My brother in law votes National. I have relatives who are industrial farmers.
Are we really going after MP's relatives now? That's not the story. The story is what Luxon means when he says due process has been followed regarding conflicts of interest.
The article decided to focus on her, it's the headline.
I'd say marketing manager for Phillip Morris is right up there for worst things to dedicate your life to. Worse even that voting National and industrial farming.
Few would likely give one about Mr Luxon’s sister in law if she was not in the Tobacco Industry, totally fair game with the current situation with Minister Costello.
I still recall Judith Collins effectively executing Ian Lees Galloway’s career on TV one morning by mentioning an affair. Clarke Gayford was pursued by a nasty online campaign to the extent that NZ Police issued a rare statement along the lines that Mr Gayford was of no interest to them on any matter.
Turn the other cheek, take the high road? I don’t think so in 2024.
But if you are the PM and have a relative by marriage who works for the tobacco industry at a time when there are questions of interference in policy making by tobacco industry chiefs, then you can expect it to be reported by the media and be commented upon elsewhere.
When weka says: "the right can focus on the family of left politicians." The right have been doing that for the past 15 years.
Remember the personal barbs and malicious 'revelations' about Nanaia Mahuta and her family. Remember the salacious and disgusting lies spread about Jacinda Ardern's partner, Clarke Gayford. The police were forced into making a public statement denying them. There were other minsters also whose personal lives were questioned for no other reason other than to discredit them.
We can go back further and remember the salacious and disgusting lies spread about Helen's husband Peter Davis – not to mention Helen Clark herself. Iirc, some of her ministers were also on the receiving end.
The right has practiced dirty politics in the form of personal slander, innuendo and misinformation on a grand scale, so any response in return could almost be claimed as justified. They are the one's who introduced this phenomenon to NZ political society.
“The only target I have is winning government. It’s that simple. All that matters is winning government on October 14.”
Luxon had arrived at the conference wearing a red Crusaders’ jersey, saying he liked the team “because they win. They win nice or they win ugly but they win.”
Asked if that meant he was happy for National to “win ugly”, he said, “I just want to win”.
The only person I have ever seen using those words was you Robert.
Can you produce any evidence of anyone else saying them?
[deleted]
[I don’t know what you are on about, but you’ve been here long enough to know I don’t like having to moderate on Saturdays. Take the weekend off – weka]
Oh yeah Kat. I am personal testament to that. Muldoon had a black list and my name ended up on it courtesy of a jealous person who had a specific 'channel' through which she could feed falsehoods.
Muldoon had a bunch of shady individuals (a few of whom were involved in that scurrilous rag "The Truth”) who did his dirty work for him. Moyle was his most notable target but there were plenty more behind the scenes whose stories have never been told.
There seems to be a pandemic of worrying about the mote in our metaphoric brother's eye. I have a feeling we could mill the beam in our own (to further mangle an allegory), if someone finds a senior Labour person with links to the alcohol industry.
The best known Labour Politician with links to the alcohol industry was probably their first Prime Minister, Michael Joseph Savage who worked for Sir Ernest Davis' company Hancock and Company from 1908 until he entered Parliament in 1919.
Sir Ernest "Booze" was a major supporter, and financer, of the early Labour organization in New Zealand. This included lodging securities for jailed agitators during the 1912 Waihi miner's dispute and providing John A Lee with a hotel to manage after he lost his seat in Parliament in 1928.
One might not approve of him but Ernest Davis was a fascinating man.
International Tobacco is a vile money trench, second only to the Arms Industry.
Baldrick must have known this connection would be outed…but perhaps just does not give a shit, or take it seriously. A number of Natzos over the years have “worked”–it is just a big cruise for execs–in tobacco, and now there seem to be senior tobacco linked MPs galore.
Yes, tobacco does seem to be a feeder industry for National/NZF politicians. I wonder if this is what they mean when they talk about working in the real world.
C’mon, Baldrick is a money man. It is vital for such types, men particularly, to size up others for their usefulness or threat. They desperately need to know what others in their circles “Do”.
Luxon is being mocked in the House by the Opposition, who respond to his evasions with derisive exclamations. Check out the moment he said, "companies" rather than "countries"; seemingly an inconsequential slip, but indicative of his unreadiness for answering questions from the other side of the House. Theirs is a guttural reaction. Key used to draw disgust with some of his comments and gestures; Luxon gets derision, which is far more damaging, imo.
Without focus group approval, no policy – not even one promoted by the Finance and Revenue ministers working together – could count on the Leader’s support. Progressive initiatives in justice and corrections were jettisoned overnight for no better reason than the polls had pronounced them unpopular. About the only policies that remained sacrosanct were those related to the aims and objectives of identity politics. These had to remain in place – if only to reassure Labour MPs that they were still on the side of the angels. Unfortunately for Labour’s re-election chances, these were the precisely the policies that a majority of the voters hated most.
Yeah, when focus groups head in the opposite direction to voters no Lab politician will ever know what to think, so they will just continue to stand around looking vacant until someone comes along and tells them what to think.
Trotter's facetious verdict is to ask Helen to come out of retirement & rescue them, but yesterday's leaders are rarely relevant today. It's really up to a younger generation within Labour to seize the time. Labour's hollowness is reflected in the poll trend:
Support for Labour increased 1% point to 22% while support for the Greens surged 3% points to 15.5% – the highest support for the Greens for over a year since Oct 2022 & support for the Maori Party up 2.5% points to 5%.
Trotters a useful tool, thats why he's gets his granny soapbox.
It's really up to a younger generation…to form their own party and crack on with it. Convert a sitting or former MP to the cause and off you go, target an electorate as MMP makes it a shed load easier than Oz/UK etc.
Leave the centrists who blew a majority term to it, that's not your party kids look at what happened to Cunliffe. Remember it was almost Shane Jones as leader back then so get out now.
A timely reminder of how things were not so long ago. Leave the pollies of both blue and red hues to wallow in the tar pits of last century's ideology. Let them bicker about their differences, which after all, only a cigarette paper separates them.
Policy ideas for this new party to keep a resurgent Greens honest…
How can Labour have been driven by focus groups when those focus groups apparently would have told them lifting Maori, honouring Te Tiriti, improving water quality, and compassion for transgender people were such unpopular policies?
Trotter's argument (and your own) makes zero sense.
Trotter talks bullshit. His claim Helen Clark manipulated the political scene in the 90s (I paraphrase what he said) to her personal advantage is bordering on conspiratorial claptrap. She's not clairvoyant nor does she have psychic abilities.
Reading Paul Buchanan's (Pablo) latest post "The New Zealand Junta" makes infinite more sense:
… New Zealand has had a constitutional coup of sorts. In October an election was held in which the major rightwing party (National) did not reveal its true policy intentions, preferring to instead focus on the usual canards of lower taxes, high crimes rates and too many regulations and bureaucratic red tape on property owners. They were assisted by a compliant corporate media interested in generating clickbait material rather than dealing deeper into party policy platforms, and who supported the “change for change sake” attitude of the NZ public by focusing on personal scandals within the Labour-led government ranks. It mattered little that, in public at least, the major rightwing party had little to offer. What mattered was that it win, be it in coalition or outright. As it turns out, it needed coalition partners in order to do so.
The more extreme rightwing parties, ACT and NZ First, were a bit more honest in their campaigns about their reactionary intent, but the corporate media chose to ignore the extent of their connections to extremist groups and foreign donors/patrons such as anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists and Atlas Institute seed-funded astroturf groups such as the overlapping Free Speech Coalition/Taxpayer’s Union that contributed to their campaigns. Nor did the political press seriously look into the backgrounds of candidates in these parties, instead preferring to focus on the leaders and their immediate subordinates.
What that made for was the instrumental use of the October election by the NZ rightwing in order to gain enough votes to cobble together an authoritarian-minded government coalition that would impose regressive policy prescriptions without full public scrutiny or consultation. It did not matter that the two extremist parties received less than 15 percent of the popular vote, or that National received just 38 percent. What mattered was the win, which was the instrument by which the coalition could impose its political will on the +45 percent that did not vote for them.
And there you have the real reason for what happened on October 14, 2023. Not some of the bullshit I’m reading on this site.
She wants to mobilise them to have the first Greens-led Government. "I strongly believe the Greens are the leading left-wing party in Parliament," she said. "I believe radical change, at this point, is necessary to confront the challenges of our time – tinkering will no longer do that."
In response, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said New Zealand electorate was a broad political spectrum and representation of those different views is important.
He's talking in code. Translation: Labour must represent those who don't want "to confront the challenges of our time". Tinkering is cool, the top tinker believes.
Chloe also sends a message in subliminal code: "Hey guys, I'm really leftist!" By positioning her co-leadership aspiration for "the leading left-wing party in Parliament", she's letting the Green Left Network know they don't need to put up a candidate to oppose her. That's clever, and I suspect she'll succeed in fooling them…
not really. More that I can see past the transgressions to what really matters. Something the Greens could learn from 😉 And a number of gender critical people.
But Chloe's not just "smart", she's a lively intellect and can parse all sorts of issues, elegantly. Why do you think she's failed to grasp your issue-de-jour?
Like I said, No Debate means it's never been talked about. You can't actually talk with people with that belief in that position about the issues. That's intentional, No Debate is intended to suppress dissent. So I literally don't know her thinking apart from the slogans.
I can tell you that there is such a thing as Peak Trans, which is where people who used to believe in gender identity ideology come to realise it's batshit crazy, they 'peak' as they realise that it doesn't make sense. Many left wing people have been through that process. Being smart, having a lively intellect that can parse all sorts of issues doesn't transcend that, and in fact ideology often stops very smart people from understanding things.
My initial point was that I can tolerate someone having quite different views from me and still allow them to be good at what they do. That capacity is being lost from the Greens and it is heartbreaking.
So when CS says she can work across the aisle, I think that means she can work with right wing politicians but she can't work with left wing gender critical feminists. I could be wrong, but afaik she is a strong believer in gender identity ideology and the politics that go with it (as opposed to the people who toe the line because they have a career to protect).
Not sure if you mean it this way, but when you talk about GCF in that way, it comes across as minimising. It's not my issue du jour. It's the most important political issue of our time after climate/ecology. Whole swathes of women have abandoned the left over it, and it's been going on for decades, but particularly the last decade.
I've been writing about GCF on TS since 2020. I've been involved in the debate on twitter since 2018, often substantially. I've lost a big chunk of political engagement (blocked on twitter, NRT no longer allows his blog posts to be cross-posted) because of my beliefs. I've gotten off pretty lightly. Many women have lost jobs, careers, friends and family, been arrested and abused. There are many women who've been working hard on this for a decade, others for longer. Some GCFs believe the political work on this will be decades long.
So please don't treat this as some passing/short lived trend.
Huh. Mainstreamers fucked up the collective climate response more than 20 years ago, definitively. As for discrimination against women, it depends on how many feel they are victims of that. The potential number is huge, the actual number small, I suspect…
As for discrimination against women, it depends on how many feel they are victims of that. The potential number is huge, the actual number small, I suspect…
One in four women are sexually assaulted by a man. How many of those women are actual victims of male violence against women and how many just feel like they are?
Women still get paid less than men. How many are actually paid less compared to how many just feel like they are?
Chloe has lofty aims to make the Greens the largest left wing party in NZ. People can laugh and say she is unrealistic, but look at what happened in Germany?
Die Grunen (The Greens) have 118 seats in the German lower house and are part of the coalition government. They also part of the coalition governments in 10 out of 16 states. They have formed coalition state governments even with the conservative CDU/CSU party and won seats in ultra-conservative Bavaria. They are no longer written off as a loony left opposition fringe party – they are an alternative government.
With organisation, support and of course money, it is possible and Chloe might just be the person to lead it forward into a new era.
Slightly different situation in Germany however, as they also have a separate Left party that is where a good portion of the NZ Greens would naturally fit, being hard core Socialists or even further Left than that.
Having that segment in a separate party makes it easier for the German Greens to go into coalition with parties right across the political spectrum as they are not viewed as anywhere near as loony-left as the NZ Greens are viewed, given the environmentalists and the Socialist are all lumped in together.
NZ Greens have relied on the votes of the hard Left since foundation, so I can't see the NZ Greens fracturing in a hurry.
I think if Swarbrick can stabilise the Greens now and achieve the same level of success at the next election, say 15 MPs, then that will provide a solid base to work from. Their growth is only going to come by further cannibalising Labour and by attracting a higher proportion of first time/younger voters than the other parties, and that will take time.
Becoming the largest left wing party in NZ is a good goal for the party I guess but it won't change much in NZ if they still can't get control of the parliament so they can effect the changes they want. Hard to get that control if the only partner you will go into coalition with is the same party you have been cannibalising…
I agree with your analysis – however their leftist zero-sum thinking re Labour has been self-imposed handicap for so long now it seems unrealistic to expect them to wake up & smell the roses. They could proceed to a convergence with Labour instead if both parties adopt resilience as their basis for a new economy.
Cynics will point out that both parties contain too many morons to enable that to happen but I remain optimistic despite such realism!
Play on words often hews to tradition. I was just using her framing. Some users of language prefer contemporary usage but we need not do the binary either/or on language use. Notice that I didn't use the antique verb origin (tink).
I don't think Chloe Swarbrick's message was particularly helpful. There's probably a number of ways to press the importance of change without ridiculing your political partner.
Note Hipkins’ response was far more measured and respectful. Best to keep the fire and brimstone for the actual opposition.
He's talking in code. Translation: Labour must represent those who don't want "to confront the challenges of our time". Tinkering is cool, the top tinker believes.
Absolute bullshit. That is not the full quote. I saw him on TV1 news tonight and his response was eminently sensible. He was not aiming any broadside at the Greens. In fact he sent a message of good will to them.
Looks more like msm trying to escalate hostility between NZ & China!
The cancellation of Air New Zealand service NZ0448 from Wellington bound for Auckland on Friday, as strong winds battered the capital, meant Wang was "stuck" and "clueless as to what to do due to the cancellation of my flight to Auckland and the lack of alternatives", he said.
Get used to it, lad. The windy city often does this. Getting high often defuses mental states of cluelessness. You mean the airline still isn't offering such a useful alternative??
Others noted there was an overnight bus from Wellington to Auckland, although that might not have been much help for Wang – given the service departed at 7pm, not long after he posted his tweet.
Yeah, he's right to wish for a high-speed rail option. You only need to figure out the time the bus takes to reach Ak to agree with him. Cue a brain-wave: Belt & Road is usable as policy basis for offering to build such infrastructure into 3rd-world countries like ours.
There are three things, he says. There’s the Zero Carbon Act and the institutions that are associated with that, providing an overall framework. There’s the “massive package” of Emissions Trading Scheme reforms, which will probably be the biggest single difference.
“The third thing is something that is kind of nerdy and that very few people pay attention to is climate-related financial disclosures,” he says. “That is, fundamentally, the economics of climate change at the level of individual businesses. You can see already, only in the first reporting year, that it is really starting to make a difference to the way that businesses think about their emissions and their supply chain and so on.”
Good to see Argentina taking the first steps to rectify the damaging effects of Big Government interventionist economic policies (implemented from both the left and right wing of Argentinian politics).
Argentina is just another example of how these sorts of Government knows best and can drive economic growth policies do real long term structural harm to a country. Left wingers who promote these ideas tend to ignore the evidence of failure from real World outcomes.
Austerity usually isn't popular but if the IMF estimate is validated by performance – "expected economic contraction estimated by the IMF at 2.8%" – it may succeed.
The country is on the verge of a massive default in debt with inflation rate over 200%. I think to get out of that self-inflicted mess requires some short term pain. Remember it is the policies of previous governments of Argentina that caused the mess they are in now not the policies being proposed by the new one.
A very interesting read today in the Herald (yes, I confess I subscribe). I like Mary Holm's no nonsence advice on money matters. Today a letter to her asked 'I find it appalling and upsetting that many people seek your advice on how to beat the tax man.' She basically agreed with the tone of the letter and went on to say that if people do ask how to dodge paying their fair share of tax, she tells them politely where to go. Of course the comments after the various letters received and answered went along the usual lines of Granny Herald commenters – 'it's all the Labour Government's fault'. To this long time Labour voter – yes I've kept the faith since my first vote in 1966 – tax evasion and avoidance (both equally as bad as each other IMHO), is a no no with me and those idiots who do get caught rorting the system deserve all that is dished up to them. I'll include the link, though it is paywalled https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/why-dodging-the-tax-dept-could-backfire-on-you-mary-holm/ZHMVV4KLSJGRFGUDEN4DF3B3BI/
Stuff has done a fascinating analysis of the core Public service in NZ and it's massive growth over the past 6 years under the last Labour led government.
I challenge any left leaning person to explain why we still have a need for over 9,400 "Information Professionals" (i.e. mostly Coms people) since the end of the significant public health risks from Covid-19. The growth in this area under Labour was in the region of 90%. How is the average New Zealander getting better value from their interaction with the Public service as a result of all these extra PR and Coms roles?
This is a major factor in why people got sick of Labour and voted for change last October.
The Public service spends huge amounts of taxpayers money on IT projects. The point of which should be to improve the efficiency of the Public service (i.e. better service with the same or less resources). However instead of requiring less people we have much, much more. Where are the better services that we are getting as a result? Can people name me an area of the Public service that has improved significantly in the past 6 years as a result of IT spending?
How come we have had a massive increase in staffing in the Social Welfare agencies at a time when Unemployment has fallen to lows not seen since the 1960’s? Shouldn't we require less people in this area now considering we have less people to provide support to?
Please provide the figures for massive increase in SW staffing, and unemployment in recent times compared to the 60s. You're in premod until that happens.
Why do I have to provide data on SW staffing levels in the 1960's? I'm not comparing staffing levels front the 1960's to today. I'm stating unemployment has fallen to levels not seen SINCE then so you SHOULD see recent trends in Social welfare staff falling not INCREASING conpared to when they were higher (i.e 7 or 8 years ago)
If the staffing levels were increased due to Covid for an entire budget period then that also is the fault of the Labour led government. This was an emergency period and any increased staff should have been on temporary or fixed term contracts of 2 years maximum. What are these staff doing now given we have stopped Covid payments?
[reread my comment, because you’ve obviously misunderstood. The comma is a clue. I know what you are stating, and I’m telling you as a moderator to produce some evidence for your claims. You make arguments like this a lot that are big assertions without substance. In this case I think your premise is entirely faulty, which is why I’m asking you to produce the evidence so we can examine it.
The claims you made that need evidence:
We have had a massive increase in staffing in the Social Welfare agencies in recent times (and please clarify the time frame)
Unemployment has fallen to lows not seen since the 1960’s
Please provide evidence for both of those things. – weka]
I provided you a link to a Stuff article which details the increase in staffing in these agencies over the past few years (i.e. the period in time I am referring to). Please explain why this is not good enough as evidence for you?
As for the 1960’s claim – fair enough I apologise for using the 1960’s as a baseline. The official unemplyment rate as measured by the HLFS only stretches back to 1986 so it would be more accurate to state it is the lowest since modern reporting on unemployment started i.e. the lowest on record.
-We have had a massive increase in staffing in the Social Welfare agencies in recent times (and please clarify the time frame).
The timeframe in question is from Labour's time in office (i.e. from 2017 to 2023). An increase in numbers of a third over such a short period of time is very large. In comparison the total population of NZ till the end of last year only grew by less than ten percent
Population in 2017 divided by population in 2023 :
Off the top of my head in the 60's there wasn't the massive, massive subsidy to landlords by way of accommodation supplement, benefits were paid at the same rate as the pension so people didn't have to keep applying for hardship payments, sole parents like my grandmother who left a violent relationship got nothing unless they were a widow, all the benefit was paid to the husband for couples, sick people were left alone to be sick and get better and had doctors and hospitals in their little towns, the welfare system in most towns was a job in the public service esp all those injured war veterans who also had good support through the rehab leagues set up around the country to help them get back to work, unwell were locked up in mental institution, while those with intellectual disabilities were locked up in their own institutions, 51,000 people were getting war pensions in 1965 and 116,000 superannuation (compared to 898,000 getting superannuation now). It was also run as a bureaucracy i.e. rules based where either you qualified for help or not and that was that. You aren't comparing apples with apples and your comparison is quite facile.
Puao-Te-Ata-Tu is the only good source I've found that shows staff numbers albeit in 1988. 6,268. This would not have included the Labour department staff who were a separate department and didn't merge til about 1998.
Stuff article has MSD staff at 9,077. but notes extra were taken on to do COVID payments, etc. They were likely funded for a full budget cycle so presumably will drop off at the end of it as is the normal budget / funding process.
Also a fall in the unemployment rate doesn't necessarily mean a fall in benefit numbers.
It is a maths puzzle.
Number of jobs increase so labour market is larger. Immigrants come into NZ and do those jobs. Number of NZer's unemployed stays the same. Unemployment rate drops as while the number unemployed is the same it is now a smaller proportion of a larger labour market.
With the massive increase in immigration in the last couple of years combined with people working longer to make ends meet there is an increasing disconnect between the two things.
Looking at stats info – in 1999 there were 18,000 over 65 year olds in the workforce. There is now 118,000. That is also impacting on freeing up jobs for young people.
Definitely gonzo, loved the multi-colour graphic showing how tiny the health spend is compared to the biggies – no wonder the hospitals are in perpetual crisis. Kindness??
that in National’s last year of power in 2016/17 it spent $550m on consultants, or about twice what had been spent in the 2008/09 year.
The problem for Labour is that, even without the public servant cap, its government spent $1.2b on consultants in 2023. So it roughly doubled the consultant-spend – albeit under a more inclusive measure – while also increasing the number of public servants substantially.
Labour's creation of a supersized gravy train for consultants will be the envy of Nat supporters everywhere!! All Hipkins needs to do to guarantee himself a knighthood in the next honours list is to say "Hey, I did that!" It will help if he explains that it was a carefully-orchestrated directive campaign behind the scenes, so as to reassure the Nats that they really are on the same side.
”Another thing about the new government is its utter disdain for the public. Polls only mattered in the election campaign but now are ignored. Fighting crime was a priority before the election, then it was not. It did not reveal its full coalition agenda during the campaign and did not consult with other parties or the public in the implementation of its first 100 day plan of action. Instead, the coalition has rewarded its donors and supporters in (among others) the fossil fuel and tobacco industries even though their repeal policies are unpopular and in some instances detrimental to public health, environmental and other social outcomes. This is truly a government for and by the few, even if it was able to claim an electoral victory as its legitimating mantle.
For this reason I prefer not to call them something silly like the “coalition of chaos.” They are that, to be sure, because to put it kindly the talent pool in the coalition parties runs very thin while the egos of their leaders and lieutenants run very deep. This could eventually lead to their collapse and downfall, but for the moment what strikes me is their despotic dispositions. In other words, it is their way or the highway, minus the resort to repression that we see in military dictatorships.
For this reason I choose to refer to the National-ACT-NZ First triumvirate as New Zealand’s junta. In the broadest and original sense, junta refers to a military or political group ruling the country after it has been taken over. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “a council or committee for political or governmental purposes.” What is important is that it does not always have to have a military component and it does not always involve a violent accession to power and usurpation of previous authority. A junta, as it turns out, can be installed constitutionally, peacefully and via normal political institutions and procedures.”
The NZ Midwifery Council's controversial changes to their Scope of Practice
2 Feb 2024 Interview with Deb Hayes, a practising midwife – the petition organiser
New Zealand's Midwifery Council has spent four years devising new guidelines which have taken out the words 'mother' and 'baby', and replaced them with the word 'whanau', a word which in te reo Māori means 'family', including extended family. Deb Hayes, a practising midwife, has been instrumental in initiating a Parliamentary Petition against the change of language in the NZ Midwifery Council's Scope of Practice guidelines.
The petition, hosted on the Women's Rights Party NZ website, can be signed here – https://womensrightsparty.nz/midwifer…
or, go direct to it here: https://petitions.parliament.nz/6e261…
I don't care whether they use the words 'mother' or 'baby' or 'gestational vessel' or 'whanau' I just want people to stop having kids they don't want, having kids they won't support, or killing their kids.
I take it that you are not a supporter of the current Government then?
As their mean spirited welfare, wage, health, environmental and infrastructure policies are going to result in killing and/or, blighting, the lives of many thousands more children.
Now that Luxon has a Maori alter ego to be his shadow at the marae, it's time to move onto puns about the blind man and his seeing eye dog chum Potaka wandering around Waitangi together.
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It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Asia Pacific Report A score of Palestine solidarity protesters draped themselves in white shrouds with mock blood in a sombre “die-in” demonstration at Te Komitanga Square — the heart of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city — today as speakers urged people to take a stronger boycott against Israeli products. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tackling violence against women will be the sole agenda item for a national cabinet meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has convened for Wednesday. The meeting, held remotely, follows thousands of Australians attending rallies across ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
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Look, everyone must have a job and her chosen job is to peddle carcinogens to poor people. Nothing wrong with that:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350166539/pm-christopher-luxons-sister-law-works-tobacco-company
My brother in law votes National. I have relatives who are industrial farmers.
Are we really going after MP's relatives now? That's not the story. The story is what Luxon means when he says due process has been followed regarding conflicts of interest.
The criticism isn't of her.
Another brick in the wall, that's all.
Muttonbird decided to focus on her. Which means the right can focus on the family of left politicians.
The right do do that, all the time.
The article decided to focus on her, it's the headline.
I'd say marketing manager for Phillip Morris is right up there for worst things to dedicate your life to. Worse even that voting National and industrial farming.
Good to know you are setting your standards by National and the MSM.
If you are going to do what they do, then you can't complain when they do it.
Few would likely give one about Mr Luxon’s sister in law if she was not in the Tobacco Industry, totally fair game with the current situation with Minister Costello.
I still recall Judith Collins effectively executing Ian Lees Galloway’s career on TV one morning by mentioning an affair. Clarke Gayford was pursued by a nasty online campaign to the extent that NZ Police issued a rare statement along the lines that Mr Gayford was of no interest to them on any matter.
Turn the other cheek, take the high road? I don’t think so in 2024.
If you have tory relatives it is not your fault!
If you have tory relatives it is not your fault!
Correct. Most of us have them.
But if you are the PM and have a relative by marriage who works for the tobacco industry at a time when there are questions of interference in policy making by tobacco industry chiefs, then you can expect it to be reported by the media and be commented upon elsewhere.
When weka says: "the right can focus on the family of left politicians." The right have been doing that for the past 15 years.
Remember the personal barbs and malicious 'revelations' about Nanaia Mahuta and her family. Remember the salacious and disgusting lies spread about Jacinda Ardern's partner, Clarke Gayford. The police were forced into making a public statement denying them. There were other minsters also whose personal lives were questioned for no other reason other than to discredit them.
We can go back further and remember the salacious and disgusting lies spread about Helen's husband Peter Davis – not to mention Helen Clark herself. Iirc, some of her ministers were also on the receiving end.
The right has practiced dirty politics in the form of personal slander, innuendo and misinformation on a grand scale, so any response in return could almost be claimed as justified. They are the one's who introduced this phenomenon to NZ political society.
Goes way way back…..Muldoon in the public toilets with the Moyle affair 1976….
That National reflect 39% of the electorate is a sad indictment on the hollow values many people in this country support.
Winning is everything and if you have to play dirty to win, so be it!
Brash, wasn't it, who said words to that effect.
Luxon prior to last election:
“The only target I have is winning government. It’s that simple. All that matters is winning government on October 14.”
Luxon had arrived at the conference wearing a red Crusaders’ jersey, saying he liked the team “because they win. They win nice or they win ugly but they win.”
Asked if that meant he was happy for National to “win ugly”, he said, “I just want to win”.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/national-party-leader-christopher-luxon-admits-45-per-cent-election-result-target-is-a-stretch-goal/I7VYCGVDFJCRJJHBDCAL6OYNGU/
On a par with;
”I did not have sex with that woman.”
”I did not inhale.”
The only person I have ever seen using those words was you Robert.
Can you produce any evidence of anyone else saying them?
[deleted]
[I don’t know what you are on about, but you’ve been here long enough to know I don’t like having to moderate on Saturdays. Take the weekend off – weka]
Are you stalking a member of this forum?
Not great.
You'll feel compelled, alwyn, to provide evidence (see:
3 February 2024 at 1:05 pm )
As well, you'll probably have to face weka et al, who don't seem to favour the kind of sly innuendo you've indulged in here.
mod note
"Goes way way back…."
Oh yeah Kat. I am personal testament to that. Muldoon had a black list and my name ended up on it courtesy of a jealous person who had a specific 'channel' through which she could feed falsehoods.
Muldoon had a bunch of shady individuals (a few of whom were involved in that scurrilous rag "The Truth”) who did his dirty work for him. Moyle was his most notable target but there were plenty more behind the scenes whose stories have never been told.
"Are we really going after MP's relatives now?"
You are right, weka. I admire yr patience.
There seems to be a pandemic of worrying about the mote in our metaphoric brother's eye. I have a feeling we could mill the beam in our own (to further mangle an allegory), if someone finds a senior Labour person with links to the alcohol industry.
The best known Labour Politician with links to the alcohol industry was probably their first Prime Minister, Michael Joseph Savage who worked for Sir Ernest Davis' company Hancock and Company from 1908 until he entered Parliament in 1919.
Sir Ernest "Booze" was a major supporter, and financer, of the early Labour organization in New Zealand. This included lodging securities for jailed agitators during the 1912 Waihi miner's dispute and providing John A Lee with a hotel to manage after he lost his seat in Parliament in 1928.
One might not approve of him but Ernest Davis was a fascinating man.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4d7/davis-ernest-hyam
Cheers, Alwyn. I will give him a looksie.
I haven't read enough of NZ political history, but what I have, I find interesting.
John A Lee's autobiography is one of the most recent.
Funny how his version of events differs a lot from public perception of those early Labour leaders.
International Tobacco is a vile money trench, second only to the Arms Industry.
Baldrick must have known this connection would be outed…but perhaps just does not give a shit, or take it seriously. A number of Natzos over the years have “worked”–it is just a big cruise for execs–in tobacco, and now there seem to be senior tobacco linked MPs galore.
Yes, tobacco does seem to be a feeder industry for National/NZF politicians. I wonder if this is what they mean when they talk about working in the real world.
anyone remember Todd Barclay?…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tobacco-lobbyists-stand-for-national-seats/DKVPIFNF7H3BUDCAXF4SGU6QZE/
Yes.
Yes.
She has been in the job since 2004, probably before being an in law.
It's quite likely she has never discussed the tobacco industry with the Christopher the Unready.
C’mon, Baldrick is a money man. It is vital for such types, men particularly, to size up others for their usefulness or threat. They desperately need to know what others in their circles “Do”.
Luxon is being mocked in the House by the Opposition, who respond to his evasions with derisive exclamations. Check out the moment he said, "companies" rather than "countries"; seemingly an inconsequential slip, but indicative of his unreadiness for answering questions from the other side of the House. Theirs is a guttural reaction. Key used to draw disgust with some of his comments and gestures; Luxon gets derision, which is far more damaging, imo.
Luxon makes Shipley look competent and intellectual….and one of the top three National PM's in a generation…..take your pick on the other two.
Hager painted the Nats as hollow men, Trotter paints the Labs same: https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-hollow-party.html
Yeah, when focus groups head in the opposite direction to voters no Lab politician will ever know what to think, so they will just continue to stand around looking vacant until someone comes along and tells them what to think.
Trotter's facetious verdict is to ask Helen to come out of retirement & rescue them, but yesterday's leaders are rarely relevant today. It's really up to a younger generation within Labour to seize the time. Labour's hollowness is reflected in the poll trend:
A biased snip of February snipes – rigor catches up with the best of us, eventually.
"Why, why, why Delilah"
Trotters a useful tool, thats why he's gets his granny soapbox.
It's really up to a younger generation…to form their own party and crack on with it. Convert a sitting or former MP to the cause and off you go, target an electorate as MMP makes it a shed load easier than Oz/UK etc.
Leave the centrists who blew a majority term to it, that's not your party kids look at what happened to Cunliffe. Remember it was almost Shane Jones as leader back then so get out now.
I think you are on the money tc.
A timely reminder of how things were not so long ago. Leave the pollies of both blue and red hues to wallow in the tar pits of last century's ideology. Let them bicker about their differences, which after all, only a cigarette paper separates them.
Policy ideas for this new party to keep a resurgent Greens honest…
F.T.T. to pay for a UBI.
Any migrant arriving is part of a union.
Meaningful reform of housing/landlording.
Internet/water/energy are non profit activities.
How can Labour have been driven by focus groups when those focus groups apparently would have told them lifting Maori, honouring Te Tiriti, improving water quality, and compassion for transgender people were such unpopular policies?
Trotter's argument (and your own) makes zero sense.
Trotter talks bullshit. His claim Helen Clark manipulated the political scene in the 90s (I paraphrase what he said) to her personal advantage is bordering on conspiratorial claptrap. She's not clairvoyant nor does she have psychic abilities.
Reading Paul Buchanan's (Pablo) latest post "The New Zealand Junta" makes infinite more sense:
And there you have the real reason for what happened on October 14, 2023. Not some of the bullshit I’m reading on this site.
See first on sidebar for full post!
Get this, from Hipkins in response to Chloe:
He's talking in code. Translation: Labour must represent those who don't want "to confront the challenges of our time". Tinkering is cool, the top tinker believes.
Chloe also sends a message in subliminal code: "Hey guys, I'm really leftist!" By positioning her co-leadership aspiration for "the leading left-wing party in Parliament", she's letting the Green Left Network know they don't need to put up a candidate to oppose her. That's clever, and I suspect she'll succeed in fooling them…
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/02/chl-e-swarbrick-s-big-plans-to-get-first-green-party-led-government-elected.html
Have to say I'm coming round to CS again now as co-leader. I hope that any other candidates go hard on the Green-led government as well.
However, I'd also like to see the plan not just the rhetoric.
"Have to say I'm coming round to CS again now as co-leader…"
Have you forgiven her trespasses against you? 🙂
not really. More that I can see past the transgressions to what really matters. Something the Greens could learn from 😉 And a number of gender critical people.
Why do you reckon Chloe doesn't get it?
She's smart-as 🙂
no idea. No Debate means it doesn't get talked about.
Smart people can be dumb in some things, that's not unusual.
But Chloe's not just "smart", she's a lively intellect and can parse all sorts of issues, elegantly. Why do you think she's failed to grasp your issue-de-jour?
Group-think. Even got James under control.
Like I said, No Debate means it's never been talked about. You can't actually talk with people with that belief in that position about the issues. That's intentional, No Debate is intended to suppress dissent. So I literally don't know her thinking apart from the slogans.
I can tell you that there is such a thing as Peak Trans, which is where people who used to believe in gender identity ideology come to realise it's batshit crazy, they 'peak' as they realise that it doesn't make sense. Many left wing people have been through that process. Being smart, having a lively intellect that can parse all sorts of issues doesn't transcend that, and in fact ideology often stops very smart people from understanding things.
My initial point was that I can tolerate someone having quite different views from me and still allow them to be good at what they do. That capacity is being lost from the Greens and it is heartbreaking.
So when CS says she can work across the aisle, I think that means she can work with right wing politicians but she can't work with left wing gender critical feminists. I could be wrong, but afaik she is a strong believer in gender identity ideology and the politics that go with it (as opposed to the people who toe the line because they have a career to protect).
Not sure if you mean it this way, but when you talk about GCF in that way, it comes across as minimising. It's not my issue du jour. It's the most important political issue of our time after climate/ecology. Whole swathes of women have abandoned the left over it, and it's been going on for decades, but particularly the last decade.
I've been writing about GCF on TS since 2020. I've been involved in the debate on twitter since 2018, often substantially. I've lost a big chunk of political engagement (blocked on twitter, NRT no longer allows his blog posts to be cross-posted) because of my beliefs. I've gotten off pretty lightly. Many women have lost jobs, careers, friends and family, been arrested and abused. There are many women who've been working hard on this for a decade, others for longer. Some GCFs believe the political work on this will be decades long.
So please don't treat this as some passing/short lived trend.
Issue-de-jour was careless, I meant, the issue that consumes so much of your energy. I didn't mean it was a passing phase for you.
"It's the most important political issue of our time after climate/ecology."
Is it?
If we f*ck up the the climate response, is that on par with getting the "what is a woman" debate wrong?
Will we all burn in hell? 🙂
Huh. Mainstreamers fucked up the collective climate response more than 20 years ago, definitively. As for discrimination against women, it depends on how many feel they are victims of that. The potential number is huge, the actual number small, I suspect…
One in four women are sexually assaulted by a man. How many of those women are actual victims of male violence against women and how many just feel like they are?
Women still get paid less than men. How many are actually paid less compared to how many just feel like they are?
Just the women initially. Been there, done that. It's part of why we're destroying the planet.
Not respecting women and not respecting nature are the same thing.
I don't think Swarbrick's message is subliminal, it's overt.
Chloe has lofty aims to make the Greens the largest left wing party in NZ. People can laugh and say she is unrealistic, but look at what happened in Germany?
Die Grunen (The Greens) have 118 seats in the German lower house and are part of the coalition government. They also part of the coalition governments in 10 out of 16 states. They have formed coalition state governments even with the conservative CDU/CSU party and won seats in ultra-conservative Bavaria. They are no longer written off as a loony left opposition fringe party – they are an alternative government.
With organisation, support and of course money, it is possible and Chloe might just be the person to lead it forward into a new era.
At the same time, Chloe must counter Brooke.
Chloe: "I raise you three hundred cycle lanes to your pittance of a minimum wage increase….."
Slightly different situation in Germany however, as they also have a separate Left party that is where a good portion of the NZ Greens would naturally fit, being hard core Socialists or even further Left than that.
Having that segment in a separate party makes it easier for the German Greens to go into coalition with parties right across the political spectrum as they are not viewed as anywhere near as loony-left as the NZ Greens are viewed, given the environmentalists and the Socialist are all lumped in together.
NZ Greens have relied on the votes of the hard Left since foundation, so I can't see the NZ Greens fracturing in a hurry.
I think if Swarbrick can stabilise the Greens now and achieve the same level of success at the next election, say 15 MPs, then that will provide a solid base to work from. Their growth is only going to come by further cannibalising Labour and by attracting a higher proportion of first time/younger voters than the other parties, and that will take time.
Becoming the largest left wing party in NZ is a good goal for the party I guess but it won't change much in NZ if they still can't get control of the parliament so they can effect the changes they want. Hard to get that control if the only partner you will go into coalition with is the same party you have been cannibalising…
I agree with your analysis – however their leftist zero-sum thinking re Labour has been self-imposed handicap for so long now it seems unrealistic to expect them to wake up & smell the roses. They could proceed to a convergence with Labour instead if both parties adopt resilience as their basis for a new economy.
Cynics will point out that both parties contain too many morons to enable that to happen but I remain optimistic despite such realism!
Tinkering is cool, the top tinker (sic) believes.
A tinker a mender of pots and pans. Don't you mean "tinkerer".
Play on words often hews to tradition. I was just using her framing. Some users of language prefer contemporary usage but we need not do the binary either/or on language use. Notice that I didn't use the antique verb origin (tink).
Labours new election slogan for 2026…..NO TINKER WE TAYLOR….
I don't think Chloe Swarbrick's message was particularly helpful. There's probably a number of ways to press the importance of change without ridiculing your political partner.
Note Hipkins’ response was far more measured and respectful. Best to keep the fire and brimstone for the actual opposition.
who did she ridicule?
Absolute bullshit. That is not the full quote. I saw him on TV1 news tonight and his response was eminently sensible. He was not aiming any broadside at the Greens. In fact he sent a message of good will to them.
The video is not up on their site yet.
Diddums?
Looks more like msm trying to escalate hostility between NZ & China!
Get used to it, lad. The windy city often does this. Getting high often defuses mental states of cluelessness. You mean the airline still isn't offering such a useful alternative??
Yeah, he's right to wish for a high-speed rail option. You only need to figure out the time the bus takes to reach Ak to agree with him. Cue a brain-wave: Belt & Road is usable as policy basis for offering to build such infrastructure into 3rd-world countries like ours.
Michael Leunig captures the moment.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=405723482125404&set=a.163598666337888
Thanks, Robert. I love Michael Leunig but hadn't seen anything of his lately. Spurred me to visit his website and scroll through his recent cartoons.
I liked his Interview With God.
Another announcing new technology which recycles used plastic bags into politicians caused a chuckle.
James presents a triad to Newsroom:
Three usually creates process, so this governance triad is likely to embed, and will therefore become an effective legacy for him.
"this governance triad"
is the result of their governance a triasco?
If there's any obvious flaw in the design of what James produced, it'll be up to our new govt to rectify it…
Good to see Argentina taking the first steps to rectify the damaging effects of Big Government interventionist economic policies (implemented from both the left and right wing of Argentinian politics).
Argentina is just another example of how these sorts of Government knows best and can drive economic growth policies do real long term structural harm to a country. Left wingers who promote these ideas tend to ignore the evidence of failure from real World outcomes.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/no-obstacle-argentina-mega-reform-bill-congress-government-says-2024-01-30/
Austerity usually isn't popular but if the IMF estimate is validated by performance – "expected economic contraction estimated by the IMF at 2.8%" – it may succeed.
The country is on the verge of a massive default in debt with inflation rate over 200%. I think to get out of that self-inflicted mess requires some short term pain. Remember it is the policies of previous governments of Argentina that caused the mess they are in now not the policies being proposed by the new one.
A very interesting read today in the Herald (yes, I confess I subscribe). I like Mary Holm's no nonsence advice on money matters. Today a letter to her asked 'I find it appalling and upsetting that many people seek your advice on how to beat the tax man.' She basically agreed with the tone of the letter and went on to say that if people do ask how to dodge paying their fair share of tax, she tells them politely where to go. Of course the comments after the various letters received and answered went along the usual lines of Granny Herald commenters – 'it's all the Labour Government's fault'. To this long time Labour voter – yes I've kept the faith since my first vote in 1966 – tax evasion and avoidance (both equally as bad as each other IMHO), is a no no with me and those idiots who do get caught rorting the system deserve all that is dished up to them. I'll include the link, though it is paywalled https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/why-dodging-the-tax-dept-could-backfire-on-you-mary-holm/ZHMVV4KLSJGRFGUDEN4DF3B3BI/
Stuff has done a fascinating analysis of the core Public service in NZ and it's massive growth over the past 6 years under the last Labour led government.
I challenge any left leaning person to explain why we still have a need for over 9,400 "Information Professionals" (i.e. mostly Coms people) since the end of the significant public health risks from Covid-19. The growth in this area under Labour was in the region of 90%. How is the average New Zealander getting better value from their interaction with the Public service as a result of all these extra PR and Coms roles?
This is a major factor in why people got sick of Labour and voted for change last October.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350164796/heres-what-our-63000-public-servants-actually-do-and-why-we-have-so-many-them-now
The Public service spends huge amounts of taxpayers money on IT projects. The point of which should be to improve the efficiency of the Public service (i.e. better service with the same or less resources). However instead of requiring less people we have much, much more. Where are the better services that we are getting as a result? Can people name me an area of the Public service that has improved significantly in the past 6 years as a result of IT spending?
"and indeed Inland Revenue actually reduced its contact centre staff significantly as a big IT upgrade allowed it to handle more things online."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350164796/heres-what-our-63000-public-servants-actually-do-and-why-we-have-so-many-them-now
How come we have had a massive increase in staffing in the Social Welfare agencies at a time when Unemployment has fallen to lows not seen since the 1960’s? Shouldn't we require less people in this area now considering we have less people to provide support to?
Please provide the figures for massive increase in SW staffing, and unemployment in recent times compared to the 60s. You're in premod until that happens.
Wouldn't it be nice if our government produced a scorecard that monitored core KPIs on its own performance?
That way everyone who paid taxes could have confidence (or otherwise) in the performance of our elected (and non elected) administrators.
But the turkeys aren't going to vote for Xmas are they…
Why do I have to provide data on SW staffing levels in the 1960's? I'm not comparing staffing levels front the 1960's to today. I'm stating unemployment has fallen to levels not seen SINCE then so you SHOULD see recent trends in Social welfare staff falling not INCREASING conpared to when they were higher (i.e 7 or 8 years ago)
If the staffing levels were increased due to Covid for an entire budget period then that also is the fault of the Labour led government. This was an emergency period and any increased staff should have been on temporary or fixed term contracts of 2 years maximum. What are these staff doing now given we have stopped Covid payments?
[reread my comment, because you’ve obviously misunderstood. The comma is a clue. I know what you are stating, and I’m telling you as a moderator to produce some evidence for your claims. You make arguments like this a lot that are big assertions without substance. In this case I think your premise is entirely faulty, which is why I’m asking you to produce the evidence so we can examine it.
The claims you made that need evidence:
Please provide evidence for both of those things. – weka]
I provided you a link to a Stuff article which details the increase in staffing in these agencies over the past few years (i.e. the period in time I am referring to). Please explain why this is not good enough as evidence for you?
As for the 1960’s claim – fair enough I apologise for using the 1960’s as a baseline. The official unemplyment rate as measured by the HLFS only stretches back to 1986 so it would be more accurate to state it is the lowest since modern reporting on unemployment started i.e. the lowest on record.
Evidence here is the following for each claim you made. Plus clarifying the timeframe on the first:
Moderators aren’t going to read an article to parse what you mean.
The rationale for all this is to increase the standard of debate. I already explained the problem with your original comment.
Claim:
-We have had a massive increase in staffing in the Social Welfare agencies in recent times (and please clarify the time frame).
The timeframe in question is from Labour's time in office (i.e. from 2017 to 2023). An increase in numbers of a third over such a short period of time is very large. In comparison the total population of NZ till the end of last year only grew by less than ten percent
Population in 2017 divided by population in 2023 :
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/national-population-estimates-at-30-june-2017
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/national-population-estimates-at-30-june-2023/
"MSD, the second-largest organisation, grew by a more hefty 33%. Most of this growth was in social workers and contact centre workers."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350164796/heres-what-our-63000-public-servants-actually-do-and-why-we-have-so-many-them-now
Claim:
– Unemployment has fallen to lows not seen since the 1960’s
As stated this should more accurately have stated the unemployment rate has falled to levels not seen since modern record keeping began.
"Unemployment fell in the December quarter to 3.2 per cent, the lowest since modern records began in 1986."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/unemployment-lowest-since-1986-falls-to-32-per-cent/YCIAG7QWZH3KBAYZAOJHE3FA6A/
thank-you Gosman. That’s perfect, and a really good example of how to back up one’s argument. Out of premod now.
Off the top of my head in the 60's there wasn't the massive, massive subsidy to landlords by way of accommodation supplement, benefits were paid at the same rate as the pension so people didn't have to keep applying for hardship payments, sole parents like my grandmother who left a violent relationship got nothing unless they were a widow, all the benefit was paid to the husband for couples, sick people were left alone to be sick and get better and had doctors and hospitals in their little towns, the welfare system in most towns was a job in the public service esp all those injured war veterans who also had good support through the rehab leagues set up around the country to help them get back to work, unwell were locked up in mental institution, while those with intellectual disabilities were locked up in their own institutions, 51,000 people were getting war pensions in 1965 and 116,000 superannuation (compared to 898,000 getting superannuation now). It was also run as a bureaucracy i.e. rules based where either you qualified for help or not and that was that. You aren't comparing apples with apples and your comparison is quite facile.
Puao-Te-Ata-Tu is the only good source I've found that shows staff numbers albeit in 1988. 6,268. This would not have included the Labour department staff who were a separate department and didn't merge til about 1998.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/archive/1988-puaoteatatu.pdf
Stuff article has MSD staff at 9,077. but notes extra were taken on to do COVID payments, etc. They were likely funded for a full budget cycle so presumably will drop off at the end of it as is the normal budget / funding process.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350164796/heres-what-our-63000-public-servants-actually-do-and-why-we-have-so-many-them-now
Also a fall in the unemployment rate doesn't necessarily mean a fall in benefit numbers.
It is a maths puzzle.
Number of jobs increase so labour market is larger. Immigrants come into NZ and do those jobs. Number of NZer's unemployed stays the same. Unemployment rate drops as while the number unemployed is the same it is now a smaller proportion of a larger labour market.
With the massive increase in immigration in the last couple of years combined with people working longer to make ends meet there is an increasing disconnect between the two things.
Looking at stats info – in 1999 there were 18,000 over 65 year olds in the workforce. There is now 118,000. That is also impacting on freeing up jobs for young people.
https://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/ViewTable.aspx?pxID=659101e7-c4ff-4caa-a281-41a4e44779fa
Definitely gonzo, loved the multi-colour graphic showing how tiny the health spend is compared to the biggies – no wonder the hospitals are in perpetual crisis. Kindness??
Labour's creation of a supersized gravy train for consultants will be the envy of Nat supporters everywhere!! All Hipkins needs to do to guarantee himself a knighthood in the next honours list is to say "Hey, I did that!" It will help if he explains that it was a carefully-orchestrated directive campaign behind the scenes, so as to reassure the Nats that they really are on the same side.
Really –
For the first time, I'm worried about violence this Waitangi day. Its going to take real leadership from both sides to make this a peaceful day.
Pablo has an interesting take on our new “government.”
https://www.kiwipolitico.com/2024/02/the-new-zealand-junta/
”Another thing about the new government is its utter disdain for the public. Polls only mattered in the election campaign but now are ignored. Fighting crime was a priority before the election, then it was not. It did not reveal its full coalition agenda during the campaign and did not consult with other parties or the public in the implementation of its first 100 day plan of action. Instead, the coalition has rewarded its donors and supporters in (among others) the fossil fuel and tobacco industries even though their repeal policies are unpopular and in some instances detrimental to public health, environmental and other social outcomes. This is truly a government for and by the few, even if it was able to claim an electoral victory as its legitimating mantle.
For this reason I prefer not to call them something silly like the “coalition of chaos.” They are that, to be sure, because to put it kindly the talent pool in the coalition parties runs very thin while the egos of their leaders and lieutenants run very deep. This could eventually lead to their collapse and downfall, but for the moment what strikes me is their despotic dispositions. In other words, it is their way or the highway, minus the resort to repression that we see in military dictatorships.
For this reason I choose to refer to the National-ACT-NZ First triumvirate as New Zealand’s junta. In the broadest and original sense, junta refers to a military or political group ruling the country after it has been taken over. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “a council or committee for political or governmental purposes.” What is important is that it does not always have to have a military component and it does not always involve a violent accession to power and usurpation of previous authority. A junta, as it turns out, can be installed constitutionally, peacefully and via normal political institutions and procedures.”
The NZ Midwifery Council's controversial changes to their Scope of Practice
2 Feb 2024 Interview with Deb Hayes, a practising midwife – the petition organiser
New Zealand's Midwifery Council has spent four years devising new guidelines which have taken out the words 'mother' and 'baby', and replaced them with the word 'whanau', a word which in te reo Māori means 'family', including extended family. Deb Hayes, a practising midwife, has been instrumental in initiating a Parliamentary Petition against the change of language in the NZ Midwifery Council's Scope of Practice guidelines.
The petition, hosted on the Women's Rights Party NZ website, can be signed here – https://womensrightsparty.nz/midwifer…
or, go direct to it here: https://petitions.parliament.nz/6e261…
I don't care whether they use the words 'mother' or 'baby' or 'gestational vessel' or 'whanau' I just want people to stop having kids they don't want, having kids they won't support, or killing their kids.
I take it that you are not a supporter of the current Government then?
As their mean spirited welfare, wage, health, environmental and infrastructure policies are going to result in killing and/or, blighting, the lives of many thousands more children.
No I'm not, but link please?
National, ACT and NZF policies were well canvassed during the recent general election, you can look those up yourself pretty easily.
Luxon is an ex PM walking……….just trying to find the link…..
Now that Luxon has a Maori alter ego to be his shadow at the marae, it's time to move onto puns about the blind man and his seeing eye dog chum Potaka wandering around Waitangi together.