So if you'd like to take a stand against China's bullying of Australia, which includes its slapping of a 212% tariff on Australian wine, there's just one thing to do:
Join with thousands of other Parliamentarians around the world and buy an Australian wine today. in the video, even Minister Sepuloni joins in:
"You know what? Japanese sake is the best!" says Shiori Yamao, an independent member of Japan's House of Representatives before Republican Senator Ted Yoho declares "two words – Napa Valley", before saying it is time to "drink something a little bit different" and buy Australian wine, "because our friends need our help".
"We are asking you all to join us in standing against Xi Jinping's authoritarian bullying," says Miriam Lexmann, a Christian Democrat Member of the European Parliament.
"By drinking a bottle or two of Australian wine and letting the Chinese Communist Party know that we will not be bullied," says Swedish Christian Democratic, Elisabet Lann, a municipal councillor who holds up a glass of Penfolds.
China has lost such trust through its belligerent behaviour towards Japan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and a host of trading partners.
But its diplomats don’t care. The Chinese Communist Party is striving for complete control at home. The forces of the People’s Liberation Army are rapidly overtaking those of the US. Its economic influence is already second to none.
So why bother backing down?
“Once we’ve given up communicating, the danger level rises on everything,” Dr Rogers said.
Yet China's massive economic clout, a weapon it's now openly using to coerce Australia, is entirely dependent on the trust of other nations. Perhaps more than any other modern large nation it's wealth and influence has only come about because of a unique set of circumstances that have prevailed since the end of WW2.
Yet it is also incredibly vulnerable:
It's a nation with very poor food security, ranked lower than India. In particular it has a very low arable land area per capita, worse still much of that land highly dependent on imported inputs to remain productive.
It's an ageing nation dependent on export markets to sustain it's industries. There will be no consumption led growth for China, it's demographic precludes this.
And for all the hype and noise about going green, China like the rest of the world still gets 85% of it's energy from fossil fuels. Much of which is imported and highly vulnerable to disruption.
It's surrounded by 14 other nations, most of which are distrusting or engaged in low level hostilities. It may have a large navy, but for the moment it's constrained by a First Island Chain of neighbours that limit the kind of blue water projection of power necessary to protect it's shipping routes.
It's financial system is so monstrously overleveraged that it makes the rest of the world look like a model of probity.
And while we have grown up thinking of China as a monolithic nation, it's history is quite otherwise. There are numerous geographic, ethnic and economic reasons that constantly pull in the other direction. This is the reason why the CCP exert such draconian control over their population, they fear this more than anything else.
It really doesn't matter which one of these factors blows up first, when one goes it will be the perfect storm. The question I keep asking myself, is exactly what are the CCP's intentions here? And sadly I keep coming back to Xi Xinping's own words when he repeatedly commands his military to prepare for war. The CCP understand their vulnerabilities; none of it is rocket science. Their answer they have arrived at is imperial dominance.
Sometimes when someone says they want to kill you, it's not wholly paranoid to believe them.
I understand where you're coming from; nowhere have I claimed the US-led system did not make mistakes and fall short of it's professed ideals. Yet focusing solely on the failures means we also miss the enormous successes. Because while it's important to accept and take responsibility for our failures, unless we also know what we have done right, we have no starting point and no compass to guide us to better.
For the purpose of a useful discussion I'm going to take all those failures as read; and at then look to what it got right, and how it shaped all the good things about the modern world you live in.
I can't think of a more middle class first world protest than drink the Aussie wine that's killed Aussie rivers and displaced indigenous communities
Wineries may have some impact, but it's nothing compared to the far more massive consequences of cotton and rice farming.
As for the displacement of indigenous communities … well I ask you this … is there any people in all of human history that have not been 'displaced' at some point? It was almost always a brutal, ugly process and it's only a fairly modern idea that maybe we could do this differently.
I'd prefer not to part company if possible. If you'd bear with me maybe we could explore another more constructive framework to view the US at some other time.
I was just looking at the issue of vinasse yesterday, and wondering what kiwis do with this waste. It's one of the dirty aspects of crop residue type biofuels too. Some articles hinted at solutions, but wanted me to pay money for science we as taxpayers already paid for. Ideas like microbial processing for byproducts, making biochar from it, co-composting with other waste streams…
One article went so far as to claim vinasse as a valuable resource which I had wondered at, again, an article behind a paywall.
I made a mistake I'm thinking of vinasse the distillation, not fermentation waste, which is significantly more toxic.
But the bokashi bugs might very well work on vinasse after a composting cocktail to dilute/make the stuff less toxic. I like bokashi for killing weeds that otherwise sprout in the compost, real mongrels like jasmine and kikuyu can be pickled.
@francesca +1, not to mention Australia has obviously taken the USA's lead and become extremely aggressive in their dealing with China ever since it became apparent that China will lead the world with their 5G technologies…then all of a sudden China is public enemy number one, it's not that hard to put the pieces together..is it? though as usual, the usual suspects around here get lead around like dogs on a leash…barking at those they are told to bark at, time and again always the same ones… it's kind of pathetic really
Huawei Australia says ban is a ‘slap in the face’ to China
Former PM Malcolm Turnbull has defended his decision to ban Huawei from Australia’s 5G rollout. But the Chinese tech giant is still offended.
No the answer is yes…I assume that everything on the net is traceable at any time to most powerful governments/secret services in the world which is why I don't bother trying to hide my identity.
Like you I wonder at whether Xi Jinping's government really is as coherent as it proposes.
In particular we have often seen the Belt and Road Initiative is portrayed as a geopolitical strategy that ensnares countries into unsustainable debt and then allows China undue influence in a country.
But the on-ground evidence shows that China's development financing system is too fragmented and poorly coordinated to pursue detailed strategic objectives; and developing-country governments and their associated political and economic interests are still acting like they are sovereign when it comes to determining the nature of BRI projects.
If BRI had some Jinping masterplan for global control, it would not have been rolled out piecemeal through a series of diverse bilateral interactions.
Also, if BRI really were out to rule the world there simply wouldn't have been that many stuffups and poorly conceived and managed projects. They would have adjusted and altered rather than piling up the negative economic, social, political and environmental negative consequences.
In Sri Lanka and Malaysia, the two most widely cited ‘victims’ of China’s ‘debt-trap diplomacy’, the most controversial BRI projects were initiated by the recipient governments, which pursued their own domestic agendas. Their debt problems arose mainly from the misconduct of local elites and Western-dominated financial markets. China has faced negative reactions and pushback in both countries, though to a lesser extent than is commonly believed, given the high-level interests at stake in the recipient countries.
Being an infrastructure nerd I still think BRI is one of their best ways to stop behaving like the new global asshole. Chiense policymakers should develop a coherent, integrated decision-making system with sufficient risk assessment capabilities and strict and clear and enforceable rules. That means Xi Jinping demonstrates he can truly regain control of its massive state owned enterprise (SOE) construction and development and infrastructure sector.
To me it's a trap if Australia or New Zealand or Singapore looks at BRI as if it were being strategically directed from the top down.
And of course if they want to reverse Chinese influence with such developing-country governments they should provide alternative development financing options to recipient states, and keep encouraging open-society journalists to improve the transparency of these megaprojects.
And there's that thing called sunlight: the large developed-world construction companies can keep needling and pushing higher demands for transparency and public participation around the design, feasibility, selection, tendering, and management of BRI megaprojects.
Chatham House details the Sri Lanka and Indonesia cases for BRI here:
Yes. BRI was at heart a good idea if it had been pursued on an open multilateral, global development basis. But instead it was primarily captured by crude China centric merchantile interests that undermined it's credibility from the outset.
Otherwise I appreciate your perspective on this. I find BRI such a herd of cats it's hard to form a coherent picture of it.
Australia has long been the US “Deputy Dog” in the South Pacific, so can likely be taken as a US proxy–though who knows to what end given the Trump period. Most significant wars are imperialist wars whether fought out ideologically, technologically, via trade, or armed conflict.
So what is in it for the NZ working class, siding with Australia in this pathetic case?
Donald Trump could put out multiple highly offensive international tweets in the time between dinner and his midnight happy meal.
We should all be very alarmed at this stoush between Australia and China. Neither side seems prepared to back down. This has to be seen in the context of Australia's current massive military build up. Over the next 10 years, Australia will spend $200 billion on defence in the nation’s largest ever peacetime rearmament program, and make no mistake – the current ANZAC + Singapore has a combined GDP in excess of 2 trillion dollars and is a middle power and major player in the Asia-Pacific region that controls key shipping routes and access to the Indian Ocean. China clearly has marked Australia's card as the sort of medium sized power it can cut down to size pour encourager les autres. especially in light of the isolationist chaos of the Trump regime perhaps offering the chance to pick off a key US ally.We should be very alarmed because Australia is NZ's main security partner. To paraphrase MJ Savage, where Australia goes we go, where Australia stands we stand. If China picks a fight with Australia, then eventually, if push comes to shove, they pick a fight with us.
Xi's ascendancy is an utter tragedy for China. Just when it looked like China would join the world as a constructive player, they've slid backwards into the embrace of wild nationalism, authoritarian posturing about China's "dignity" and aggression.
The Chinese leadership seems determined to pursue an agenda of confrontation with anyone who dares stand up to their artless and crude bullying, and will blatantly use trade to do so. They are signaling they are an untrustworthy trade partner whose scant respect for the rule of law internally is now being turned onto anyone who deviates from the butcher's of Bejings line. Appeasement though is unlikely to work with brutal and bullying dictatorships who fundamentally regard Western social democracy and freedoms as a threat to their own dictatorship.
Unless China changes path war will become inevitable, mark my words.
In line with my reply above at 1.1 yes I have to fully agree with you. It's astonishing just how rapidly COVID has accelerated the final dissolution of the post WW2 US led trade order. Like all things human it was flawed, and many here still like to attribute to it all the wickedness in the world. But the fact is that it also enabled virtually everything we take for granted about our modern lives.
"The Chinese leadership seems determined to pursue an agenda of confrontation with anyone who dares stand up to their artless and crude bullying, and will blatantly use trade to do so"
..man you have a short memory there pal, I seem to remember that we were all fine with trade with China when it meant shifting all our industries and manufacturers over there so they could exploit their cheap labour to make more and more profits for themselves their shareholders (don't you remember that just a few months ago hardly one western country could even supply themselves face masks FFS!) and workers could all go and buy cheap shoes and TV's to make themselves all feel better about their stagnant wage growth …now all of a sudden when China becomes a powerful world player, and as a direct result of our own western liberal free market trade policies, we get all shitty at them…what a fucking joke…you and Ad and Red Logic and few others around here need to go and take a long hard look in the mirror….China's position in the world today is the direct result of western liberalism as conducted by the governments New Zealand and Australia over the past 30 years pure and simple.
Lin Wood tweeted a press release this morning calling on Trump to declare martial law to hold a new election if the Courts and Congress fail to uphold the Constitution. Not sure if it's appropriate to link, but should be easy enough to find because there is a full page ad in the Washington Times.
Don't think it's possible given the constitutional deadlines (a bit contradictory…instate martial law to hold election/thereby ignoring consitutional deadline). Plus parts of the government are shutting down for Christmas and will no longer have the ability to act until the next lot come in.
When the lies go too far for even Bill Barr to get behind them, it's not likely to go anywhere.
Barr didn’t name Powell specifically but said: “There’s been one assertion that would be systemic fraud and that would be the claim that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results. And the DHS and DOJ have looked into that, and so far, we haven’t seen anything to substantiate that,” Barr said.
Child Poverty needs fixing $500 to $1 billion per year to fix.
We can buy flash military equipment worth billions yet we can't fix child poverty these children will be paying for these posiedens( which most likely never be used ) but on miminimum wage jobs or benefits .
We need to invest in our future workforce parents etc keeping another generation in poverty is a crime against humanity.
if we could just do something about Parent Poverty. I wonder if that would then trickle down and have an effect on Child Poverty.
Nah, that would not fix anything, lest waste another three years on consultants and hey, maybe a free sandwich at school, no second tho, we would not want to spoil the little bludgers, right?
In my childhood in the 1960s people had vegie gardens.
The government need to invest in portable gardens, supply plants and run classes in halls. I realise this would take extra effort for those in rentals and that the landlord would need to agree. At least what was grown would be healthy.
Community gardens would also work and orchardists could donate surplus fruit.
We easily grow enough food to feed everyone without home vege gardens – we just can't afford to buy it or it gets deliberately wasted e.g. Watties contracts that require surplus to their (Watties) requirements to be destroyed and not sold elsewhere.
It isn't really a supply and demand market where prices come down if production in in excess of demand – it is a command and control market where supply is deliberately controlled to maximise profit.
Saw this ad Vegepod: About $90 but should last – good idea. Made in Tauranga seems. Look up on google – link is too long. Email – info@vegepod.co.nz
Goodwood.nz Planter boxes untreated $79 kitset see on google
Or tubs – bore through plastic about 3 holes with drill cheap – hold 10-15litres usually – don't know whether flexi tubs would be strong enough – think rigid.
Also bunnings and mitre 10. Remember people make a living out of growing vegs and have jobs looking after them so being entirely self-sufficient would not be the way to go.
I have a young friend who uses any bits her or I can lay our hands on to plant stuff in. She grows plants from seeds and has just finished her degree with a toddler and a preschooler. Given the timber I could whack up some portable planter boxes and my strength is limited.
The gardening bug sticks once you start getting results. I started gardening 2 years ago.
The planter boxes you mentioned (or other) would make a great gift.
agreed…a sugar tax on (some of) the end product is incrementalism writ large..(in the sense of going 'look..!..we are doing something..!'..
..but in reality as far as addressing/solving the big problem…will achieve pretty much zilch..(which is of course the definition of incrementalism..)
what will work is setting maximum amounts of sugar/salt/fat allowed in any food/drink sold to the public ..
the reason the peddlers of these ill-health-in-a-bottle/packets love sugar so much..is 'cos it is as cheap as chips…and addictive..
these cynical bastards know exactly what they are doing ..and there is no way they will stop these practices..
regulating maximums is the only reform that will work..
and of course the politicians also know this..and it really pisses me off that I am going to have to endure the self-congratulary b.s. they will spout..
..as they move to do very little at all..
and moves that as far as our obesity problems are concerned..
There's a documentary somewhere about how scientists, including a NZ one, recommended a maximum level for the WHO guidelines which many companies/countries follow. When the final paper came out the maximums were missing.
Turns out the sugar companies had sponsored the work.
The scientists involved did fight back against this but made little traction. Fixing that would be a good start.
For those following the sex/gender wars, there's been a landmark judgement from a UK court today. Keira Bell, a previous patient at the Tavistock Clinic who took puberty blockers, later had a double mastectomy, and then detransitioned, along with a parent of an autistic 15 year old receiving gender dysphoria treatment, took the clinic to court on the basis that children under the age of 16 cannot give consent to irreversible medical treatments because they cannot understand the implications. Judgement today was in their favour.
The judges said there would be enormous difficulties for young children weighing up this information and deciding whether to consent to the use of puberty blocking medication.
“It is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers,” the judges added. “It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers.”
That's an example of a number of problems with the philosophy and practice at Tavistock. Hopefully now the general culture will start to change so that kids at risk of transitioning can be helped alongside trans kids that need medical intervention. Unfortunately Tavistock are going to appeal the decision.
for those who haven't been following, there's been a sharp increase in the UK in girls being referred for gender dysphoria treatment, which can fast track some into medical treatment.
Growing up, Keira Bell felt confused and distressed by her body.
At 16, she became one of thousands of girls, some as young as 10 or 11, referred to the Tavistock and Portman Trust.
After three one-hour appointments she was prescribed puberty blockers before she was put on testosterone.
"When I was 20 I had a double mastectomy," she said.
She believed the treatment would help her "achieve happiness".
Ms Bell, who began de-transitioning last year, said: "It was heartbreaking to realise I'd gone down the wrong path."
The Gender Critical Feminist position on this is that girls end up hating their bodies because society still gives them so many messages that being female is bad/wrong and being male is good/right, as well as society reinforcing gender stereotypes that make life hard for gender nonconforming (GNC) kids. For lesbians, sometimes its easier to come out as trans than gay especially if they are in a family or community that is homophobic. There are additional issues for autistic teens (who naturally have more gender nonconformity than the general population), and girls who have been sexually abused.
Tavistock should have been taking all that into account, but instead is using an affirmative model which says that if a child says they are a different gender then they should be treated as that.
Feminist solutions are to change society so that GNC is normalised.
Teacher leave the kids alone, and all you other sex orientation jerks. Let the kids talk about their feelings together, and have some older people talk too and refer to their own memories and life experiences. The people who would be expected to hate labelling are eager to interfere in others' growth of their inner self. 3 versions – great.
One of the concerns I have is the number of gender non-conforming children who are pathologised and medicalised. The "affirmation only" approach practiced in NZ, leads to extremely high numbers going onto puberty blockers and ultimately cross-sex hormones, and there are irreversible effects such as infertility, and impaired sexual function, as well as permanent changes to voice, facial hair etc. Children and young people cannot possibly understand the consequences of these types of decisions.
The saddest part is that in the past there was a model called "watchful waiting" where nothing was rushed, and the child was offered counselling and given time. Between 78-80% of kids on this pathway eventually grew out of their gender identity disorder and came to accept their sexed bodies as they are. Most of these kids grew up to be healthy gay and lesbian adults, without the long term medical consequences of hormone therapy.
I am concerned that gender non-conforming gay and lesbian youth are being driven into a medicalisation model that results in infertility and permanent damage to healthy bodies. What is happening currently in NZ is literally sterilising gay kids for gender non-conformity.
Keira Bell is an inspiration and a heroine for lesbian youth all the world, for the bravery she has shown.
Finally!!! About time the ethics of irreversible gender reassignment 'treatment' was put under a strong spotlight.
Thanks weka. I have been following this issue and will catch up with the reading later.
By that time the backlash from the trans 'community' should be coming through.
("community" because there are many trans people who are equally uncomfortable with the massive increase in the numbers of children being 'treated' for gender dysphoria chemically and surgically.)
Am hoping it will at least open up the discussion, that MSM will get their shit together and report better, and that there's now some change of both GCF and TA positions being talked about without the bullshit around all that.
I wouldn't say the trans community, so much as trans activists (which is both trans and not trans people). The main TA lobbies are lobbying against the ruling, but I think it's worth listening to TAs like Mallory above on the issues around trans health care. If we continue to polarise this, then trans kids will get thrown under the bus more.
Beyond that there's a bigger conversation around society's reliance on overmedicalising generally. I think that's a very hard conversation to have in this area but I still see the potential for societal change that makes GNC easier for women, men and trans/NB people, lessening the pressure for medication and surgery while making sure that people that need those things can access them more equitably.
Fuck transhumanism and it's anti-nature politics though, and fuck neoliberalism that is colonising feminism and gender nonconformity along with everything else.
Diagnosis of gender dysphoria involves children demonstrating at least six of a series of behavioural traits as well as an “associated significant distress or impairment in function, lasting at least six months”.
Those patterns of behaviour include:
• A strong desire to be of the other gender or an insistence that one is the other gender.
• A strong preference for wearing clothes typical of the other gender.
• A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make-believe play or fantasy play.
• A strong preference for toys, games or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender.
• A strong preference for playmates of the other gender.
• A strong rejection of toys, games and activities typical of one’s assigned gender.
• A strong dislike of one’s sexual anatomy.
• A strong desire for the physical sex characteristics that match one’s experienced gender.
Interesting to read exactly what the 'symptoms' of gender dysphoria are.
Growing up I could have easily ticked the required six boxes. Often criticized for my unfeminine/mannish behaviour and dress, and even to this day and three kids later I still get strange looks because I flatly refuse to wear heels and make up.
Ffs, can't we just learn to accept ourselves and others how we are? Feminism was supposed to liberate us from restrictive rules of sex/gender sterotypes. The appallingly drastic interventions that these children have been subjected to because some fuckwit decided that …
A strong preference for wearing clothes typical of the other gender.
A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make-believe play or fantasy play.
A strong preference for toys, games or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender. somehow proves that one was born into the wrong body. Utter bunkum and claptrap.
same, except that I grew up in a body-positive household, raised by a feminist mother, so my gender nonconforming behaviour didn't translate into hating my female body.
I've been fortunate to live a life where having to be feminine in dress code hasn't been an issue (for the most part, there's still all the background stuff).
What scares me about the Tavistock approach is there appears to be no acknowledgement that non-trans kids might have what they are calling gender dysphoria. I also think that there are differences in how girls and boys manifest that (due to the patriarchy but also due to sex differences).
Really disturbing to me is the tick box approach to diagnostics of complex human experiences.
Fuck transhumanism and it's anti-nature politics though, and fuck neoliberalism that is colonising feminism and gender nonconformity along with everything else
Trans humans are not necessarily Transhumanists. Judith Collins regards herself a a feminist too. though some might disagree. The "trans community" is no more monolithic than the feminism community. But if Tavistock told her that there was a better than even chance of her being happy in a trans existence then that'd be misleading of them (our suicide stats and median income are pretty dire, though no way to compare that against pre/un/in-trans). That said, exempting trans people from the ban on conversion therapy isn't ideal
Bell's treatment timeline seems to be; initial consults at age 14 (or whenever "soon" means), blockers at 16, testosterone at 17, mastectomy at 20, then detransitioning around 22. If she'd started the blockers earlier he might not have had to go through the trauma of surgery, but it doesn't seem improbable that waiting till 18 wouldn't have changed much in that trajectory. I don't much like reducing people to mere consumers of trans affirming medical resources like this, though that's all from publicly available information. Such a Truscum (/Transmedicalist) to Trender path has been trodden before. Can't help wondering how she'll get on in oncoming years.
I found Bell's own words on the issue more illuminating than whatever slant the various news sources put on her comments of the day. Personally, I hope that she loses on appeal, so am not going to be donating. But it is good to get a feel of where she is coming from:
to clarify, my comment about transhumanism wasn't to tie it to trans people but to the parts of the medical community who are overmedicalising and leading us down that path. Also ties to neoliberalism. And the parts of the trans community that are into transhumanism, but there people on the left or the green movement likewise, there will always be people that find that stuff attractive where it meets their needs and politics.
People that needs drugs and surgery need drugs and surgery. But I cannot see why trans health care would be exempt from overmedicalisation when all other humans aren't.
I consider the sanction against talking about overmedicalisation of GNC and trans kids as dangerous in the same way that not talking about it has been dangerous for women, psych patients/survivors and so on.
Received a vehicle registration renewal notice apparently from NZTA. Email has no sign of NZ in address. d3mina@sapo.pt. No registration number to renew. $79.95 does not relate to usual fee.
I do mine by post and get the instant gratification of the licence from the Post shop. What I do object to is the on the ground option being more expensive. If you own a car it is a government fee or charge that must be paid. Not every body has access to the internet emails or even a reasonably secure mail box. Plus there are very considerable but overlooked costs of hardening online systems against the various hacks and scams ( and in this case giving publicity to a scam) which appear not to be borne by online users in the same way as on the ground users are charged.
As far as I am concerned it's time for a whole of government approach to paying the various fees and levies they collect over all sorts of activities rather than every little fifedom going its own way. In particular people with limited access to computors and other online and banking or credit card systems should not be penalised with extra charges given the fraud levels in the online world.
The other kicker. I had a run out rego to pay on a sold vehicle. The options were either a cheque or pushing the buttons on the phone to access some unknown and completely unable to verify system of "who knows how secure" to pay by credit card. It's worth remembering that online or phone systems that take numbers are of very different and in some cases downright dubious security character.
While there are security costs in a network run at more that one location – the costs would be lower for going into say a bank branch and using that rather than accessing the same net work completely externally from the home computer.
The epidemic of on line fraud and the costs overseas are now pretty substantial. The UK is up to around half a billion of bank fraud per annum now I believe. Cut that back to an NZ perspective and that is still $10's of millions that are going to be extracted from customers who are not online. Staff costs are not that super large and if say the banks had any sense they could direct calls to frontline staff to answer in the real life gaps – plus leave jobs in the provinces.
In my quite wide experience they may know their gross costs but spreading it over various activities borders on the political. Frequently to make some new or pet project look a great deal better than it is because someone's KPI's /ego is on the line. And most forward costing is just a plus1 type model. They also choose to recoup in this case costs from only one class of customer. Just because a computer is involved doesn't make it cheaper. Frequently the reverse.
Government can be tough on some people – get tough on these ones as well. Not unreasonable, but they have to start paying something in every fortnight, and keep it up from their wages. A good old fashioned garnishee or such.
Don't be so wet Labour – is there no-one adjusting the steam press in the steamy laundry of government; too much there release, pshoo – too little here, wind it up slowly, sigh? And think of the dear little working elves in the government basement. Picture the civil servants with little green caps with a bell on like Noddy!
As a health professional, in my experience young females transitioning to male, broadly fall into three catagories. 1. Those with a borderline personality disorder where the transition is another form of self mutilation. 2. Following a trend ie all my friends are doing it. 3. Those who have unfortunately been sexually abused and the transition is a means of making themselves unattractive and less likely to be preyed upon. None of which is likely to lead to a fulfilling adult life.
That's most interesting psych nurse. I am inclined to believe you because you are confirming my ideas. Considering the knowledge and experience you have amassed, it does seem to be a very likely summary of the facts. It seems to me to be a wave of almost protest or escape from the sad realities of the present. Transitioning to female probably seems a nicer, kinder option than staying with the persona that many males project.
The Government will require all its agencies and ministries to exclusively buy electric vehicles and will mandate all public sector buildings to be up to a "green standard".
This is part of the Government goal to make the entire public sector carbon neutral within the next five years.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made the commitments as she declares a climate emergency in New Zealand in the House today.
The Government's electric vehicle mandate is a lofty goal – there are currently nearly 16,000 vehicles in the Government's fleet.
…
As well as this, Ardern has announced that the Government has begun phasing out coal boilers in its ministries and agencies.
There are roughly 200 coal-fired boilers currently heating water and buildings in the State Sector – the largest and most active will be phased out first.
This, and the purchasing of a greener fleet, will be funded through the previously announced $200 million State Sector Decarbonisation Fund.
I suspect it will cost much more than that before 2025, but good on them for getting on with it.
It does need some back up policy otherwise the petrol cars are just going to be dumped into the private fleet. Given the $value of petrol that users don't buy we need to get the whole fleet up to scratch. A $28k hybrid uses about $14K less petrol over a 200,000 journey
I'm afraid you left out the caveats that are given in the link you provide.
You say "to exclusively buy electric vehicles" They have no intention at all of sticking to exclusively electric vehicles.
The Herald story says
"When it comes to vehicles, Government agencies will be required to "optimise their car fleet" by purchasing electric vehicles or hybrids where EVs are not appropriate for the required use.
That is unless their operational requirements or other circumstances require – such as military vehicles where there is no electric alternatives."
In other words you give the headline bit but not the reality that provides a hole big enough for anyone to drive through. I'm afraid that BMW don't make an all electric model of the 7 series sedan though so it will have to be, at best, a hybrid for the cabinet Ministers.
The previous contract with BMW apparently expired last year. Haven't seen anything about it being renewed. Perhaps the current lot like Teslas better? The 600km+ range of a current Model S should be plenty for most needs within NZ.
The NZ government has ordered three Audi e-trons, which cost $NZ155,500 (before on-road costs) in long-range ’55’ format, and are being prepared to serve the highest state-level duties.
Two of these will serve to shuttle ministers between Wellington Airport and the government’s parliament, fondly known as the Beehive, while the third with baby seat will be placed in service in Ardern’s home town of Auckland.
The Auckland car is the personal vehicle for the PM's private use. I imagine Clarke is the main user.
John Key chose a Suzuki Swift for his car at one stage. That was only about a $20,000 cost to the taxpayer. Don't know whether there were other models during his term.
They might have a couple of Ioniqs, or Audis, but there are still an awful lot of CR plate BMW 730D cars around Wellington and CR1 is a BMW still.
I can't find a link for this. The best I can find in a link to an interview with Marcus Lush in 2011. The Audio doesn't seem to exist though. The topic came up, and surprised the reporters at the time but key said it was because Stephie was learning to drive and it was a good car for that.
As I said Sacha. ALL Ministers get a self drive car as do all former Prime Ministers and all former Governors-General. They also get free domestic air travel and the use of the Crown Limos.
Their surviving spouses after their death also get the perks for the rest of their lives.
No. However these vehicles are self drive cars. It is based in Auckland and I imagine that Clarke spends more time there than does Jacinda. She does, after all, have a limo available at all times and certainly if I were in her job I wouldn't want to bother driving myself. From my observation the back of a limo is where all the Ministers do most of their telephone calls.
Why waste valuable time driving yourself when you can get on with the work you are employed for?
Shuttling between the airport and the beehive is no such thing. The PM also has way too much to do these days to be wasting her time driving, as you say.
I should actually have said "that vehicle" rather than "these vehicles" I was talking about the third one in the quote rather than the two based in Wellington.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is poised to switch to electric power for her ministerial car, from a BMW 7 Series diesel to an Audi e-Tron.
While the NZ government is about to take delivery of three Audi e-Trons for high-ranking politicians and VIP guests, two are expected to be based in the capital Wellington (in the far south of the North Island) – and at least one example is planned to be assigned to Auckland (650km away, in the far north) at Ms Ardern’s home alongside her personal vehicle, a Hyundai Ioniq electric car.
The impression you've got the Drumpfian habit of just making shit up is getting stronger again.
The Hyundai Ioniq that Ardern drives, including when she chauffered Colbert, appears to be a car she owns, not something supplied by the taxpayer. I've looked and found nothing suggesting it's supplied by the taxpayer, but I've found lots of reference to her owning it – eg:
You've also imagined that Clarke will be the main user of the government e-Tron to be based in Auckland. You really need to back that up if you don't want that to stand as an exhibit of "alwyn just making shit up".
Sure getting things wrong is OK if someone takes a step back and checks their facts and backs up their assertions or corrects as necessary when challenged.
But the challenges came a long way upthread, with zero subsequent actual backing up or change in behaviour from alwyn, just more dumping of the same unsubstantiated shit and an occasional diversion.
Oh dammit alwyn. You have uncovered the evil plan. So if there are to be no electric tanks, we had better cancel the whole plan. We could not possibly have a fleet of EV cars if the tanks are not EV also. Better let Jacinda know quickly.
What a funny little fellow you are. Does the Army actually own any real tanks, apart from the ones in the Museum at Waiouru? I thought they owned vast numbers of APCs but I can't imagine what they would do with a real tank. We probably couldn't afford main battle tanks anyway.
Actually you can get an electric Hummer although I don't think it is the military version.
To bad of course if you were out in the desert, had to withdraw in a hurry and the battery in your dinky little military vehicle was flat. I have been told that jeeps in WW2 didn't even have key. If you had to shift in a hurry you didn't want to waste time looking for the key.
This actually surprises me a bit as I always assumed the PMs BMW was the BMW spec custom armored version, like the Aussie PM's one (and a lot of other countries leaders with those models of BMWs).
Which would be pretty hard to kit with an electric replacement, purely by weight.
Interesting that they presumably drive round in standard.
Not many countries leaders could make that claim I would imagine.
Dutch government
The prime minister of the Netherlands uses an armoured Mercedes-Benz S-Class and sometimes an Audi A6. Previously, an armoured BMW 7 Series was used. Both cars are owned by the Royal and Diplomatic Security Service (DKDB).
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
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Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
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Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
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The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
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Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
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Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
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The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
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Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
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The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
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The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
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A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
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So if you'd like to take a stand against China's bullying of Australia, which includes its slapping of a 212% tariff on Australian wine, there's just one thing to do:
https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/will-not-be-bullied-citizens-around-the-world-told-to-buy-australian-wine-in-stand-against-china-20201201-p56jew.html
Join with thousands of other Parliamentarians around the world and buy an Australian wine today. in the video, even Minister Sepuloni joins in:
"You know what? Japanese sake is the best!" says Shiori Yamao, an independent member of Japan's House of Representatives before Republican Senator Ted Yoho declares "two words – Napa Valley", before saying it is time to "drink something a little bit different" and buy Australian wine, "because our friends need our help".
"We are asking you all to join us in standing against Xi Jinping's authoritarian bullying," says Miriam Lexmann, a Christian Democrat Member of the European Parliament.
"By drinking a bottle or two of Australian wine and letting the Chinese Communist Party know that we will not be bullied," says Swedish Christian Democratic, Elisabet Lann, a municipal councillor who holds up a glass of Penfolds.
The video features one Australian MP – Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching from Victoria – who said that China's attempts to bully Australia, including its list of 14 grievances, was an attack on "free countries everywhere".
A good analysis here as well:
Yet China's massive economic clout, a weapon it's now openly using to coerce Australia, is entirely dependent on the trust of other nations. Perhaps more than any other modern large nation it's wealth and influence has only come about because of a unique set of circumstances that have prevailed since the end of WW2.
Yet it is also incredibly vulnerable:
It's a nation with very poor food security, ranked lower than India. In particular it has a very low arable land area per capita, worse still much of that land highly dependent on imported inputs to remain productive.
It's an ageing nation dependent on export markets to sustain it's industries. There will be no consumption led growth for China, it's demographic precludes this.
And for all the hype and noise about going green, China like the rest of the world still gets 85% of it's energy from fossil fuels. Much of which is imported and highly vulnerable to disruption.
It's surrounded by 14 other nations, most of which are distrusting or engaged in low level hostilities. It may have a large navy, but for the moment it's constrained by a First Island Chain of neighbours that limit the kind of blue water projection of power necessary to protect it's shipping routes.
It's financial system is so monstrously overleveraged that it makes the rest of the world look like a model of probity.
And while we have grown up thinking of China as a monolithic nation, it's history is quite otherwise. There are numerous geographic, ethnic and economic reasons that constantly pull in the other direction. This is the reason why the CCP exert such draconian control over their population, they fear this more than anything else.
It really doesn't matter which one of these factors blows up first, when one goes it will be the perfect storm. The question I keep asking myself, is exactly what are the CCP's intentions here? And sadly I keep coming back to Xi Xinping's own words when he repeatedly commands his military to prepare for war. The CCP understand their vulnerabilities; none of it is rocket science. Their answer they have arrived at is imperial dominance.
Sometimes when someone says they want to kill you, it's not wholly paranoid to believe them.
Sure, sure Red, when you also stand up against the economic sanctions imposed on poor countries causing poverty , illness and death .
Venezuela, Syria,Iran…the list goes on .But we can make a stand against imperialist bullying by knocking ourselves out on Aussie wine!!!!!!
I can't think of a more middle class first world protest than drink the Aussie wine that's killed Aussie rivers and displaced indigenous communities
I understand where you're coming from; nowhere have I claimed the US-led system did not make mistakes and fall short of it's professed ideals. Yet focusing solely on the failures means we also miss the enormous successes. Because while it's important to accept and take responsibility for our failures, unless we also know what we have done right, we have no starting point and no compass to guide us to better.
For the purpose of a useful discussion I'm going to take all those failures as read; and at then look to what it got right, and how it shaped all the good things about the modern world you live in.
I can't think of a more middle class first world protest than drink the Aussie wine that's killed Aussie rivers and displaced indigenous communities
Wineries may have some impact, but it's nothing compared to the far more massive consequences of cotton and rice farming.
As for the displacement of indigenous communities … well I ask you this … is there any people in all of human history that have not been 'displaced' at some point? It was almost always a brutal, ugly process and it's only a fairly modern idea that maybe we could do this differently.
That Human Progress site is a tonic.
Well thats where we part company Red
"mistakes"?
"falling short"?
I suggest all those "mistakes" and "shortfalls"are working just dandy for the monied interests that have captured "democracies" all over the globe
https://theintercept.com/2015/07/30/jimmy-carter-u-s-oligarchy-unlimited-political-bribery/
Monied interests backed up by national .military might .
It's been going on for long enough for those "mistakes and "shortfalls " to have been corrected several times over
The United Fruit Company in Guatemala is a case study for all
I'd prefer not to part company if possible. If you'd bear with me maybe we could explore another more constructive framework to view the US at some other time.
Cheers
I was just looking at the issue of vinasse yesterday, and wondering what kiwis do with this waste. It's one of the dirty aspects of crop residue type biofuels too. Some articles hinted at solutions, but wanted me to pay money for science we as taxpayers already paid for. Ideas like microbial processing for byproducts, making biochar from it, co-composting with other waste streams…
One article went so far as to claim vinasse as a valuable resource which I had wondered at, again, an article behind a paywall.
Wasn't bokashi being used somewhere in a NZ vineyard?
https://www.nzwine.com/en/winery/nautilus-estate-of-marlborough/bokashi-compost
I made a mistake I'm thinking of vinasse the distillation, not fermentation waste, which is significantly more toxic.
But the bokashi bugs might very well work on vinasse after a composting cocktail to dilute/make the stuff less toxic. I like bokashi for killing weeds that otherwise sprout in the compost, real mongrels like jasmine and kikuyu can be pickled.
What a thoughtful practical idea at the Nautilus vineyard francesca.
@francesca +1, not to mention Australia has obviously taken the USA's lead and become extremely aggressive in their dealing with China ever since it became apparent that China will lead the world with their 5G technologies…then all of a sudden China is public enemy number one, it's not that hard to put the pieces together..is it? though as usual, the usual suspects around here get lead around like dogs on a leash…barking at those they are told to bark at, time and again always the same ones… it's kind of pathetic really
Huawei Australia says ban is a ‘slap in the face’ to China
Former PM Malcolm Turnbull has defended his decision to ban Huawei from Australia’s 5G rollout. But the Chinese tech giant is still offended.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/internet/huawei-australia-says-ban-is-a-slap-in-the-face-to-china/news-story/4d6ba569b153c0e068a5be515e9da36f
Would you post here if you knew that the SIS had built and provided the server box Lynn uses to run The Standard on?
Hypothetically speaking.
So if we follow your your logic, then this severer would be being monitored directly by the CIA, so what's the difference?
I take it then that your answer is no.
No the answer is yes…I assume that everything on the net is traceable at any time to most powerful governments/secret services in the world which is why I don't bother trying to hide my identity.
OK so you have confirmed that you believe that IT infrastructure is essentially wide open to government monitoring and infiltration.
Now can you see why Western governments are reluctant to go with Huawei?
Heh.
“why are you turning red Prime Minister?…”
How much of Cuba's struggle for instance was because of the embargos put on by the USA? Without those embargos what would they have looked like….
Like you I wonder at whether Xi Jinping's government really is as coherent as it proposes.
In particular we have often seen the Belt and Road Initiative is portrayed as a geopolitical strategy that ensnares countries into unsustainable debt and then allows China undue influence in a country.
But the on-ground evidence shows that China's development financing system is too fragmented and poorly coordinated to pursue detailed strategic objectives; and developing-country governments and their associated political and economic interests are still acting like they are sovereign when it comes to determining the nature of BRI projects.
If BRI had some Jinping masterplan for global control, it would not have been rolled out piecemeal through a series of diverse bilateral interactions.
Also, if BRI really were out to rule the world there simply wouldn't have been that many stuffups and poorly conceived and managed projects. They would have adjusted and altered rather than piling up the negative economic, social, political and environmental negative consequences.
In Sri Lanka and Malaysia, the two most widely cited ‘victims’ of China’s ‘debt-trap diplomacy’, the most controversial BRI projects were initiated by the recipient governments, which pursued their own domestic agendas. Their debt problems arose mainly from the misconduct of local elites and Western-dominated financial markets. China has faced negative reactions and pushback in both countries, though to a lesser extent than is commonly believed, given the high-level interests at stake in the recipient countries.
Being an infrastructure nerd I still think BRI is one of their best ways to stop behaving like the new global asshole. Chiense policymakers should develop a coherent, integrated decision-making system with sufficient risk assessment capabilities and strict and clear and enforceable rules. That means Xi Jinping demonstrates he can truly regain control of its massive state owned enterprise (SOE) construction and development and infrastructure sector.
To me it's a trap if Australia or New Zealand or Singapore looks at BRI as if it were being strategically directed from the top down.
And of course if they want to reverse Chinese influence with such developing-country governments they should provide alternative development financing options to recipient states, and keep encouraging open-society journalists to improve the transparency of these megaprojects.
And there's that thing called sunlight: the large developed-world construction companies can keep needling and pushing higher demands for transparency and public participation around the design, feasibility, selection, tendering, and management of BRI megaprojects.
Chatham House details the Sri Lanka and Indonesia cases for BRI here:
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/08/debunking-myth-debt-trap-diplomacy
Yes. BRI was at heart a good idea if it had been pursued on an open multilateral, global development basis. But instead it was primarily captured by crude China centric merchantile interests that undermined it's credibility from the outset.
Otherwise I appreciate your perspective on this. I find BRI such a herd of cats it's hard to form a coherent picture of it.
What do you see long term that China will do with Hong Kong?
Food production hub, military base, financial hub.
Australia has long been the US “Deputy Dog” in the South Pacific, so can likely be taken as a US proxy–though who knows to what end given the Trump period. Most significant wars are imperialist wars whether fought out ideologically, technologically, via trade, or armed conflict.
So what is in it for the NZ working class, siding with Australia in this pathetic case?
Donald Trump could put out multiple highly offensive international tweets in the time between dinner and his midnight happy meal.
Yes, it's terrible.
I'll be sure to tweet my outrage on my device made by 10 year olds in China.
Hat tip, Frankie Boyle.
We should all be very alarmed at this stoush between Australia and China. Neither side seems prepared to back down. This has to be seen in the context of Australia's current massive military build up. Over the next 10 years, Australia will spend $200 billion on defence in the nation’s largest ever peacetime rearmament program, and make no mistake – the current ANZAC + Singapore has a combined GDP in excess of 2 trillion dollars and is a middle power and major player in the Asia-Pacific region that controls key shipping routes and access to the Indian Ocean. China clearly has marked Australia's card as the sort of medium sized power it can cut down to size pour encourager les autres. especially in light of the isolationist chaos of the Trump regime perhaps offering the chance to pick off a key US ally. We should be very alarmed because Australia is NZ's main security partner. To paraphrase MJ Savage, where Australia goes we go, where Australia stands we stand. If China picks a fight with Australia, then eventually, if push comes to shove, they pick a fight with us.
Xi's ascendancy is an utter tragedy for China. Just when it looked like China would join the world as a constructive player, they've slid backwards into the embrace of wild nationalism, authoritarian posturing about China's "dignity" and aggression.
The Chinese leadership seems determined to pursue an agenda of confrontation with anyone who dares stand up to their artless and crude bullying, and will blatantly use trade to do so. They are signaling they are an untrustworthy trade partner whose scant respect for the rule of law internally is now being turned onto anyone who deviates from the butcher's of Bejings line. Appeasement though is unlikely to work with brutal and bullying dictatorships who fundamentally regard Western social democracy and freedoms as a threat to their own dictatorship.
Unless China changes path war will become inevitable, mark my words.
Unfortunately, I think you are right.
In line with my reply above at 1.1 yes I have to fully agree with you. It's astonishing just how rapidly COVID has accelerated the final dissolution of the post WW2 US led trade order. Like all things human it was flawed, and many here still like to attribute to it all the wickedness in the world. But the fact is that it also enabled virtually everything we take for granted about our modern lives.
And it's just gone away.
Agreed – I liked Hu, he had an impressive work ethic – Xi, not so much.
"The Chinese leadership seems determined to pursue an agenda of confrontation with anyone who dares stand up to their artless and crude bullying, and will blatantly use trade to do so"
..man you have a short memory there pal, I seem to remember that we were all fine with trade with China when it meant shifting all our industries and manufacturers over there so they could exploit their cheap labour to make more and more profits for themselves their shareholders (don't you remember that just a few months ago hardly one western country could even supply themselves face masks FFS!) and workers could all go and buy cheap shoes and TV's to make themselves all feel better about their stagnant wage growth …now all of a sudden when China becomes a powerful world player, and as a direct result of our own western liberal free market trade policies, we get all shitty at them…what a fucking joke…you and Ad and Red Logic and few others around here need to go and take a long hard look in the mirror….China's position in the world today is the direct result of western liberalism as conducted by the governments New Zealand and Australia over the past 30 years pure and simple.
Turn Labour Left!
I agree with you there Adrian
Without cheap goods and electronic gadgets to sedate them, the low wage workers would have been out on the streets with pitchforks long ago
Utter hypocrisy to be pointing the finger at China.
Hear hear. Death (to the working class) by a thousand distractions.
Lin Wood tweeted a press release this morning calling on Trump to declare martial law to hold a new election if the Courts and Congress fail to uphold the Constitution. Not sure if it's appropriate to link, but should be easy enough to find because there is a full page ad in the Washington Times.
Don't think it's possible given the constitutional deadlines (a bit contradictory…instate martial law to hold election/thereby ignoring consitutional deadline). Plus parts of the government are shutting down for Christmas and will no longer have the ability to act until the next lot come in.
Trigger warning.
When the lies go too far for even Bill Barr to get behind them, it's not likely to go anywhere.
Child Poverty needs fixing $500 to $1 billion per year to fix.
We can buy flash military equipment worth billions yet we can't fix child poverty these children will be paying for these posiedens( which most likely never be used ) but on miminimum wage jobs or benefits .
We need to invest in our future workforce parents etc keeping another generation in poverty is a crime against humanity.
The way things are going with China, we'll have to re-arm soon and that'll cost a fortune.
send the poor people off to fight in a war..
problem solved..!
Like Phil's comments, rearming with an aim of defending against an aggressive full on China attack is a pointless exercise.
As an example of monetary waste it would be unprecedented. All that cash to get knocked out in a couple of days or weeks can't seriously be justified.
Better to build bridges than bombs.
[Link required]
if we could just do something about Parent Poverty. I wonder if that would then trickle down and have an effect on Child Poverty.
Nah, that would not fix anything, lest waste another three years on consultants and hey, maybe a free sandwich at school, no second tho, we would not want to spoil the little bludgers, right?
In my childhood in the 1960s people had vegie gardens.
The government need to invest in portable gardens, supply plants and run classes in halls. I realise this would take extra effort for those in rentals and that the landlord would need to agree. At least what was grown would be healthy.
Community gardens would also work and orchardists could donate surplus fruit.
We easily grow enough food to feed everyone without home vege gardens – we just can't afford to buy it or it gets deliberately wasted e.g. Watties contracts that require surplus to their (Watties) requirements to be destroyed and not sold elsewhere.
It isn't really a supply and demand market where prices come down if production in in excess of demand – it is a command and control market where supply is deliberately controlled to maximise profit.
Saw this ad Vegepod: About $90 but should last – good idea. Made in Tauranga seems. Look up on google – link is too long. Email – info@vegepod.co.nz
Goodwood.nz Planter boxes untreated $79 kitset see on google
Or tubs – bore through plastic about 3 holes with drill cheap – hold 10-15litres usually – don't know whether flexi tubs would be strong enough – think rigid.
Some suitable see – https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/c/home-garden/homewares/storage/flexi-tubs
https://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/shop-by-category/car-care/detailing-accessories/buckets-and-tubs
Also bunnings and mitre 10. Remember people make a living out of growing vegs and have jobs looking after them so being entirely self-sufficient would not be the way to go.
I have a young friend who uses any bits her or I can lay our hands on to plant stuff in. She grows plants from seeds and has just finished her degree with a toddler and a preschooler. Given the timber I could whack up some portable planter boxes and my strength is limited.
The gardening bug sticks once you start getting results. I started gardening 2 years ago.
The planter boxes you mentioned (or other) would make a great gift.
Can you show evidence of Watties doing this?
In the 1950s and 60s people also had families where one of two parents stayed home full-time to tend to gardens and suchlike. Different world.
There are good gardening programmes in some schools now where the students invest the labour and the school organises the supplies.
Talking about this? NZ child poverty monitor released today.
Not sure where you get the cash figure from though.
There was also a child health report released yesterday.
Kathryn Rich at it again defending high sugar fruit juices .
Claiming Scientific evidence proves otherwise.
Yet we have one of the highest levels of obesity of any country in the world.
A sugar tax to pay for the epidemic of type 2 diabetes overloading our health system.
A leopard never changes her spots after picking on our duopoly grocery marketfor acting uncompetively. I knew she could not be trusted with the Truth.
[Link required]
Look, she is at it again – surely that should be enough for you? 🙂
I know …
Better I think to regulate maximums and creep them down incrementally – that way consumers are nudged away from sugar addiction.
Link is https://www.fgc.org.nz/another-look-at-sugar-labelling/
Taxes are not always the best answer.
agreed…a sugar tax on (some of) the end product is incrementalism writ large..(in the sense of going 'look..!..we are doing something..!'..
..but in reality as far as addressing/solving the big problem…will achieve pretty much zilch..(which is of course the definition of incrementalism..)
what will work is setting maximum amounts of sugar/salt/fat allowed in any food/drink sold to the public ..
the reason the peddlers of these ill-health-in-a-bottle/packets love sugar so much..is 'cos it is as cheap as chips…and addictive..
these cynical bastards know exactly what they are doing ..and there is no way they will stop these practices..
regulating maximums is the only reform that will work..
and of course the politicians also know this..and it really pisses me off that I am going to have to endure the self-congratulary b.s. they will spout..
..as they move to do very little at all..
and moves that as far as our obesity problems are concerned..
will do/achieve s.f.a…
There's a documentary somewhere about how scientists, including a NZ one, recommended a maximum level for the WHO guidelines which many companies/countries follow. When the final paper came out the maximums were missing.
Turns out the sugar companies had sponsored the work.
The scientists involved did fight back against this but made little traction. Fixing that would be a good start.
For those following the sex/gender wars, there's been a landmark judgement from a UK court today. Keira Bell, a previous patient at the Tavistock Clinic who took puberty blockers, later had a double mastectomy, and then detransitioned, along with a parent of an autistic 15 year old receiving gender dysphoria treatment, took the clinic to court on the basis that children under the age of 16 cannot give consent to irreversible medical treatments because they cannot understand the implications. Judgement today was in their favour.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/01/children-who-want-puberty-blockers-must-understand-effects-high-court-rules
Reasonable overview write up from the Guardian.
https://twitter.com/NickCohen4/status/1333760530209714177
That's an example of a number of problems with the philosophy and practice at Tavistock. Hopefully now the general culture will start to change so that kids at risk of transitioning can be helped alongside trans kids that need medical intervention. Unfortunately Tavistock are going to appeal the decision.
Nick Cohen? Are you re-tweeting Nick Cohen? Are you f**king joking?
that's ironic.
for those who haven't been following, there's been a sharp increase in the UK in girls being referred for gender dysphoria treatment, which can fast track some into medical treatment.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-55144148
The Gender Critical Feminist position on this is that girls end up hating their bodies because society still gives them so many messages that being female is bad/wrong and being male is good/right, as well as society reinforcing gender stereotypes that make life hard for gender nonconforming (GNC) kids. For lesbians, sometimes its easier to come out as trans than gay especially if they are in a family or community that is homophobic. There are additional issues for autistic teens (who naturally have more gender nonconformity than the general population), and girls who have been sexually abused.
Tavistock should have been taking all that into account, but instead is using an affirmative model which says that if a child says they are a different gender then they should be treated as that.
Feminist solutions are to change society so that GNC is normalised.
Teacher leave the kids alone, and all you other sex orientation jerks. Let the kids talk about their feelings together, and have some older people talk too and refer to their own memories and life experiences. The people who would be expected to hate labelling are eager to interfere in others' growth of their inner self. 3 versions – great.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjvnTxWP7vo
(Turn the sound down)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krYK1jWz0Lo – concert enjoy 6m
Also this.
https://twitter.com/GoonerProf/status/1333806619503833091
@Chican3ry (trans woman) and @GoonerProf (GCF) are both worth following, thoughtful and intelligent tweets from both sides of the war.
One of the concerns I have is the number of gender non-conforming children who are pathologised and medicalised. The "affirmation only" approach practiced in NZ, leads to extremely high numbers going onto puberty blockers and ultimately cross-sex hormones, and there are irreversible effects such as infertility, and impaired sexual function, as well as permanent changes to voice, facial hair etc. Children and young people cannot possibly understand the consequences of these types of decisions.
The saddest part is that in the past there was a model called "watchful waiting" where nothing was rushed, and the child was offered counselling and given time. Between 78-80% of kids on this pathway eventually grew out of their gender identity disorder and came to accept their sexed bodies as they are. Most of these kids grew up to be healthy gay and lesbian adults, without the long term medical consequences of hormone therapy.
I am concerned that gender non-conforming gay and lesbian youth are being driven into a medicalisation model that results in infertility and permanent damage to healthy bodies. What is happening currently in NZ is literally sterilising gay kids for gender non-conformity.
Keira Bell is an inspiration and a heroine for lesbian youth all the world, for the bravery she has shown.
Finally!!! About time the ethics of irreversible gender reassignment 'treatment' was put under a strong spotlight.
Thanks weka. I have been following this issue and will catch up with the reading later.
By that time the backlash from the trans 'community' should be coming through.
("community" because there are many trans people who are equally uncomfortable with the massive increase in the numbers of children being 'treated' for gender dysphoria chemically and surgically.)
Am hoping it will at least open up the discussion, that MSM will get their shit together and report better, and that there's now some change of both GCF and TA positions being talked about without the bullshit around all that.
I wouldn't say the trans community, so much as trans activists (which is both trans and not trans people). The main TA lobbies are lobbying against the ruling, but I think it's worth listening to TAs like Mallory above on the issues around trans health care. If we continue to polarise this, then trans kids will get thrown under the bus more.
Beyond that there's a bigger conversation around society's reliance on overmedicalising generally. I think that's a very hard conversation to have in this area but I still see the potential for societal change that makes GNC easier for women, men and trans/NB people, lessening the pressure for medication and surgery while making sure that people that need those things can access them more equitably.
Fuck transhumanism and it's anti-nature politics though, and fuck neoliberalism that is colonising feminism and gender nonconformity along with everything else.
From the Guardian article you linked to..
Diagnosis of gender dysphoria involves children demonstrating at least six of a series of behavioural traits as well as an “associated significant distress or impairment in function, lasting at least six months”.
Those patterns of behaviour include:
• A strong desire to be of the other gender or an insistence that one is the other gender.
• A strong preference for wearing clothes typical of the other gender.
• A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make-believe play or fantasy play.
• A strong preference for toys, games or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender.
• A strong preference for playmates of the other gender.
• A strong rejection of toys, games and activities typical of one’s assigned gender.
• A strong dislike of one’s sexual anatomy.
• A strong desire for the physical sex characteristics that match one’s experienced gender.
Interesting to read exactly what the 'symptoms' of gender dysphoria are.
Growing up I could have easily ticked the required six boxes. Often criticized for my unfeminine/mannish behaviour and dress, and even to this day and three kids later I still get strange looks because I flatly refuse to wear heels and make up.
Ffs, can't we just learn to accept ourselves and others how we are? Feminism was supposed to liberate us from restrictive rules of sex/gender sterotypes. The appallingly drastic interventions that these children have been subjected to because some fuckwit decided that …
A strong preference for wearing clothes typical of the other gender.
A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make-believe play or fantasy play.
A strong preference for toys, games or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender. somehow proves that one was born into the wrong body. Utter bunkum and claptrap.
same, except that I grew up in a body-positive household, raised by a feminist mother, so my gender nonconforming behaviour didn't translate into hating my female body.
I've been fortunate to live a life where having to be feminine in dress code hasn't been an issue (for the most part, there's still all the background stuff).
What scares me about the Tavistock approach is there appears to be no acknowledgement that non-trans kids might have what they are calling gender dysphoria. I also think that there are differences in how girls and boys manifest that (due to the patriarchy but also due to sex differences).
Really disturbing to me is the tick box approach to diagnostics of complex human experiences.
Tautoko that Weka, Tautoko that.
Trans humans are not necessarily Transhumanists. Judith Collins regards herself a a feminist too. though some might disagree. The "trans community" is no more monolithic than the feminism community. But if Tavistock told her that there was a better than even chance of her being happy in a trans existence then that'd be misleading of them (our suicide stats and median income are pretty dire, though no way to compare that against pre/un/in-trans). That said, exempting trans people from the ban on conversion therapy isn't ideal
Bell's treatment timeline seems to be; initial consults at age 14 (or whenever "soon" means), blockers at 16, testosterone at 17, mastectomy at 20, then detransitioning around 22. If she'd started the blockers earlier he might not have had to go through the trauma of surgery, but it doesn't seem improbable that waiting till 18 wouldn't have changed much in that trajectory. I don't much like reducing people to mere consumers of trans affirming medical resources like this, though that's all from publicly available information. Such a Truscum (/Transmedicalist) to Trender path has been trodden before. Can't help wondering how she'll get on in oncoming years.
I found Bell's own words on the issue more illuminating than whatever slant the various news sources put on her comments of the day. Personally, I hope that she loses on appeal, so am not going to be donating. But it is good to get a feel of where she is coming from:
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/challenge-innate-gender/
to clarify, my comment about transhumanism wasn't to tie it to trans people but to the parts of the medical community who are overmedicalising and leading us down that path. Also ties to neoliberalism. And the parts of the trans community that are into transhumanism, but there people on the left or the green movement likewise, there will always be people that find that stuff attractive where it meets their needs and politics.
People that needs drugs and surgery need drugs and surgery. But I cannot see why trans health care would be exempt from overmedicalisation when all other humans aren't.
I consider the sanction against talking about overmedicalisation of GNC and trans kids as dangerous in the same way that not talking about it has been dangerous for women, psych patients/survivors and so on.
Received a vehicle registration renewal notice apparently from NZTA. Email has no sign of NZ in address. d3mina@sapo.pt. No registration number to renew. $79.95 does not relate to usual fee.
Is this a SCAM?
Yes, it is a scam. I vaguely recall seeing alerts about scams like this going around, specifically using NZTA.
edit: here’s the NZTA page about the scam:
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/online-services/report-a-phishing-scam/latest-phishing-scams/vehicle-licence-rego-email-scam/
Thanks Andre. I had given none of my details as the notice looked dodgy. Have passed my scam onto the NZTA.
It might have changed, but just going by my experience all my rego' and and WOF reminders have been by post.
Never had an email from them.
As I say though. It may have changed.
All my NZTA renewals are online now Chris T. Reminder and payments are done online. Cheaper and labels arrive by post.
Cheers
I do mine by post and get the instant gratification of the licence from the Post shop. What I do object to is the on the ground option being more expensive. If you own a car it is a government fee or charge that must be paid. Not every body has access to the internet emails or even a reasonably secure mail box. Plus there are very considerable but overlooked costs of hardening online systems against the various hacks and scams ( and in this case giving publicity to a scam) which appear not to be borne by online users in the same way as on the ground users are charged.
As far as I am concerned it's time for a whole of government approach to paying the various fees and levies they collect over all sorts of activities rather than every little fifedom going its own way. In particular people with limited access to computors and other online and banking or credit card systems should not be penalised with extra charges given the fraud levels in the online world.
The other kicker. I had a run out rego to pay on a sold vehicle. The options were either a cheque or pushing the buttons on the phone to access some unknown and completely unable to verify system of "who knows how secure" to pay by credit card. It's worth remembering that online or phone systems that take numbers are of very different and in some cases downright dubious security character.
People who pay bills in person at a Postshop enjoy the physical security costs the same way online payers do.
However, staff costs are a big enough ongoing difference for organisations to try get customers to use online instead.
When it's a regulatory cost like a car rego, I agree that should not be the case.
While there are security costs in a network run at more that one location – the costs would be lower for going into say a bank branch and using that rather than accessing the same net work completely externally from the home computer.
The epidemic of on line fraud and the costs overseas are now pretty substantial. The UK is up to around half a billion of bank fraud per annum now I believe. Cut that back to an NZ perspective and that is still $10's of millions that are going to be extracted from customers who are not online. Staff costs are not that super large and if say the banks had any sense they could direct calls to frontline staff to answer in the real life gaps – plus leave jobs in the provinces.
Organisations are quite aware what their costs are.
Touching faith there.
In my quite wide experience they may know their gross costs but spreading it over various activities borders on the political. Frequently to make some new or pet project look a great deal better than it is because someone's KPI's /ego is on the line. And most forward costing is just a plus1 type model. They also choose to recoup in this case costs from only one class of customer. Just because a computer is involved doesn't make it cheaper. Frequently the reverse.
Be aware of a similar scam asking you to pay your net flix account
It's a scam we ge" t a reminder by email but it's from this address "no.reply@nzta.govt.nz"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/431927/managed-isolation-charges-third-of-users-not-paid-fee-after-three-months
Government can be tough on some people – get tough on these ones as well. Not unreasonable, but they have to start paying something in every fortnight, and keep it up from their wages. A good old fashioned garnishee or such.
Don't be so wet Labour – is there no-one adjusting the steam press in the steamy laundry of government; too much there release, pshoo – too little here, wind it up slowly, sigh? And think of the dear little working elves in the government basement. Picture the civil servants with little green caps with a bell on like Noddy!
What – no payment up front with a credit card and then a compassionate refund later if one is eligible for one. If not why not.
As a health professional, in my experience young females transitioning to male, broadly fall into three catagories. 1. Those with a borderline personality disorder where the transition is another form of self mutilation. 2. Following a trend ie all my friends are doing it. 3. Those who have unfortunately been sexually abused and the transition is a means of making themselves unattractive and less likely to be preyed upon. None of which is likely to lead to a fulfilling adult life.
That's most interesting psych nurse. I am inclined to believe you because you are confirming my ideas. Considering the knowledge and experience you have amassed, it does seem to be a very likely summary of the facts. It seems to me to be a wave of almost protest or escape from the sad realities of the present. Transitioning to female probably seems a nicer, kinder option than staying with the persona that many males project.
Great to see Minister Wood putting an article straight to GreaterAuckland – way to circumvent the MSM.
There are these miraculous things called links..
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2020/12/02/guest-post-michael-wood-minister-of-transport/
Great news! (Has this already been noted?)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/all-govt-departments-now-required-to-buy-electric-vehicles-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern/BQNW3AQ3B7NZVP5MCANP2ILGFY/
I suspect it will cost much more than that before 2025, but good on them for getting on with it.
It does need some back up policy otherwise the petrol cars are just going to be dumped into the private fleet. Given the $value of petrol that users don't buy we need to get the whole fleet up to scratch. A $28k hybrid uses about $14K less petrol over a 200,000 journey
I'm afraid you left out the caveats that are given in the link you provide.
You say "to exclusively buy electric vehicles" They have no intention at all of sticking to exclusively electric vehicles.
The Herald story says
"When it comes to vehicles, Government agencies will be required to "optimise their car fleet" by purchasing electric vehicles or hybrids where EVs are not appropriate for the required use.
That is unless their operational requirements or other circumstances require – such as military vehicles where there is no electric alternatives."
In other words you give the headline bit but not the reality that provides a hole big enough for anyone to drive through. I'm afraid that BMW don't make an all electric model of the 7 series sedan though so it will have to be, at best, a hybrid for the cabinet Ministers.
The previous contract with BMW apparently expired last year. Haven't seen anything about it being renewed. Perhaps the current lot like Teslas better? The 600km+ range of a current Model S should be plenty for most needs within NZ.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/just-how-green-is-the-ministerial-car-fleet/6GHPLQHTSRQFBLWJLK2X6DSXJA/
Beemers already partly replaced: https://thedriven.io/2020/10/26/jacinda-ardern-to-get-all-electric-audi-e-tron-to-replace-diesel-fleet-car/
The Auckland car is the personal vehicle for the PM's private use. I imagine Clarke is the main user.
John Key chose a Suzuki Swift for his car at one stage. That was only about a $20,000 cost to the taxpayer. Don't know whether there were other models during his term.
They might have a couple of Ioniqs, or Audis, but there are still an awful lot of CR plate BMW 730D cars around Wellington and CR1 is a BMW still.
John Key chose a Suzuki Swift for his car at one stage. That was only about a $20,000 cost to the taxpayer.
[citation needed]
I can't find a link for this. The best I can find in a link to an interview with Marcus Lush in 2011. The Audio doesn't seem to exist though. The topic came up, and surprised the reporters at the time but key said it was because Stephie was learning to drive and it was a good car for that.
https://www.magic.co.nz/John-Key-owns-a-Suzuki-Swift/tabid/506/articleID/19787/Default.aspx
All the Ministers get a self drive car. Anette King's was probably the most notorious when it was in a crash and the driver had illegal drugs.
Perhaps he got us to fund a self-drive Swift for his daughter's driving lessons? While he was using the limo, as you'd expect of a PM.
Reminding me of Bill English's accommodation and housecleaning rorts. No wonder they think beneficiaries are all trying to rip us off.
As I said Sacha. ALL Ministers get a self drive car as do all former Prime Ministers and all former Governors-General. They also get free domestic air travel and the use of the Crown Limos.
Their surviving spouses after their death also get the perks for the rest of their lives.
And boy, do they take advantage of them.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4472263/Former-governors-and-PMs-spend-up-large-on-travel
So the government buys cars and tranfers the ownership to the ministers for personal vehicles?
That seems inefficent.
Link for that claim?
No. However these vehicles are self drive cars. It is based in Auckland and I imagine that Clarke spends more time there than does Jacinda. She does, after all, have a limo available at all times and certainly if I were in her job I wouldn't want to bother driving myself. From my observation the back of a limo is where all the Ministers do most of their telephone calls.
Why waste valuable time driving yourself when you can get on with the work you are employed for?
Where do you get the idea they are self-drive?
Shuttling between the airport and the beehive is no such thing. The PM also has way too much to do these days to be wasting her time driving, as you say.
I should actually have said "that vehicle" rather than "these vehicles" I was talking about the third one in the quote rather than the two based in Wellington.
Again, where do you get the idea it is self-drive?
Because it came up when that Yank talk show guy Colbert was entertained here at taxpayer expense to do a show on Ardern.
Remember? She picked him up at the airport.
Sigh. https://www.caradvice.com.au/895516/new-zealand-prime-minister-adds-to-her-electric-car-fleet/
The impression you've got the Drumpfian habit of just making shit up is getting stronger again.
The Hyundai Ioniq that Ardern drives, including when she chauffered Colbert, appears to be a car she owns, not something supplied by the taxpayer. I've looked and found nothing suggesting it's supplied by the taxpayer, but I've found lots of reference to her owning it – eg:
You've also imagined that Clarke will be the main user of the government e-Tron to be based in Auckland. You really need to back that up if you don't want that to stand as an exhibit of "alwyn just making shit up".
It is OK to get things wrong.
Sure getting things wrong is OK if someone takes a step back and checks their facts and backs up their assertions or corrects as necessary when challenged.
But the challenges came a long way upthread, with zero subsequent actual backing up or change in behaviour from alwyn, just more dumping of the same unsubstantiated shit and an occasional diversion.
Sorry, my last sentence was directed purely at Alwyn. And yes, it is especially OK to admit you got it wrong.
$NZ155,500 (before on-road costs)…
Or they could show true commitment and buy a couple of these…
https://electricbikesnz.com/2020/10/26/wisper-wayfarer-mid-drive/
…and use the change to haul a few more kids out of poverty.
Perfect for reading those cabinet papers on the way..
Oh dammit alwyn. You have uncovered the evil plan. So if there are to be no electric tanks, we had better cancel the whole plan. We could not possibly have a fleet of EV cars if the tanks are not EV also. Better let Jacinda know quickly.
What a funny little fellow you are. Does the Army actually own any real tanks, apart from the ones in the Museum at Waiouru? I thought they owned vast numbers of APCs but I can't imagine what they would do with a real tank. We probably couldn't afford main battle tanks anyway.
Actually you can get an electric Hummer although I don't think it is the military version.
To bad of course if you were out in the desert, had to withdraw in a hurry and the battery in your dinky little military vehicle was flat. I have been told that jeeps in WW2 didn't even have key. If you had to shift in a hurry you didn't want to waste time looking for the key.
This actually surprises me a bit as I always assumed the PMs BMW was the BMW spec custom armored version, like the Aussie PM's one (and a lot of other countries leaders with those models of BMWs).
Which would be pretty hard to kit with an electric replacement, purely by weight.
Interesting that they presumably drive round in standard.
Not many countries leaders could make that claim I would imagine.
The Dutch Premier rides an armoured bicycle to work.
https://www.ecowatch.com/mark-rutte-bikes-to-work-2640672478.html
The Dutch Crown Princess cycles to school, also heavily armoured.
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/the-new-king-of-the-netherlands-on-a-bicycle/
Fantastic
And thanks btw way for your moderator post the other day explaining how you don't single out posters.
I can explain the term "Not many" in return if helpful
Just doing a bit of reading he drives, (when doing car) an armored Merc spec custom
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/dutch-pm-forms-new-government-rides-his-bike-to-the-palace-to-tell-the-king-and-even-locks-it-up-355466
Ahh
And the BMW factory spec armored BMW
Allegedly
Dutch government
The prime minister of the Netherlands uses an armoured Mercedes-Benz S-Class and sometimes an Audi A6. Previously, an armoured BMW 7 Series was used. Both cars are owned by the Royal and Diplomatic Security Service (DKDB).
Wondered where the noise was coming from today.
https://twitter.com/TorrensJonathan/status/1333943054772936706
https://twitter.com/THR/status/1333921406850117641