If you can get past his hokey spiritualism of the cleaned up junkie, Russell Brand has some really, really good conversations on his podcasts. I particularly recommend his discussion with Adam Curtis.
I remember around seven years ago seeing a tv news report on the issue that mentioned kauris were dying in the Waitakeres in remote areas miles from any walking track. Made me suspicious of claims that humans are responsible for the spread. “The bug is soil-borne, and left alone it spreads at a glacial pace. But picked up on on the boots of a tramper, or the hooves of a wild pig, it can be carried kilometres from the original source of an outbreak.” Are there still wild pigs in the Waitakeres? If so, why have they not been eliminated? Obviously they’d be more effective transporters of the pathogen than humans.
“New Zealand’s competitive research model – where individual teams of scientists beaver away inside separate Crown Research Institutes – is one of the major roadblocks we face in saving kauri. While CRI business managers protect their intellectual property, scientists are being gagged. She claims MPI asked her to review all kauri dieback science three years ago and then told her not to tell anyone the results. Without collaboration, says Black, how can scientists know what has already been proved? “We could all be working on the same things, and how would we know?””
The new government must command the public service to start collaborating on this problem immediately. Nothing wrong with using enterprise teams competitively to produce a selection of clever strategies. Everything wrong with failing to share institutional learning therefrom.
So they’ve let those pigs continue spreading the disease for an entire decade. Amazing, the incompetence that everyone assumes will continue forever here. A competent manager would have mapped all the affected trees to show how many cannot have been infected by trail-walkers. If as many were off-trail as alongside, that would prove that pigs are the problem, not humans. A relief map would show any downhill drift of contaminated soil infecting trees down-slope from a trail.
They are all mapped.
Great majority of infections alongside human tracks.
There’s a few areas with downhill infection but they are places like Otitori Bay Road which is also subdivided with humans, dogs, cars, landscaping etc.
First primary teachers strike for 24 years. You can see why they didn’t strike during Helen Clark’s government: Michael Cullen kept declaring a budget surplus. When government has plenty of money to spread around, that’s the wrong time to ask for some. Teacher logic.
You can see why they didn’t strike during John Key’s government: alpha male. Must demonstrate subservience.
So they finally waited until a young woman with a new baby is running the country. Attack now! Easy target…
Teachers are going on strike because things are really bad for them and has been for YEARS. Finally they have had enough, who can blame them after the last nine years.
It has NOTHING to do with who is the PM.
Calling the PM who quit (john key) an alpha male… I can’t stop laughing, so far from the truth.
Dennis, these were teachers down in ChCh over school closures. The strike didn’t go ahead. Instead there was a public rally
In 2010 under national, secondary teachers went on strike..
Prime Minister John Key said yesterday there was no new money to offer teachers a bigger pay increase unless they wanted to burden their students with a future of paying off national debt.
Mr Key said the Government was already borrowing $256 million a week.
Wait… what? keys government was borrowing how much a week?
Yes in 2010 the NZ Government had a budget deficit. John Key was entirely correct and it looked like it worked as the Teachers did not go on strike and did not get a big pay rise.
Nat’s are spinning that if Labour hadn’t of introduced a years free tertiary they would have the money for it.
What a crock, the money used for the first year free tertiary was ear marked by national for tax cuts.
But even more concerning is the national voters coming out to support teachers, after voting for anti education national for the last nine years. It really does my head in.
Thanks for the heads up Solkta, much appreciated. Have only joined in commenting on TS in recent years.
Nat bullshit is off the meter, the cannabis thing made me laugh hard. But not as hard as the school principal was laughing yesterday; when I told him that the nat’s had collected no info on class sizes during their tenure but were all of a sudden pushing for smaller class sizes.
Oh yes the class size thing. That might be the winner. Last time the Nats spoke about class sizes they said it didn’t matter and they wanted to increase them.
Teacher unions and education groups have welcomed Education Minister Hekia Parata’s backdown on class size increases, but it has come with a sting: a $174 million hole in the education budget which will now have to be filled from cuts elsewhere.
Ms Parata yesterday announced she was reversing plans in the Budget to increase class size ratios after two weeks of a strong public outcry from parents, teachers, principals and boards of trustees.
So Mr Gosman. Next time, instead of MPs voting themselves a pay rise, the money could be given to the Parliamentary cleaners. Better use of the money eh?
The pay rises are determined by the Renumeration Authority but don’t the MPs vote to accept?
“Oh well. I guess we deserve it, so OK give me few more thousands if you must.”
So when you criticised national for prioritising tax cuts over public spending, you didn’t mean quality public spending. just any old public spending.
Labour made a choice, spend the money earmarked for tax cuts on primary education teachers, whose ability to teach will define a childs learning pattern for life. Or they can spend the money on 18 – 19 year olds who desire to go on to earning a graduate then professional salary but won’t invest in it themselves.
Just for the record, one year of free tertiary education is open to all adults who haven’t undergone tertiary education before; not just 18-19yr olds as implied by ‘3cent biscuit’ above.
A friend of mine, 44yrs old has just started training to be a teacher, only because the first year free.
Re the current pay for primary school teachers….
Did you know that the teachers have been offered twice the pay rise that the prior national government offered?
So it’s a huge WTF moment that national are only now making a big song and dance about supporting education and teachers. All good, most can see through it, cause they got x-ray spec’s, for all those special effects. 🙂
“So government is recognising the fact that teacher pay increases haven’t been particularly generous in recent years,” Mr Hipkins said.”
Personally, I highly value education for ALL and I especially value our educators. If any government can improve the situation for teachers, it’s this one.
“A friend of mine, 44yrs old has just started training to be a teacher, only because the first year free.”
So are you implying that after the first year your friend will then exit his course? you know the ONLY reason he decided to upskill was that it was “free”.
This has given her the opportunity for a good start and I’m so happy for her to have such an opportunity, and such an opportunity will not be wasted on her.
Tuppence. That is rubbish. The first 3 years of a child’s life effects their learning patterns. Parents and family as first teachers.
When secondary education became free and mandatory girls became educated to higher levels regardless of parental or societal ideas. So did their families because of this.
We are again accepting that 3 years tertiary education is desirable, and that the poorer students (parents) should not have a handbrake hefty loan when wealthy students (parents) have friends who hire their children, or a business which hires them, to avoid loans.
The outcome? Poorer families do not build home deposits and banks won’t loan to them as they have a mortgage sized student debt already. Also poorer students who missed out may now take advantage to gain further education, as adults can apply.
The wealthy continue with family backing to grow their deposits and without a student loan they qualify for a bank loan. They become the property class.
In three years from now it will be a more even field.
More students from poorer families will be able to gain degrees or trades.
The wealthy students will have to work harder in a larger pool of students.
This is great policy for the ordinary family, far from pulling the ladder up, they have provided one.
Get use to it, your lot are in power now so need to solve all those easy problem they raged on about in opposition while also keeping the economy going to pay for it No point in feeling sorry for yourself and blaming the opposition for been ..,. The Opposition
Your conclusions are harsh and unfair – no one wants to strike and certainly not teachers – for too long the gnats have been given a free pass – they let things run down – don’t blame the workers for wanting to eat and live on an adequate income.
No, I’m not blaming them for that – just for waiting so long, and unfairly making governance hard for Jacinda! Like I suggested, the obvious time to do it was at least a decade ago.
Are you serious DF @ 3, or are you just being a little bit naughty and provocative? I hope it is the latter.
The teachers have chosen to strike for exactly the same reason as the nurses. They have reached the end of their tether. After nearly ten years being pushed and shoved around by National… having unnecessary extra ‘measuring devices’ forced on them which only made their job of actually teaching children ten times harder… being treated like second class citizens by an ignorant National-led government and subsequently now having extreme difficulty attracting the right young people to teaching… they have understandably had more than enough.
However, I hope they recognise the fact they can’t get everything immediately because there is not a bottomless pit of gold in the Govt’s coffers.
You’re right, Anne. There is no bottomless pit of gold in the Govt’s coffers. But Labour aren’t even spending up to their own self-imposed spending cap. Giving them around $6 billion more to play with.
The Chairman, Mico plasma bovis, kauri dieback, trade wars, poor public infrastructure, pay levels, hospital funding, meeting climate change costs, education costs, Winz.
I could go on…. glad they have money in case… I’m sure others could add things to the list. (I have not prioritised any one thing, as they are all huge)
The Government’s self-imposed spending cap is extremely conservative as it stands, thus allows plenty of headroom for any future unknowns.
And while there are many issues to currently overcome, the additional $6 billion will go a long way in further addressing them.
If we let matters fester, they will snowball. Thus, will become more difficult and far more expensive to correct going forward.
Businesses are concerned large public sector wage increases will spillover and drive up private sector wage demand. Hence, there’s speculation appeasing this concern is what is underpinning the Government’s hardball stance when it comes to public sector wage demands.
Alternatively, when it comes to the threat of Mycoplasma bovis (which poses no human health risk, thus as far as problems go it’s not that major) Robertson seems to have thrown out his fiscal concerns and has committed to throwing as much money as it takes at the problem.
Just as Winston seemed to have had no other fiscal concerns when announcing a billion dollars for foreign aid, yet when it came to patient safety and nurses wanting more, Winston was out there pointing at the need to balance the books.
National let matters fester, they have snowballed. Thus, it has become more difficult and far more expensive to correct going forward.
Lets be real and sheet home the current situation to the actual cause.
I still think MSM and to a degree the PR team for the current Govt are not doing their job at educating the general public regarding the sentence above. I also believe this is due mostly to MSM being bought/paid for by interests that are biased to Nats and their own personal gains.
No one is denying National’s governance got us into the state we are now in, but it’s now up to Labour to get on top of things before they snowball and become more difficult and more expensive to correct.
As reported, they have around another $6 billion to do so.
You seem to be standing up for Labour who in this instance seem to be putting business concerns (or other concerns such as Mycoplasma bovis) ahead of public sector workers and the overall public/national interests (i.e. investment in health and education).
The Primary sector have ridden on the coat tails of secondary teachers for years since gaining a parity agreement. This is the first time they have been first cab of the ramp with negotiations, secondary have always taken the industrial action, interestingly the reverse does not apply.
The primary teachers are up in arms as that is where the biggest demand is.
There is massive shortages of primary school teachers. They do an excellent job and should be paid well and supported!
When the powers set immigration policy with the rise in private and public foreign student drives under National, it was to gain a lot of 20 – 30 yo often with lower educational level or skills (chefs, low level IT support, health care worker were amongst the top 5 most “skilled’ groups) that created additional points for residency and extra points if they were younger, so based on that, 1 out of 5 foreign students studying in NZ were waived through into permanent residency even if the job was flipping burgers or working in a petrol station. As well as that if you “invested” in a business or house you also were waived through into permanent residency and did not have to have an English language test.
As usual nobody worked out this is prime child bearing age, so of course there should have been a big prediction of the additional children being born outside of the normal demographics by government so they should have started saving for more teachers and midwives and GP’s then, and not allowing it to become a crisis! Instead they just focused on giving it to construction and building more schools and classrooms and remedial work from all the leaky schools they had, rather than increasing the teachers and allowing enough and adequate funding for the additional children.
At the same time, the government got rid of many specialist schools for children with special needs and about 1 in 10 children have some sort of learning disability but apparently under the neoliberal rules it is practically impossible to get more help in the classroom to deal with special needs children.
Someone was saying they had an autistic child but with the ‘check tick system” failed on one obscure point so the school did not get funding for a teachers aid. Then the school asked the parents to pay for one instead. Clearly discrimination against the special needs children families has become rife on top of everything else!
Apparently a colossal amount of children have their teacher changed during the year now, that is much higher than the more publicised issue of people in insecure housing’s children having to change schools.
So modern NZ primary school kids are grappling with a lot of issues that are contributing to additional stress on them from the teachers shortages and turnover which is why the average parent is probably going to support the strike, as everyone knows that we need these qualified teachers badly!
This is from the Natz, but another issue for the Labour government to solve.
Yeah its interesting isn’t it, WP says that GB and nary a word of outrage from the msm but imagine if JK had said that to a Green or Labour MP, the outrage would have been deafening (and rightly so)
It was a shit thing of winston to say .i had been feeling positive about him even though I didn’t want msg in parliament. But the he proved what a silly old fool he can be.
Thanks Blazer and Anne. The behaviour of the Opposition was appalling. Both in the attacks and the response to the resignation. They scored a (doubtful) point but wanted the pound of flesh as well. Rats!
You can see why Winston Peters was sufficiently riled by the way they were treating Tracey Martin that he made the “fatty” statement. One thing I’ve noticed about Winston. He expects total loyalty from his parliamentary members and when he gets it, he returns it with equal measure.
Well you know PR, when people are angry about someone’s behaviour they often respond in like manner which may not be the right thing to do, but you can understand them doing it.
I can recall you getting riled up on this site and [maybe] ending up with a wee ban.
FFS @ PR! Give it up or I might have to relate a story about a pencil plane (I think they were called Metroliners) whereby the pilot had to ask most other passengers to switch sides before takeoff.
BTW – same held true for dear old Parakura.
Then there’s Gerry’s companion to deal with.
Give it up man!
And considering the number of times Bridges * is pulled up and warned by the Speaker for interjections (some of which are apparently extremely rude/derogatory from what I have heard from people actually there) it is a case of pot and kettle. One day, Mallard is going to send Bridges packing … LOL.
I suspect Winston may have been riled by consistent interjections from the Opposition.
Tracey Martin appears t have accepted the spin from Bishop that this enquiry was about the appointee – it was about the process used for the appointment – a process developed and later amended by National, as she outlined in her reply. Clearly the reason for the enquiry is because it may not have discovered all relevant information, but that has nothing to do with the person appointed. Bishop was called on this on Radio NZ this morning but continued to claim it was an enquiry into the person appointed rather than government processes. Yes National have scurrilously attacked an individual for political purposes, but they also offended against parliament with their interjections. From what was heard in the clip at least one opposition MP should have been called on to apologise.
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief says he thinks there is a chance some parents may not see kids again after being separated at the border. Instead the children of around 460 parents will simply be put in foster care or adopted out in the US.
Absolutely disgusting that they did nothing to track the children they took. To be honest hard to believe a country like the US could do that and be so negligent with children. There are many scandals however of profit from state children or incarceration of minors by officials owning parts of the facilities that house them and profit from it.
The children could be trafficked, abused and of course never be reunited with their parents. This has threads of Aboriginal and Argentinian babies being stolen.
I see Trump caved in and Putin’s visit has been postponed. A man with no balls whatsoever. His only asset now is his band of racist, mysogenistic, fanatically religious followers. Other than that, he’s just a smelly turd sitting in the White House, kept in power and controlled by the Republicans and corporate money. People slag of Hillary Clinton but at least she had a lot more balls than Trump. The good news about Trump having no balls is that even a successful dictator needs balls.
Goose-stepping? A retro move to demonstrate stylistic solidarity with North Korea? No, I know – it’ll be big guns. Trad male psychology (mine is bigger than yours)..
Best game in town; stir the anti-immigration pot and then fill your pockets.
But “victory” isn’t the word most Valley Park residents would use to describe the results of Kobach’s work. With his help, the town of 7,000 passed an ordinance in 2006 that punished employers for hiring illegal immigrants and landlords for renting to them. But after two years of litigation and nearly $300,000 in expenses, the ordinance was largely gutted. Now, it is illegal only to “knowingly” hire illegal immigrants there — something that was already illegal under federal law. The town’s attorney can’t recall a single case brought under the ordinance.
“Ambulance chasing” is how Grant Young, a former mayor of Valley Park, describes Kobach’s role. Young characterized Kobach’s attitude as, “Let’s find a town that’s got some issues or pretends to have some issues, let’s drum up an immigration problem and maybe I can advance my political position, my political thinking and maybe make some money at the same time.”
Kobach used his work in Valley Park to attract other clients, with sometimes disastrous effects on the municipalities. The towns — some with budgets in the single-digit-millions — ran up hefty legal costs after hiring him to defend similar ordinances. Farmers Branch, Texas, wound up owing $7 million in legal bills. Hazleton, Penn., took on debt to pay $1.4 million and eventually had to file for a state bailout. In Fremont, Neb., the city raised property taxes to pay for Kobach’s services. None of the towns are currently enforcing the laws he helped craft.
I think there is further discussion along those lines than what is presented, as the phrase does more than encompass working conditions.
Considering the fraught concerns about the use of the term ‘white’ – for the purposes of this discussion, it is useful to consider it in terms of those who for no other reasons other than how they appear, are treated in such way as to provide beneficial advantages that are denied to others that present differently.
In regards to “white working class” – I would think it would relate to the aspects of life additional to both class and employment. They may earn the same pay under the same conditions, but they may also be more likely to get their choice of rental, be treated differently in various industries, shops and institutional services. Even in recreational activities they are more likely to experience a positive welcome and inclusion. They and their children are less likely to be targeted by the police, be followed around a shop, or be questioned about what they are up to.
It doesn’t harm anyone to consider that there are differences even within a class system. In fact, it is more likely that acknowledging those differences allows for better solutions and processes to be designed and implemented.
Yes, categories are great for identifying power, inequalities & need in specific groups and your examples are good ones.
These categories or descriptors provide the probabilities of association can also be a negative influence on societal beliefs and interactions, especially where associating motivations, attitudes and behaviours with a particular group, with an absoluteness that doesn’t exist. These are used for negative stereotyping of the individual as well as the group. E.g. from police profiling and likelihood of arrest, to why people who are working class and white can’t climb the social ladder, even as to why people don’t access education and health services.
I feel that when category probability is interpreted by the general public as certainty, they are used to stigmatise with an air of authority (“the stats say…”, “the profiling shows that…” (See: opinion pieces, BoL comments ) and have become an perverse excuse for people with power and privilege to do nothing to invest in ensuring society is a little more equitable.
But that’s not to say I don’t agree with you that we need to identify where inequalities lie. Absolutely, we must, and the author is wrong to say “The only logical reason to differentiate within a class by skin colour is if you want to talk about the element that doesn’t like mixing with other ethnicities” – clearly there are other reasons, as you state.
It’s the context-free certainty that attitudes and behaviours belong to social groups (which the article focused on) that bothers me. Especially when I hear people in positions of power use this as an excuse to explain away, and do nothing about fixing, a problem that has been identified via those very same categories (example from a serve administrator: “Oh, that person doesn’t turn up because they are [choose group] and the research shows they can’t be bothered so we struck them off the list”).
I’m not sure why this posted twice. It disappeared completely the first time I posted it. If a moderator would like to delete this version, please feel free to do so. Ta.
Yes, categories are great for identifying power, inequalities & need in specific groups and your examples are good ones.
These categories or descriptors provide the probabilities of association can also be a negative influence on societal beliefs and interactions, especially where associating motivations, attitudes and behaviours with a particular group, with an absoluteness that doesn’t exist. These are used for negative stereotyping of the individual as well as the group. E.g. from police profiling and likelihood of arrest, to why people who are working class and white can’t climb the social ladder, even as to why people don’t access education and health services.
I feel that category probabilities are thrown around as certainties, and are used to stigmatise with an air of authority (“the stats say…”, “the profiling shows that…” (See: opinion pieces, BoL comments ) and have become an perverse excuse for people with power and privilege to do nothing to invest in ensuring society is a little more equitable.
But that’s not to say I don’t agree with you that we need to identify where inequalities lie. Absolutely, we must, and the author is wrong to say “The only logical reason to differentiate within a class by skin colour is if you want to talk about the element that doesn’t like mixing with other ethnicities” – clearly there are other reasons, as you state.
It’s the context-free certainty about attitudes and behaviours in social groups ascribed to people in descriptive categories (which the article focused on) that bothers me. Especially when I hear people in positions of power use this as an excuse to explain away, and do nothing about fixing, a problem that has been identified via those very same categories (example from a service administrator: “that person doesn’t turn up because they are [choose group] and the research shows they have an attitude problem so we struck them off the list”).
“It’s the context-free certainty about attitudes and behaviours in social groups ascribed to people in descriptive categories (which the article focused on) that bothers me. Especially when I hear people in positions of power use this as an excuse to explain away, and do nothing about fixing, a problem that has been identified via those very same categories (example from a service administrator: “that person doesn’t turn up because they are [choose group] and the research shows they have an attitude problem so we struck them off the list”).
I agree. However, it often shows how systematic bias is expressed in terms of individual interactions. I think how wearying it must be on the receiving end of this kind of un-thinking prejudice – all of the time.
‘As for the Greens, they’ve given up even a pretense of holding onto the moral high ground, and have been reduced to being just another political party.’
If you are a list MP you are there because voters wanted your parties policies, or, being cynical, liked the party publicity. Either way, you are in Parliament because of your party.
If you jump ship, then your position should go to the next on the party list.
The Greens should not die in the ditch, for something even the members don’t agree on.
I agree with all this. The thing must be progressed in the select committee yet, right? No reason to assume a suitable compromise can’t be reached. I suggested to the GP that we ought to allow a parliamentarian the right to declare intent to leave a party and tell the public why, while serving out their current term.
This means the actual leaving takes effect at the end of the term, yet politicians are able to take a moral stand when necessary (that forces them to decide to leave their current waka). That way the principle of freedom of speech in accord with conscience is balanced against the social contract entered into with electors.
Perhaps the Green Party caucus agreed with the bill – it is hard to disagree with a bill designed to prevent waka jumping – but did not wish to admit the same to to wider party.
I suspect the GP developed a policy on the original waka-jumping legislation long ago that was too one-sided. The unbalanced view expressed by Jeanette Fitzsimons and Keith Locke in recent times gives me this impression. Nowadays too many of us see the common interest context for that old opposition to survive.
They, and Shaw in particular, have said so many times that they would consider talking with National. But while spitting rhetoric all over the place National never did approach them. The Greens can work with National, all National have to do is change most of their key policies.
There has been a number of recent policy changes that Winston would obviously not be super happy about (and Jones must have had the shits). There is actually a lot of overlap between the policy of the three parties, between National and the Greens there is next to none.
If there was common ground then English would have actually phoned Shaw after the election rather than just have his proxies talk about him doing so. If there was common ground then the Greens probably wouldn’t have done the MOU with Labour.
I always thought the Greens were above such practices but then again I’ve also never spent time in a ministerial car either so i’m assuming they must be very comfortable
Yes coalitions are about compromise. Perhaps you could list what compromises you think the Greens would have had to make to make a government with National?
While it is distasteful that the Greens find the need to support this specific bill, yes it is good to have a change of government.
Since you can’t come up with anything constructive re coalition building, do you suggest that the Greens NEVER support a government and stay on the cross benches for ever? If so, how do you think this would implement more of their policies?
Being that you think that “all National have to do is change most of their key policies.” the first thing I’d suggest is the Greens come off their high horse (its probably a bit lower to the ground now) and actively try to find some common ground
Green co-leader Rod Donald reminded the House that “had this bill existed prior to the last [1999] election, we [Donald and Fitzsimons] would have been removed from this House and denied our opportunity to stay here for the full parliamentary term”.
From wikipedia: “Anderton decided to leave the Alliance and establish a new party. However, rules regarding changes of party allegiance meant that Anderton and his allies could not officially resign from the Alliance without also resigning from parliament, which they were unwilling to do. This led to the awkward situation of Anderton and his allies technically remaining part of the Alliance while actually operating outside of it. The conflict within the Alliance was one of the reasons cited by Helen Clark for her calling the election several months early in 2002.”
As far as I know, our electoral law hasn’t been changed to eliminate this problem. If I’m right, we have a structural flaw in MMP that suitable consensus-based rewriting of the proposed waka-jumping legislation could rectify.
The predator free thing is just all bullshit. It is typical National where they set a target call it sorted. There is no explanation as to how they would achieve this nor the willingness to throw anything like enough money at it.
In the second one National would act without consultation with Maori and that would be unacceptable to the Greens.
But lets day the Greens could talk National around on these, what dead rats would the greens have to swallow to achieve a coalition with National? How would these rats compare with supporting the waka jumping thing? What core policies would National be prepared to compromise on?
“The predator free thing is just all bullshit. It is typical National where they set a target call it sorted. There is no explanation as to how they would achieve this nor the willingness to throw anything like enough money at it.”
– Maybe but its an opportunity for the Greens to come in and see about making the policy better or at the very least a chance to discuss it
“In the second one National would act without consultation with Maori and that would be unacceptable to the Greens.”
– Again its an opportunity to talk, even if its simply to discuss what you’ve bought up
“But lets day the Greens could talk National around on these, what dead rats would the greens have to swallow to achieve a coalition with National?”
– For the Greens the simple act of just talking means that Labour couldn’t just take the Greens support for granted and then the Greens could negotiate a better deal for their policies, like NZFirst have done
“How would these rats compare with supporting the waka jumping thing?”
– Being that if this policy was in earlier then the Green party might not even exist you can draw your own conclusions
“What core policies would National be prepared to compromise on?”
– Who knows how far Simon Bridges would go to gain power but what I do know is that if you’re not even prepared to talk then the answer is absolutely nothing whereas talking costs nothing (well maybe not nothing but I’m sure you get my meaning)
The Greens have always been very clear that they will work with ANY party on individual policy. There was an mou on cycleways and insulation with the Key government when it first got in. But that government chose not to continue working with the Greens.
Anybody with half a brain can see that the Greens could not have formed a coalition with the Key National government. Bluffing that they could when that bluff is obvious would just be silly.
” Bluffing that they could when that bluff is obvious would just be silly.”
Being that Winston is/was suing various members of the National party its pretty clear he had no intention of working with National yet he manged to bull over a billion dollars to play with so no bluffing is not silly
It’s like talking with a primary school kid. NZF is a centrist party with fuck all if any environmental policy. They were part of the Bolger National led government and Winston was a minister in the Muldoon National government. Nobody knows if Winston did seriously consider going with National this time, but if it was just a bluff it had a strong basis.
I can’t believe how incredibly naive you are. The Greens are Labours doormat, the Greens have been shafted by Labour before and if Winston had enough votes then Labour would have shafted the Greens again
The Greens allow themselves to be shafted by Labour because they give away any power they have to Labour by stating they’ll only go with Labour which means Labour doesn’t have to negotiate with the Greens
When did i say that the Greens have not been shafted by Labour? You put words in my mouth and then call me naive. The naivety here is your knowledge of policy.
“When did i say that the Greens have not been shafted by Labour? ”
I didn’t say you had, I’m saying they get shafted because they can’t or won’t talk to National which means they have no bargaining power so they have to support whatever NZFirst wants, like the waka jumping bill
So we’re around the circle again. You have an example of one dead rat that the Greens need to swallow yet you are too ignorant of policy to understand that the Greens couldn’t have gone with National and presumably too stupid to see that bluffing that they could have would not have worked.
A mother discovers her son was part of a group of kids who were stealing items found on the outside of people’s homes. She reported him to the police and the police have now prosecuted him.
It reminds me of a similar incident involving my brother when he was around 9 or 10 years old. In the 1950s he and a mate pinched stuff from shops in Queen St., Auckland. The stolen goods were stashed away under our home. Unfortunately for them a visiting 4 year old discovered the cache and raced upstairs with a bran new cricket bat and pads. All was revealed.
Said brother was made to sit down and write a letter of apology addressed to the manager of each store and then both parents marched him into Queen St. where he had to deliver each letter in person and offer a verbal apology as well. It was then up to the managers whether they wanted to take the matter further. None of them did.
Brother has often said since it taught him the lesson of his life and our parents could not have handled it in a better way.
My son did similar to my 8 year-old grandson a few months ago – he had stolen lollies from the local dairy – the lesson was well learnt!
He had been told by an older child that it was ok because it wasn’t stealing from a person! We had a long discussion about what people do to earn money to provide for their families – it was quite an eye-opener for him.
Yep. I did the same around the same age only my crime was to steal three brightly coloured translucent plastic pencil sharpeners (shocking pink, emerald green and yellow) from a Woolworths counter. On finding them hidden in a drawer, my mother dragged me along to the local policeman – are genial middle aged gentleman – who proceeded to explain to me the evils of theft. I was mightily relieved I wasn’t going to be sent to prison.
My son was put on diversion by the police, for stealing a CD. He had to pay for it, and hand it back I think. And was given time to find some community thing to do for 20 hours or so. He and a friend got up to it together. I am glad to say it was the only crime involved in.
But at school my other son had the Nike shoes that I had managed to buy at sale price pinched from his locker which left me with a bad taste. I hadn’t marked them with an identifier and just let it go. I believe that some children just steal in circles, one loses something so steals from another, and it passes round. I didn’t want to join in that behaviour, so lost out on my shoes. It crossed my mind that you could never have anything if the neighbours just took anything they felt the want for.
Posted this the other day, it didn’t get much attention, so here it is again.
Government seeks public input on well-being indicators
“Our nation’s well-being is not a number on a GDP chart, and our government, this government, recognises that,” Mr Shaw said. “The economy is obviously important but GDP is not the be all, end all.”
Mr Shaw said this was about understanding the real picture of success and well-being that went beyond just productivity and turnover and throughput.
“Most people will tell you that the security of their job, the health of their kids and their ability to pay the power bill is more important to them.”
These are real people living just,. on little Pentecost Island. They and others need our help. I think the firefighters dropped tools and organised immediately to help the urgent need in usa. Let’s do he same for PENTECOST.
Incidentally there was a warning tag of the unpleasant results that present day efficiency thinking leads to. Someone said that it would seem unnecessary to keep trained USA firefighters in readiness for on-call situations that occurred over a few months of the year! The idea of that big country having to run on such a lean, mean budget that they were unable to envisage a system to have sufficient firefighters from all 50+ states which are supposed to be ‘united’ is amazing. They could have dedicated firefighters contracted to keep in a trained and
(program helpfully wipes out whole line) – think I said
that the contracted firefighters would be in a state of readiness, and have jobs for the rest of time that would allow them to be released when needed. It’s not rocket science.
But no, the commenter seemed to think it was quite reasonable to call on other countries with their own problems. ‘You’ll come and help us because you are our friends won’t you. If you want to receive friendly treatment from us, you have to come when we call you.’ There is a name for that behaviour.
Looks like the Solomons Government has drop the ball on this one and I’m a little bit surprised they haven’t requested help from NZ or Australia governments for aid.
I think the HMNZS Canterbury is on her way back from attending RIMPAC and since the Endi has been retired the Navy has no ship available atm for HADR Tasks. Thanks to the short sightedness of the first Labour Coalition IRT Project Protector the OPV’s are about as useful as having a fistful of fifties a pub with no beer IRT HADR role which is very limited in what the OPV’s can achieve.
Are OPVs those runabouts with thicker steel than usual. I always wondered
about Labour buying a lot more than needed. I think they dropped some fighter aircraft that would have put us in line for war work about that time.
I wondered if someone said well you can cancel that order only if you buy these that are available and that is the deal take it or leave it. Don’t know, just a thought. But that might be an explanation.
Yes the OPV’s had an ice belt added to give the OPV’s a 1C classification to operate in the Southern Ocean. Which has made the two ships between 200- 300 tones overweight, with CC effects the 1C classification is about as useless as tits on a bull atm also the length and beam are starting to an issue in the Southern Waters. Also they can’t embark the Seasprites down Sth either as they would be very useful for carrying boarding parties instead using the RIB’s which rated up to Sea State 4, but for WHS issues only do boarding at Sea State3.
The other major issue is the very limited mission support systems they have which effects how much information they can process/ transmit to and from the P3’s, Seasprites, and other ships within the Navy or Coalition assets.
As for HADR Missions they can carry 3 20ft TEU’s with 16 ton crane unless the OPV is alongside (which isn’t to badly damage)or the use of a lighter on a flat Sea it’s almost pointless to conduct HADR task as Seasprite has a load restrictions for Vertrep
To sum up the OPV’s are a one tick pony with a very compromised design that’s really not suit to the Southern Ocean, but take the ice belt off them they would be a lovely ship the Northern waters or use around NZ waters providing the mission and combat systems were up graded.
A nation needs to be able to respond to the emergencies that happen within its borders else the response may not be in time. We saw this with the Rena grounding. We should have been able to respond nearly instantly but instead it took weeks and several million dollars in damage both to the local environment and the economy.
Love this wee article on the stuff website about lawyers finding a 1947 Law IRT to mouldy rental homes. I hope these Landlords who are a bunch of tight asses get a good kicking up their freckle and put all other landlords on notice.
I think that landlords need to be aware of things in the present that might affect their homes when tenants are living in, and help in keeping mould and dampness down.
1 Is the home tightly sealed to prevent draughts and loss of heating.
It may need some grills put into the walls so that movement of air can occur.
There could be some advice on this so that a grill on the north or west side balances one on the south or east side so allowing a flow of warm, dry air to move towards the colder, damper side. If the house is closed up, then there is air movement and fresh air can enter.
2 Gutters can get full of leaves and water won;t flow away and can find its way down the inside of the weatherboards and through to the inner lining. The landlord should get a reliable person to check and clear these.
3 The home may be left tightly closed during the day while the tenants are out partly to prevent burglary. It would help to put security stays on one window in each of say three rooms. Also there is a window catch for aluminium windows that has two positions, one gives tight closure, the other enables a small air flow
4 The people may not be in the house for any lengthy period during the day on any day of the week when they could open the windows for fresh air and enabling sun and warm air into the room. People are having to work odd hours, irregular hours, and just trying to manage from week to week is stressful.
5 While climate change and energy conservation have rid houses of smoky fires and replaced them often with electricity, families may not be able to afford much time having the appliances on. The Labour Party has alleviated the problem for beneficiaries but what about the general population.?
I think that grills high up in the walls that could vent right through to the outer wall would help. Not many and left uncovered, would not be a problem to the tenants. Fan and heater installed in the bathroom and properly vented to the outside would help. Also separate button just for fan to ensure that it would be turned on to suck out the steam.
That’s a great example of laws simply being forgotten simply because, IMO, we have too much law and it never being enforced. The latter makes the law itself worthless.
Ms Rosie said foremost of the three elements that made health and safety effective were leadership.
“The leader at the top who thinks it’s all compliance, a waste of time and all about paperwork, then we know we will not get a change in health and safety performance.
That second sentence describes National to a ‘T’. They truly think that doing things well is a waste of time.
I waded into the brain-rotting waters of QAnon to compile a comprehensive field guide to their insane codenames, symbols, and theories for all of you. https://t.co/ManNDuBJVB— justin caffier (@JustinCaffier) 12 de juny de 2018
As of Thursday, humanity’s used more resources in 2018 than the Earth can produce in a whole year, according to environmentalists.
According to Global Footprint Network, this year’s ‘Earth Overshoot Day’ came earlier than ever before.
“Since the 1970s, when global ecological overshoot became a reality, we have been using more renewable natural resources than our planet can regenerate,” the international non-profit says.
We have the choice of maintaining our present unsustainable practices or becoming sustainable. All indications are that we’ll continue being unsustainable until we wipe ourselves and most of all other life out.
Good Morning Newshub We all ready produce enough food to feed all the tangata of Papatuanuku.
The beings that eat genitally modified food genetics can change thats not good.
The Big companys that have showen that we can not trust will own the patience to this food and control them thats reality they will drag as much money out of people that they can and lie when things go wrong with there prouducts..
IT.s not a business they have heaps of money and rich backers its a movement from the far right neo liberal Capitalist advertising campane so they get there bull—-views out to the world look at steve touring Europe .
Parenting is not as hard as some make out to be so long as you are organized.
The free fees will bring in more teachers and other skill’s that are in a big shortage in Aotearoa.. Duncan why are you not talking about Ka kite ano.
I say this story is trying to give reason to the bad way the hosptial treated me and my 11 year old mokopuna firstly she did not have a xray secondly the staff did not inform me or my daughter that they were going to pregnancy test my mokopunas urine we only found that fact out when we read the paper work they asked my granddaughter some question that were indicating that’s the angle they were looking at for my moko ailment I ignored this I was pissed but when We found what they did behind our backs this is my reaction so this link has no comparrision to the way they are treating me and my Whano. link below Ka kite ano https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/08/02/175905/hospital-questions-child-on-pregnancy-status
P.S I don’t support violence I support using the system’s against the foes this is the Honorable intelligent way that Eco Maori will win this BATTLE
This is what trump is doing to the EPA rolling back all the laws that were put in place to lower there carbon use .
trump is digging a deep hole one day its going to come crashing around his ears .
Link below.
One of trumps GO OIL Party members is saying that God would clean up there mess how low can you go is this truly how they think they have being brain washed and are brain washing the Common American people Ka kite ano link below
This is what Eco Maori see that companys are to blame for the plastic that’s poisoning Tangaroa and Papatuanukus and there beautiful creates that.s a fact and that companys need to change there whole way of manufacturing things link below ka kite ano
To all te good kiwis on Aotearoa Rangi is not going to fall on our heads because everyone learning the way tangata whenua have been treated as second class citizens like we do not have the capacity to work te whenua to make te mone so we should lose our land to Pakeha who are superior and will make te mone for NZ. Maori should lose Te whenua by hook or crook Its good for the country .
As one person put it we should be thankful on public holiday and voluntary wash his car.
You will learn the truth about what happened in the past and learn that we want to be treated as equals in our country we are not going to take your property. I have a link to help people understand te tangata whenua
Old certainties, old prejudices, old fears are losing their grip Ka kite ano
Good evening Newshub Its a win for people power with Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux having there venue cancelled at the last minute that’s what I saw Kia kaha te tangata mana ka pai .
Thats a good plan everyone keep there pet cats and dogs controlled to help our native species thrive in urban places and pokeko as pet’s
There you go human caused global warming its getting real hot in Europe we will have to resigned our city’s to cope with these heat waves . 9 months of red algae bloom in America
Paddy I don’t want to comment to much on glory vale what I have to say won’t be good.
That will be a great documentary that Cliff and co I missed the names of the other who made this great Mana Whine documentary great to be cellabrating te tangata whenua cultured tangata ka kite ano
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
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Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
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As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...
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Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...
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If something big is going to happen in Ferndale, it’s going to happen at Christmas. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If there’s one episode of Shortland Street you should watch each year, it’s the annual Christmas cliffhanger. The final episode of ...
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The government has confirmed its plan to break up Te Pūkenga / New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology and re-establish independent polytechnics. ...
If you can get past his hokey spiritualism of the cleaned up junkie, Russell Brand has some really, really good conversations on his podcasts. I particularly recommend his discussion with Adam Curtis.
https://www.russellbrand.com/podcasts/
Agreed.
Not his greatest moment.
I miss the Trews. His commentary on media articles was cutting glory.
Russell Brand has a great podcast with Sir Brian Cox, the physicist- they really have a great discussion about the universe etc
Forest & Bird is now closing its kauri reserves. Alison Mau did a good in-depth report on the current situation a month ago: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/105302459/kauri-dieback-the-battle-against-the-biological-bulldozer?rm=m
I remember around seven years ago seeing a tv news report on the issue that mentioned kauris were dying in the Waitakeres in remote areas miles from any walking track. Made me suspicious of claims that humans are responsible for the spread. “The bug is soil-borne, and left alone it spreads at a glacial pace. But picked up on on the boots of a tramper, or the hooves of a wild pig, it can be carried kilometres from the original source of an outbreak.” Are there still wild pigs in the Waitakeres? If so, why have they not been eliminated? Obviously they’d be more effective transporters of the pathogen than humans.
“New Zealand’s competitive research model – where individual teams of scientists beaver away inside separate Crown Research Institutes – is one of the major roadblocks we face in saving kauri. While CRI business managers protect their intellectual property, scientists are being gagged. She claims MPI asked her to review all kauri dieback science three years ago and then told her not to tell anyone the results. Without collaboration, says Black, how can scientists know what has already been proved? “We could all be working on the same things, and how would we know?””
The new government must command the public service to start collaborating on this problem immediately. Nothing wrong with using enterprise teams competitively to produce a selection of clever strategies. Everything wrong with failing to share institutional learning therefrom.
NZPI sound like they deliberately obstruct.
It’s humans, but also pigs. There’s a few left in the Waitakeres.
Both central and local government were too slow to act.
Forest and Bird Waitakere branch are discussing it at their next branch meeting.
Pretty devastating for all of us in the forest who have been working to keep the forest.
So they’ve let those pigs continue spreading the disease for an entire decade. Amazing, the incompetence that everyone assumes will continue forever here. A competent manager would have mapped all the affected trees to show how many cannot have been infected by trail-walkers. If as many were off-trail as alongside, that would prove that pigs are the problem, not humans. A relief map would show any downhill drift of contaminated soil infecting trees down-slope from a trail.
They are all mapped.
Great majority of infections alongside human tracks.
There’s a few areas with downhill infection but they are places like Otitori Bay Road which is also subdivided with humans, dogs, cars, landscaping etc.
First primary teachers strike for 24 years. You can see why they didn’t strike during Helen Clark’s government: Michael Cullen kept declaring a budget surplus. When government has plenty of money to spread around, that’s the wrong time to ask for some. Teacher logic.
You can see why they didn’t strike during John Key’s government: alpha male. Must demonstrate subservience.
So they finally waited until a young woman with a new baby is running the country. Attack now! Easy target…
Teachers are going on strike because things are really bad for them and has been for YEARS. Finally they have had enough, who can blame them after the last nine years.
It has NOTHING to do with who is the PM.
Calling the PM who quit (john key) an alpha male… I can’t stop laughing, so far from the truth.
2013 – Under john key…
Primary school teachers in Christchurch will strike on 19 February, a day after Education Minister Hekia Parata is scheduled to make an announcement on the future of schools in the region.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/126452/school-teachers-to-go-on-strike
Did they actually do so though? The media has been reporting that it’s the first time for 24 years. Journos wrong??
Dennis, these were teachers down in ChCh over school closures. The strike didn’t go ahead. Instead there was a public rally
In 2010 under national, secondary teachers went on strike..
Prime Minister John Key said yesterday there was no new money to offer teachers a bigger pay increase unless they wanted to burden their students with a future of paying off national debt.
Mr Key said the Government was already borrowing $256 million a week.
Wait… what? keys government was borrowing how much a week?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4255743/Teachers-on-strike-again
Yes in 2010 the NZ Government had a budget deficit. John Key was entirely correct and it looked like it worked as the Teachers did not go on strike and did not get a big pay rise.
Self inflicted deficit, with tax cuts and corporate welfare.
What century do you live in?
Solkta, have you heard the latest narrative……
Nat’s are spinning that if Labour hadn’t of introduced a years free tertiary they would have the money for it.
What a crock, the money used for the first year free tertiary was ear marked by national for tax cuts.
But even more concerning is the national voters coming out to support teachers, after voting for anti education national for the last nine years. It really does my head in.
My reply was to Dennis, he still lives in a gendered structure that most on this site left long ago or are too young to really know.
Agree though that the Nat bullshit is off the meter. The medical cannabis thing tops the lot.
Thanks for the heads up Solkta, much appreciated. Have only joined in commenting on TS in recent years.
Nat bullshit is off the meter, the cannabis thing made me laugh hard. But not as hard as the school principal was laughing yesterday; when I told him that the nat’s had collected no info on class sizes during their tenure but were all of a sudden pushing for smaller class sizes.
Oh yes the class size thing. That might be the winner. Last time the Nats spoke about class sizes they said it didn’t matter and they wanted to increase them.
Teacher unions and education groups have welcomed Education Minister Hekia Parata’s backdown on class size increases, but it has come with a sting: a $174 million hole in the education budget which will now have to be filled from cuts elsewhere.
Ms Parata yesterday announced she was reversing plans in the Budget to increase class size ratios after two weeks of a strong public outcry from parents, teachers, principals and boards of trustees.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02-08-2018/#comment-1508906
What National is stating is if you cancel the tax cut then perhaps the better use of the money is not on Tertiary students but on Teacher’s.
So Mr Gosman. Next time, instead of MPs voting themselves a pay rise, the money could be given to the Parliamentary cleaners. Better use of the money eh?
MP’s don’t vote themselves pay rises anymore. Have you not been keeping up with developments on that front over the past decade or so?
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/parliamentary-rules/directions-determinations/mps-salary-and-allowances/
Oh yes. “They have no influence whatsowever”.
Flight of pigs observed over Wellington.
The pay rises are determined by the Renumeration Authority but don’t the MPs vote to accept?
“Oh well. I guess we deserve it, so OK give me few more thousands if you must.”
So when you criticised national for prioritising tax cuts over public spending, you didn’t mean quality public spending. just any old public spending.
Labour made a choice, spend the money earmarked for tax cuts on primary education teachers, whose ability to teach will define a childs learning pattern for life. Or they can spend the money on 18 – 19 year olds who desire to go on to earning a graduate then professional salary but won’t invest in it themselves.
Talk about pulling the ladder up behind you
Just for the record, one year of free tertiary education is open to all adults who haven’t undergone tertiary education before; not just 18-19yr olds as implied by ‘3cent biscuit’ above.
A friend of mine, 44yrs old has just started training to be a teacher, only because the first year free.
Re the current pay for primary school teachers….
Did you know that the teachers have been offered twice the pay rise that the prior national government offered?
So it’s a huge WTF moment that national are only now making a big song and dance about supporting education and teachers. All good, most can see through it, cause they got x-ray spec’s, for all those special effects. 🙂
“Mr Hipkins said over the last eight years, teachers pay had increased by an average of 1.2 percent a year and the current offer from the ministry was double that.
“So government is recognising the fact that teacher pay increases haven’t been particularly generous in recent years,” Mr Hipkins said.”
Personally, I highly value education for ALL and I especially value our educators. If any government can improve the situation for teachers, it’s this one.
“A friend of mine, 44yrs old has just started training to be a teacher, only because the first year free.”
So are you implying that after the first year your friend will then exit his course? you know the ONLY reason he decided to upskill was that it was “free”.
No, not at all, but it seems like you are.
This has given her the opportunity for a good start and I’m so happy for her to have such an opportunity, and such an opportunity will not be wasted on her.
Cup half full around here.
Tuppence. That is rubbish. The first 3 years of a child’s life effects their learning patterns. Parents and family as first teachers.
When secondary education became free and mandatory girls became educated to higher levels regardless of parental or societal ideas. So did their families because of this.
We are again accepting that 3 years tertiary education is desirable, and that the poorer students (parents) should not have a handbrake hefty loan when wealthy students (parents) have friends who hire their children, or a business which hires them, to avoid loans.
The outcome? Poorer families do not build home deposits and banks won’t loan to them as they have a mortgage sized student debt already. Also poorer students who missed out may now take advantage to gain further education, as adults can apply.
The wealthy continue with family backing to grow their deposits and without a student loan they qualify for a bank loan. They become the property class.
In three years from now it will be a more even field.
More students from poorer families will be able to gain degrees or trades.
The wealthy students will have to work harder in a larger pool of students.
This is great policy for the ordinary family, far from pulling the ladder up, they have provided one.
Get use to it, your lot are in power now so need to solve all those easy problem they raged on about in opposition while also keeping the economy going to pay for it No point in feeling sorry for yourself and blaming the opposition for been ..,. The Opposition
Your conclusions are harsh and unfair – no one wants to strike and certainly not teachers – for too long the gnats have been given a free pass – they let things run down – don’t blame the workers for wanting to eat and live on an adequate income.
No, I’m not blaming them for that – just for waiting so long, and unfairly making governance hard for Jacinda! Like I suggested, the obvious time to do it was at least a decade ago.
So teachers should not try and get the pay and conditions that they deserve because you have prejudice against women?
Are you serious DF @ 3, or are you just being a little bit naughty and provocative? I hope it is the latter.
The teachers have chosen to strike for exactly the same reason as the nurses. They have reached the end of their tether. After nearly ten years being pushed and shoved around by National… having unnecessary extra ‘measuring devices’ forced on them which only made their job of actually teaching children ten times harder… being treated like second class citizens by an ignorant National-led government and subsequently now having extreme difficulty attracting the right young people to teaching… they have understandably had more than enough.
However, I hope they recognise the fact they can’t get everything immediately because there is not a bottomless pit of gold in the Govt’s coffers.
You’re right, Anne. There is no bottomless pit of gold in the Govt’s coffers. But Labour aren’t even spending up to their own self-imposed spending cap. Giving them around $6 billion more to play with.
https://youtu.be/jhT3fgld37E?t=39m17s
I just realised I read your comments in the voice of hal from 2001 a Space Odyssey – ha, weird.
The Chairman, Mico plasma bovis, kauri dieback, trade wars, poor public infrastructure, pay levels, hospital funding, meeting climate change costs, education costs, Winz.
I could go on…. glad they have money in case… I’m sure others could add things to the list. (I have not prioritised any one thing, as they are all huge)
The Government’s self-imposed spending cap is extremely conservative as it stands, thus allows plenty of headroom for any future unknowns.
And while there are many issues to currently overcome, the additional $6 billion will go a long way in further addressing them.
If we let matters fester, they will snowball. Thus, will become more difficult and far more expensive to correct going forward.
Businesses are concerned large public sector wage increases will spillover and drive up private sector wage demand. Hence, there’s speculation appeasing this concern is what is underpinning the Government’s hardball stance when it comes to public sector wage demands.
Alternatively, when it comes to the threat of Mycoplasma bovis (which poses no human health risk, thus as far as problems go it’s not that major) Robertson seems to have thrown out his fiscal concerns and has committed to throwing as much money as it takes at the problem.
Just as Winston seemed to have had no other fiscal concerns when announcing a billion dollars for foreign aid, yet when it came to patient safety and nurses wanting more, Winston was out there pointing at the need to balance the books.
Chairfella…….. FIFY
National let matters fester, they have snowballed. Thus, it has become more difficult and far more expensive to correct going forward.
Lets be real and sheet home the current situation to the actual cause.
I still think MSM and to a degree the PR team for the current Govt are not doing their job at educating the general public regarding the sentence above. I also believe this is due mostly to MSM being bought/paid for by interests that are biased to Nats and their own personal gains.
No one is denying National’s governance got us into the state we are now in, but it’s now up to Labour to get on top of things before they snowball and become more difficult and more expensive to correct.
As reported, they have around another $6 billion to do so.
You seem to be standing up for Labour who in this instance seem to be putting business concerns (or other concerns such as Mycoplasma bovis) ahead of public sector workers and the overall public/national interests (i.e. investment in health and education).
The Primary sector have ridden on the coat tails of secondary teachers for years since gaining a parity agreement. This is the first time they have been first cab of the ramp with negotiations, secondary have always taken the industrial action, interestingly the reverse does not apply.
The primary teachers are up in arms as that is where the biggest demand is.
There is massive shortages of primary school teachers. They do an excellent job and should be paid well and supported!
When the powers set immigration policy with the rise in private and public foreign student drives under National, it was to gain a lot of 20 – 30 yo often with lower educational level or skills (chefs, low level IT support, health care worker were amongst the top 5 most “skilled’ groups) that created additional points for residency and extra points if they were younger, so based on that, 1 out of 5 foreign students studying in NZ were waived through into permanent residency even if the job was flipping burgers or working in a petrol station. As well as that if you “invested” in a business or house you also were waived through into permanent residency and did not have to have an English language test.
As usual nobody worked out this is prime child bearing age, so of course there should have been a big prediction of the additional children being born outside of the normal demographics by government so they should have started saving for more teachers and midwives and GP’s then, and not allowing it to become a crisis! Instead they just focused on giving it to construction and building more schools and classrooms and remedial work from all the leaky schools they had, rather than increasing the teachers and allowing enough and adequate funding for the additional children.
At the same time, the government got rid of many specialist schools for children with special needs and about 1 in 10 children have some sort of learning disability but apparently under the neoliberal rules it is practically impossible to get more help in the classroom to deal with special needs children.
Someone was saying they had an autistic child but with the ‘check tick system” failed on one obscure point so the school did not get funding for a teachers aid. Then the school asked the parents to pay for one instead. Clearly discrimination against the special needs children families has become rife on top of everything else!
Apparently a colossal amount of children have their teacher changed during the year now, that is much higher than the more publicised issue of people in insecure housing’s children having to change schools.
So modern NZ primary school kids are grappling with a lot of issues that are contributing to additional stress on them from the teachers shortages and turnover which is why the average parent is probably going to support the strike, as everyone knows that we need these qualified teachers badly!
This is from the Natz, but another issue for the Labour government to solve.
SaveNZ, well said.
Winston’s ‘kick fatty out’ has now trumped Paula’s ‘zip it sweetie’ as the most profound comment in Parliament for a decade.
Yeah its interesting isn’t it, WP says that GB and nary a word of outrage from the msm but imagine if JK had said that to a Green or Labour MP, the outrage would have been deafening (and rightly so)
The most prominent reporting on the incident is from the UK Guardian paper.
Its almost as if there are different standards applied…
It was a shit thing of winston to say .i had been feeling positive about him even though I didn’t want msg in parliament. But the he proved what a silly old fool he can be.
Missed that Blazer. What happened?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/105944663/throw-fatty-out-says-acting-pm-winston-peters
Thanks Blazer and Anne. The behaviour of the Opposition was appalling. Both in the attacks and the response to the resignation. They scored a (doubtful) point but wanted the pound of flesh as well. Rats!
Here’s the full video ianmac:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=201761
You can see why Winston Peters was sufficiently riled by the way they were treating Tracey Martin that he made the “fatty” statement. One thing I’ve noticed about Winston. He expects total loyalty from his parliamentary members and when he gets it, he returns it with equal measure.
“Fatty” Yeah that’ll show Brownlie
Well you know PR, when people are angry about someone’s behaviour they often respond in like manner which may not be the right thing to do, but you can understand them doing it.
I can recall you getting riled up on this site and [maybe] ending up with a wee ban.
Thats true but then I’m also not the acting PM on a couple of hundred thou a year and I’m also not expected to maintain higher standards than normal
FFS @ PR! Give it up or I might have to relate a story about a pencil plane (I think they were called Metroliners) whereby the pilot had to ask most other passengers to switch sides before takeoff.
BTW – same held true for dear old Parakura.
Then there’s Gerry’s companion to deal with.
Give it up man!
+1111 Anne.
And considering the number of times Bridges * is pulled up and warned by the Speaker for interjections (some of which are apparently extremely rude/derogatory from what I have heard from people actually there) it is a case of pot and kettle. One day, Mallard is going to send Bridges packing … LOL.
* also Bennett.
I suspect Winston may have been riled by consistent interjections from the Opposition.
Tracey Martin appears t have accepted the spin from Bishop that this enquiry was about the appointee – it was about the process used for the appointment – a process developed and later amended by National, as she outlined in her reply. Clearly the reason for the enquiry is because it may not have discovered all relevant information, but that has nothing to do with the person appointed. Bishop was called on this on Radio NZ this morning but continued to claim it was an enquiry into the person appointed rather than government processes. Yes National have scurrilously attacked an individual for political purposes, but they also offended against parliament with their interjections. From what was heard in the clip at least one opposition MP should have been called on to apologise.
“One thing I’ve noticed about Winston. He expects total loyalty from his parliamentary members”
Spot on there Anne. Hence his waka jumping bill. It gives him the ability for total control of any dissenting MP’s in his party.
Well Gerry did accuse Winston of being drunk the day before.
Fact checks:
Was Winston drunk? Possibly.
Is Gerry a fatty? Yes.
Is Jacinda a sweetie? Yes.
Fireblade – I like your style.
Brownlee smarmed his way through his “Winston” smear then collected one for himself – he more than deserved it.
Mike Treen arrives back in NZ today.
Be there to greet him at Auckland Airport International arrivals 12.00 pm.
Click on the Link for full detalls;
https://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/
Domestic Flights only, affected.
“Fog at Auckland Airport, cancels more than 20 domestic flights”
Daniel Client – Thursday, August 2, Last updated 7:31 am
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/105943959/fog-at-auckland-airport-delays-and-cancellations-expected
Mike’s International flight should be OK.
to many a pointless trip barring virtue signalling points for Mike
The “many” to which you refer being those comfortable with the IDF shooting children.
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief says he thinks there is a chance some parents may not see kids again after being separated at the border. Instead the children of around 460 parents will simply be put in foster care or adopted out in the US.
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/07/26/john-sandweg-ice-family-reunification-deadline-sot-vpx.cnn
Absolutely disgusting that they did nothing to track the children they took. To be honest hard to believe a country like the US could do that and be so negligent with children. There are many scandals however of profit from state children or incarceration of minors by officials owning parts of the facilities that house them and profit from it.
The children could be trafficked, abused and of course never be reunited with their parents. This has threads of Aboriginal and Argentinian babies being stolen.
I see Trump caved in and Putin’s visit has been postponed. A man with no balls whatsoever. His only asset now is his band of racist, mysogenistic, fanatically religious followers. Other than that, he’s just a smelly turd sitting in the White House, kept in power and controlled by the Republicans and corporate money. People slag of Hillary Clinton but at least she had a lot more balls than Trump. The good news about Trump having no balls is that even a successful dictator needs balls.
Decreases the Dem surge damage at the mid-terms. A little.
Putin will still come, just when the political air is clearer.
Trump should go full Man In The High Castle and do a military parade for him.
Goose-stepping? A retro move to demonstrate stylistic solidarity with North Korea? No, I know – it’ll be big guns. Trad male psychology (mine is bigger than yours)..
I just wouldn’t want to see Trump parade shirtless on a horse.
Best game in town; stir the anti-immigration pot and then fill your pockets.
But “victory” isn’t the word most Valley Park residents would use to describe the results of Kobach’s work. With his help, the town of 7,000 passed an ordinance in 2006 that punished employers for hiring illegal immigrants and landlords for renting to them. But after two years of litigation and nearly $300,000 in expenses, the ordinance was largely gutted. Now, it is illegal only to “knowingly” hire illegal immigrants there — something that was already illegal under federal law. The town’s attorney can’t recall a single case brought under the ordinance.
“Ambulance chasing” is how Grant Young, a former mayor of Valley Park, describes Kobach’s role. Young characterized Kobach’s attitude as, “Let’s find a town that’s got some issues or pretends to have some issues, let’s drum up an immigration problem and maybe I can advance my political position, my political thinking and maybe make some money at the same time.”
Kobach used his work in Valley Park to attract other clients, with sometimes disastrous effects on the municipalities. The towns — some with budgets in the single-digit-millions — ran up hefty legal costs after hiring him to defend similar ordinances. Farmers Branch, Texas, wound up owing $7 million in legal bills. Hazleton, Penn., took on debt to pay $1.4 million and eventually had to file for a state bailout. In Fremont, Neb., the city raised property taxes to pay for Kobach’s services. None of the towns are currently enforcing the laws he helped craft.
https://www.propublica.org/article/kris-kobachs-lucrative-trail-of-courtroom-defeats
Wherever there are dogs there will be fleas. Anonymous
My partner reckons I’m like a stuck record about the way people are categorised and labeled, and stereotyped based on those categories and labels.
I like this addition to the debate about the label “white working class”
I think there is further discussion along those lines than what is presented, as the phrase does more than encompass working conditions.
Considering the fraught concerns about the use of the term ‘white’ – for the purposes of this discussion, it is useful to consider it in terms of those who for no other reasons other than how they appear, are treated in such way as to provide beneficial advantages that are denied to others that present differently.
In regards to “white working class” – I would think it would relate to the aspects of life additional to both class and employment. They may earn the same pay under the same conditions, but they may also be more likely to get their choice of rental, be treated differently in various industries, shops and institutional services. Even in recreational activities they are more likely to experience a positive welcome and inclusion. They and their children are less likely to be targeted by the police, be followed around a shop, or be questioned about what they are up to.
It doesn’t harm anyone to consider that there are differences even within a class system. In fact, it is more likely that acknowledging those differences allows for better solutions and processes to be designed and implemented.
Yes, categories are great for identifying power, inequalities & need in specific groups and your examples are good ones.
These categories or descriptors provide the probabilities of association can also be a negative influence on societal beliefs and interactions, especially where associating motivations, attitudes and behaviours with a particular group, with an absoluteness that doesn’t exist. These are used for negative stereotyping of the individual as well as the group. E.g. from police profiling and likelihood of arrest, to why people who are working class and white can’t climb the social ladder, even as to why people don’t access education and health services.
I feel that when category probability is interpreted by the general public as certainty, they are used to stigmatise with an air of authority (“the stats say…”, “the profiling shows that…” (See: opinion pieces, BoL comments ) and have become an perverse excuse for people with power and privilege to do nothing to invest in ensuring society is a little more equitable.
But that’s not to say I don’t agree with you that we need to identify where inequalities lie. Absolutely, we must, and the author is wrong to say “The only logical reason to differentiate within a class by skin colour is if you want to talk about the element that doesn’t like mixing with other ethnicities” – clearly there are other reasons, as you state.
It’s the context-free certainty that attitudes and behaviours belong to social groups (which the article focused on) that bothers me. Especially when I hear people in positions of power use this as an excuse to explain away, and do nothing about fixing, a problem that has been identified via those very same categories (example from a serve administrator: “Oh, that person doesn’t turn up because they are [choose group] and the research shows they can’t be bothered so we struck them off the list”).
I’m not sure why this posted twice. It disappeared completely the first time I posted it. If a moderator would like to delete this version, please feel free to do so. Ta.
Yes, categories are great for identifying power, inequalities & need in specific groups and your examples are good ones.
These categories or descriptors provide the probabilities of association can also be a negative influence on societal beliefs and interactions, especially where associating motivations, attitudes and behaviours with a particular group, with an absoluteness that doesn’t exist. These are used for negative stereotyping of the individual as well as the group. E.g. from police profiling and likelihood of arrest, to why people who are working class and white can’t climb the social ladder, even as to why people don’t access education and health services.
I feel that category probabilities are thrown around as certainties, and are used to stigmatise with an air of authority (“the stats say…”, “the profiling shows that…” (See: opinion pieces, BoL comments ) and have become an perverse excuse for people with power and privilege to do nothing to invest in ensuring society is a little more equitable.
But that’s not to say I don’t agree with you that we need to identify where inequalities lie. Absolutely, we must, and the author is wrong to say “The only logical reason to differentiate within a class by skin colour is if you want to talk about the element that doesn’t like mixing with other ethnicities” – clearly there are other reasons, as you state.
It’s the context-free certainty about attitudes and behaviours in social groups ascribed to people in descriptive categories (which the article focused on) that bothers me. Especially when I hear people in positions of power use this as an excuse to explain away, and do nothing about fixing, a problem that has been identified via those very same categories (example from a service administrator: “that person doesn’t turn up because they are [choose group] and the research shows they have an attitude problem so we struck them off the list”).
“It’s the context-free certainty about attitudes and behaviours in social groups ascribed to people in descriptive categories (which the article focused on) that bothers me. Especially when I hear people in positions of power use this as an excuse to explain away, and do nothing about fixing, a problem that has been identified via those very same categories (example from a service administrator: “that person doesn’t turn up because they are [choose group] and the research shows they have an attitude problem so we struck them off the list”).
I agree. However, it often shows how systematic bias is expressed in terms of individual interactions. I think how wearying it must be on the receiving end of this kind of un-thinking prejudice – all of the time.
https://pro.newsroom.co.nz/articles/3760-bryce-edwards-the-process-of-the-waka-jumping-bill-shows-why-we-shouldn-t-trust-politicians
‘As for the Greens, they’ve given up even a pretense of holding onto the moral high ground, and have been reduced to being just another political party.’
Actually. I support the Waka jumping bill.
If you are a list MP you are there because voters wanted your parties policies, or, being cynical, liked the party publicity. Either way, you are in Parliament because of your party.
If you jump ship, then your position should go to the next on the party list.
The Greens should not die in the ditch, for something even the members don’t agree on.
I agree with all this. The thing must be progressed in the select committee yet, right? No reason to assume a suitable compromise can’t be reached. I suggested to the GP that we ought to allow a parliamentarian the right to declare intent to leave a party and tell the public why, while serving out their current term.
This means the actual leaving takes effect at the end of the term, yet politicians are able to take a moral stand when necessary (that forces them to decide to leave their current waka). That way the principle of freedom of speech in accord with conscience is balanced against the social contract entered into with electors.
Perhaps the Green Party caucus agreed with the bill – it is hard to disagree with a bill designed to prevent waka jumping – but did not wish to admit the same to to wider party.
I was going to link to former Green MPs against this but then we all know there are many against it so I won’t bother
I suspect the GP developed a policy on the original waka-jumping legislation long ago that was too one-sided. The unbalanced view expressed by Jeanette Fitzsimons and Keith Locke in recent times gives me this impression. Nowadays too many of us see the common interest context for that old opposition to survive.
The Greens are so invisible they may as well not exist.
You hope.
Its all right though, because they wouldn’t even consider talking with National it means they still have their morals, apparently
They, and Shaw in particular, have said so many times that they would consider talking with National. But while spitting rhetoric all over the place National never did approach them. The Greens can work with National, all National have to do is change most of their key policies.
“The Greens can work with National, all National have to do is change most of their key policies.”
Whereas all the Greens have to do to work with NZFirst is to do exactly what Winston says, yeah good deal that
There has been a number of recent policy changes that Winston would obviously not be super happy about (and Jones must have had the shits). There is actually a lot of overlap between the policy of the three parties, between National and the Greens there is next to none.
If there was common ground then English would have actually phoned Shaw after the election rather than just have his proxies talk about him doing so. If there was common ground then the Greens probably wouldn’t have done the MOU with Labour.
Yes we all know how it works:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98910081/horse-trading-between-labour-and-greens-to-get-nz-firsts-waka-jumping-bill-across-the-line
I always thought the Greens were above such practices but then again I’ve also never spent time in a ministerial car either so i’m assuming they must be very comfortable
Yes coalitions are about compromise. Perhaps you could list what compromises you think the Greens would have had to make to make a government with National?
Horse trading, compromise , potato, potahto
Its all good right
While it is distasteful that the Greens find the need to support this specific bill, yes it is good to have a change of government.
Since you can’t come up with anything constructive re coalition building, do you suggest that the Greens NEVER support a government and stay on the cross benches for ever? If so, how do you think this would implement more of their policies?
Being that you think that “all National have to do is change most of their key policies.” the first thing I’d suggest is the Greens come off their high horse (its probably a bit lower to the ground now) and actively try to find some common ground
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11971853
Green co-leader Rod Donald reminded the House that “had this bill existed prior to the last [1999] election, we [Donald and Fitzsimons] would have been removed from this House and denied our opportunity to stay here for the full parliamentary term”.
From wikipedia: “Anderton decided to leave the Alliance and establish a new party. However, rules regarding changes of party allegiance meant that Anderton and his allies could not officially resign from the Alliance without also resigning from parliament, which they were unwilling to do. This led to the awkward situation of Anderton and his allies technically remaining part of the Alliance while actually operating outside of it. The conflict within the Alliance was one of the reasons cited by Helen Clark for her calling the election several months early in 2002.”
As far as I know, our electoral law hasn’t been changed to eliminate this problem. If I’m right, we have a structural flaw in MMP that suitable consensus-based rewriting of the proposed waka-jumping legislation could rectify.
@pukish
Wow, you found ONE thing. Now how about you look at National’s key policies and tell us where the common ground is there.
“Wow, you found ONE thing. Now how about you look at National’s key policies and tell us where the common ground is there.”
Here’s two
https://www.national.org.nz/strong_support_for_kermadec_ocean_sanctuary
https://www.national.org.nz/powering_up_predator_free_2050
The predator free thing is just all bullshit. It is typical National where they set a target call it sorted. There is no explanation as to how they would achieve this nor the willingness to throw anything like enough money at it.
In the second one National would act without consultation with Maori and that would be unacceptable to the Greens.
But lets day the Greens could talk National around on these, what dead rats would the greens have to swallow to achieve a coalition with National? How would these rats compare with supporting the waka jumping thing? What core policies would National be prepared to compromise on?
“The predator free thing is just all bullshit. It is typical National where they set a target call it sorted. There is no explanation as to how they would achieve this nor the willingness to throw anything like enough money at it.”
– Maybe but its an opportunity for the Greens to come in and see about making the policy better or at the very least a chance to discuss it
“In the second one National would act without consultation with Maori and that would be unacceptable to the Greens.”
– Again its an opportunity to talk, even if its simply to discuss what you’ve bought up
“But lets day the Greens could talk National around on these, what dead rats would the greens have to swallow to achieve a coalition with National?”
– For the Greens the simple act of just talking means that Labour couldn’t just take the Greens support for granted and then the Greens could negotiate a better deal for their policies, like NZFirst have done
“How would these rats compare with supporting the waka jumping thing?”
– Being that if this policy was in earlier then the Green party might not even exist you can draw your own conclusions
“What core policies would National be prepared to compromise on?”
– Who knows how far Simon Bridges would go to gain power but what I do know is that if you’re not even prepared to talk then the answer is absolutely nothing whereas talking costs nothing (well maybe not nothing but I’m sure you get my meaning)
The Greens have always been very clear that they will work with ANY party on individual policy. There was an mou on cycleways and insulation with the Key government when it first got in. But that government chose not to continue working with the Greens.
Anybody with half a brain can see that the Greens could not have formed a coalition with the Key National government. Bluffing that they could when that bluff is obvious would just be silly.
” Bluffing that they could when that bluff is obvious would just be silly.”
Being that Winston is/was suing various members of the National party its pretty clear he had no intention of working with National yet he manged to bull over a billion dollars to play with so no bluffing is not silly
It’s like talking with a primary school kid. NZF is a centrist party with fuck all if any environmental policy. They were part of the Bolger National led government and Winston was a minister in the Muldoon National government. Nobody knows if Winston did seriously consider going with National this time, but if it was just a bluff it had a strong basis.
I can’t believe how incredibly naive you are. The Greens are Labours doormat, the Greens have been shafted by Labour before and if Winston had enough votes then Labour would have shafted the Greens again
The Greens allow themselves to be shafted by Labour because they give away any power they have to Labour by stating they’ll only go with Labour which means Labour doesn’t have to negotiate with the Greens
When did i say that the Greens have not been shafted by Labour? You put words in my mouth and then call me naive. The naivety here is your knowledge of policy.
“When did i say that the Greens have not been shafted by Labour? ”
I didn’t say you had, I’m saying they get shafted because they can’t or won’t talk to National which means they have no bargaining power so they have to support whatever NZFirst wants, like the waka jumping bill
So we’re around the circle again. You have an example of one dead rat that the Greens need to swallow yet you are too ignorant of policy to understand that the Greens couldn’t have gone with National and presumably too stupid to see that bluffing that they could have would not have worked.
“You have an example of one dead rat that the Greens need to swallow”
No, no, no, no, no, a thousand times no. How many times do I have to say no.
Stop deciding what I’m saying and read what I’m saying.
I’m not saying the Greens have to swallow any dead rats, they’re doing well enough on that on their own.
I’m saying they just have to talk. Thats all. Just. Talk. Don’t have to agree with anything. Just talk. Talk.
You get it now?
Just. Talk.
Talk.
No promises. Just talk.
No agreements. Talk.
No signing anything. Just Talk.
Talk.
There will always be dead rats in coalition governments. Labour and NZF have swallowed a few.
As i say above, it is National that have chosen not to talk with the Greens and work with them on common goals.
“As i say above, it is National that have chosen not to talk with the Greens and work with them on common goals.”
So what, Nationals on 40+%, the Greens are struggling to get above 5% but even then it doesn’t matter
The Greens have a lot more to gain than National do by simply talking, it is in the Greens best interests to talk.
As i say above, it is National that have chosen not to talk with the Greens and work with them on common goals.
Quiet, considered and well behaved.! Not like you Ad.
A mother discovers her son was part of a group of kids who were stealing items found on the outside of people’s homes. She reported him to the police and the police have now prosecuted him.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12099562
It reminds me of a similar incident involving my brother when he was around 9 or 10 years old. In the 1950s he and a mate pinched stuff from shops in Queen St., Auckland. The stolen goods were stashed away under our home. Unfortunately for them a visiting 4 year old discovered the cache and raced upstairs with a bran new cricket bat and pads. All was revealed.
Said brother was made to sit down and write a letter of apology addressed to the manager of each store and then both parents marched him into Queen St. where he had to deliver each letter in person and offer a verbal apology as well. It was then up to the managers whether they wanted to take the matter further. None of them did.
Brother has often said since it taught him the lesson of his life and our parents could not have handled it in a better way.
My son did similar to my 8 year-old grandson a few months ago – he had stolen lollies from the local dairy – the lesson was well learnt!
He had been told by an older child that it was ok because it wasn’t stealing from a person! We had a long discussion about what people do to earn money to provide for their families – it was quite an eye-opener for him.
Yep. I did the same around the same age only my crime was to steal three brightly coloured translucent plastic pencil sharpeners (shocking pink, emerald green and yellow) from a Woolworths counter. On finding them hidden in a drawer, my mother dragged me along to the local policeman – are genial middle aged gentleman – who proceeded to explain to me the evils of theft. I was mightily relieved I wasn’t going to be sent to prison.
My son was put on diversion by the police, for stealing a CD. He had to pay for it, and hand it back I think. And was given time to find some community thing to do for 20 hours or so. He and a friend got up to it together. I am glad to say it was the only crime involved in.
But at school my other son had the Nike shoes that I had managed to buy at sale price pinched from his locker which left me with a bad taste. I hadn’t marked them with an identifier and just let it go. I believe that some children just steal in circles, one loses something so steals from another, and it passes round. I didn’t want to join in that behaviour, so lost out on my shoes. It crossed my mind that you could never have anything if the neighbours just took anything they felt the want for.
Posted this the other day, it didn’t get much attention, so here it is again.
Government seeks public input on well-being indicators
“Our nation’s well-being is not a number on a GDP chart, and our government, this government, recognises that,” Mr Shaw said. “The economy is obviously important but GDP is not the be all, end all.”
Mr Shaw said this was about understanding the real picture of success and well-being that went beyond just productivity and turnover and throughput.
“Most people will tell you that the security of their job, the health of their kids and their ability to pay the power bill is more important to them.”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/363044/government-seeks-public-input-on-well-being-indicators
On that note, lets start with taking count of the number of power bills that are missed annually.
The number of suicides.
The number of hardship grants.
The number of thefts/robberies, violent crime.
The number of Homelessness/Housing NZ waiting list.
The above are a number of measurable indicators to start things off.
What measurable indicators would you like to see used, thus added on to the list?
Millsy added housing costs exceeding 60% of household income.
oooh, are you feeling all neglected?
No. The Government’s call for input required further airing.
I made the point the other day how we get used by the USA to provide aid as in firefighting but we have responsibilities of our own to help our little Pacific neighbours.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/363187/people-on-vanuatu-s-pentecost-feel-neglected
These are real people living just,. on little Pentecost Island. They and others need our help. I think the firefighters dropped tools and organised immediately to help the urgent need in usa. Let’s do he same for PENTECOST.
Incidentally there was a warning tag of the unpleasant results that present day efficiency thinking leads to. Someone said that it would seem unnecessary to keep trained USA firefighters in readiness for on-call situations that occurred over a few months of the year! The idea of that big country having to run on such a lean, mean budget that they were unable to envisage a system to have sufficient firefighters from all 50+ states which are supposed to be ‘united’ is amazing. They could have dedicated firefighters contracted to keep in a trained and
(program helpfully wipes out whole line) – think I said
that the contracted firefighters would be in a state of readiness, and have jobs for the rest of time that would allow them to be released when needed. It’s not rocket science.
But no, the commenter seemed to think it was quite reasonable to call on other countries with their own problems. ‘You’ll come and help us because you are our friends won’t you. If you want to receive friendly treatment from us, you have to come when we call you.’ There is a name for that behaviour.
Looks like the Solomons Government has drop the ball on this one and I’m a little bit surprised they haven’t requested help from NZ or Australia governments for aid.
I think the HMNZS Canterbury is on her way back from attending RIMPAC and since the Endi has been retired the Navy has no ship available atm for HADR Tasks. Thanks to the short sightedness of the first Labour Coalition IRT Project Protector the OPV’s are about as useful as having a fistful of fifties a pub with no beer IRT HADR role which is very limited in what the OPV’s can achieve.
Are OPVs those runabouts with thicker steel than usual. I always wondered
about Labour buying a lot more than needed. I think they dropped some fighter aircraft that would have put us in line for war work about that time.
I wondered if someone said well you can cancel that order only if you buy these that are available and that is the deal take it or leave it. Don’t know, just a thought. But that might be an explanation.
Yes the OPV’s had an ice belt added to give the OPV’s a 1C classification to operate in the Southern Ocean. Which has made the two ships between 200- 300 tones overweight, with CC effects the 1C classification is about as useless as tits on a bull atm also the length and beam are starting to an issue in the Southern Waters. Also they can’t embark the Seasprites down Sth either as they would be very useful for carrying boarding parties instead using the RIB’s which rated up to Sea State 4, but for WHS issues only do boarding at Sea State3.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12084397
The other major issue is the very limited mission support systems they have which effects how much information they can process/ transmit to and from the P3’s, Seasprites, and other ships within the Navy or Coalition assets.
As for HADR Missions they can carry 3 20ft TEU’s with 16 ton crane unless the OPV is alongside (which isn’t to badly damage)or the use of a lighter on a flat Sea it’s almost pointless to conduct HADR task as Seasprite has a load restrictions for Vertrep
To sum up the OPV’s are a one tick pony with a very compromised design that’s really not suit to the Southern Ocean, but take the ice belt off them they would be a lovely ship the Northern waters or use around NZ waters providing the mission and combat systems were up graded.
A nation needs to be able to respond to the emergencies that happen within its borders else the response may not be in time. We saw this with the Rena grounding. We should have been able to respond nearly instantly but instead it took weeks and several million dollars in damage both to the local environment and the economy.
Love this wee article on the stuff website about lawyers finding a 1947 Law IRT to mouldy rental homes. I hope these Landlords who are a bunch of tight asses get a good kicking up their freckle and put all other landlords on notice.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/105917266/crackdown-on-mouldy-rental-homes-as-1947-law-shows-its-teeth
I think that landlords need to be aware of things in the present that might affect their homes when tenants are living in, and help in keeping mould and dampness down.
1 Is the home tightly sealed to prevent draughts and loss of heating.
It may need some grills put into the walls so that movement of air can occur.
There could be some advice on this so that a grill on the north or west side balances one on the south or east side so allowing a flow of warm, dry air to move towards the colder, damper side. If the house is closed up, then there is air movement and fresh air can enter.
2 Gutters can get full of leaves and water won;t flow away and can find its way down the inside of the weatherboards and through to the inner lining. The landlord should get a reliable person to check and clear these.
3 The home may be left tightly closed during the day while the tenants are out partly to prevent burglary. It would help to put security stays on one window in each of say three rooms. Also there is a window catch for aluminium windows that has two positions, one gives tight closure, the other enables a small air flow
4 The people may not be in the house for any lengthy period during the day on any day of the week when they could open the windows for fresh air and enabling sun and warm air into the room. People are having to work odd hours, irregular hours, and just trying to manage from week to week is stressful.
5 While climate change and energy conservation have rid houses of smoky fires and replaced them often with electricity, families may not be able to afford much time having the appliances on. The Labour Party has alleviated the problem for beneficiaries but what about the general population.?
I think that grills high up in the walls that could vent right through to the outer wall would help. Not many and left uncovered, would not be a problem to the tenants. Fan and heater installed in the bathroom and properly vented to the outside would help. Also separate button just for fan to ensure that it would be turned on to suck out the steam.
Red Logix would have thoughts on this.
That’s a great example of laws simply being forgotten simply because, IMO, we have too much law and it never being enforced. The latter makes the law itself worthless.
more failures.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/105963109/ruapehu-alpine-lifts-vehicles-off-road-after-fatal-crash-inspections
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/363193/harmful-substances-kill-workers-at-ten-times-the-rate-of-accidents
That second sentence describes National to a ‘T’. They truly think that doing things well is a waste of time.
Small business struggling in Christchurch. But do the burghers (bourgeois) care?
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/363117/bizarre-economic-climate-blamed-for-business-closures
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/363028/new-brighton-businesses-slam-city-leaders-lack-of-unity
Oh dear.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ywex8v/what-is-qanon-conspiracy-theory
‘Earth Overshoot Day’ arrives earlier than ever
We have the choice of maintaining our present unsustainable practices or becoming sustainable. All indications are that we’ll continue being unsustainable until we wipe ourselves and most of all other life out.
New leader same shit.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/08/01/political-caption-competition-720/#comment-434848
Good Morning Newshub We all ready produce enough food to feed all the tangata of Papatuanuku.
The beings that eat genitally modified food genetics can change thats not good.
The Big companys that have showen that we can not trust will own the patience to this food and control them thats reality they will drag as much money out of people that they can and lie when things go wrong with there prouducts..
IT.s not a business they have heaps of money and rich backers its a movement from the far right neo liberal Capitalist advertising campane so they get there bull—-views out to the world look at steve touring Europe .
Parenting is not as hard as some make out to be so long as you are organized.
The free fees will bring in more teachers and other skill’s that are in a big shortage in Aotearoa.. Duncan why are you not talking about Ka kite ano.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/105975362/law-society-superinjunction-overturned-allowing-disclosure-of-sexual-harassment-case this the warrant that they are using to suppress Eco Maori the 00.1 % OWN the laws of the whenua and make them work to protect there ASS ana to kai P.S my flute sing the sweet music to educate common person on how systems are made for the 00.1 %
I say this story is trying to give reason to the bad way the hosptial treated me and my 11 year old mokopuna firstly she did not have a xray secondly the staff did not inform me or my daughter that they were going to pregnancy test my mokopunas urine we only found that fact out when we read the paper work they asked my granddaughter some question that were indicating that’s the angle they were looking at for my moko ailment I ignored this I was pissed but when We found what they did behind our backs this is my reaction so this link has no comparrision to the way they are treating me and my Whano. link below Ka kite ano
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/08/02/175905/hospital-questions-child-on-pregnancy-status
P.S I don’t support violence I support using the system’s against the foes this is the Honorable intelligent way that Eco Maori will win this BATTLE
This is what trump is doing to the EPA rolling back all the laws that were put in place to lower there carbon use .
trump is digging a deep hole one day its going to come crashing around his ears .
Link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/02/epa-trump-vehicle-emissions-clean-car-rules
Ka kite ano
One of trumps GO OIL Party members is saying that God would clean up there mess how low can you go is this truly how they think they have being brain washed and are brain washing the Common American people Ka kite ano link below
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/31/california-wildfire-climate-change-carr-fire
This is what Eco Maori see that companys are to blame for the plastic that’s poisoning Tangaroa and Papatuanukus and there beautiful creates that.s a fact and that companys need to change there whole way of manufacturing things link below ka kite ano
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/more-recycling-wont-solve-plastic-pollution/
To all te good kiwis on Aotearoa Rangi is not going to fall on our heads because everyone learning the way tangata whenua have been treated as second class citizens like we do not have the capacity to work te whenua to make te mone so we should lose our land to Pakeha who are superior and will make te mone for NZ. Maori should lose Te whenua by hook or crook Its good for the country .
As one person put it we should be thankful on public holiday and voluntary wash his car.
You will learn the truth about what happened in the past and learn that we want to be treated as equals in our country we are not going to take your property. I have a link to help people understand te tangata whenua
Old certainties, old prejudices, old fears are losing their grip Ka kite ano
Good evening Newshub Its a win for people power with Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux having there venue cancelled at the last minute that’s what I saw Kia kaha te tangata mana ka pai .
Thats a good plan everyone keep there pet cats and dogs controlled to help our native species thrive in urban places and pokeko as pet’s
There you go human caused global warming its getting real hot in Europe we will have to resigned our city’s to cope with these heat waves . 9 months of red algae bloom in America
Paddy I don’t want to comment to much on glory vale what I have to say won’t be good.
That will be a great documentary that Cliff and co I missed the names of the other who made this great Mana Whine documentary great to be cellabrating te tangata whenua cultured tangata ka kite ano