated renewably and I agree.
I also say that 75% of the world’s energy is not generated renewable and it will be decades before even 50% of it is generated renewably.
In other words, my position is that we are well run out of transition time.
By the way how many mines in Australia or NZ use mainly electric vehicles?
Transition time from what to what?
You do realise that the only thing stopping the transition from fossil oil to substitutes is the current low price of fossil oil? In less than twenty years the infrastructure was developed to the point that cars outnumbered horses in NYC. Hell, how long was it before the vast majority of people had a cellphone?
When fossil 91 octane hits $3 or $4 a litre, people will be flocking to build better production sources. And that’s without any significant advances in battery tech.
At the moment, only about a quarter of a percent of global fuel production is synthetic, according to wikipedia. But the basic processes are well known, and were developed before WW2. It’s a production problem, not a development problem.
Not true. Whether the price is high or low, powerful vested interests protect their interests. In the case of oil companies….
And there’s a huge difference between transitioning one aspect of a society (horses to cars, say) than there is in transforming an entire energy system. It’s pretty clear that the infrastructure for energy supply simply can’t be built in the time frame we have left for ourselves in which to deliver an outside chance of avoiding dangerous levels of warming.
So we have to crash our energy demand. And on the basis that not a single climate change report allows for yearly CO2 reductions above about 5% when we need yearly reductions somewhere in the order of 15%…hold the economy and burn or burn the economy. Which one of those options do you reckon we’ll choose?
Those powerful interests are also the ones that are reorienting themselves for post-fossil: e.g. BP’s greenwashing also includes renewables development.
But that’s also why I asked “Transition time from what to what?”: if Cv was simply talking about an energy crash caused by a fuel shortage, that’s bollocks. But if he was talking about voluntarily stopping use of fossil fuels in the hope of avoiding climate change, it’s A) too late without active intervention; and B) requires government intervention to either outlaw or make fossil fuels more expensive, thus bringing about the industrial shift.
We might heat the planet to the point of routine twisters in NZ, followed by blizzards and droughts, but we’re not going to run out of fossil fuels before that happens. Industry won’t collapse.
Sorry, missed the bit about fossil depletion. I agree it’s not going to be happening and that any ‘peak oil to the rescue’ scenario is woefully wrong headed.
Cigarettes are the government’s popular scapegoat for bringing in laws to diminish use. Why don’t they put the price of petrol tax up gradually but inexorably? They can do it with a health issue like tobacco they can do it with a life issue like vehicle fuel. It sends good market signals. More efficient.
They could tax fuel more.
They should tax fuel more.
But between the trucking lobby and infantile maserati-driving tv rent-a-rants with insecure haircuts, they sure won’t.
QFT
I had to laugh at this.
Apparently the right wing has been correct all along.
True price discovery and a free market is all we need to save the world from climate change and fossil fuel depletion.
Nope. Maybe read what’s there rather than whatever’s in your head.
In fact, the problem is that fossil fuels won’t run out before the climate is fucked (if only because, frankly, the climate is already fucked).
Fossil fuel depletion itself will not happen in a technological vacuum. There will be substitutes, because there already are substitutes.
Climate change is another issue, caused by fossil fuels.
We don’t actually need a transition time. We could stop using fossil fuels tomorrow and still be able to build up the factories and other infrastructure to maintain an industrial society.
We don’t actually need a transition time. True
We could stop using fossil fuels tomorrow True
The rest is off this fucking planet though. The closest that could be achieved with regards maintaining an industrial society would be decades of mothball and a slow rebuild/restart using emerging non-fossil energy sources.
I like you Draco, but it’s clear that you’ve never been involved in constructing or commissioning any manufacturing or industrial facility in your life.
If we stopped using FF tomorrow we’d all be bloody hungry by this time next week.
The thing I find interesting about this conversation is that the peak oil theorists discussed all this a decade ago. Much of that conversation included people in the relevant industries including oil and engineers. The main issue is the relationship between cheap oil availability, the economy and eroei. It’s easy to solve tech transition on paper, but once you start looking at real world scenarios it doesn’t look so flash.
Yes and that stops industrial society how?
I’m quite aware of the physical requirements. It’s a major complaint of mine when people go on about getting things done for less when it’s actually physically impossible to do that.
My point is that we already have the knowledge to create an industrial society that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels. I’ve been trying to make that point for months now.
Again, you’re saying something that’s essentially true. But…okay, here’s a link to Germany. They’re turning out renewables ‘cheap and fast’…and have to put the brakes on because they can’t upgrade the bloody infrastructure fast enough.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/01/angela-merkel-signs-deal-with-german-states-to-regulate-green-energy-rollout
And when you hit on an alternative to cement (a huge source of CO2), enjoy your international fame and what not. But until then, get your head around the fact that on seriously large structures there is no known alternative for foundations and that we have to stop using the stuff…which doesn’t bode well on a whole number of fronts.
@Bill, the CO2 from concrete comes from the heat required to make cement, and from chemical reactions in the production of cement. But the process heat could be electric, it doesn’t have to be from burning fossil fuel. And the CO2 emitted from chemical reactions during the production of cement is mostly re-absorbed as the concrete cures and those reactions reverse. So a zero fossil carbon emissions world does not mean the end of concrete.
http://www.concretethinker.com/technicalbrief/Concrete-Cement-CO2.aspx
That’s just it – they probably could if they shifted the focus of some of their economy.
And it’s a rather interesting problem there. You’d think that their electricity grid would already be able to take the full weight of their electricity demand. Seems strange that they’d suddenly start having problems just because some renewables were installed. I suspect the real problem is that some others don’t want to take their fossil fuelled generation off line.
And then, of course, I was just pointing out that industrial processes weren’t going away with the reduction in fossil fuel use as some people have been predicting on here for some time.
The fame won’t be mine:
And I’m pretty sure that there’s some smart materials people around that are looking for even better reductions.
*Shrug*.
We’ve had the means and the knowledge to end world hunger and world poverty for at least 50 years.
And that fact still doesn’t mean shit half a century later, except in theory.
Blair government’s rendition policy led to rift between UK spy agencies
MI5 chief’s complaint over MI6 role in ‘war on terror’ abductions caused prolonged breakdown in relations
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/31/revealed-britain-rendition-policy-rift-between-spy-agencies-mi6-mi5
+100 interesting…who are the terrorists?:
“It raised 27 questions they said would need to be answered if the full truth about the way in which Britain waged its “war on terror” was to be established.
The questions include:
• Did UK intelligence officers turn a blind eye to “specific, inappropriate techniques or threats” used by others and use this to their advantage in interrogations?
• If so, was there “a deliberate or agreed policy” between UK officers and overseas intelligence officers?
• Did the government and its agencies become “inappropriately involved in some renditions”?
• Was there a willingness, “at least at some levels within the agencies, to condone, encourage or take advantage of a rendition operation”? “
Cutting corporate tax won’t create jobs. It’s yesterday’s solution to our problems
Wayne Swan
As a solution to Australia’s jobs and growth challenges, a corporate tax cut doesn’t make it even into the top 10 of sensible policy responses
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2016/jun/01/cutting-corporate-tax-wont-create-jobs-its-yesterdays-solution-to-our-problems
So the after last years clear rejection of the Super City model in Northland dirty Natcorp push through Paula Bennett a super city type merger with the councils in Northland.
A possible 3% saving within 10 years is laughable;
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11647923
Cripes Skinny. Local feeling, pulling together, is the biggest thing that Northland has got. A bit of judicious hand-holding, swopping ideas and shared projects from Councils talking and working together but no corporate disdain thank you for Northland. That would be bad.
But Poorer Benefit has the mojo for it or anything. She has the smile, the aspiration, the determination, the teeth to bite with.
Thinking about Northland – in Whangarei the month of June is for thinking about the Hundertwasser flourish of colour that is their planned museum for his and Maori taonga. See if you can help them raise more and make it a challenge to the beige, the grey, the black, the white that I see so much of around me. It’s like the grinch stole all the colouring books and pencils at Christmas and now we have the black and white of the world of the grey corporate soldier. Hundertwasser is a challenge to all that.
It’s all here – have a look of the extravagantly decorated model of the building.
http://www.yeswhangarei.co.nz/
Latest News June is Hundertwasser Awareness Month!
Posted: 21/05/16
Help us celebrate this wonderful artist, and his incredible gift to our city with the inaugural Hundertwasser Awareness Month! …
HQ is full of Hundertwasser-inspired artwork and staffed by knowledgeable volunteers ready to answer all your art centre questions.
The beautiful Vienna-made scale model of the HUNDERTWASSER ART CENTRE with
Wairau Maori Art Gallery is on proud display.
I hate articles like this one:
Because the US having such a powerful military wasn’t destabilising in the first place /sarc
The US losing it’s military pre-eminence could only be considered destabilising from the point of view of the US. For the rest of the world life will probably become more stable as unaccountable powerful forces are no longer arraigned against them
Some in the USA military are freaking over some tech advantages that Russia and China now have.
The Russian EMP bomb, is really quite good.
As are the new Chinese backpack launched missiles.
There is other stuff. My guess as the corporations are off chasing bio-med tech – not a lot of new tech for the USA military.
Trying to remember where I read this, think it was in the latest Military History magazine
the F35 dog is sucking up a lot of the US funding.
Not to mention actually having much of its military deployed at any one time.
That having been said, they’ve just launched the USS Zumwalt and the littoral combat ships are coming online, they’ve begun development on a new sub, and laser weapons are close to active deployment. Also some interesting ideas on arsenal planes to support the F35 as a sensor platform, and I haven’t read much on rail guns lately so they probably work ok.
The army cancelled the BigDog quadriped robot late last year because its engine was too noisy. I would have thought they’d invest in a muffler – it was pretty cool…
The USS Zumwalt has been in the pipe line for a while – nice looking boat. Bit much 9.6 Billion for 3 boats.
Lasers and rail guns have more trials (big ones this year), then been around for a while, just weren’t viable. The Russians been spending large on lasers and rail guns as well.
Ouch the cost per flight/cost per hour on the F35 is unsustainable. That will bankrupt the air-force. I see why you called it a dog. So much for a vaunted Lightening II.
Haven’t the US and China both throwing money at exo-skeletons in a big way. Another tech, if put into the public realm would be great. I know NASA is spending big on it, I thought the military were as well.
I don’t think those Littoral Combat Ships are going to be reliable operationally for another 1-2 years minimum. Significant troubleshooting is ongoing. Reports of major issues arising during exercises and deployments have continued into 2016.
Have you ever heard of a new ship type not having issues when it’s first launched?
What do you mean, a new ship type?
What’s new about the Freedom and Independence Littoral Combat Ship classes?
You mean besides the fact that they’re entirely new designs with new specifications to meet new conditions?
Multiple units of each class have been built and are in active service; the first of each class was completed 2008.
So why are you calling them “entirely new”? That’s being way too generous to excuse the ongoing problems these vessels face IMO.
I can’t find anything wrong with the ships themselves. There’s some concern that they don’t fill the role that they were envisioned for but they are still capable ships.
meh.
The “ongoing problems” seem to be more related to mission-creep and project oversight than problems with the vessels themselves.
It started as essentially a small-operation landing support and patrol vessel with guns, now they want it to be a frigate.
They have been platforms for constant innovation, however. Even fielding helicopter UAVs.
Free market fails yet again
We’ve got some of the best steel manufacturing here in NZ and our own supplies of iron so how can it possibly be cheaper to buy offshore?
The answer is that it can’t be unless it’s simply not up to standard.
Which version to believe?
The patented Cover Your Arse version of the management or the workers on the job?
Oh look Hone was right about the roads of national significance, they are producing the exact same results as what happened in Greece. Corruption, more money being spent offshore, and passing the buck culture cemented in place. Oh and debt, more and more debt – which will be lumped onto working people, and the middle class.
What a truly wonderful national government, I wonder which minister won’t be taking responsibility for this…
Draco T bASTARD
I thought I would tell you that I did an extensive piece on the steel at 11.37 a.m. 7.1.2 or something. I put links and everything. Nice if people bother to read what others have written or else what’s the point.
By now, we should all realize that we have a major crisis on our hands. Every day the media report harrowing stories of families who are suffering. Mothers and their ragged children look out at us from our television screens and newspaper pages with hollow eyes and pale, drawn faces. Social workers tell us heartbreaking stories and beg for more resources. Each evening news features John Campbell and Andrew Little with tears in their eyes as they recount the latest tales of poverty and want.
It is not enough, we are told, to leave this tragedy to be resolved by market forces. The politicians must take immediate action. John Key and Bill English can no longer shelter behind their uncaring lack of empathy for the needy and duck away by foisting the blame on local council regulations. We pride ourselves in being a first world country, and it is a disgrace that many of our people are living in such deprivation.
I am, of course, referring to the supply and distribution of food in this country.
Do you realize that there are many people making substantial profits out of the food industry? Even worse, some of them not even New Zealand citizens! Surely, in a country like ours, this should not be permitted. Something, indeed, should be done. Why just the other day I bought an apple at a local shop and I’m absolutely sure that the shopkeeper was a Chan or a Singh.
We also hear that there are a large number of people who set themselves up in business running supermarkets, coffee shops, butchers, delicatessens and fruiterers with the absolute intention of making a profit out of this activity. How dare they take advantage of the public like this. The right to food is implicit within our society, Shocking! Graeme Wheeler, have you ordered a case study on the advantages of restricting the finance that a bank can be allowed to offer to an asian national who sets out to buy a fruit and vege shop in Remuera? That sort of restriction can’t be bad, and may well reduce the rate of price inflation on such places for, um, a few days.
Having borrowed the money to establish their food business these people then compete with ordinary hard-working kiwis when they get their supplies. It is scandalous that they are allowed to deduct the cost of buying their potatoes, their cabbages and their bananas off their tax bill whereas you and I cannot do that when we buy our own families groceries. Unfair competition in the market. Not only that, but when they pay their rent, their power bill and their insurance they can also claim those costs as a tax deduction. You and I, sitting at home, cannot do that. How can we compete? We are disadvantaged. Mr Little, Mr Twyford, please come to our rescue. It is so unfair. This loophole in the law must be closed.
Even worse, when these people have built up their business on the basis of all these tax-free perks and they come to sell out at a substantial capital gain, that capital gain is completely tax free! They walk away with many thousands of dollars, all unearned, and do not pay a single cent in tax. How dare they. Tax the bastards till their eyes water and their toenails ache I say.
The Government must step in right now and do something to relieve this tragedy. We can’t just leave it to the market. At the very least they should set up Government stores where affordable food would be available to those in need. A catchy name for these places would be great – Great Union Markets sounds about right, and GUM would be an interesting acronym, reminiscent of those Soviet Russia food stores of the 1950s who had the worthy aim of “democratizing consumption for workers and peasants nationwide”. Equal lack of choice for all.
Some people argue, and say that the Government has no business to be in the food business. I disagree. We have many reports from university academics and top public servants saying that this is the way to go. Sure, these people have all spent their entire working lives sheltered on a secure and protected government funded salary, but they have read plenty of books and have lots of letters after their names so they must know what is the right thing to do.
We then need to set up an affordability benchmark, your weekly food bill should be no more than ten per cent of your weekly income. Any subsidy that might be needed to achieve this could easily be raised by imposing a fair tax on private food suppliers. Sure, what you and I might consider to be a fair tax may well be regarded by them as a punishing imposition, but the Green Party says that our view of what is fair is what counts and anyway we all know that when we levy a tax on anything it always brings the price down, don’t we?
Should we then allow anybody and everybody to shop at GUM? Of course not. The self employed, the thrifty and the hard-working are all undesirables and should be barred from access. We don’t want to encourage such bad behavior. My suggestion is that there should be a statutory means test, and legislation passed that those who fail the test should have to shop only in the private markets. Naturally, if such legislation is enacted, everybody will obey that law just like they already obey laws like those against using cell phones in cars. We are, after all, a thoroughly law-abiding society.
Of course, if we look at history, every single attempt to control a market, regulate supply, impose price controls and subsidize everything and everybody has always inevitably lead to failure, shortages, corruption, disaster and eventual collapse. But we are different. From Vogel to Muldoon, we have long history of trying to outfox the market. Admittedly that has never worked in the past. Regulations have always begat more regulations. Subsidies have always become more complex and byzantine. The market has always won in the end. But it might just possibly work next time. Surely we should give it a go.
After all, King Canute was not a Kiwi.
^^ Another moronic rant by a RWNJ explaining why nothing can be done despite it having been done before and worked.
Tell me, do you know why we have the word Cartel?
Why are you so afraid of true competition?
If Government can source materials and funds to provide goods and services cheaper than you can, why do you have a problem with that?
Afraid that your personal profit margin might have to be cut right?
+1
Peter Lewis
You are a low life. Spending a lot of time writing a long comment that starts off purporting to be about the dire state of things for those at the bottom in NZ. But all the time you are just being a sarky smart-arse, in your own opinion. Keep your trashy thoughts to yourself and your circle of giggling mates and their wives.
What extensive insight were you intending to demonstrate when you wrote this?
Do you realize that there are many people making substantial profits out of the food industry? Even worse, some of them not even New Zealand citizens! Surely, in a country like ours, this should not be permitted. Something, indeed, should be done. Why just the other day I bought an apple at a local shop and I’m absolutely sure that the shopkeeper was a Chan or a Singh.
The ‘free markets’ were shown to a nothing more than a scam and looters mandate by the world Global Financial Crisis ……
Because of the greed and dishonesty of the financial industry they started the collapse of it all ….
It took about 22 TRILLION of direct government bail outs to stop this ‘free market’ destruction of the worlds financial system.
‘Free markets’ types are dishonest or stupid …………
Peter lewis typed a lot for a stupid person …. perhaps a meth rant?.
Do you support ‘free market slave labor and tax havens Pete?
Most failed states in the world are free markets ….. you should move to one.
Think of the freedom 😉
http://politik.co.nz/en/content/politics/854/Labour-Green-pact-could-see-the-end-of-Dunne-james-Shaw-Peter-Dunne-Andrew-Little-Labour-Greens-Matt-McCarten.htm
Odd url but the article is positing Shaw standing in Dunne’s seat and winning if Labour don’t stand. I think Shaw got a big vote where he stood last time, don’t know if that translates to Ohariu. Article doesn’t address issue of National not standing and gifting their votes to Dunne but still interesting.