The kind of power that makes all the aggravation of being president worthwhile for the dayglo pervert with petite paws: the ability to appoint a crony tax-evasion-enabler as acting IRD commissioner.
Idiot comment of the decade. But for the good fortune of geography NZ would be struggling with (and mishandling) the exact same issue. We have nothing to be smug about.
By sheer social coincidence I’ve just spent five days with a senior Australian military diplomat. The kind of person who is on first name terms with their Foreign Minister. Lots of interesting issues came up, and I’m not going to air most of them here.
Except to say that the real story of people smuggling is a LOT more complex and ugly than most kiwis would ever imagine. As unattractive as Abbott’s solution has been, it’s stopped something orders of magnitude worse.
Doing nothing is the idiot course of action. Condoning human rights abuses is the idiot comment of the decade.
Australia is violating international human rights law. They refuse to listen via standard diplomatic channels, so go a step further and chuck out their diplomats. If that doesn’t work, sanctions. Shame them into doing something. Because nothing will get done by just asking politely if Australia could please stop human rights abuses.
“Foreigners would still be able to buy land and develop housing on it for on-sale. Australians would have a special carve-out to still be able to buy homes – as Kiwis do in Australia.”
Kiwis are being kicked out of Australia against the CER. Perhaps it’s time to reciprocate that or simply drop the CER – Australia obviously doesn’t want it any more.
But are we dependent on CER for Oz trade? What would happen concerning the banks here owned by Oz. What would happen to NZs living and working in Oz? Not all of them are being repatriated. Economically and culturally they may be doing better than our decimated economy allows. So be careful what you wish for talking about dropping CER. Much as I don’t like it we may have to keep swallowing dead rats while Oz looks on, and baits the dancing bear, the toothless tiger etc.
David Clark pointed out that the property cycle has peaked now (my view is the capital restrictions out of China is the major contributor to this) but it’s the next surge when this policy will benefit ordinary New Zealanders because in a rising market you can be sure these speculators and their resident proxies will be back.
In Carolyn’s example when is the building an apartment building with an retail floor at the bottom, and when is it a commercial building with and apartment at the top?
Is commercial property a big issue here? Is it even that attractive to foreign interests? I don’t know enough about it but what I do know is that homelessness isn’t increasing and home ownership isn’t dropping and communities are becoming more transient because of commercial property sales.
I’m tending to want to concentrate on the pressing problems for NZ families and the disenfranchised not on opportunities for local commercial property investors.
Agreed. Drive down Broadway right now and every third shop is empty. This, in the middle of a supposed booming economy. Retail is being attacked from all sides atm.
leases for commercial properties are based on not much else then wishful thinking and thus shops and more often then not ground level/shopfront type office spaces that no one can do anything with really.
Totally agree Ed. Soon as I heard that I thought yep vested interests much. RNZ present these comments as if they were objective observations from people who know what they’re talking about. They are real estate salespeople FFS!
Yes they are always described as ‘experts.’
Did you notice on the Panel the other day how Stephen Franks was an ex-MP?
No mention of him being an ACT MP.
It will be interesting to see some details of how exactly this is going to be implemented to if it will have any power to stop non resident purchasers.
A couple of things come to mind immediately tho….
The non resident wealth (two Chinese families) I have dealt with use English speaking (lawyer) proxies who live here anyway… Its not a big step for the proxies to be purchaser IF the wealth is intent one owning a house.
If the wealth is not fixated on a house and is just looking to stash some funds safely external to their country then they will go into other long term holdings… probably land or mixed/commercial. Neither are subject to OIA so no problem.
But one thing we do know already is that this is just window dressing and will make no real difference. Only a few percent of houses are purchased by non residents so Labour are just doing this to be seen as doing something. Pure virtue signalling.
IF they want to get real then land supply is where the difference can be made.
By definition, if the proxie uses a legal entity for purchase then the wealth is an investor in the entity, not in a house.
A lawyer can be director of a trustee company, which uses legally sourced funds for housing purchases. A few hoops but all easy. I would also expect the larger property management companies to set up trustee companies.
But as I said above, its all bullshit. there is no actual intent to make this work.
Do large property management companies ‘own’ NZ residential property? I wasn’t aware of that. I thought property management companies did just that – manage property for landlords.
If your prediction is that proxy property owning trusts are going to be set up left, right, and centre then I’d also expect the beneficiaries of these trusts to be visible as per the new law. If they aren’t resident or a citizen then that trust is not allowed to buy existing houses.
“We have already committed to a course of action for strengthening New Zealand’s anti-money laundering rules, which will bring in more comprehensive requirements for lawyers, accountants, real estate agents and others,”
After John Key denied NZ was seen as, and was, a tax haven his government did a massive U-turn and was finally dragged to the table on foreign trust disclosure. I imaging the “more comprehensive requirements” involve disclosure on who is benefitting from the trust.
The OIO looks through such entities as far as is possible to try and determine the real beneficiaries. Not sure how effective this is, but the Act does allow for it
Frida, I would hope that any suspicion that there was any attempt to conceal the true beneficiaries would result in immediate rejection of any application. The cynic in me says that’s probably not what’s happening.
The non resident wealth (two Chinese families) I have dealt with use English speaking (lawyer) proxies who live here anyway…
Then they need to be kicked out and the proxy jailed with all his assets claimed under the proceeds of Crime Act.
And you be as well for knowingly allowing a crime to continue.
If the wealth is not fixated on a house and is just looking to stash some funds safely external to their country then they will go into other long term holdings… probably land or mixed/commercial.
And that just means that that needs to be illegal as well as it’s obviously for money laundering.
People committing crime isn’t a reason to not put in place laws to try to prevent that crime.
Only a few percent of houses are purchased by non residents…
Auckland now has a significant population of Chinese people, so there will always be some who are actively buying or selling properties.
But the numbers are well down on where they were a year ago.
Auctions that were packed with Chinese buyers this time last year are now much quieter and Chinese faces are often more notable by their absence rather than their presence.
When they are buying, they are more likely to be buying a home for themselves or perhaps their children than a pure investment property, and their bidding has been far more cautious than it was just a few months ago.
Often they will bid on a property only to let it be passed in, figuring that they may not face much competition from other buyers in post-auction negotiations.
With the odd exception, the days of the bidding frenzy are over.
This change in buyer behaviour corresponded with new restrictions the Chinese government introduced on the amount of money people could take out of China, cutting off one of the main sources of funding for property purchases by Chinese buyers in this country.
Evidence is anecdotal but suggests that lack of Chinese buyers with Chinese connections is already having an effect.
Draco.
You are fucking deranged, maybe a nice walk in the sunshine would help?
“Then they need to be kicked out and the proxy jailed with all his assets claimed under the proceeds of Crime Act.
And you be as well for knowingly allowing a crime to continue.”
What law has been broken?
“And that just means that that needs to be illegal as well as it’s obviously for money laundering.”
It may be strange to you but people with a couple of bucks do like to spread it about for safety , its not all tainted with cocaine residue some is just withdrawn from superannuation schemes.
I’m pretty sure that one of the requirements for getting permanent residency/Citizenship is being able to speak English. What you seemed to be saying is that these people have bypassed that.
It may be strange to you but people with a couple of bucks do like to spread it about for safety
Safe from their government maybe? Safe from authority checking where they got the money from? Safe from having to pay tax? Sounds dodgy.
Maybe when I said “non resident” it might have been a clue that they are in fact not residents?
Safe from governments or maybe just safe from banks going bung?
I was on holiday in Peru when Lehman Bros popped. I bet some of the very wealthy Americans I saw crying had thought to put a pot of cash into a nice house in Auckland.
Property speculation is on par with Class B drugs and should be controlled. Why the apparent limitation to houses instead of land is not clear to me as houses are not inalienable but land is. As far as I can tell this this ‘sensitivity clause’ is just a cute patch to get around some tricky issues without actually properly dealing with those.
If there’s a specific intent to allow overseas investors to buy new builds (and therefore help ease housing pressure by adding new stock) then adjusting the criteria for “sensitive land” should be even easier than adding existing housing into the OIO process. At the moment, farmland over 5 hectares is “sensitive land”, so cutting that down and removing the “farm” bit would easily deal to landbanking concerns.
Agreed. An overseas investor who buys & builds for somebody (a third-part buyer or renter) who is already here in the country adds new stock and eases pressures (but not necessarily on prices or rents) but an overseas investor who immigrates here adds to the pressure even if he/she buys & builds new but for him/herself.
Yeah, but that’s an immigration policy issue, not a land/housing purchasing eligibility issue. An overseas investors that buys permanent residence here will still be able to buy whatever they want.
Yes, which is why this Government needs to come up with integrated cohesive policies instead of the patch-pragmatism that we have become accustomed to. Immigration, housing, infrastructure, etc., are all linked, of course; a reductionist approach is completely ineffective and counter-productive, in fact.
Edit: I do wonder whether this is prompted solely by TPP-11 and this is why they seem to be rushing things. It is not the way to deal with complex issues that have been plaguing us for a long time now.
Secondly, by allowing foreign buyers to continue to buy new builds, Labour have failed to take into account the ripple effect. https://youtu.be/HzSAmOQuyjU?t=25m25s
They are however creating an additional house rather than removing one from the market which would be available for a New Zealand family to buy.
The relationship between NZ and Australia has been close to a greater or lesser extent since colonisation. Citizens from both are able to live and work freely in the other country. Wealthy Australian buyers have though been a significant contributing factor in NZ’s housing problems. There’s an imbalance there and something to work on for sure.
For the life of me I can’t understand how offshore buying of residential property is a welcome ‘investment’ in the way Fran O’Sullivan types say it is. How does this sort of ‘investment’ benefit anyone but the vendor? Trickle-down effect? Sure, a lump of foreign capital has arrived in the country but it’s false growth and unsustainable.
The rationale for preventing foreign interests buying existing housing stock is clear – in fact the only beneficiaries are existing vendors but it just creates an inflationary spiral as we have seen.
Preventing sales of land provided that there is clear intent to build – i.e. add to productive capital-stock? Indefensible without incurring the “xenophobe” tag that was being thrown around during the election campaign.
“They are however creating an additional house rather than removing one from the market which would be available for a New Zealand family to buy.”
In the process, they (foreign buyers) are adding to demand for both land and the construction of new builds, driving prices up while squeezing local families out. Leading to the ripple effect.
“In the process, they (foreign buyers) are adding to demand for both land and the construction of new builds, driving prices up while squeezing local families out. Leading to the ripple effect.”
Agree. They are just slowing the wave down, not eliminating it.
Inflationary pressures on house prices will still exist, driving up the cost of new builds to NZers.
Leaving the existing – and often badly maintained and insulated – houses for NZers, is just toying with the problem.
The monetary policies in place still give financial incentives to invest in housing. Non-existent land taxes for undeveloped but residentially-zoned land, encourage landbanking.
Most importantly, a society and politicians that talk about housing in terms of affordability and capital gains instead of as a necessity for a reasonable quality of life, and engagement with community, is one that is unlikely to solve the problem.
Agree some not insignificant imbalance has entered the relationship in the last few years due to increasing nationalistic sentiment in AUS and the weakness of the recent National government in NZ.
“Agree some not insignificant imbalance has entered the relationship in the last few years due to increasing nationalistic sentiment in AUS and the weakness of the recent National government in NZ.”
And the way NOT to resolve that is to throw a ban on residential sales to Aussies as well as other nationalities. We have 650k-odd kith and kin on the other side of the ditch, best we not make their life even more twitchy by ramping up the tit-for-tat tactics.
In anycase, wasn’t it foreigners further “north” that were copping the flak back when the housing market was hissing along?
“Sure, a lump of foreign capital has arrived in the country”
Its highly debatable if a lump of foreign capital arrived or not. If the purchase is in NZ dollars then the closest thing to happen approximating this is a trade of some NZ dollars for some other currency happened in a Forex market. This may have influenced the exchange rate in some way but no money was created or destroyed by such a transaction, it simply changed hands.
To my some of my supporters sorry about the burn I try my best not to affect other people in a negative way as I never do this . I like to Tautoko all, Some people are Schiedsrichterball’s and won’t even step up to protect there moko, I must be unique as I will call out anyone to protect my Moko future. Yes we need more Lady’s to be in management once I started thinking about that subject I figured out that most men can’t see past there other head and there ego and that stop’s them seeing the big picture our future you see I’m calling out most men and I can see that this make’s them nervous as they circle around there Lady’s when I’m present fuck it’s funny.
Some people think that my excellent sense of smell is going to disappear over nite but no this is a gift from my Te Puna many thanks to them. Kia kaha
Thanks for more sprightly imaginative comment from you eco maori. I love the way you work te reo in to it as you carry out stream of conciousness writing. It all adds to the colour and different perspectives that come together here in TS.
And Schiedsrichterball’s is a new high for a simple guy from the sticks which I thought was your persona. Kia kaha.
Won’t they just register a company or trust in NZ and buy them that way?
Seems to me that if you are wealthy enough to speculate in the NZ market the small extra expense wont be much of a barrier?
I want less external investment not more.
I cant compete with someone who can borrow money at less than one percent, or someone who doesnt actually care if they lose ten percent as long as the money is out of the country they live in.
The fact that you just dont know what you are talking about is just another side issue.
Ok, so we’ve established you are for the government’s foreign buyer ban. You appear to be saying though that they’re too clever for us, it’s too hard to enforce, so why bother.
You are ignorant of what is sought to be achieved. You’ve made up that it’s about bringing house prices down. It’s about preventing or minimising another rapid inflation in the future.
“You are ignorant of what is sought to be achieved. You’ve made up that it’s about bringing house prices down. It’s about preventing or minimising another rapid inflation in the future.”
Agreed – it’s a fast way to a one-term government to engineer a crash in the housing market now. That horse has bolted and Labour realises it needs to grow it’s vote with middle-NZ too.
Kiwi-build is the only solution to catching up with the shortage. That and finessing the tax system to deal with the fundamental imbalance which favours property over all other asset classes.
The tax system is decades behind and needs to recognise that capital gain on property has been significant income for many thousands of New Zealanders of a particular demographic.
They’re almost embarrassed at how easy it is.
The bitter take home for low wage earners and young families is that for these people their houses earned several times more in a day than the average wage. All free.
I would have thought it would be more effective (for some nationalities) to ask a NZ resident friend or relative to buy the property for them, under an unwritten agreement. Am not an expert though
When Mike Hosking sees some things they do overseas which he wants us to do here, he says if it’s all right for them, it’s all right for us.
Something happens to stop foreigners buying houses in New Zealand and he is in a tizzy.
If it’s “xenophobic, made-up political bollocks for expediency purposes and nothing else” for us to stop foreigners buying houses here is it xenophobic, made-up political bollocks for expediency purposes and nothing else when they do not allow New Zealanders or any other foreigners buy houses and land in their countries?
Is it possible that Hoskings is teetering on the edge of crashing? He seems to be getting more and more hysterical. Either he is cracking up or his over-exposure is troubling his bosses.
He just wants to reserve the right to sell his property portfolio to the world rather than just New Zealand and if that right damages the bottom end of NZ society then all the better.
Pokemon…? What do russian meddling tentacles, a shadowy troll farm, pokemon go, black lives matter and an ecosystem have in common? The evidence against the mango mussolini mounts…
See for yourself just how seriously the US is taking foreign attempts to create political and social divisions, erode confidence in democracy and undermine the institutions of state.
I just read the letter where Steven Joyce said in the last week the Government announced “removing standards and accountability in our schools.”
I’m sure in all schools they are happy that there are to be no standards in and accountability of our schools.
The realisation of the loss is starting to bite and while the lies and garbage previously emanating from him continue, they will now be tinged with bitterness and rancour.
Steven, get over it, get over yourself, you lost. Now though you are just being pathetic.
We used to have progress and achievement registers, P.A.T scores across all skills areas in Reading English and Mathematics. These were standardized tests which gave a huge amount of information.
Plus Study Skills and all the problem solving skills.
At the time we were second only to Scotland for Educational achievement.
Labour’s Lange brought in School Boards in Primary Education.
National’s Lockwood Smith changed the curriculum and it was all down hill from there.
National Standards and testing ideology brought in by National plus NCEA finished making teaching a hugely difficult repetitive task.
No-one talked of the joy of learning any more. It became a battle ground for diminishing resources.
The Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Iain Lees-Galloway and the Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter have today reaffirmed the new Government’s commitment to halting the Employment (Pay Equity and Equal Pay) Bill that was introduced by the previous Government.
“All three Government parties were clear during the Bill’s first reading that we were opposed to the legislation, and that we would not rest until New Zealand workers have genuine opportunities for pay equity,” says Iain Lees-Galloway.
…
“The current legislation diminishes the opportunity for people to make a pay equity claim, and we were clear that if we were elected then it would be the end of the line for this Bill. We were, and it is.
I prepared to give Jacinda and Labour a chance to deliver. I dont expect everything delivered today. I have some trust, based on facts and evidence, in Labour and i am still wary but willing to give them a chance.
I think critique of Labour at this early stage for things they havent done rather than what they have done is sad.
Boot or critique? I am trying to use the same yardstick for this government as I have for previous govts.
Joyce is right, labour and its partners have been calling for transparency for years, now is the time. By all means do not give away bargaining positions but that is the line you have to work if you want to promote transparency. If you are referring to parker’s announcement today, it raised alot of question which a link to a much more detailed statement addressing those wouldhave helped.
There are many good things in the pipeline from the new government. I’ve posted above on their move against the dodgy Nat Equal pay Act.
However, some of us have been strong critics of the TPPA and have had big concerns about TPPA-11. We have been on many protests against it. It hangs in the balance NOW, and any acceptance of dodgy clauses could be detrimental to many Kiwis for a long time to come. We need to start out concerns ASAP, because in a month or so, it may be too late.
Housing is also a crucial area. If it is not tackled now, in a way that cannot be undone by the likes of TPPA, more Kiwis may suffer, with their health and their lives. So, again, now is not the time to stay silent on things we feel strongly about. And, that IS democracy.
Some of us can be strong critics of Labour and still give them an opportunity to put in place the solutions we want. In the same way as with climate change – any positive movement in the desired direction is reinforced while still wanting even more action.
The problem with these TPP and housing issues, if we don’t speak up now, it may be too late, and there may be no way of incrementally moving things in the direction we want in the future.
I fully endose your right to say what you want to say, I encourage it – I just wanted to put another position. I also thought quite a bit about whether I really cared enough to say something and I realised I did.
I assume people are lobbying the Greens so they can exert pressure or even nzf.
I hear you about the timeframes and I also believe 5 days in after 9 years out is the very earliest part of the first step. It just doesn’t align for me with a new way of doing politics which I hope we are now in.
Well, unfortunately, I am not seeing a new way of doing politcs. It’s looking a lot like what happened under the Clark government. Tinkering with things, without really bringing in any new change or shift in direction.
Then when the Nats got back in, they shifting things more brutally to the right, with many of the least powerful, and least well off NZers really suffering.
And Parker and Robertson are hardly a new guard. When i see solid evidence of a strong shift in direction, I’ll get behind it.
You remind me of my mother, always looking for what may go wrong. No matter how beautiful the day, my mother would see clouds on the horizon, and when relating stories she seemed to relish the disasters, not the successes. My father was the opposite. Guess who was happier and who was better company?
Of course this government will disappoint at various times. It is inevitable, because it is made up of MPs with varied ability and ideology. It is democracy – we do not have enough left wing progressive voters in NZ to have anything else. That is the reality.
I am a socialist and would dearly love to have a truly left wing government, but I know it won’t happen any time soon because there just aren’t enough voters like me. I am still, however, happy to see a government that will make a difference to the poor and vulnerable in this country. I am absolutely confident that the people I know who are struggling will be better off, so I want to celebrate that. I have hope for the first time for decades and I want to relish this while I can.
I know I will get frustrated and disappointed at times in the coming years, but criticising a government that was just formed 5 days ago, on the basis of hunches and dodgy reckons, is completely unproductive and somewhat ridiculous IMO.
I also don’t see any resemblance with the Clark government which had a large number of neo-liberal MPs and did not have a good relationship with the Greens. I keep saying this, but I will again – there are only 4 MPs left from the Clark government.
In South Auckland, the people I know working on the frontline of poverty issues are really pleased that 5 of their local MPs have ministerial positions and they will be making sure that this government delivers on the promises to reduce poverty.
As for getting rid of neo-liberalism this Brian Easton article is quite interesting: http://briefingpapers.co.nz/the-future-of-new-zealand-capitalism/
And, yet, not far up thread I have praised the new government for withdrawing the Nats (un)equal pay legislation.
Democratic participation means being critical when it is thought to be necessary. Accepting the status quo, because that’s what a lot of people do, seems to me to be a pretty lax way of proceeding – especially when it could likely to lead to long term decline in the situation for many of the least well off New Zealanders.
And perhaps you underestimate many Kiwis?
Interesting paper from Easton. I do tend to see him as being quite MOR. However, that paper is for changing the whole underlying culture and narrative of neoliberalism, and especially the way it underpins a lot of policies/legislation – not seeing that so far from Labour.
Easton concludes:
Reducing the influence of neoliberalism in our thinking does not by itself lead to the kinder, gentler and more egalitarian society which Peters seems to seek. But the neoliberal assumptions which underpin so much of policy need to be replaced by something which is both closer to economic reality and more consistent with the human condition. If that does not happen, many will conclude in three years’ time that the new government is still a foe rather than a friend.
No problem with constructive criticism, but it needs to be based on actual legislation, not guesses as to what any future legislation might include or not include. Same with assessments on the likely performance of MPs – making judgements before they have been able to demonstrate their abilities in government is simple prejudice, and not helpful IMO.
But that’s me – I see no point in wallowing in despair at what might or might not happen. I also tend to give people the benefit of the doubt until I am proved otherwise and I am very hopeful that there are enough progressive people in this new government to make some real change in NZ.
A piece from Helen Kelly’s son Dylan reflects my current feelings:
The criticisms about the Labour’s plans and position on TPPA, and their related policy on housing ARE based on the evidence of what Labour has said they plan to do. Look at the detail being debated under the relevant post today.
The potential outcomes are too important to wait and see how this goes down in the upcoming TPP negotiations – especially given that the government is not going to provide full transparency on the negotiations til after the deal is done.
Parker and Robertson do have a long track record on which to match their current statements with past performance.
So, basically, it’s about evidence-based critiques, given the amount of evidence we have.
The TPP, and the dire housing situation are issues I care strongly about, and ones which I will continue to follow critically and closely. Helen Kelly was pretty strong on keeping a close watch on issues she had strong feelings about.
BTW, I am very happy with all Labour’s policies on the things mentioned in Dylan’s OP piece – the one’s closest to Helen kelly’s work and campaigning. And I said very positive things about the repealing of the Hobbit law on TS.
For some reason I was unable to reply to your last comment directly so am here.
To make it clear I have opposed the TPPA since was first mooted several years ago. I signed the current petition to the current government asking them to walk away if the ISDS clause cannot be excluded. Both Parker and Ardern have said they are opposed to the ISDS provisions but do not want to discuss them at this stage as it could hamper their negotiations. Jane Kelsey will continue to lobby them – I think she will be a better advocate than anyone commenting here.
The discussion here on the housing issue is so full of uninformed commentary that I wouldn’t know where to start. The legislation has not been written, nor has the proposed tightening of OIO regulations – criticising a proposal without knowing the details is a waste of time.
Your assessment of Ardern , Parker and Robertson seems to be based on personal prejudice rather than actual evidence. Which is fine as far as it goes – we all do this to varying degrees. However, I prefer to look at what people actually do rather than rely on labels from third parties. And I happen to know all three have been shown to be kind and generous people in real life.
“The discussion here on the housing issue is so full of uninformed commentary that I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Yes, and I’m one of the people trying to guess. As I’ve said elsewhere the ‘trust us we know what we are doing’ approach is no acceptable on such a critical issue.
I also think it’s way less than ideal that we are in the position of having to guess so much. It’s not like the TPPA or even the TPPA-11 is a new thing.
“Helen Kelly was pretty strong on keeping a close watch on issues she had strong feelings about”
Yes – and I will be doing the same. I will be criticising this government when they make mistakes and if (when) they don’t live up to my expectations. However, I am not going to criticise them before they have had a chance to do the right thing.
Actually, my criticisms of Ardern, Parker and Roberston ARE based on past performance. I’ve seen them in action a lot over the last few years, including during and after this last election.
I am particularly concerned that Robertson and Parker lead on these crucial issues, of TPP, and the economic angles.
the problem is mainly with the way he’s tied Labour to expenditure in relation to GDP and past government spending. This is not the policy of a party aiming for a new direction economically.
And Parker has always been somewhat weak on challenging Nat’s TPP-12.
So, the criticism extends to Ardern on economic matters as she has given these responsibilities to Parker and Robertson.
“As I’ve said elsewhere the ‘trust us we know what we are doing’ approach is no acceptable on such a critical issue.”
They have been in power for 5 days. They have only just got access to the information themselves and they have to try and renegotiate TPPA at APEC in a couple of weeks time. Whatever they discuss at that stage would still need to be debated and agreed to by all parties before being passed into law.
The changes in law related to housing will need to be drafted and go through the select committee process. That is the time to criticise and make submissions. Nobody is suggesting that it will be secret.
They have been in power for 5 days. They have only just got access to the information themselves and they have to try and renegotiate TPPA at APEC in a couple of weeks time.
That in itself is a problem. I do feel sorry for Labour about the timing and that they have to deal with this so immediately, but the whole being rushed by other people’s agendas is not good.
Whatever they discuss at that stage would still need to be debated and agreed to by all parties before being passed into law.
See even that is unclear to me. Does it require a vote? (the TPPA).
The changes in law related to housing will need to be drafted and go through the select committee process. That is the time to criticise and make submissions. Nobody is suggesting that it will be secret.
I disagree. If Labour are doing things that might lock us in to the TPPA, then now is exactly the time to be debating that. I’m not worried about the OIA changes, I’m concerned about the TPPA and the timeframes and the fact that we know so little.
Labour can’t lock us into anything at Apec. It still has to go through parliament and hopefully we all get to debate it before this. There seems to an assumption that Labour will be deciding it all at Apec but this is still a negotiating period. In fact it is being revised as we speak in Tokyo so nobody knows the detail at this stage.
You may find it useful to listen to Jane Kelsey to find out the process:
It was never my understanding that Labour would agree to the TPP next week. My understanding is that they are rushing the ban on foreign home ownership, to be in law by early next year.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wants to introduce legislation by Christmas to ban foreign speculators from buying houses in New Zealand.
…
Ms Ardern expects the new legislation, an amendment to the Overseas Investment Act, to take effect from early next year.
And that really doesn’t leave any time at all for select committee processes and consultation – and we also have the Xmas-New Year period in between.
kelsey does make it sound that a lot of work will be done on the TPP negotiations next week.
‘There is an imminent risk that trade ministry officials and the agriculture lobby will bulldoze of the new Labour-led government into taking a position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) this week and foreclose the fundamental rethink of the agreement that it previously said was essential’, warns Auckland University law professor Jane Kelsey.
‘The government needs keep that space open at the meeting of TPPA-11 officials today and tomorrow in Tokyo, which will set the agenda for the APEC meeting in a week’s time’.
A TPP ministerial meeting is expected to be held in Vietnam’s Danang on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next week, aiming to finalise the agreement.
Japan hopes to finalise the deal at the APEC meeting to show other nations that it can act as a champion of free trade and hopes Washington will eventually reconsider and return to the deal.
marty, I truly think it is how important TPP is seen by many who voted for Labour, Green or NZF. To have this being put in as the first “trust us” platform is a concern for me. I know it has been precipitated by the timing of the next meeting BUT the timing of this meeting has been known a very long time so labour and their staff should have been VERY prepared and able to give more detail? It is Labour that have made the connection between the TPP and the change to the OIO, that has opened up alot of speculation and the top Leadership of Labour have been very hard to pin down on definitive stances on TPP since the election… and toward the end of the campaign.
It may be a clever move to address (or seemingly address) the housing problem which is seen as a problem by so many (and “foreigners”…) and then enter the TPP…
If Nats were announcing a new piece of legislation and giving people a month (during the December period) to submit, many here would be more outraged than they are.
The foreign land legislation is a way of getting rid of that issue so that NZ is in a better position to get changes to the ISDS provisions in talks in Vietnam. People seem to think it means that NZ will be signing the final agreement in Vietnam – that is not what will be happening. It still has to be passed by parliament and there is no suggestion at all that TPPA legislation will be rushed through before Christmas. The foreign ownership bill is something that was Labour policy anyway so getting that done with urgency is a separate issue.
Labour promised to be more transparent and they need to be held to that, but the proposal is currently being rewritten in Tokyo sand NZ is presumably trying to get changes underway now. The transparency is required before final sign off. If this doesn’t happen then I will be back on the streets protesting.
As for the Pharmac and Te Tiriti issues the Nats said thesehad been resolved through their negotiations, but they could well have been lying. Labour has not had access to all the TPPA details before last Friday.
it looks like it hasn’t. In the last few days there have been some comments from medical people, expressing concern about the Health elements embedded in the TPP.
It’s not just housing affected by the TPPA, Prime Minister – don’t forget health
“The new Government needs to also keep the potential impact on health in mind as it prepares to take on the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement over offshore investment in New Zealand’s housing market,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).
..
“No one wants health care in this country to be influenced by the vested interests of big international corporates, who will have no scruples about undermining New Zealand’s health system if it gets in the way of their profits.
“Senior doctors have welcomed the new Government’s health policies and are very keen to engage over their implementation. A key part of that for the Government is preserving New Zealand’s autonomy in health decision-making, and not letting the big corporates bully us into decisions that would compromise the health care of our communities,” says Mr Powell.
“Before considering signing this new version of the TPPA the Prime Minister should insist that there is an independent clinical assessment of its impact on our health system including the medicines that our patients depend on.”
But we will still have a public opinion of whether the law was indeed in the public interest, so we will be able to form an opinion of whether Labour followed through on their word, or outright lied or sold out by enabling TPP to take precedence over public interest legislation.
Again, the test of whether they keep their word rests on a precise reading of what they committed themselves to do.
It’s also fair to say that many (of us) harbour high expectations and have ‘heightened senses’; you get that during the honeymoon of a second marriage and after a dull and utterly miserable failed first one of 9 years.
I guess we have to get used to the new Government but this doesn’t mean we forego our vigilance; I’m particularly focussed on more transparency from the powers that be – there’s no accountability without transparency.
Ardern is the PM of a coalition government and I suggest we talk less about what Labour does or doesn’t and more about the Government as such.
Considering the amount of time, the necessary changes are happening fast.
While I may not think that some of the fixes are far enough, I am more than glad that some of the detrimental policies of the last government are a priority to overturn.
It seems to be working, in that there are few “2nd strike” offenders and very few “3 strikes and out” offenders (as shown in the article you link). If the measure was ineffective, you would think there would be more of both.
The measure is not shown to be effective, and a punitive justice system often results in more incarceration, more repeat offending, less rehabilitation. The opposite to what is said to be the intent.
A conviction for a crime should be related to said crime, not a rehash for convictions which have already had time served.
You would only expect to see a decrease in serious offending among the 2- and 3-strikers rather than the population at large. Such a decrease could be swamped by other trends occurring at the same time, resulting in no overall change in violent crime rates.
Personally, I’d be sorry to lose 3 strikes, but I am sure there are other measures Labour could take (around drug rehabilitation and mental health) that would more than make up for it.
However I’m not convinced that 3 strikes will be repealed anyway – how would Labour get Peters on board?
Have we seen a decreasing in reoffending of stage 2 and 3 folks and if yes has a rigorous study shown it is ONLY attributed to this law… not drug and alcohol treatment or similar.
Surely the decrease is seen in 1st strikers scared of becoming 2 and 3rd strikers and in no strikers not wanting to get a first strike?
But here is a calming pause. Some people on Jonathan Cainer’s page with quotes that have settled in the brain.
from Sunshine B “A human being is a part of a whole, called by us ‘universe’, a part limited in time and space.
He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” Einstein
from Janice “There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth – we are all crew.” Marshall McLuan
This is put neatly.
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Teilhard de Chardin
(https://www.cainer.com/features/quote.htm
Pondering “the infinite” is much more enjoyable whilst eating cheese on crackers with a nice little red. After some pondering one simply gives us & relaxes and simply enjoys the moment and that’s when it might hit you …
What might hit you? Tell me please, now I’m all worried and afraid to have a glass of red and cheese. Sounds more relaxing than bread and cheese but perhaps dangerous.
The infinite; “hit” is a euphemism for epiphany. Wine, cheese & crackers are optional but not necessary 😉 A nice cup of tea can work equally well I’ve been told …
Labour’s plan to double the current planting rate of 50 million trees annually has the potential to create a lot of employment with the flow-on effect benefiting struggling regions.
One just hopes no one is paid less than the living wage and safety in the forestry sector is improved. We don’t want a doubling of the current amount of deaths.
Alternative response: yes dear, Ardern is planning to double the number of forestry deaths in a few decades’ time, cunningly disguising it as a tree-planting exercise /sarc
And we have no reason to think that they don’t plan to meet this goal some time in the next three decades. Which is all they need to do to address your latest faux concern. Hell, if the minimum wage is a living wage in 2030 your faux concern is ludicrously pessimistic. And for it to take so long as 2030, we’d be looking at some pretty shit government.
Well you should have voted and campaigned for green then, rather than being a boring concern troll.
You have no idea. Looking at the parties in this government, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened this term, and if it’s not a living minimum wage in 2030 the only way that’s feasible is if we’ll have had a solid 7 years of national in government, i.e. lab6 2 terms and out because they did fuckall, and got replaced by neolibs.
It’s not a “vast” improvement in Labour that’s required, at worst it’s another 2% for the Greens in 2020. If it doesn’t happen this term, that’ll push living wage to the fore.
Oh? Fair enough. and I expect those improvements in sector safety to be made by this government. In this term. They seem to give more of a shit about workers lives than the nats did.
As I said, if Labour don’t bring a living minimum wage to the for this term, the greens will in 2020.
Agreed, McFlock. Chairman tries so hard to appear to be a Leftie, but always urges policies that could be damaging, while trying to spread despondency. An egg of the first order.
Women and not-white people and LGBT folk, Bernie sez wait for your turn.
“Yes. I mean, I think we’ve got to work in two ways,” Sanders answered. “No. 1, we have got to take on Trump’s attacks against the environment, against women, against Latinos and blacks and people in the gay community, we’ve got to fight back every day on those issues. But equally important, or more important: We have got to focus on bread-and-butter issues that mean so much to ordinary Americans.”
Has anybody seen important looking people driving interesting vehicles around the country. It sounds like a giant outdoor camp for military et al, and if you want you can be accepted as an extra in the drama.
What will be the cost to Ministry of Health, cash strapped District Health Boards, Red Cross and St Johns? How much money have we had to borrow to run this?
Dates 2-20 Oct – 18/24 Nov. South Island.
The SK17 exercise scenario will be a continuation of that used in Southern Katipo 15, in which New Zealand deployed a military contingent to lead a multinational combined joint task force to will help restore law and order in a fictional South Pacific country called Becara. The multinational task force conducted stability, support and humanitarian operations, including the evacuation of internally displaced people.
However, the exercise director, Lieutenant Colonel Martin Dransfield, said in SK17 higher threat levels would be used to create more challenging training environments across the spectrum of operations.
“Opposition groups and challenges presented will allow for a range of military and non-military responses to be exercised, both individually as NZDF and collectively with other government agencies, non-governmental organisations and international partners,” Lieutenant Colonel Dransfield said.
As well as the international military partners, New Zealand organisations supporting the exercise will include the New Zealand Customs Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Police, Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand Transport Authority, Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Health, District Health Boards, Red Cross and St John New Zealand.
SK17 would build on the cooperation achieved between the NZDF, other government agencies, non-governmental organisations and regional defence partners during recent humanitarian aid operations such as in Fiji and Kaikoura last year, Lieutenant Colonel Dransfield said.
Major General Tim Gall, Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said SK17 would provide participants with a realistic portrayal of an emergency that might arise in the South West Pacific.
I wrote this about SK17 back on the 12 Oct, trying to run and plan UN style Peacekeeping Ex’s are highly complex as it require a multipole Government and NGO agencies as you need to make the Ex as realistic as possible as all UN or UN supported (INTERFET just to name one) as Peacekeeping operations are never the same as each Peacekeeping operation is and can very dynamic with a of moving parts which can easily get of hand from Tactical POV (as what happen in SK15) or at Strategic POV (At government/ UN security council level aka Rwanda/ Bonsia or when my mate was KIA in ET Ptv Lenny Manning due to having the wrong ROE/ OFOF due to some Wank at inter- government level thought the ET Border patrols was safe and didn’t listen to the OZ and NZ Battalion Commanders at the time as he or she thought the ANZAC’s Cdrs were over egging their intell) as noted below. These types exercises are expensed to run and organise hence SK runs every 2nd or do you want the to NZDF forget what it has learned from other Peacekeeper OPs since the end of the cold war and train for Cold war Ex’s ie Blue Force vs Red force as these Ex’s are cheaper to run.
The current SK17 scenario appears to be base around what happen in East Timor back in 2006 and some other scenarios are also similar to what we face during INTERFET 99-00. The TNI Forces and the TNI backed militia push the our boundaries in terms of our ROE/ OFOF to the limit weather it was on the sea (even under the Sea), in the Air harassing the Naval Task Group incl the Air Bridge between Oz and ET and on the land around Dili and down towards the main centres around the border provinces of ET incl the onclave. You don’t know just how close it came to a all out war with the TNI. Once our section was outnumbered by 3to1 at abandoned police/ TNI barracks and it was only when shook out into a attacking formation, (I my loaded the M79/ prep the M72’s for firing) etc, for a few mins we thought we were about to meet our maker and then other side backed down rather quickly once they saw that we meant business.
Then there is the handling of dead bodies, documented the voting fraud, the illegal abuse detainees by the TNI/ police and the human rights abuse aka rape, torture, shooting detainees etc. But another story to tell one day.
SK ex’s are a good foundation stone for the NZDF, foreign forces, other agencies both Government and NGO’s to prepare for such events for the future. Because Peacekeeping operations can be very fast and dynamic with a lot of thinking on your feet, be it the humble private/ trooper or PC etc to very to top of the decision making progress at inter government level?
To some on the left Peacekeeping may sound sexy to you, but as follow lefty who has done Peacekeeping I’ve seen the best of human kind and the bloody worst of human kind.
A well prepared, well equipped and trained Defence Force for UN peacekeeping for Chapter 1 to Chapter 7 missions comes with a big price tag than most people here realise.
Ex Kiwi forces
Interesting and you know what you are talking about. Peacekeeping can be a rotten task so training is important. I don’t feel that the defence forces are my friends though. I feel ambivalent. It seems that it is expected that there will always be some conflict somewhere that we can be called up to participate in. When nz goes overseas to Middle East etc do we pay, the USA, the UN or…?
The scenario for the 2015 and current business is that of a country that is rebelling against the government. Sort of like in Catalonia and Spain, or the South Island wanting autonomy. The permanency of a defence force wasn’t the case before WW2. What would happen if we disbanded everyone, had the territorials to keep some expertise, and called them into help in disasters only.
When its a UN sanction Peacekeeping mission authorize by the UN Security Council aka Blue Hat one as i’m not sure about the INTERFET or MFO in the Sinai ones, but I do have a feeling they also its come out of the UN Peacekeeping Budget and payed that has forces assigned to the mission ie extra pay, cost of maintain equipment or loss/ of equipment due warlike or non warlike damage etc. These UN peacekeeping can be a little money earner for 2nd and 3rd countries as they are payed in US Dollars. Take for example Fiji maintains 2 light Infantry Battalions UN Peacekeeping operations in the Middle East, Nepal always has a battalion on ops, Jordan and Kenya to name a few.
SK15 and SK17 scenario’s appears to based around happen to us during International Force East Timor (INTERFET), later the UN mission post INTERFET (Col Dransfield was CO for NZBATT2 when Lenny was KIA) and during 2006 around the Pacific/ East Timor where either the locals or elements of the Security forces (Military/Police) rebelled against their Governments either in support local pop or not.
The case I will use is ET 2006 which almost split down the lines of the Civil war of 1975 prior to TNI invasion as we had the police shooting at the Army, Army and elements of the Navy shooting at each other and at the police if that wasn’t a enough the under/ unemployed youth raise up at everybody especially at the Chinese aid projects which were using their people on their aid Projects unlike they way the UK, EU, NZ and OZ aid projects where we trained the locals up.
I think the way Warfare/ Conflicts have develop post WW2, the idea of NZ maintaining non standing Defence Force is dated. Todays NZDF has to have what is known in some Staff collages is the “Utility of Force” ranging from Chapter 1 to Chapter 7 UN missions (non warlike to warlike operations) HADR missions and the elephant in room atm is climate Charge and what’s that going to bring?
A really good book to read is called ” The Utility of Force the Art of Modern War Fighting” by Rupert Smith a former British Officer, former UN Force Cdr and his been to the usual places when Brit Army has been. Sir or is it Lord Paddy Ashdown’s Book called I think its called (I did have copy once) Swords in Ploughshares. Sir Paddy has just about done everything in life apart from going in space I think. I have met bloke a couple times in the UK and I keep questions to him as is a very interesting person. Then you’ve got David Kilcullen’s 3 books and I believe he has another on the way.
The books might give you and others here an ideal on what’s likely to happen into the future and some of the scenario’s describe in the books are already happening. As I’ve said elephant in room atm is climate Charge and what’s that going to bring to party?
You said it ex kiwiforces. Who knows? I’ll have a look at those books. Got to get up to date. Reading an old secondhand book by Conan Doyle and its about Napoleon’s end, written round 1919. So very old story.
Old Boney, was it very interesting character as aMilitary Commander or a civilian administrator with some of the laws he enacted as emperor are still French law today. Some scholars have said he also set off some untended events which were to lead to gave conquests for yrs to come will after he died. Battle of Jena where he defeated the Prussian Army for a second time the other place was at Namy about 45km west of Paris. The Prussian defeat lead to a major restructure of it Army under Carl von Clasusewitz, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau which lead the forming of the General Staff and they say the rest was history. British domination of ocean after war which lead to the British Empire.
My NZ Grandfathers side we have a long distant relative who was a French Col in the imperial army who had retired before the French Revolution and he was recall to the colours by Boney. He marched his old regiment from the channel to old killing ground of the Prussian Army of Verdun. Col Louis Beaurepaire defend Verdun with than 900 men against about 20K strong Prussian only to be killed in a mysterious way. As the night before his death the people assembly want to surrender and he didn’t want too as knew the longer they held out against the Prussians it the main French Forces had time and space for them organised. Col Beaurepaire body went missing and I think this because he was killed by his own side. The weaked Pussian Army capture Verdun, but to destoy at Namy by Boney.
My late NZ grandmother and other members of the family had the same feeling toward the forces, as we come from a Socialist/ Communist/ Presbyterina Methodist background. But she always said we are necessary evil to have and who is going to take arms to protect we fought hard for or defend and protect the people who can’t defend themselves against tyranny. Hence why I want to Peacekeeping since I was a kid.
What a mine of information you are. And interesting to hear Verdun being battleground at that early time, so in WW1 it wasn’t new to battle. What a historic spot.
Conan Doyle is finishing the book with the Emperor about to be captured. He has assessed the cause as lost. He wants his documents and the whereabouts of resources to fund possible further military moves, to be placed in safety with a trusted person and has offered his three closest longest serving officers the opportunity to take money and give him up to see who would resist and prove loyal. He says he can’t trust anyone and sets up a meeting point for document handover but someone else has got them and they are on the chase. Tough times for the little Emperor. It is very interesting looking at the old history.
Robert Harris writes good books based on past events. It’s true that we need arms to protect ourselves from armed tyranny and robbery. But we also can’t afford to relax and let subversive elements into our country, and I’m not thinking of terrorists now, I’m thinking of the new economic order which has been like a takeover, a quiet revolution. Getting whiteanted can also be devastating as we have found. We now need to defend and protect what we have left from economic tyranny.
Sedan, Verdun and another place south on the Rhine which France and Germany have fought over as well. All 3 cities have been the main approaches for attack/ defence for either country until WW1. My parents have been to Verdun some years ago for a visit and they were hoping I heading over next year as we have another Beaurepaire buried in France just outside the village of Le Quesnoy who died of his wounds 7 days before the war ended.
I enjoy reading Robert Harris, Len Deighton and Frederick Forsyth books due the research they put into their books. John Le Carre spy books are just is good as well and it might due to his time the Uk’s secret service.
Here’s a good read for alt WW2 history https://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Hitlers-Panzers-East-R-H-S-Stolfi/9780806125817 It’s based on the OKH (German Army Command) Operation Orders, OKH’s MAP, CONOP’s, their understanding of the Russian Political and Military Command Control and Comminution’s when trained with Russains in the 1930’s during Hitler’s rearmament program and from the Fin’s during Russian Finland war in 39-40.
Kenneth Macksey (former WW2 Brit Tankie) did a couple of books on alt WW2 history, one on the invasion of England and the other on Hitler’s other Strategic options. I can’t remember if was Macksey or Basil Liddel Hart books, but someone in the late 50’s early 60’s got all the major players that were still alive that time to war game the invasion of England and of some Hitler’s other options and the results were quite interesting.
Sir John Hackett’s book on WW3 are a good read, The Third World War: August 1985, which was a fictionalized scenario of the Third World War based on a Red Army invasion of West Germany in 1985. It was followed in 1982 by The Third World War: The Untold Story, which elaborated on the original, including more detail from a Soviet perspective
Pretty much concur with last your paragraph. I remember watching a Sam Neil doc sometime ago about the state of NZ under the Neo Lib experiment and If I ever bump into him i’m shouting him a beer as I almost had tears at what he said.
Hitlers Panzers East is a dated book. No matter what they had done, the Germans simply lacked the means to defeat the USSR in 1941. The Germans forces that defeated Kirpinos in the South would have had to fight those Soviet armies some time, and the attrition the USSR subjected the Germans to meant the Nazis simply lacked the resources to defeat the Soviet Union.
The German invasion force (plus allies) numbered around 3.8 million men on June 22 1941, of which German troops were about 3.3 million. Bearing in mind Russia’s geography acts as a funnel (that is, the front was shortest at at the start of the attack, and the German armies funneled out to front that was over 2200km long, with a smaller force) German losses from all causes (KIA/MIA/WIA/illness) were: (rounded)
June 91,000 (just eight days!)
July 181,000
August 225,000
September 187,000
October 167,000
November 157,000
December 166,000
The figures above clearly some the effect of continuous Soviet counter-attacks on the Germans. The army suffered peak combat losses as early as August, and combat losses rapidly fell off after that, indicating a decline in the ability of the German army to maintain high tempo, high loss operations. This is especially clear when you consider that of the August figures, 34,000 were sickness related (and 196,000 combat related) and the December figures fully 90,000 were sick (mainly frostbite). If you consider the continuous winter battles around Moscow and Kharkov into March 1942 as part of the first phase of the fighting on the Eastern front, then total German losses in first nine months of Barbarossa were: 1.1 million killed, wounded, and missing and 567,461 sick. So, to take stock, the Germans lost around 300,000 KIA and MIA, 850,000 WIA (380,000 of which were so badly wounded as to be unfit for further combat duty) – so, around 700,000 irrecoverable losses, or almost 100% of their infantry strength.
On top of the enormous strain of combat losses was the hopeless logistics of the invaders. An example of German logistical weakness was the lack of winter clothing available to the troops in 1941. Historians often blithely put it down to German over-confidence, that they were not prepared for the Russian winter and it took them by surprise. Of course the Germans knew what Russian winters were like – they had been in Russia during WW1 for years!!! The reality was they simply had no means, after supplying ammunition and fuel and limited rations, to deliver large quantities of warm clothing. That was the state of the German army’s logisitics in 1941.
In sum, despite the awesome power of the German army it simply lacked the ability to over-run the USSR in a single season. The Soviet Union fought back with such ferocity that after August the Germans ability to maintain combat operations at the required tempo began to drop off. By the time the Soviets launched their Moscow counter-attack, the offensive combat power of Army Group Centre was long finished.
1. If Hitler hadn’t taken part in the Balkan’s side show which delayed the start Op Barbarossa by 2-3mths, there are pro’s and con’s to the Balkan’s War or Hitler’s southern flank.
2. If Hitler hadn’t remove 90% of the Panzer Divisions from Army Group Centre to conduct some wild goose chase in the south(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B6tzen_decision) which added about an extra 800kms there and back again. Which in turn slowed the advance of Army Group Centre down and competently sources aka Von Manstein, Guderian, Halder etc, OKH Operations Orders, German military archives and from the former USSR Army archives. Army Group Centre would’ve had clear run to Moscow and beyond as there was no defensive line in place until old Hitler ordered those panzers sth. Which in turn the Soviets give the time and space (time and space means a lot armoured forces weather its in attack or defence and it was drilled in me when I was Crew Commander when I was in the RNZAC) to build up its defensive line and along with Army Group Centre’s worn out panzers from its wee detour south stop the German advance on the outskirts of Moscow. Had it not been for Hitler’s stupid order of no withdrawal at Moscow as Army Centre commanders want to shorting it supply lines, the 1942 summer offensive may not have been directed at Stalingrad, but encirclement of Moscow instead which could’ve cause all sorts of problems for the Russian’s.
3. The OKH (Army High Command) under the Franz Halder understood along with the Senior Field Commanders knew that Moscow had to their Centre of Gravity if Op Barbarossa was to succeed as they Soviet Political and Military Command Control, Comminution’s was a very strict top down decision process and very inflexible unlike the German Mission orientated orders which allows field commander greater flexibility and ability to achieve the overall Commanders Intent. A good cdr looks at the Cdr’s overall intent, the mission verb, timings , admin and log. Had the original Op Ord had been adhere too (just like the original Manstein’s Plan for Fall Yellow had been followed there wouldn’t been a Dunkirk) Op Barbarossa would’ve succeed in my view if it wasn’t for Hitlers mending to go after economic objectives instead of military objectives.
Do our farmers care? Artificial milk is very soon. Be hard to stop the science progress.
Dairy farming?
Rachel Stewart:
“Another fool, the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Peter Gluckman, told the recent NZBIO conference that great strides were being made commercialising artificial milk and meat.” (Fool in eyes of farmers.)
“Gluckman also said synthetic milk was the biggest threat to New Zealand, because of the country’s reliance on its “liquid gold” dairy exports.”…..
…”Based on some of the investors who are driving the tech – Leonardo DiCaprio, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, Richard Branson, Bill Gates – it’s a solid bet.”
I for one will be a lot happier about drinking a product blended from vats of engineered bacteria and yeasts. Better than something squeezed out of a cow from just below its sewer outfalls. Once it’s made into cheese or yoghurt, even better.
Ditto for what goes into my burgers and sausages and other small goods. If it smells like bacon and tastes like bacon and gets a good crispy mouthfeel like bacon, I’ll be even happier if it doesn’t come from murdering a pig. Since I never eat steak or roasts, it won’t bother me that those are a lot further from being synthesised.
Andre
You need bacteria to survive I understand. Millions of them form part of your defecation. Personally i would like to hang onto to a beautiful Jersey rather than a laboratory created mixture. And someone will pick up some bug or reaction to the synthetic and it will be as popular as vaccinations or mesh in operations.
Oh yeah. Only about 10% of the cells (by number) travelling around in and on the sacks of lumpy and wobbly and slimy bits called our bodies are actually us: the rest are various bacteria and other hitchhikers. Some of whom are as important to our well-being as the bits that are all us.
Unlike Gareth, I’m not planning to come for Bessie. If she gives you joy, and a bit of your sustenance, I’m happy for you both. I’m sure she prefers being lovingly tended to by someone that truly cares for her, rather than being herded into a crowded noisy shed twice a day and plugged in to some weird machine. Nor have I got plans to coerce you to consume the spawn of some satanic machinery.
There will always be those that persuade themselves that something is bad for them, when it really isn’t. Look at the current fad of being gluten intolerant, very few of whom genuinely are. If those people want to spend huge amounts of money pandering to their psychosomatic symptoms, I view it as a kind of idiot tax.
I’ve read that about gluten too. But I think one needs the bigger picture. They might have gut problems and find that less gluten helps even though they are not formally identified as gluten free. And it is part of experimenting to see what foods bring health.
We have had the chemicals around us increase exponentially since WW2 and combine to create new effects etc It’s easy to criticise about apparent pickiness and fashion re gluten free. I don’t know much but do some work in an organic shop and meet people with health problems and hear their difficulties. I made the point yesterday that we are ignorant about a lot of things, food is just one of them. We just do the best we can in a changing world, one where people assume so much, without solid facts. And even the solid facts and the research that led to them have to be checked out.
Thanks patricia and Incognito. Read it saved for further reflection.
Change is coming fast. Labour did that what is the nature of work in the future recently. How timely.
And John Mauldin’s piece resonates:
“The calls for a guaranteed basic income (like Mark Zuckerberg’s) are just beginning, but that is going to become a major political theme in our future. Like King Canute, we cannot stop the tides – but perhaps we could get creative and channel that tide. What do we think of shorter work weeks? Just as Roosevelt put men to work during the Depression, maybe we need to think about finding jobs around our communities that need to be done. Guaranteed basic employment. Mull that over….”
Subject: Press Release: Sue Henry (Housing Lobby) “Stop the transfer (privatisation) of Tamaki tenancies!”
1 November 2017
“Now we have a new Government, there are some urgent, ongoing issues that need addressing,” says Sue Henry, Housing Lobby Spokesperson.
“In early November 2017, the tenancies in Tamaki, curently held by the Tamaki Housing Association (Limited Partnership), are planned to be transferred, (under the ‘Partnership model’) to an Australian consortium, or other private operator, to manage, or to be sold.”
“Instead of tenants being shoved into an even deeper trench, of former Housing Minister Nick Smith’s making, this ridiculous idea needs to be stamped out, immediately.”
“Former State tenants in Tamaki have had so many disruptive changes forced upon them in a short space of time – this must stop.”
“All we saw under the previous National Government’s watch was ‘pass the parcel’ and a 70 year old institution fragmented to such an extent, it is unrecognisable.”
“Tenants in Tamaki have had to deal with having families split up, communities dislocated, made transient, as well as having their secure tenancies abolished.”
“In many cases tenants have had their lives destroyed, and had their long-time exisiting homes and communities bulldozed to the ground.”
(4 minute video of the destruction of the solid former State house at 14 Taniwha St Glen Innes, demolished on Tuesday 31 October 2017).
“We want immediate action by this new Government to STOP the transfer (privatisation) of Tamaki tenancies.”
This discussion is from a Twitter thread by Martin Kulldorff on 20 December 2020. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School specialising in disease surveillance methods, infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. His Twitter handle is @MartinKulldorff #1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single ...
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock. John Kenneth Galbraith was wont to say that economic forecasting was designed to make astrology look good. Unfair, but it raises the question of the purpose of economic forecasts. Certainly the public may treat them ...
Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual ...
Joe Biden seems to be everything that Donald Trump was not – decent, straightforward, considerate of others, mindful of his responsibilities – but none of that means that he has an easy path ahead of him. The pandemic still rages, American standing in the world is grievously low, and the ...
Keana VirmaniFrom healthcare robots to data privacy, to sea level rise and Antarctica under the ice: in the four years since its establishment, the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund has supported over 30 projects.Rebecca Priestley, receiving the PM Science Communication Prize (Photo by Mark Tantrum) Associate Professor ...
Nothing more from me today - I'm off to Wellington, to participate in the city's annual roleplaying convention (which has also eaten my time for the whole week, limiting blogging despite there being interesting things happening). Normal bloggage will resume Tuesday. ...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponscame into force today, making the development, possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law. Every nuclear-armed state is now a criminal regime. The corporations and scientists who design, build and maintain their illegal weapons are now ...
"Come The Revolution!" The key objective of Bernard Hickey’s revolutionary solution to the housing crisis is a 50 percent reduction in the price of the average family home. This will be achieved by the introduction of Capital Gains, Land, and Wealth taxes, and by the opening up of currently RMA-protected ...
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
At an antagonistic hearing yesterday, the internet giant laid out the ‘worst case scenario’. And Facebook is also considering an ‘amputation’. Hal Crawford was watching.Google is poised to hit self-destruct in Australia according to a fractious Senate hearing into an unprecedented law that will force digital giants to pay money ...
It’s great to hear Phil Twyford celebrating a success. Not a personal ministerial success, it’s fair to say, but a success nevertheless related to arms control. The arms on which Twyford is focused, it should be noted, will make quite a mess if they are triggered. They tend to be ...
Duncan Greive and Leonie Hayden were young hip hop heads and music journalists during the era captured in a new documentary about the rise and fall of South Auckland hip hop label Dawn Raid. Here they discuss the film and their memories (what’s left of them) of that time. Warning: contains ...
Houses might be the most popular and inflated purchases in New Zealand, but there are plenty of other products that are seeing soaring demand and prices over the past few months. Here’s a list of what New Zealanders are spending their money on with international travel out of the picture.Used ...
"The young boy leaps, the muscles in his thighs tensing and twisting as he lifts from the handrail": the noble art of bombing, by Pātea writer Airana Ngarewa A beautifully muscled boy is posted on the side of a pool, his feet fixed to the top of a pair of ...
How Waiwera Hot Pools went from New Zealand’s most visited water park to dereliction and decay. Many who grew up in Auckland likely have fond memories of Waiwera Hot Pools. Like me, they remember summer days spent racing down the slides and playing in the naturally hot pools. But how did ...
A government contract for a P rehab programme was canned after half a million dollars of taxpayer money was given out. Aaron Smale investigates. The Ministry of Health spent over half a million dollars on a P Rehab contract before pulling the pin because there were no results or progress reports. ...
Kia Koropp and her husband John Daubeny have been cruising the Pacific, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean over the past decade with their two children onboard their 50ft yacht, Atea. Starting in 2011 from Auckland, New Zealand, they have sailed more than 64,000 kilometres and just completed their longest ...
We are drowning out the natural world with synthetic sounds, and it’s getting worse, writes Michelle Langstone.It used to be quiet once. Remember that? Remember the hush that settled over the cities like the silence that comes down in a snowstorm? It’s less than a year since Aotearoa first locked ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden in the latest episode of On the Rag as they examine the topic of boobs from every possible angle. First published November 16, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Seventy-five years after the US detonated the first nuclear tests in the Pacific, New Zealand pledges its support to Joe Biden's first tentative step towards disarmament. Today, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons comes into effect, making it illegal for New Zealand and the 50 other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Terry, Professor of Psychology, University of Southern Queensland The challenge of bringing the world’s best tennis players and support staff, about 1,200 people in all, from COVID-ravaged parts of the world to our almost pandemic-free shores was always going to be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoffrey Browne, Research Fellow in International Urban Development, University of Melbourne The Victorian government has committed to removing 75 road/rail level crossings across Melbourne by 2025. That’s the fastest rate of removal in the city’s history. The scale of the investment — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW In an age of hyperpartisan politics, the Biden presidency offers a welcome centrism that might help bridge the divides. But it is also Biden’s economic centrism that offers a chance to cut through what has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Stevens, Lecturer in History, University of Waikato In a year of surprises, one of the more pleasant was the recent runaway viral popularity of 19th century sea shanties on TikTok. A collaborative global response to pandemic isolation, it saw singers and ...
The sudden departure of Graine Moss from her Chief Executive role at Oranga Tamariki is a vital first step in a sequence of changes that must take place at the Ministry according to a group of wahine Māori leaders. Dame Naida Glavish, Dame Tariana Turia, ...
A new poem from Dunedin poet Jenny Powell.Her uncle’s eyeShe introduced us to her uncle’s eye floating in a jar.Lost in an accident, he hadn’t wanted to lose it again. He left it to her in his will.We must have looked shocked. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I turn him to ...
The chief executive of Oranga Tamariki is quitting, leaving behind an agency she’s admitted suffers from structural racism. Justin Giovannetti looks at the future of Oranga Tamariki.Grainne Moss’s tenure as head of Oranga Tamariki has been untenable since November when the government’s senior Māori minister wouldn’t express any confidence in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Sainsbury, Senior Lecturer Composition, Australian National University Despite having different cultural backgrounds and experiences — Indigenous composers with an Indigenous mentor, and a pianist descended from Anglo-colonial history — it is nevertheless possible to create a project that can serve as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Plank, Professor in Applied Mathematics, University of Canterbury With new, more infectious variants of COVID-19 detected around the world, and at New Zealand’s border, the risk of further level 3 or 4 lockdowns is increased if those viruses get into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Hogg, Lecturer in Psychology, Charles Sturt University Horse racing is an ethical hotbed in Australia. The Melbourne Cup alone has seen seven horses die after racing since 2013, and animal cruelty protesters have become a common feature at carnivals. The latest ...
Right now, our most fiery national debate is over whether New Zealanders were nice to the singer Amanda Palmer in a café. Desperate to restore peace in our nation, Hayden Donnell went in search of the truth.Joe Biden had barely finished calling for unity when Amanda Palmer posted a tweet ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut (Pushkin Press, $37)Maths, cyanide, suicide, gardening; ye ...
Wellington artist Estère isn’t just breaking boundaries, she’s dissecting them. Maddi Rowe spoke to her about her new album, Archetypes.“That’s the story of pelicans, they’ll stab themselves in the heart to feed their young.”Despite the somewhat dark subject matter, Estère Dalton’s eyes sparkle with fascination. We’ve met to discuss Archetypes, ...
Cycling advocates are welcoming new advice from the Transport Agency on safe cycling. "Cyclists hate it when drivers pass too close. That's scary and dangerous," said Patrick Morgan from Cycling Action Network. "So it's encouraging to see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tilman Ruff, Honorary Principal Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne Today, many around the world will celebrate the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty to enter into force in 50 years. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear ...
The Public Service Association welcomes the creation of a Chief Executive role to lead the public service’s pay equity work, and the appointment of Grainne Moss to this position. "Unions and public service employers are currently working ...
The Council of Trade Unions is warning that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures out today illustrate that the cost of living is increasing disproportionately for those on lower incomes; resulting in the poor getting poorer. CTU Economist Craig ...
Why are there so many offensive comments on the New Zealand Police Facebook page and are they breaking the law? Janaye Henry investigates. New Zealand Police Facebook pages – there are a number of them, for different regional police districts around the country – are an interesting place to spend ...
Our guide to stopping procrastinating and actually (finally) getting on top of investing. Because there’s a good chance that if you’re reading this, you don’t know a single thing about it.In part one, we covered some of the basic things you need to know about investing – why do it? ...
Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft acknowledges the huge effort and commitment of departing Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Grainne Moss and says her decision to resign today was principled. “The issues facing Oranga Tamariki are beyond individual ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Two Large Waves versus One Tsunami. Chart by Keith Rankin. Two Large Waves versus One Tsunami. Chart by Keith Rankin. With Covid19, Italy shows the classic European pattern, with its early outbreak, substantial recovery thanks to lockdowns and other public health measures, and resurgence thanks to complacency ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabrielle Appleby, Professor, UNSW Law School, UNSW This year has already seen significant progress in the government’s commitment to establish a body – a “Voice” – that would allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have a say when the government ...
Northland farmer Derek Robinson was sentenced earlier today by the District Court in Whangarei for two offences of ill-treating animals at rodeo events. Mr Robinson was found guilty in November last year, following a defended hearing. The charges ...
Under fire Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss has announced she will resign, effective February 28, Marc Daalder reports After four and a half years at the helm of child protection agency Oranga Tamariki, chief executive Grainne Moss has announced she will be leaving the position at the end of ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and New Zealand Police acknowledge the sentencing of 36-year-old Aaron Joseph Hutton on charges relating to the possession of child sexual exploitation material, and entering into a dealing involving the sexual exploitation ...
Ngā Tāngata Microfinance (NTM) is calling for tougher penalties for those caught promoting pyramid schemes. Such business models are illegal under the Fair Trading Act 1986. This call comes after the Commerce Commission issued a ‘stop now’ notice ...
British High Commissioner to New Zealand Laura Clarke is calling on young women aged 17 to 25 to apply for the annual ‘Be British High Commissioner for the Day’ competition. The winner will have the opportunity to become an ‘honorary High Commissioner’, ...
The Māori Party is welcoming the resignation of Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss after sustained pressure from leading figures within the Māori Party. This resignation is the result of the continued strong pressure of the Māori Party ...
In a historic corner of Dunedin, startup culture is thriving. Catherine McGregor visited the city’s Warehouse Precinct to meet the people driving the movement. When Jason and Kate Lindsey bought the four storey building now known as Petridish, it was an absolute wreck. Once home to a thriving hat and textiles ...
Summer reissue: The Fold’s very first guest is back to tell Duncan Greive how she pulled off the media deal of the year.The chaotic couple of weeks which finally saw the end of the Stuff-NZME saga were riveting and strange, replete with stock exchange announcements, legal challenges and finally the ...
Chris Liddell has dropped his candidacy to become director-general of the Paris-based OECD. Without support from the Ardern government and vilified in the media as somehow being involved in the encouragement by Donald Trump of the Washington riots, he plainly saw he had little chance of crowning his stellar career ...
Tara Ward hands out her first impression roses as she dives deep into the sea of single men vying to win The Bachelorette NZ’s heart. While the world burns in a searing fireball of unpredictability, we can take comfort in the fact that some things never change. The heart still yearns, ...
People from all around New Zealand will be converging on the super-secret Waihopai satellite interception spybase, in Marlborough, on Saturday January 30th. ...
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The kind of power that makes all the aggravation of being president worthwhile for the dayglo pervert with petite paws: the ability to appoint a crony tax-evasion-enabler as acting IRD commissioner.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-tax-scam-we-know-and-the-tax-scam-we-dont-know_us_59f7d02de4b0e4c2eab1c348?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
I hope someone is documenting the Siege of Manus Island on video. Regrettably, Paul Newman is no longer available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manus_Regional_Processing_Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_(1960_film)
We should be suspending diplomatic relations with Australia.
Idiot comment of the decade. But for the good fortune of geography NZ would be struggling with (and mishandling) the exact same issue. We have nothing to be smug about.
By sheer social coincidence I’ve just spent five days with a senior Australian military diplomat. The kind of person who is on first name terms with their Foreign Minister. Lots of interesting issues came up, and I’m not going to air most of them here.
Except to say that the real story of people smuggling is a LOT more complex and ugly than most kiwis would ever imagine. As unattractive as Abbott’s solution has been, it’s stopped something orders of magnitude worse.
You mean something like this .. ?
http://apo.org.au/node/116281
“Idiot comment of the decade”
In the leading pack to be sure. But I fear you forget how strong the competition is.
It’s a relay 😉
Doing nothing is the idiot course of action. Condoning human rights abuses is the idiot comment of the decade.
Australia is violating international human rights law. They refuse to listen via standard diplomatic channels, so go a step further and chuck out their diplomats. If that doesn’t work, sanctions. Shame them into doing something. Because nothing will get done by just asking politely if Australia could please stop human rights abuses.
RNZ repeating the words of vested interests.
The real estate industry would say this…….
Do your job RNZ.
You are journalists, not pr and comms for lobby groups.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/342801/foreign-home-buyer-ban-will-it-make-any-difference
Interesting fact in there, the ban does not apply to Aussies. Probably inevitable given CER
Interesting fact.
RNZ give Vox pop to real estate agents without checking or challenging their claims.
Reporters . No.
Repeaters. Yes.
Maybe it’s about reciprocity.
“Foreigners would still be able to buy land and develop housing on it for on-sale. Australians would have a special carve-out to still be able to buy homes – as Kiwis do in Australia.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98417459/labour-will-make-all-existing-homes-sensitive-effectively-banning-foreign-buyers
Kiwis are being kicked out of Australia against the CER. Perhaps it’s time to reciprocate that or simply drop the CER – Australia obviously doesn’t want it any more.
But are we dependent on CER for Oz trade? What would happen concerning the banks here owned by Oz. What would happen to NZs living and working in Oz? Not all of them are being repatriated. Economically and culturally they may be doing better than our decimated economy allows. So be careful what you wish for talking about dropping CER. Much as I don’t like it we may have to keep swallowing dead rats while Oz looks on, and baits the dancing bear, the toothless tiger etc.
David Clark pointed out that the property cycle has peaked now (my view is the capital restrictions out of China is the major contributor to this) but it’s the next surge when this policy will benefit ordinary New Zealanders because in a rising market you can be sure these speculators and their resident proxies will be back.
And there’s a little loop hole, apparently. Morning Report tweeted:
So that would be the entire high rise block at New Lynn – commercial premises on the ground floor, several storeys of flats above them?
While the Labour Party cheerleaders will trumpet this, in reality, it’s a piss poor effort.
What does piss poor mean? Is it something to do with drinking your own urine and the quality of that beverage?
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/piss-poor
Thanks i knew it should be poor piss to be accurate.
Presumably cases like this would have to pass the sensitivity test by an expanded OIO. Not really a loophole, imo.
“Presumably cases like this would have to pass the sensitivity test…”
With Parker stating they will be exempt, that’s unlikely.
In Carolyn’s example when is the building an apartment building with an retail floor at the bottom, and when is it a commercial building with and apartment at the top?
A grey area that one would assume will be defined within the policy before it takes effect.
@Muttonbird – sensitivity only applies to farmland over 5ha, not to commercial urban property
Is commercial property a big issue here? Is it even that attractive to foreign interests? I don’t know enough about it but what I do know is that homelessness isn’t increasing and home ownership isn’t dropping and communities are becoming more transient because of commercial property sales.
I’m tending to want to concentrate on the pressing problems for NZ families and the disenfranchised not on opportunities for local commercial property investors.
still, if TPP would stop us restricting it if it becomes an issue…
@ Muttonbird
“Is commercial property a big issue here?”
Something to ponder.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/79388133/Small-retailers-hurt-as-Auckland-CDB-rents-soar
Agreed. Drive down Broadway right now and every third shop is empty. This, in the middle of a supposed booming economy. Retail is being attacked from all sides atm.
Mind you, the fewer $2 shops we see, the better.
this applies to everywhere.
leases for commercial properties are based on not much else then wishful thinking and thus shops and more often then not ground level/shopfront type office spaces that no one can do anything with really.
Frida.
OIA doesnt get bare urban land either, so a non resident can speculate on sections all they like, and land costs are where the problem is.
@DavidC – correct
Each of the New Lynn apartments has its own title.
Can’t be sold as a single block.
Title to the car park block is also separate.
Totally agree Ed. Soon as I heard that I thought yep vested interests much. RNZ present these comments as if they were objective observations from people who know what they’re talking about. They are real estate salespeople FFS!
Yes they are always described as ‘experts.’
Did you notice on the Panel the other day how Stephen Franks was an ex-MP?
No mention of him being an ACT MP.
Frank’s always scares me – a cold fish fanACTick with no business being listened to.
Issue by issue…
Stephen Franks helped to stop the proposed Wellington ‘Supercity’.
To be fair.
You’re more forgiving than me Penny.
Wasn’t a he National MP for a time as well?
It will be interesting to see some details of how exactly this is going to be implemented to if it will have any power to stop non resident purchasers.
A couple of things come to mind immediately tho….
The non resident wealth (two Chinese families) I have dealt with use English speaking (lawyer) proxies who live here anyway… Its not a big step for the proxies to be purchaser IF the wealth is intent one owning a house.
If the wealth is not fixated on a house and is just looking to stash some funds safely external to their country then they will go into other long term holdings… probably land or mixed/commercial. Neither are subject to OIA so no problem.
But one thing we do know already is that this is just window dressing and will make no real difference. Only a few percent of houses are purchased by non residents so Labour are just doing this to be seen as doing something. Pure virtue signalling.
IF they want to get real then land supply is where the difference can be made.
I’d expect to see heavy penalties legislated for those lawyers, trust managers, or other proxies caught acting on behalf of offshore speculators.
Good luck with that.
By definition, if the proxie uses a legal entity for purchase then the wealth is an investor in the entity, not in a house.
A lawyer can be director of a trustee company, which uses legally sourced funds for housing purchases. A few hoops but all easy. I would also expect the larger property management companies to set up trustee companies.
But as I said above, its all bullshit. there is no actual intent to make this work.
Do large property management companies ‘own’ NZ residential property? I wasn’t aware of that. I thought property management companies did just that – manage property for landlords.
If your prediction is that proxy property owning trusts are going to be set up left, right, and centre then I’d also expect the beneficiaries of these trusts to be visible as per the new law. If they aren’t resident or a citizen then that trust is not allowed to buy existing houses.
Can you cite this ‘new law” where benificiaries of trusts are visible? That will be quite a major change.
Property managers will do whatever is asked of them by clients. Its a service industry and very lucrative.
After John Key denied NZ was seen as, and was, a tax haven his government did a massive U-turn and was finally dragged to the table on foreign trust disclosure. I imaging the “more comprehensive requirements” involve disclosure on who is benefitting from the trust.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/82053195/government-to-act-on-foreign-trust-regime
You imagine wrong.
Foreign trusts and money laundering. Nothing to do with houses.
What is a trust set up for an off shore speculator for the purposes of circumventing New Zealand law if is not a ‘foreign trust’?
A trust set up in NZ by a NZer is not a foreign trust.
The OIO looks through such entities as far as is possible to try and determine the real beneficiaries. Not sure how effective this is, but the Act does allow for it
Frida, I would hope that any suspicion that there was any attempt to conceal the true beneficiaries would result in immediate rejection of any application. The cynic in me says that’s probably not what’s happening.
Then they need to be kicked out and the proxy jailed with all his assets claimed under the proceeds of Crime Act.
And you be as well for knowingly allowing a crime to continue.
And that just means that that needs to be illegal as well as it’s obviously for money laundering.
People committing crime isn’t a reason to not put in place laws to try to prevent that crime.
Ah, you’re pulling out that lie again:
Evidence is anecdotal but suggests that lack of Chinese buyers with Chinese connections is already having an effect.
Draco.
You are fucking deranged, maybe a nice walk in the sunshine would help?
“Then they need to be kicked out and the proxy jailed with all his assets claimed under the proceeds of Crime Act.
And you be as well for knowingly allowing a crime to continue.”
What law has been broken?
“And that just means that that needs to be illegal as well as it’s obviously for money laundering.”
It may be strange to you but people with a couple of bucks do like to spread it about for safety , its not all tainted with cocaine residue some is just withdrawn from superannuation schemes.
I’m pretty sure that one of the requirements for getting permanent residency/Citizenship is being able to speak English. What you seemed to be saying is that these people have bypassed that.
Safe from their government maybe? Safe from authority checking where they got the money from? Safe from having to pay tax? Sounds dodgy.
Maybe when I said “non resident” it might have been a clue that they are in fact not residents?
Safe from governments or maybe just safe from banks going bung?
I was on holiday in Peru when Lehman Bros popped. I bet some of the very wealthy Americans I saw crying had thought to put a pot of cash into a nice house in Auckland.
If proxy ownership to bypass regulatory requirments isn’t illegal, it fucking well should be.
Not paying tax on speculation is also illegal…so what is your point?
Property speculation is on par with Class B drugs and should be controlled. Why the apparent limitation to houses instead of land is not clear to me as houses are not inalienable but land is. As far as I can tell this this ‘sensitivity clause’ is just a cute patch to get around some tricky issues without actually properly dealing with those.
If there’s a specific intent to allow overseas investors to buy new builds (and therefore help ease housing pressure by adding new stock) then adjusting the criteria for “sensitive land” should be even easier than adding existing housing into the OIO process. At the moment, farmland over 5 hectares is “sensitive land”, so cutting that down and removing the “farm” bit would easily deal to landbanking concerns.
https://www.linz.govt.nz/regulatory/overseas-investment/what-you-need-do-if-you-are-selling-new-zealand-assets-overseas-investors/sensitive-land
Agreed. An overseas investor who buys & builds for somebody (a third-part buyer or renter) who is already here in the country adds new stock and eases pressures (but not necessarily on prices or rents) but an overseas investor who immigrates here adds to the pressure even if he/she buys & builds new but for him/herself.
Yeah, but that’s an immigration policy issue, not a land/housing purchasing eligibility issue. An overseas investors that buys permanent residence here will still be able to buy whatever they want.
Yes, which is why this Government needs to come up with integrated cohesive policies instead of the patch-pragmatism that we have become accustomed to. Immigration, housing, infrastructure, etc., are all linked, of course; a reductionist approach is completely ineffective and counter-productive, in fact.
Edit: I do wonder whether this is prompted solely by TPP-11 and this is why they seem to be rushing things. It is not the way to deal with complex issues that have been plaguing us for a long time now.
Labour’s foreign buyers housing ban falls short.
First off, Australians are exempt.
Secondly, by allowing foreign buyers to continue to buy new builds, Labour have failed to take into account the ripple effect.
https://youtu.be/HzSAmOQuyjU?t=25m25s
They are however creating an additional house rather than removing one from the market which would be available for a New Zealand family to buy.
The relationship between NZ and Australia has been close to a greater or lesser extent since colonisation. Citizens from both are able to live and work freely in the other country. Wealthy Australian buyers have though been a significant contributing factor in NZ’s housing problems. There’s an imbalance there and something to work on for sure.
For the life of me I can’t understand how offshore buying of residential property is a welcome ‘investment’ in the way Fran O’Sullivan types say it is. How does this sort of ‘investment’ benefit anyone but the vendor? Trickle-down effect? Sure, a lump of foreign capital has arrived in the country but it’s false growth and unsustainable.
The rationale for preventing foreign interests buying existing housing stock is clear – in fact the only beneficiaries are existing vendors but it just creates an inflationary spiral as we have seen.
Preventing sales of land provided that there is clear intent to build – i.e. add to productive capital-stock? Indefensible without incurring the “xenophobe” tag that was being thrown around during the election campaign.
You got to have a valid reason to do stuff.
Selling land to offshore owners is bad for the country as it pushes up prices for housing and land.
Sounds like a valid reason to me and it’s what we’ve been seeing.
@ Muttonbird
“They are however creating an additional house rather than removing one from the market which would be available for a New Zealand family to buy.”
In the process, they (foreign buyers) are adding to demand for both land and the construction of new builds, driving prices up while squeezing local families out. Leading to the ripple effect.
I concur with the rest of your post.
“In the process, they (foreign buyers) are adding to demand for both land and the construction of new builds, driving prices up while squeezing local families out. Leading to the ripple effect.”
Agree. They are just slowing the wave down, not eliminating it.
Inflationary pressures on house prices will still exist, driving up the cost of new builds to NZers.
Leaving the existing – and often badly maintained and insulated – houses for NZers, is just toying with the problem.
The monetary policies in place still give financial incentives to invest in housing. Non-existent land taxes for undeveloped but residentially-zoned land, encourage landbanking.
Most importantly, a society and politicians that talk about housing in terms of affordability and capital gains instead of as a necessity for a reasonable quality of life, and engagement with community, is one that is unlikely to solve the problem.
“Inflationary pressures on house prices will still exist, driving up the cost of new builds to NZers.
“Leaving the existing – and often badly maintained and insulated – houses for NZers, is just toying with the problem.”
Indeed, Molly. And the ripple effect will see the price pressure on existing homes also increase.
They (foreign buyers) may well be able to access Kiwi-build homes.
That’s what we tell ourselves. Doesn’t make it true though as Australia keeps kicking our people out.
Agree some not insignificant imbalance has entered the relationship in the last few years due to increasing nationalistic sentiment in AUS and the weakness of the recent National government in NZ.
“Agree some not insignificant imbalance has entered the relationship in the last few years due to increasing nationalistic sentiment in AUS and the weakness of the recent National government in NZ.”
And the way NOT to resolve that is to throw a ban on residential sales to Aussies as well as other nationalities. We have 650k-odd kith and kin on the other side of the ditch, best we not make their life even more twitchy by ramping up the tit-for-tat tactics.
In anycase, wasn’t it foreigners further “north” that were copping the flak back when the housing market was hissing along?
> In anycase, wasn’t it foreigners further “north” that were copping the flak back when the housing market was hissing along?
You mean CHINESE?
A.
Perhaps but then continuing to just accept the poor treatment that they dish out isn’t working either.
And if push comes to shove I’m quite happy to use our national airline to bring those 650k home.
“Sure, a lump of foreign capital has arrived in the country”
Its highly debatable if a lump of foreign capital arrived or not. If the purchase is in NZ dollars then the closest thing to happen approximating this is a trade of some NZ dollars for some other currency happened in a Forex market. This may have influenced the exchange rate in some way but no money was created or destroyed by such a transaction, it simply changed hands.
I noticed in the area I live in the last two weeks a lot of mac mansions are up for sale I wonder if speculator panic has just begun.
To my some of my supporters sorry about the burn I try my best not to affect other people in a negative way as I never do this . I like to Tautoko all, Some people are Schiedsrichterball’s and won’t even step up to protect there moko, I must be unique as I will call out anyone to protect my Moko future. Yes we need more Lady’s to be in management once I started thinking about that subject I figured out that most men can’t see past there other head and there ego and that stop’s them seeing the big picture our future you see I’m calling out most men and I can see that this make’s them nervous as they circle around there Lady’s when I’m present fuck it’s funny.
Some people think that my excellent sense of smell is going to disappear over nite but no this is a gift from my Te Puna many thanks to them. Kia kaha
Thanks for more sprightly imaginative comment from you eco maori. I love the way you work te reo in to it as you carry out stream of conciousness writing. It all adds to the colour and different perspectives that come together here in TS.
And Schiedsrichterball’s is a new high for a simple guy from the sticks which I thought was your persona. Kia kaha.
Won’t they just register a company or trust in NZ and buy them that way?
Seems to me that if you are wealthy enough to speculate in the NZ market the small extra expense wont be much of a barrier?
how does the OIO already manage companies buying land? e.g. rural land
I really don’t know but given how easy and cheap it is to set up and register a company in NZ you would have to hope they have a mechanism this.
Another reason the beneficiaries of trusts need to be visible.
Anyone serving as a NZ proxy for off-shore speculators should be heavily penalised.
Mutton.
You are just making meaningless noise.
Go away and find out a little bit about trusts.
No surprise that you want to defend the status quo and are on the side of foreign speculators.
ahhh no.
I want less external investment not more.
I cant compete with someone who can borrow money at less than one percent, or someone who doesnt actually care if they lose ten percent as long as the money is out of the country they live in.
The fact that you just dont know what you are talking about is just another side issue.
Ok, so we’ve established you are for the government’s foreign buyer ban. You appear to be saying though that they’re too clever for us, it’s too hard to enforce, so why bother.
Is that it?
Nope that is most definitely not it.
I have said quite clearly that its bullshit and wont work to bring down house prices.
Pure virtue signals for the morons that never read past the headlines.
You are ignorant of what is sought to be achieved. You’ve made up that it’s about bringing house prices down. It’s about preventing or minimising another rapid inflation in the future.
“You are ignorant of what is sought to be achieved. You’ve made up that it’s about bringing house prices down. It’s about preventing or minimising another rapid inflation in the future.”
Agreed – it’s a fast way to a one-term government to engineer a crash in the housing market now. That horse has bolted and Labour realises it needs to grow it’s vote with middle-NZ too.
Kiwi-build is the only solution to catching up with the shortage. That and finessing the tax system to deal with the fundamental imbalance which favours property over all other asset classes.
The tax system is decades behind and needs to recognise that capital gain on property has been significant income for many thousands of New Zealanders of a particular demographic.
They’re almost embarrassed at how easy it is.
The bitter take home for low wage earners and young families is that for these people their houses earned several times more in a day than the average wage. All free.
I would have thought it would be more effective (for some nationalities) to ask a NZ resident friend or relative to buy the property for them, under an unwritten agreement. Am not an expert though
A.
There’s anecdotal evidence that this is exactly what occurred during the last 5 years hence the call for information collection on house sales.
Once again National had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the table on that too.
Right, so it may continue to happen under the new regime
When Mike Hosking sees some things they do overseas which he wants us to do here, he says if it’s all right for them, it’s all right for us.
Something happens to stop foreigners buying houses in New Zealand and he is in a tizzy.
If it’s “xenophobic, made-up political bollocks for expediency purposes and nothing else” for us to stop foreigners buying houses here is it xenophobic, made-up political bollocks for expediency purposes and nothing else when they do not allow New Zealanders or any other foreigners buy houses and land in their countries?
Is it possible that Hoskings is teetering on the edge of crashing? He seems to be getting more and more hysterical. Either he is cracking up or his over-exposure is troubling his bosses.
He just wants to reserve the right to sell his property portfolio to the world rather than just New Zealand and if that right damages the bottom end of NZ society then all the better.
Pokemon…? What do russian meddling tentacles, a shadowy troll farm, pokemon go, black lives matter and an ecosystem have in common? The evidence against the mango mussolini mounts…
See for yourself just how seriously the US is taking foreign attempts to create political and social divisions, erode confidence in democracy and undermine the institutions of state.
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/extremist-content-and-russian-disinformation-online-working-with-tech-to-find-solutions
I just read the letter where Steven Joyce said in the last week the Government announced “removing standards and accountability in our schools.”
I’m sure in all schools they are happy that there are to be no standards in and accountability of our schools.
The realisation of the loss is starting to bite and while the lies and garbage previously emanating from him continue, they will now be tinged with bitterness and rancour.
Steven, get over it, get over yourself, you lost. Now though you are just being pathetic.
And there are still issues with Novopay:)
We used to have progress and achievement registers, P.A.T scores across all skills areas in Reading English and Mathematics. These were standardized tests which gave a huge amount of information.
Plus Study Skills and all the problem solving skills.
At the time we were second only to Scotland for Educational achievement.
Labour’s Lange brought in School Boards in Primary Education.
National’s Lockwood Smith changed the curriculum and it was all down hill from there.
National Standards and testing ideology brought in by National plus NCEA finished making teaching a hugely difficult repetitive task.
No-one talked of the joy of learning any more. It became a battle ground for diminishing resources.
Looking forward to seeing the end of people peddling NZ residential property in this way…
http://about.hougarden.com/about-us/
Interesting thoughts on minimum wage, living wage and the workers of the world:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/a-living-wage-time-to-shift-the-boundaries-and-think-global/
This looks to be a good move by the government (at first glance anyways):
Statement on Equal Pay legislation
I prepared to give Jacinda and Labour a chance to deliver. I dont expect everything delivered today. I have some trust, based on facts and evidence, in Labour and i am still wary but willing to give them a chance.
I think critique of Labour at this early stage for things they havent done rather than what they have done is sad.
I’m disappointed some are so quick to put the boot in to the new government.
Boot or critique? I am trying to use the same yardstick for this government as I have for previous govts.
Joyce is right, labour and its partners have been calling for transparency for years, now is the time. By all means do not give away bargaining positions but that is the line you have to work if you want to promote transparency. If you are referring to parker’s announcement today, it raised alot of question which a link to a much more detailed statement addressing those wouldhave helped.
There are many good things in the pipeline from the new government. I’ve posted above on their move against the dodgy Nat Equal pay Act.
However, some of us have been strong critics of the TPPA and have had big concerns about TPPA-11. We have been on many protests against it. It hangs in the balance NOW, and any acceptance of dodgy clauses could be detrimental to many Kiwis for a long time to come. We need to start out concerns ASAP, because in a month or so, it may be too late.
Housing is also a crucial area. If it is not tackled now, in a way that cannot be undone by the likes of TPPA, more Kiwis may suffer, with their health and their lives. So, again, now is not the time to stay silent on things we feel strongly about. And, that IS democracy.
Some of us can be strong critics of Labour and still give them an opportunity to put in place the solutions we want. In the same way as with climate change – any positive movement in the desired direction is reinforced while still wanting even more action.
The problem with these TPP and housing issues, if we don’t speak up now, it may be too late, and there may be no way of incrementally moving things in the direction we want in the future.
I fully endose your right to say what you want to say, I encourage it – I just wanted to put another position. I also thought quite a bit about whether I really cared enough to say something and I realised I did.
I assume people are lobbying the Greens so they can exert pressure or even nzf.
I hear you about the timeframes and I also believe 5 days in after 9 years out is the very earliest part of the first step. It just doesn’t align for me with a new way of doing politics which I hope we are now in.
Well, unfortunately, I am not seeing a new way of doing politcs. It’s looking a lot like what happened under the Clark government. Tinkering with things, without really bringing in any new change or shift in direction.
Then when the Nats got back in, they shifting things more brutally to the right, with many of the least powerful, and least well off NZers really suffering.
And Parker and Robertson are hardly a new guard. When i see solid evidence of a strong shift in direction, I’ll get behind it.
When was the last good government in your opinion?
You remind me of my mother, always looking for what may go wrong. No matter how beautiful the day, my mother would see clouds on the horizon, and when relating stories she seemed to relish the disasters, not the successes. My father was the opposite. Guess who was happier and who was better company?
Of course this government will disappoint at various times. It is inevitable, because it is made up of MPs with varied ability and ideology. It is democracy – we do not have enough left wing progressive voters in NZ to have anything else. That is the reality.
I am a socialist and would dearly love to have a truly left wing government, but I know it won’t happen any time soon because there just aren’t enough voters like me. I am still, however, happy to see a government that will make a difference to the poor and vulnerable in this country. I am absolutely confident that the people I know who are struggling will be better off, so I want to celebrate that. I have hope for the first time for decades and I want to relish this while I can.
I know I will get frustrated and disappointed at times in the coming years, but criticising a government that was just formed 5 days ago, on the basis of hunches and dodgy reckons, is completely unproductive and somewhat ridiculous IMO.
I also don’t see any resemblance with the Clark government which had a large number of neo-liberal MPs and did not have a good relationship with the Greens. I keep saying this, but I will again – there are only 4 MPs left from the Clark government.
In South Auckland, the people I know working on the frontline of poverty issues are really pleased that 5 of their local MPs have ministerial positions and they will be making sure that this government delivers on the promises to reduce poverty.
As for getting rid of neo-liberalism this Brian Easton article is quite interesting:
http://briefingpapers.co.nz/the-future-of-new-zealand-capitalism/
Agreed.
And, yet, not far up thread I have praised the new government for withdrawing the Nats (un)equal pay legislation.
Democratic participation means being critical when it is thought to be necessary. Accepting the status quo, because that’s what a lot of people do, seems to me to be a pretty lax way of proceeding – especially when it could likely to lead to long term decline in the situation for many of the least well off New Zealanders.
And perhaps you underestimate many Kiwis?
Interesting paper from Easton. I do tend to see him as being quite MOR. However, that paper is for changing the whole underlying culture and narrative of neoliberalism, and especially the way it underpins a lot of policies/legislation – not seeing that so far from Labour.
Easton concludes:
No problem with constructive criticism, but it needs to be based on actual legislation, not guesses as to what any future legislation might include or not include. Same with assessments on the likely performance of MPs – making judgements before they have been able to demonstrate their abilities in government is simple prejudice, and not helpful IMO.
But that’s me – I see no point in wallowing in despair at what might or might not happen. I also tend to give people the benefit of the doubt until I am proved otherwise and I am very hopeful that there are enough progressive people in this new government to make some real change in NZ.
A piece from Helen Kelly’s son Dylan reflects my current feelings:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/01-11-2017/on-a-new-government-kindness-and-the-unfinished-legacy-of-my-mother-helen-kelly/
The criticisms about the Labour’s plans and position on TPPA, and their related policy on housing ARE based on the evidence of what Labour has said they plan to do. Look at the detail being debated under the relevant post today.
The potential outcomes are too important to wait and see how this goes down in the upcoming TPP negotiations – especially given that the government is not going to provide full transparency on the negotiations til after the deal is done.
Parker and Robertson do have a long track record on which to match their current statements with past performance.
So, basically, it’s about evidence-based critiques, given the amount of evidence we have.
The TPP, and the dire housing situation are issues I care strongly about, and ones which I will continue to follow critically and closely. Helen Kelly was pretty strong on keeping a close watch on issues she had strong feelings about.
Surely Parker has an idea of what he wants in that legislation? He will have given instructions to those who need to draft it.
BTW, I am very happy with all Labour’s policies on the things mentioned in Dylan’s OP piece – the one’s closest to Helen kelly’s work and campaigning. And I said very positive things about the repealing of the Hobbit law on TS.
Karen, thank you for that link. I feel that Helen made a difference and her son is from the same fine clay.
For some reason I was unable to reply to your last comment directly so am here.
To make it clear I have opposed the TPPA since was first mooted several years ago. I signed the current petition to the current government asking them to walk away if the ISDS clause cannot be excluded. Both Parker and Ardern have said they are opposed to the ISDS provisions but do not want to discuss them at this stage as it could hamper their negotiations. Jane Kelsey will continue to lobby them – I think she will be a better advocate than anyone commenting here.
The discussion here on the housing issue is so full of uninformed commentary that I wouldn’t know where to start. The legislation has not been written, nor has the proposed tightening of OIO regulations – criticising a proposal without knowing the details is a waste of time.
Your assessment of Ardern , Parker and Robertson seems to be based on personal prejudice rather than actual evidence. Which is fine as far as it goes – we all do this to varying degrees. However, I prefer to look at what people actually do rather than rely on labels from third parties. And I happen to know all three have been shown to be kind and generous people in real life.
“The discussion here on the housing issue is so full of uninformed commentary that I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Yes, and I’m one of the people trying to guess. As I’ve said elsewhere the ‘trust us we know what we are doing’ approach is no acceptable on such a critical issue.
I also think it’s way less than ideal that we are in the position of having to guess so much. It’s not like the TPPA or even the TPPA-11 is a new thing.
“Helen Kelly was pretty strong on keeping a close watch on issues she had strong feelings about”
Yes – and I will be doing the same. I will be criticising this government when they make mistakes and if (when) they don’t live up to my expectations. However, I am not going to criticise them before they have had a chance to do the right thing.
btw, just scroll up to the first available reply button and the comments will stay in-thread.
edit, i.e in this case you would have replied to your own comment.
Actually, my criticisms of Ardern, Parker and Roberston ARE based on past performance. I’ve seen them in action a lot over the last few years, including during and after this last election.
I am particularly concerned that Robertson and Parker lead on these crucial issues, of TPP, and the economic angles.
And, I point to Robertson on Labour’s budget responsibility rules. – Made in March of this year, and meant to guide Labour through the election.
the problem is mainly with the way he’s tied Labour to expenditure in relation to GDP and past government spending. This is not the policy of a party aiming for a new direction economically.
And Parker has always been somewhat weak on challenging Nat’s TPP-12.
So, the criticism extends to Ardern on economic matters as she has given these responsibilities to Parker and Robertson.
“As I’ve said elsewhere the ‘trust us we know what we are doing’ approach is no acceptable on such a critical issue.”
They have been in power for 5 days. They have only just got access to the information themselves and they have to try and renegotiate TPPA at APEC in a couple of weeks time. Whatever they discuss at that stage would still need to be debated and agreed to by all parties before being passed into law.
The changes in law related to housing will need to be drafted and go through the select committee process. That is the time to criticise and make submissions. Nobody is suggesting that it will be secret.
The Housing legislation will be rushed through urgently – so there won’t be that much time for public consultation.
They have been in power for 5 days. They have only just got access to the information themselves and they have to try and renegotiate TPPA at APEC in a couple of weeks time.
That in itself is a problem. I do feel sorry for Labour about the timing and that they have to deal with this so immediately, but the whole being rushed by other people’s agendas is not good.
Whatever they discuss at that stage would still need to be debated and agreed to by all parties before being passed into law.
See even that is unclear to me. Does it require a vote? (the TPPA).
The changes in law related to housing will need to be drafted and go through the select committee process. That is the time to criticise and make submissions. Nobody is suggesting that it will be secret.
I disagree. If Labour are doing things that might lock us in to the TPPA, then now is exactly the time to be debating that. I’m not worried about the OIA changes, I’m concerned about the TPPA and the timeframes and the fact that we know so little.
Labour can’t lock us into anything at Apec. It still has to go through parliament and hopefully we all get to debate it before this. There seems to an assumption that Labour will be deciding it all at Apec but this is still a negotiating period. In fact it is being revised as we speak in Tokyo so nobody knows the detail at this stage.
You may find it useful to listen to Jane Kelsey to find out the process:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018620040
Jane comes on about 2:30. She is talking about trade agreements generally as well as the TPP.
Will there be additional meetings past the APEC one at which NZ can negotiate?
It was never my understanding that Labour would agree to the TPP next week. My understanding is that they are rushing the ban on foreign home ownership, to be in law by early next year.
And that is what is reported here a day or so ago on Newshub.
And that really doesn’t leave any time at all for select committee processes and consultation – and we also have the Xmas-New Year period in between.
kelsey does make it sound that a lot of work will be done on the TPP negotiations next week.
This from Jane Kesley on Mon 30 October 2017:
Japan is certainly hoping most of TPP-11 will be decide during APEC, according to Newshub/Reuters today.
I hear you. I think TPP triggers many on the Left, more than the Right
marty, I truly think it is how important TPP is seen by many who voted for Labour, Green or NZF. To have this being put in as the first “trust us” platform is a concern for me. I know it has been precipitated by the timing of the next meeting BUT the timing of this meeting has been known a very long time so labour and their staff should have been VERY prepared and able to give more detail? It is Labour that have made the connection between the TPP and the change to the OIO, that has opened up alot of speculation and the top Leadership of Labour have been very hard to pin down on definitive stances on TPP since the election… and toward the end of the campaign.
It may be a clever move to address (or seemingly address) the housing problem which is seen as a problem by so many (and “foreigners”…) and then enter the TPP…
If Nats were announcing a new piece of legislation and giving people a month (during the December period) to submit, many here would be more outraged than they are.
I urge everybody here concerned about the TPPA (as I am) to sign the petition:
https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/open-letter-to-jacinda-ardern-put-people-before-planet-in-tppa11
The foreign land legislation is a way of getting rid of that issue so that NZ is in a better position to get changes to the ISDS provisions in talks in Vietnam. People seem to think it means that NZ will be signing the final agreement in Vietnam – that is not what will be happening. It still has to be passed by parliament and there is no suggestion at all that TPPA legislation will be rushed through before Christmas. The foreign ownership bill is something that was Labour policy anyway so getting that done with urgency is a separate issue.
Labour promised to be more transparent and they need to be held to that, but the proposal is currently being rewritten in Tokyo sand NZ is presumably trying to get changes underway now. The transparency is required before final sign off. If this doesn’t happen then I will be back on the streets protesting.
As for the Pharmac and Te Tiriti issues the Nats said thesehad been resolved through their negotiations, but they could well have been lying. Labour has not had access to all the TPPA details before last Friday.
Labour’s position on the TPP a couple of years ago had no-TPP unless five conditions were met:
* Drug buying agency Pharmac must be protected.
* Corporations cannot successfully sue the Government for regulating in the public interest.
* New Zealand maintains the right to restrict sales of farm land and housing to non-resident foreigner buyers.
* The Treaty of Waitangi must be upheld.
* Meaningful gains are made for farmers in tariff reductions and market access.
Their OIO housing move suggests they’re actually living up to that idea.
Also note that the second point is not “no ISDS”, just that the government would havea defense that its regulation was in the public interest.
did the Pharmac stuff get sorted?
Rural land appears to have been dropped.
No idea what the Treaty issues are re the TPPA, but I would trust Labour somewhat more on that.
“Their OIO housing move suggests they’re actually living up to that idea.”
Or compromising.
“Also note that the second point is not “no ISDS”, just that the government would havea defense that its regulation was in the public interest.”
That’s a problem.
it looks like it hasn’t. In the last few days there have been some comments from medical people, expressing concern about the Health elements embedded in the TPP.
Monday, 30 October 2017, 12:14 pm
Press Release: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists
Dunno about all that, I’m still getting used to the idea that the government seems to be pretty much matching the sticker on the box it came in.
Just saw that rural land is to be managed via tightening of the OIO. So that gives us a three year reprieve.
“I’m still getting used to the idea that the government seems to be pretty much matching the sticker on the box it came in.”
after a decade of neoliberal hell I think we’re all having to adjust.
OIO move suggests they are quickly addressing 2 of those ideas.
Sorry McFlock the second one does mean no ISDS
No, the key word is “successfully”. No no suing whatsoever – just if a law is in the public interest, the case will fail.
It will depend on the former commercial lawyers cone Judges interpretation of public interest in the behind closed doors ISDS hearings?
Not sure about closed door, but yeah, that’s one theoretical option other than “no ISDS”.
Of course, if the ISDS comes out with a bullshit judgement in favour of, eg, tobacco companies, Labour are dirty neolib rotters etc etc etc
I understand they take place out of public and do not have to publish findi gs.
That might be true, but as long as those findings do not overrule public interest legislation, it is still consistent with what Labour said they’d do.
But if they do rule the particular legislation was not in public interest we will not know how they came to that conclusion, merely that they did.
But we will still have a public opinion of whether the law was indeed in the public interest, so we will be able to form an opinion of whether Labour followed through on their word, or outright lied or sold out by enabling TPP to take precedence over public interest legislation.
Again, the test of whether they keep their word rests on a precise reading of what they committed themselves to do.
Thank you Marty Mars. There hasn’t been a honeymoon!!
That’s a fair comment.
It’s also fair to say that many (of us) harbour high expectations and have ‘heightened senses’; you get that during the honeymoon of a second marriage and after a dull and utterly miserable failed first one of 9 years.
I guess we have to get used to the new Government but this doesn’t mean we forego our vigilance; I’m particularly focussed on more transparency from the powers that be – there’s no accountability without transparency.
Ardern is the PM of a coalition government and I suggest we talk less about what Labour does or doesn’t and more about the Government as such.
You just need to insert a fact in there.
Any fact.
It will help you think.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I’m surprised that Ad’s comment was shifted. It would be apt wherever it was put.
It would be nice to get a post on the 3 strikes repeal
A.
There is a another good move by this government: Three Strikes Law not working
Considering the amount of time, the necessary changes are happening fast.
While I may not think that some of the fixes are far enough, I am more than glad that some of the detrimental policies of the last government are a priority to overturn.
Why is repealing 3 Strikes a good idea?
It seems to be working, in that there are few “2nd strike” offenders and very few “3 strikes and out” offenders (as shown in the article you link). If the measure was ineffective, you would think there would be more of both.
A.
The measure is not shown to be effective, and a punitive justice system often results in more incarceration, more repeat offending, less rehabilitation. The opposite to what is said to be the intent.
A conviction for a crime should be related to said crime, not a rehash for convictions which have already had time served.
I disagree but understand and respect your reasoning 🙂
A.
On what basis do you disagree? Can you post the figures you are relying upon to see it as a success?
I agree with you, Molly.
I wonder then, why serious offending hasnt decreased?
You would only expect to see a decrease in serious offending among the 2- and 3-strikers rather than the population at large. Such a decrease could be swamped by other trends occurring at the same time, resulting in no overall change in violent crime rates.
Personally, I’d be sorry to lose 3 strikes, but I am sure there are other measures Labour could take (around drug rehabilitation and mental health) that would more than make up for it.
However I’m not convinced that 3 strikes will be repealed anyway – how would Labour get Peters on board?
A.
Have we seen a decreasing in reoffending of stage 2 and 3 folks and if yes has a rigorous study shown it is ONLY attributed to this law… not drug and alcohol treatment or similar.
Surely the decrease is seen in 1st strikers scared of becoming 2 and 3rd strikers and in no strikers not wanting to get a first strike?
Do you have these figures?
I have not. I infer that the rates must be low, from the small numbers of 2nd and 3rd strikers.
A.
Bit of squabbling between authors today. Good to see!
We always do.
But here is a calming pause. Some people on Jonathan Cainer’s page with quotes that have settled in the brain.
from Sunshine B
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us ‘universe’, a part limited in time and space.
He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” Einstein
from Janice
“There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth – we are all crew.” Marshall McLuan
O.k. I had to look that up because I’d never heard of him. I quite like the two quotes by Teilhard de Chardin.
Incognito
Sorry I didn’t realise people might want to see some more. I like the one –
Our brains are not capable of comprehending the infinite so, instead, we ignore it and eat cheese on toast.
Jonathan Cainer
(http://www.azquotes.com/author/46510-Jonathan_Cainer
This is put neatly.
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Teilhard de Chardin
(https://www.cainer.com/features/quote.htm
Pondering “the infinite” is much more enjoyable whilst eating cheese on crackers with a nice little red. After some pondering one simply gives us & relaxes and simply enjoys the moment and that’s when it might hit you …
What might hit you? Tell me please, now I’m all worried and afraid to have a glass of red and cheese. Sounds more relaxing than bread and cheese but perhaps dangerous.
The infinite; “hit” is a euphemism for epiphany. Wine, cheese & crackers are optional but not necessary 😉 A nice cup of tea can work equally well I’ve been told …
Labour’s plan to double the current planting rate of 50 million trees annually has the potential to create a lot of employment with the flow-on effect benefiting struggling regions.
One just hopes no one is paid less than the living wage and safety in the forestry sector is improved. We don’t want a doubling of the current amount of deaths.
Planting trees is a lot safer than felling trees.
Yes, but the felling will come at some stage.
Unless they’re triffids.
How would triffid oil go as a biofuel?
Probably best not to fuck with the triffids given how things started.
Although I’d love to see the anti-nativists argue that we should let nature have its way and not worry about introduced species 😈
If we don’t improve wages or workplace safety in the thirty years or so the trees will take to mature, we’ve got bigger problems than trees.
Well Labour are moving slowly when it comes to getting the minimum wage up to the living wage.
Not that fucking slowly.
Alternative response: yes dear, Ardern is planning to double the number of forestry deaths in a few decades’ time, cunningly disguising it as a tree-planting exercise /sarc
“Not that fucking slowly.”
You would like to think so, but, unfortunately, they won’t even achieve parity by 2021. So at this slow rate who knows how long it will take them.
Geez, all those trees will barely be in the ground by 2021.
50 million extra trees annually. So if they start next year, they will be long on their way.
Yet, we have no idea when they plan to achieve parity.
And we have no reason to think that they don’t plan to meet this goal some time in the next three decades. Which is all they need to do to address your latest faux concern. Hell, if the minimum wage is a living wage in 2030 your faux concern is ludicrously pessimistic. And for it to take so long as 2030, we’d be looking at some pretty shit government.
They have no set date or solid commitment, thus it’s not a faux concern. We have no idea if they will reach parity by 2030.
Moreover, we require parity now.
Well you should have voted and campaigned for green then, rather than being a boring concern troll.
You have no idea. Looking at the parties in this government, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened this term, and if it’s not a living minimum wage in 2030 the only way that’s feasible is if we’ll have had a solid 7 years of national in government, i.e. lab6 2 terms and out because they did fuckall, and got replaced by neolibs.
As for your alternative response. I doubt it’s their intention, but if they don’t make vast improvements, unfortunately, it will be the end result.
fucking bullshit.
It’s not a “vast” improvement in Labour that’s required, at worst it’s another 2% for the Greens in 2020. If it doesn’t happen this term, that’ll push living wage to the fore.
Vast improvements in the current rate of death in the forestry sector.
The minimum wage won’t hit parity with the living wage this term. And not even by 2021. Thus, it needs to be at the fore now.
Oh? Fair enough. and I expect those improvements in sector safety to be made by this government. In this term. They seem to give more of a shit about workers lives than the nats did.
As I said, if Labour don’t bring a living minimum wage to the for this term, the greens will in 2020.
So your faux concern is still bullshit.
Agreed, McFlock. Chairman tries so hard to appear to be a Leftie, but always urges policies that could be damaging, while trying to spread despondency. An egg of the first order.
That’s how I read him too.
Yes The Chairman, seedling nurseries, mulch, transport, planting and scientific work on uses for wood products. .. come to mind.
Coming from Rotorua, we are excited it is being considered as the forrestry centre.
Women and not-white people and LGBT folk, Bernie sez wait for your turn.
“Yes. I mean, I think we’ve got to work in two ways,” Sanders answered. “No. 1, we have got to take on Trump’s attacks against the environment, against women, against Latinos and blacks and people in the gay community, we’ve got to fight back every day on those issues. But equally important, or more important: We have got to focus on bread-and-butter issues that mean so much to ordinary Americans.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-warns-democrats-not-to-hang-their-hopes-on-robert-mueller
Has anybody seen important looking people driving interesting vehicles around the country. It sounds like a giant outdoor camp for military et al, and if you want you can be accepted as an extra in the drama.
What will be the cost to Ministry of Health, cash strapped District Health Boards, Red Cross and St Johns? How much money have we had to borrow to run this?
Dates 2-20 Oct – 18/24 Nov. South Island.
The SK17 exercise scenario will be a continuation of that used in Southern Katipo 15, in which New Zealand deployed a military contingent to lead a multinational combined joint task force to will help restore law and order in a fictional South Pacific country called Becara. The multinational task force conducted stability, support and humanitarian operations, including the evacuation of internally displaced people.
However, the exercise director, Lieutenant Colonel Martin Dransfield, said in SK17 higher threat levels would be used to create more challenging training environments across the spectrum of operations.
“Opposition groups and challenges presented will allow for a range of military and non-military responses to be exercised, both individually as NZDF and collectively with other government agencies, non-governmental organisations and international partners,” Lieutenant Colonel Dransfield said.
As well as the international military partners, New Zealand organisations supporting the exercise will include the New Zealand Customs Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Police, Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand Transport Authority, Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Health, District Health Boards, Red Cross and St John New Zealand.
SK17 would build on the cooperation achieved between the NZDF, other government agencies, non-governmental organisations and regional defence partners during recent humanitarian aid operations such as in Fiji and Kaikoura last year, Lieutenant Colonel Dransfield said.
Major General Tim Gall, Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said SK17 would provide participants with a realistic portrayal of an emergency that might arise in the South West Pacific.
“In SK17 we will be dealing with challenges that commanders have to grapple with in real-world operations, such as exercising command and control over units that are operating in remote areas,” Major General Gall said.
http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/news/media-releases/2017/20170918-nzdf-to-host-international-military-exercise.htm
and
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/10/nz-defence-force-convoys-prepare-for-military-exercise.html
and
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/342098/cast-of-thousands-in-south-island-defence-exercise
and
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/98222913/Kaik-ura-residents-freak-out-at-military-presence-in-Exercise-Southern-Katipo-army-exercise
I wrote this about SK17 back on the 12 Oct, trying to run and plan UN style Peacekeeping Ex’s are highly complex as it require a multipole Government and NGO agencies as you need to make the Ex as realistic as possible as all UN or UN supported (INTERFET just to name one) as Peacekeeping operations are never the same as each Peacekeeping operation is and can very dynamic with a of moving parts which can easily get of hand from Tactical POV (as what happen in SK15) or at Strategic POV (At government/ UN security council level aka Rwanda/ Bonsia or when my mate was KIA in ET Ptv Lenny Manning due to having the wrong ROE/ OFOF due to some Wank at inter- government level thought the ET Border patrols was safe and didn’t listen to the OZ and NZ Battalion Commanders at the time as he or she thought the ANZAC’s Cdrs were over egging their intell) as noted below. These types exercises are expensed to run and organise hence SK runs every 2nd or do you want the to NZDF forget what it has learned from other Peacekeeper OPs since the end of the cold war and train for Cold war Ex’s ie Blue Force vs Red force as these Ex’s are cheaper to run.
The current SK17 scenario appears to be base around what happen in East Timor back in 2006 and some other scenarios are also similar to what we face during INTERFET 99-00. The TNI Forces and the TNI backed militia push the our boundaries in terms of our ROE/ OFOF to the limit weather it was on the sea (even under the Sea), in the Air harassing the Naval Task Group incl the Air Bridge between Oz and ET and on the land around Dili and down towards the main centres around the border provinces of ET incl the onclave. You don’t know just how close it came to a all out war with the TNI. Once our section was outnumbered by 3to1 at abandoned police/ TNI barracks and it was only when shook out into a attacking formation, (I my loaded the M79/ prep the M72’s for firing) etc, for a few mins we thought we were about to meet our maker and then other side backed down rather quickly once they saw that we meant business.
Then there is the handling of dead bodies, documented the voting fraud, the illegal abuse detainees by the TNI/ police and the human rights abuse aka rape, torture, shooting detainees etc. But another story to tell one day.
SK ex’s are a good foundation stone for the NZDF, foreign forces, other agencies both Government and NGO’s to prepare for such events for the future. Because Peacekeeping operations can be very fast and dynamic with a lot of thinking on your feet, be it the humble private/ trooper or PC etc to very to top of the decision making progress at inter government level?
To some on the left Peacekeeping may sound sexy to you, but as follow lefty who has done Peacekeeping I’ve seen the best of human kind and the bloody worst of human kind.
A well prepared, well equipped and trained Defence Force for UN peacekeeping for Chapter 1 to Chapter 7 missions comes with a big price tag than most people here realise.
Ex Kiwi forces
Interesting and you know what you are talking about. Peacekeeping can be a rotten task so training is important. I don’t feel that the defence forces are my friends though. I feel ambivalent. It seems that it is expected that there will always be some conflict somewhere that we can be called up to participate in. When nz goes overseas to Middle East etc do we pay, the USA, the UN or…?
The scenario for the 2015 and current business is that of a country that is rebelling against the government. Sort of like in Catalonia and Spain, or the South Island wanting autonomy. The permanency of a defence force wasn’t the case before WW2. What would happen if we disbanded everyone, had the territorials to keep some expertise, and called them into help in disasters only.
That’s how it used to be in the USA too.
When its a UN sanction Peacekeeping mission authorize by the UN Security Council aka Blue Hat one as i’m not sure about the INTERFET or MFO in the Sinai ones, but I do have a feeling they also its come out of the UN Peacekeeping Budget and payed that has forces assigned to the mission ie extra pay, cost of maintain equipment or loss/ of equipment due warlike or non warlike damage etc. These UN peacekeeping can be a little money earner for 2nd and 3rd countries as they are payed in US Dollars. Take for example Fiji maintains 2 light Infantry Battalions UN Peacekeeping operations in the Middle East, Nepal always has a battalion on ops, Jordan and Kenya to name a few.
SK15 and SK17 scenario’s appears to based around happen to us during International Force East Timor (INTERFET), later the UN mission post INTERFET (Col Dransfield was CO for NZBATT2 when Lenny was KIA) and during 2006 around the Pacific/ East Timor where either the locals or elements of the Security forces (Military/Police) rebelled against their Governments either in support local pop or not.
The case I will use is ET 2006 which almost split down the lines of the Civil war of 1975 prior to TNI invasion as we had the police shooting at the Army, Army and elements of the Navy shooting at each other and at the police if that wasn’t a enough the under/ unemployed youth raise up at everybody especially at the Chinese aid projects which were using their people on their aid Projects unlike they way the UK, EU, NZ and OZ aid projects where we trained the locals up.
I think the way Warfare/ Conflicts have develop post WW2, the idea of NZ maintaining non standing Defence Force is dated. Todays NZDF has to have what is known in some Staff collages is the “Utility of Force” ranging from Chapter 1 to Chapter 7 UN missions (non warlike to warlike operations) HADR missions and the elephant in room atm is climate Charge and what’s that going to bring?
A really good book to read is called ” The Utility of Force the Art of Modern War Fighting” by Rupert Smith a former British Officer, former UN Force Cdr and his been to the usual places when Brit Army has been. Sir or is it Lord Paddy Ashdown’s Book called I think its called (I did have copy once) Swords in Ploughshares. Sir Paddy has just about done everything in life apart from going in space I think. I have met bloke a couple times in the UK and I keep questions to him as is a very interesting person. Then you’ve got David Kilcullen’s 3 books and I believe he has another on the way.
The books might give you and others here an ideal on what’s likely to happen into the future and some of the scenario’s describe in the books are already happening. As I’ve said elephant in room atm is climate Charge and what’s that going to bring to party?
You said it ex kiwiforces. Who knows? I’ll have a look at those books. Got to get up to date. Reading an old secondhand book by Conan Doyle and its about Napoleon’s end, written round 1919. So very old story.
Old Boney, was it very interesting character as aMilitary Commander or a civilian administrator with some of the laws he enacted as emperor are still French law today. Some scholars have said he also set off some untended events which were to lead to gave conquests for yrs to come will after he died. Battle of Jena where he defeated the Prussian Army for a second time the other place was at Namy about 45km west of Paris. The Prussian defeat lead to a major restructure of it Army under Carl von Clasusewitz, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau which lead the forming of the General Staff and they say the rest was history. British domination of ocean after war which lead to the British Empire.
My NZ Grandfathers side we have a long distant relative who was a French Col in the imperial army who had retired before the French Revolution and he was recall to the colours by Boney. He marched his old regiment from the channel to old killing ground of the Prussian Army of Verdun. Col Louis Beaurepaire defend Verdun with than 900 men against about 20K strong Prussian only to be killed in a mysterious way. As the night before his death the people assembly want to surrender and he didn’t want too as knew the longer they held out against the Prussians it the main French Forces had time and space for them organised. Col Beaurepaire body went missing and I think this because he was killed by his own side. The weaked Pussian Army capture Verdun, but to destoy at Namy by Boney.
My late NZ grandmother and other members of the family had the same feeling toward the forces, as we come from a Socialist/ Communist/ Presbyterina Methodist background. But she always said we are necessary evil to have and who is going to take arms to protect we fought hard for or defend and protect the people who can’t defend themselves against tyranny. Hence why I want to Peacekeeping since I was a kid.
What a mine of information you are. And interesting to hear Verdun being battleground at that early time, so in WW1 it wasn’t new to battle. What a historic spot.
Conan Doyle is finishing the book with the Emperor about to be captured. He has assessed the cause as lost. He wants his documents and the whereabouts of resources to fund possible further military moves, to be placed in safety with a trusted person and has offered his three closest longest serving officers the opportunity to take money and give him up to see who would resist and prove loyal. He says he can’t trust anyone and sets up a meeting point for document handover but someone else has got them and they are on the chase. Tough times for the little Emperor. It is very interesting looking at the old history.
Robert Harris writes good books based on past events. It’s true that we need arms to protect ourselves from armed tyranny and robbery. But we also can’t afford to relax and let subversive elements into our country, and I’m not thinking of terrorists now, I’m thinking of the new economic order which has been like a takeover, a quiet revolution. Getting whiteanted can also be devastating as we have found. We now need to defend and protect what we have left from economic tyranny.
Sedan, Verdun and another place south on the Rhine which France and Germany have fought over as well. All 3 cities have been the main approaches for attack/ defence for either country until WW1. My parents have been to Verdun some years ago for a visit and they were hoping I heading over next year as we have another Beaurepaire buried in France just outside the village of Le Quesnoy who died of his wounds 7 days before the war ended.
I enjoy reading Robert Harris, Len Deighton and Frederick Forsyth books due the research they put into their books. John Le Carre spy books are just is good as well and it might due to his time the Uk’s secret service.
Here’s a good read for alt WW2 history https://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Hitlers-Panzers-East-R-H-S-Stolfi/9780806125817 It’s based on the OKH (German Army Command) Operation Orders, OKH’s MAP, CONOP’s, their understanding of the Russian Political and Military Command Control and Comminution’s when trained with Russains in the 1930’s during Hitler’s rearmament program and from the Fin’s during Russian Finland war in 39-40.
Kenneth Macksey (former WW2 Brit Tankie) did a couple of books on alt WW2 history, one on the invasion of England and the other on Hitler’s other Strategic options. I can’t remember if was Macksey or Basil Liddel Hart books, but someone in the late 50’s early 60’s got all the major players that were still alive that time to war game the invasion of England and of some Hitler’s other options and the results were quite interesting.
Sir John Hackett’s book on WW3 are a good read, The Third World War: August 1985, which was a fictionalized scenario of the Third World War based on a Red Army invasion of West Germany in 1985. It was followed in 1982 by The Third World War: The Untold Story, which elaborated on the original, including more detail from a Soviet perspective
Pretty much concur with last your paragraph. I remember watching a Sam Neil doc sometime ago about the state of NZ under the Neo Lib experiment and If I ever bump into him i’m shouting him a beer as I almost had tears at what he said.
Hitlers Panzers East is a dated book. No matter what they had done, the Germans simply lacked the means to defeat the USSR in 1941. The Germans forces that defeated Kirpinos in the South would have had to fight those Soviet armies some time, and the attrition the USSR subjected the Germans to meant the Nazis simply lacked the resources to defeat the Soviet Union.
The German invasion force (plus allies) numbered around 3.8 million men on June 22 1941, of which German troops were about 3.3 million. Bearing in mind Russia’s geography acts as a funnel (that is, the front was shortest at at the start of the attack, and the German armies funneled out to front that was over 2200km long, with a smaller force) German losses from all causes (KIA/MIA/WIA/illness) were: (rounded)
June 91,000 (just eight days!)
July 181,000
August 225,000
September 187,000
October 167,000
November 157,000
December 166,000
The figures above clearly some the effect of continuous Soviet counter-attacks on the Germans. The army suffered peak combat losses as early as August, and combat losses rapidly fell off after that, indicating a decline in the ability of the German army to maintain high tempo, high loss operations. This is especially clear when you consider that of the August figures, 34,000 were sickness related (and 196,000 combat related) and the December figures fully 90,000 were sick (mainly frostbite). If you consider the continuous winter battles around Moscow and Kharkov into March 1942 as part of the first phase of the fighting on the Eastern front, then total German losses in first nine months of Barbarossa were: 1.1 million killed, wounded, and missing and 567,461 sick. So, to take stock, the Germans lost around 300,000 KIA and MIA, 850,000 WIA (380,000 of which were so badly wounded as to be unfit for further combat duty) – so, around 700,000 irrecoverable losses, or almost 100% of their infantry strength.
On top of the enormous strain of combat losses was the hopeless logistics of the invaders. An example of German logistical weakness was the lack of winter clothing available to the troops in 1941. Historians often blithely put it down to German over-confidence, that they were not prepared for the Russian winter and it took them by surprise. Of course the Germans knew what Russian winters were like – they had been in Russia during WW1 for years!!! The reality was they simply had no means, after supplying ammunition and fuel and limited rations, to deliver large quantities of warm clothing. That was the state of the German army’s logisitics in 1941.
In sum, despite the awesome power of the German army it simply lacked the ability to over-run the USSR in a single season. The Soviet Union fought back with such ferocity that after August the Germans ability to maintain combat operations at the required tempo began to drop off. By the time the Soviets launched their Moscow counter-attack, the offensive combat power of Army Group Centre was long finished.
Three things that come to play here:
1. If Hitler hadn’t taken part in the Balkan’s side show which delayed the start Op Barbarossa by 2-3mths, there are pro’s and con’s to the Balkan’s War or Hitler’s southern flank.
2. If Hitler hadn’t remove 90% of the Panzer Divisions from Army Group Centre to conduct some wild goose chase in the south(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B6tzen_decision) which added about an extra 800kms there and back again. Which in turn slowed the advance of Army Group Centre down and competently sources aka Von Manstein, Guderian, Halder etc, OKH Operations Orders, German military archives and from the former USSR Army archives. Army Group Centre would’ve had clear run to Moscow and beyond as there was no defensive line in place until old Hitler ordered those panzers sth. Which in turn the Soviets give the time and space (time and space means a lot armoured forces weather its in attack or defence and it was drilled in me when I was Crew Commander when I was in the RNZAC) to build up its defensive line and along with Army Group Centre’s worn out panzers from its wee detour south stop the German advance on the outskirts of Moscow. Had it not been for Hitler’s stupid order of no withdrawal at Moscow as Army Centre commanders want to shorting it supply lines, the 1942 summer offensive may not have been directed at Stalingrad, but encirclement of Moscow instead which could’ve cause all sorts of problems for the Russian’s.
3. The OKH (Army High Command) under the Franz Halder understood along with the Senior Field Commanders knew that Moscow had to their Centre of Gravity if Op Barbarossa was to succeed as they Soviet Political and Military Command Control, Comminution’s was a very strict top down decision process and very inflexible unlike the German Mission orientated orders which allows field commander greater flexibility and ability to achieve the overall Commanders Intent. A good cdr looks at the Cdr’s overall intent, the mission verb, timings , admin and log. Had the original Op Ord had been adhere too (just like the original Manstein’s Plan for Fall Yellow had been followed there wouldn’t been a Dunkirk) Op Barbarossa would’ve succeed in my view if it wasn’t for Hitlers mending to go after economic objectives instead of military objectives.
Forgot to add this in point 2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Typhoon
Thanks for the book references
There are some very interesting papers at https://www.da.mod.uk/Publications
Climate charge, peak oil, arable land, over fishing and water etc
Do our farmers care? Artificial milk is very soon. Be hard to stop the science progress.
Dairy farming?
Rachel Stewart:
“Another fool, the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Peter Gluckman, told the recent NZBIO conference that great strides were being made commercialising artificial milk and meat.” (Fool in eyes of farmers.)
“Gluckman also said synthetic milk was the biggest threat to New Zealand, because of the country’s reliance on its “liquid gold” dairy exports.”…..
…”Based on some of the investors who are driving the tech – Leonardo DiCaprio, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, Richard Branson, Bill Gates – it’s a solid bet.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11938961
I for one will be a lot happier about drinking a product blended from vats of engineered bacteria and yeasts. Better than something squeezed out of a cow from just below its sewer outfalls. Once it’s made into cheese or yoghurt, even better.
Ditto for what goes into my burgers and sausages and other small goods. If it smells like bacon and tastes like bacon and gets a good crispy mouthfeel like bacon, I’ll be even happier if it doesn’t come from murdering a pig. Since I never eat steak or roasts, it won’t bother me that those are a lot further from being synthesised.
Andre
You need bacteria to survive I understand. Millions of them form part of your defecation. Personally i would like to hang onto to a beautiful Jersey rather than a laboratory created mixture. And someone will pick up some bug or reaction to the synthetic and it will be as popular as vaccinations or mesh in operations.
Oh yeah. Only about 10% of the cells (by number) travelling around in and on the sacks of lumpy and wobbly and slimy bits called our bodies are actually us: the rest are various bacteria and other hitchhikers. Some of whom are as important to our well-being as the bits that are all us.
Unlike Gareth, I’m not planning to come for Bessie. If she gives you joy, and a bit of your sustenance, I’m happy for you both. I’m sure she prefers being lovingly tended to by someone that truly cares for her, rather than being herded into a crowded noisy shed twice a day and plugged in to some weird machine. Nor have I got plans to coerce you to consume the spawn of some satanic machinery.
There will always be those that persuade themselves that something is bad for them, when it really isn’t. Look at the current fad of being gluten intolerant, very few of whom genuinely are. If those people want to spend huge amounts of money pandering to their psychosomatic symptoms, I view it as a kind of idiot tax.
I’ve read that about gluten too. But I think one needs the bigger picture. They might have gut problems and find that less gluten helps even though they are not formally identified as gluten free. And it is part of experimenting to see what foods bring health.
We have had the chemicals around us increase exponentially since WW2 and combine to create new effects etc It’s easy to criticise about apparent pickiness and fashion re gluten free. I don’t know much but do some work in an organic shop and meet people with health problems and hear their difficulties. I made the point yesterday that we are ignorant about a lot of things, food is just one of them. We just do the best we can in a changing world, one where people assume so much, without solid facts. And even the solid facts and the research that led to them have to be checked out.
ianmac, you may be interested in the Editor’s pick of the news/opinions on interest.co.nz.
It is an article by John Mauldrin about robots and the future of work.
If the changes he lists can happen so fast, synthetic milk is a sure bet
Thanks Patricia but I was unable to find an article by Mauldrin.
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/90614/john-mauldin-sees-major-changes-coming-and-argues-unimaginable-and-unmanageable-future
Thanks patricia and Incognito. Read it saved for further reflection.
Change is coming fast. Labour did that what is the nature of work in the future recently. How timely.
And John Mauldin’s piece resonates:
“The calls for a guaranteed basic income (like Mark Zuckerberg’s) are just beginning, but that is going to become a major political theme in our future. Like King Canute, we cannot stop the tides – but perhaps we could get creative and channel that tide. What do we think of shorter work weeks? Just as Roosevelt put men to work during the Depression, maybe we need to think about finding jobs around our communities that need to be done. Guaranteed basic employment. Mull that over….”
Subject: Press Release: Sue Henry (Housing Lobby) “Stop the transfer (privatisation) of Tamaki tenancies!”
1 November 2017
“Now we have a new Government, there are some urgent, ongoing issues that need addressing,” says Sue Henry, Housing Lobby Spokesperson.
“In early November 2017, the tenancies in Tamaki, curently held by the Tamaki Housing Association (Limited Partnership), are planned to be transferred, (under the ‘Partnership model’) to an Australian consortium, or other private operator, to manage, or to be sold.”
“Instead of tenants being shoved into an even deeper trench, of former Housing Minister Nick Smith’s making, this ridiculous idea needs to be stamped out, immediately.”
“Former State tenants in Tamaki have had so many disruptive changes forced upon them in a short space of time – this must stop.”
“All we saw under the previous National Government’s watch was ‘pass the parcel’ and a 70 year old institution fragmented to such an extent, it is unrecognisable.”
“Tenants in Tamaki have had to deal with having families split up, communities dislocated, made transient, as well as having their secure tenancies abolished.”
“In many cases tenants have had their lives destroyed, and had their long-time exisiting homes and communities bulldozed to the ground.”
(4 minute video of the destruction of the solid former State house at 14 Taniwha St Glen Innes, demolished on Tuesday 31 October 2017).
“We want immediate action by this new Government to STOP the transfer (privatisation) of Tamaki tenancies.”
Sue Henry
Housing Lobby
…..
We sure do need this action as a priority.
A brave, determined young person taking the government to Court.
Law student loses case against govt’s climate policy
5 minutes ago
Waikato law student Sarah Thomson has indicated she will appeal her case challenging the last government’s climate change policy.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/342953/law-student-loses-case-against-govt-s-climate-policy