Judith Collins is advocating direct payment, at 100%, to workers for personal COVID related absence from work, via MSD, I like IRD better but whatever, it is a positive suggestion.
The Govt. has distributed “COVID cash” to employers with gay abandon but been tight as when it comes to the working class, and has not promoted what is available with much vigour until the last week or so.
Greens and unions/NZCTU seem to support the basic proposition put forward by National. ‘Pay to isolate’ seems an approach worth trying as lockdowns become more problematic on many fronts.
It is stating the obvious that NZ National by default usually shafts low paid workers, and puts the boot in for dessert, but in this pandemic situation, the Govt. should urgently adopt Collin’s idea.
I suspect Collins is quite keen to see the budget deficit go sky-high under Labour – so that at some time in the future a National government can point at it in horror and start selling assets and cutting government services to pay for it. It's part of setting up the conditions where an austerity narrative can take over. And the fact that she proposed an upper limit for the payment at nearly $3k/week, rather than at (say) the living wage or median wage, makes it clear who she is trying to help.
Working class people need proper, easier to access assistance right now, not in future. If the debate over Collins proposal rectifies the Govt. blindspot and provokes action then good in my view.
Of course National will have ulterior motives, but the future is not yet here. If the Labour Caucus can be shifted, details such as the high upper limit would likely be dealt with.
It's certainly an admission by National that employers can't be trusted to pass on subsidies and that the private sector is not able to be relied upon in a post pandemic world.
Frist – The government has distributed Covid Cash to employers with gay abandon – not so fast Hoss please hold your horse.
You actually have to fill out forms, provide all business and employee details for every employee for which you then get a set amount depending on the criteria and besides in order to get that sweet sweet easy Covid Cash you actually have to prove to have lost quite a bit of business before Grant Robertson is happy to part with what he seems to consider his money. So much so that many businesses in NZ only received the original payment for lockdown l4 that was handed out to pretty much every one in NZ. Never mind, blame everyone for the big businesses that did not need it but took it anyways.
There have been many – including me – that already at the time last year in March said that the 'wage subsidy' was the wrong approach and that the payment should have gone to individuals via IRD or ACC for that matter. I.e. an isolation payment when it is needed.
Many have also asked – like me – that the government actually hire bodies to have their governmental 0800 lines answered in a timely fashion. Individuals like me have also pointed out that if hte government requires people to stay at home – that then they should be paying that individual – rather then the business. All the government did was outsourse – for no pay i might add – a task that they could not be bothered to hire people – to businesses.
The wage subsidy is also before tax 200 odd NZD below the min wage, take another hundered off on Tax and you end up with approx $ 480 (for full time – part time is even less) after tax, and for that money in AKL you don't even rent a dog kennel let alone live for a whole week. And the government knows that, as do all the guys preparing food parcels in the various Temples, Churches and Marais in South Auckland and elsewhere.
All of these issues were raised last year by various groups, and the government did an awesome job of not listening. then and it appears it is still not listening.
I give them the first wage subsidy as they made it up as they went along, but we are 1 year in now in this pandemic and we are still working with the same model.
I don't think i ever agreed with J.C ever on anything, but i agree with her on that. IT should not be the employers cost and time to assure their staff goes into isolation and stays there when it is the government that 'requires' it. Anyone in NZ who is on Home D gets paid their cost of living via Winz. ….Just saying.
And to those that want to not pay people enough to be able to self isolate and keep their roof over their heads so that we could keep a surplus or go not into debt needs to understand that people who can't pay rent and eat will go out and do what needs to be done in order to do so.
Has everyone already forgotten the stories of young people not going back to school so that they can grab a job and help families? Or do we not care about these things on the left anymore?
Anytime someone has a test and is required to isolate they should be handed a piece of paper with an 0800 number that is answered within the first three calls and gives his 'testing number' and applies for the isolation payment, and what to do. That is how it should be done, and to boot it would boost employment, specifically for the many women who don't have jobs anymore.
Agree with most of your points Sabine, and after a year it is past time for a relook by Govt. and a “reset” of how much payments are, and how they are made.
That was a good overall look at the situation Sabine, I guess the takeaway is, that if The National under the leadership of Collins tracks left of our left party (not left, actually centrist liberal) then we know we have got some real problems…whatever the motives of JC are.
We live in the hood in Napier, and can feel an undeniable tension brewing in our neighborhood, there is a lot of very stressed fellow citizens out there.
The wage subsidy went through the business’s account to help both the business, by providing cashflow, and the employees, by providing cash to pay their wages.
If it had gone directly to the employees a large number of businesses would have failed because there was no money flowing through the account. Banks don’t like that.
It’s also the way business wanted it done, so really strange that National are coming out now and saying it should be paid direct to the employee.
One thing the wage subsidy structure has done is sort out the dodgy fuckers who weren’t paying tax or pulling other rorts, they had to sort their affairs out pdq or go down. Maybe that’s who Collins is speaking for.
Graeme, we know that companies had been left with mega profits and surplus cash.
Could it be that they spend this on assets? How that works is like this: you cash in on as much of the subsidy you can, pay staff 80% (some did not but lets assume, benefit of doubt etc.). Make a bundle as they had their "doors" open, maybe as a "essential" businesses and competition is dead. Post mega profits, don't pay back the cash that was given in good faith and naively so (my mind still bogles), and buy assets under the heading: we need this to give the employees the best tools- yeah. Now not only have the assets now been bought with taxpayer money, no no no…this can get better still. Now these assets will depreciate through the books and claimed back via tax credits. These are being now for years to come supported in the main by the lowest paid via tax take that supports that the tax refund of the assets bought. Clever eh? I am sorry but this does not speak for a finance minister unless he has a plan to check via IRD what the business has done with the subsidy.
You know the original intent and purpose of the Wage Subsidy Scheme, don’t you? If not, read Graeme’s reply to you @ 1.3.3.
The Wage Subsidy Scheme was much more generous than bog-standard benefits for unemployed, for example. It perversely created a 2-tier social welfare system and beneficiary category for middle class Kiwis.
The first worthy contribution National has made in the last year. Seriously.
it is ironic though because the problem with the rule breakers (other than the kfc worker) was not that they broke the rules to go to work. Theybroke the rules to ….let’s see….go for a walk, go to the gym, go to their mit course, go get takeaways etc.
I feel completely sorry for Ardern. The stress on her must be enormous and she has indicated this is the case. She has done extremely well, outstandingly well in fact. Imagine the “shambles” we would be in if National had of been in charge. Understandably she would have been furious with the rule breakers, if for no other reason she has to front late on Saturday night and Sunday and any precious time she gets off is gone. Now Pagani and some business goon, not to mention Seymour are yapping like stupid little dogs. Beat off.
I think the rule breakers are completely responsible for there own actions. I know a commenter yesterday mentioned getting contradictory advice, and this may be the case at a healthline level. But generally the messaging has been excellent. People do know what to do. We all did it last March. All 5 million of us. Anyone with half a brain and an ounce of thoughtfulness about other people would do everything they can to avoid passes the virus on to other people, even if they are a casual contact.
I watch an amazing travel blog and the guy goes to remote parts of the old Soviet Union. He visited Chernobyl where a few elderly people stayed on after the nuclear accident in 1986. Even these very isolated people were socially distancing from him saying “corona virus”.
ok rave over……..and btw incognito, agree I was wrong on dr last night. Btw the travel blog is called bald and bankrupt with Benjamin Rich. Thoroughly recommend
if the government had thrown the book at the first rule breakers – those that broke out of the quarantine hotels for some beersies and pie, or to go to a funeral, or even to break in – maybe people would take it a bit more serious.
People fuck up, young people more then old people and the onus is on the Government to make sure people are aware of their responsabilites and when they break the rules, bring down the hammer.
Now it appears that we can't do that to some people coming back from overseas, but we are happy to do so with people who live in South Auckland.
Yeah, lets be really kind and gentle with the government, that is what being kind and gentle is all about, right? It never was meant for hte population, specifically not the population that lives in over crowding, has min wage jobs, lives in areas not so nice and leavy, and is young and dumb.
Anyone who intentionally breaches these rules can be prosecuted, with a potential penalty of up to six months imprisonment or a $4000 fine.
And these sorts of prosecutions do occur; apparently there’s been over 800 of them since Covid-19 hit our shores a year ago. Of course, that’s only a small sample of total lockdown breaches as police practice has been to only prosecute egregious, or repeat, offenders. Which probably is fair enough if we want to avoid completely clogging up our courts.
So the guys who broke out of the Hotels got charged? or did not cause we do n't want to not clog up our courts?
and this here
So, perhaps what is needed is for medical officers of health to start using their s 70 powers more widely and give some legal teeth to the self-isolation requirements. And then for the police to move more aggressively with prosecutions against those who fail to comply with these requirements.
as i said above, hand out a piece of paper with the O800 number to apply for financial aid and self isolate as per legal requirements of face this or that punishment.
And fwiw, all of this could have been prevented if the government would have not lifted the lockdown from the 15th feb after three days – cause its all under controll-, that too was dumb, foolish and quite premature.
Maybe someone tell the government to not call a lockdown 3 unless they are happy to keep it for the two weeks of incubation period. Or is that unkind to mention, rather then blame all this brouhaha on a 21 year old.
So kind Sabine – of course our reckons here are of no consequence, and maybe that's for the best. I for one wouldn't want to be in Ardern's, Hipkin’s or Bloomfield's shoes given the number of snipers out and about.
Well it was dumb, premature and hindsight given, foolish, considering that since the lifting of that lockdown every other day someone tested positive and that was before the foolish fellow went to the gym rather then home.
As for stress? Well, anyone who currently has to manage a job, family, homeschooling, etc under covid and can not safely work from home has high levels of stress. How about we have some compassion for them? How about living in South Auckland under Covid, with no increase in benefits, crap job prospects, over crowding and kids not going to school because the money they make frying chips at KFC is needed to pay rent at home. Stress, we all have it, and not one of us has the resources the PM has to take care of that stress.
My opinion is that the PM is under more stress than most, so my compassion extends to include her. If giving Ardern grief could somehow reduce community stress levels, then I could get behind that.
Maybe I'm under-estimating the benefits of venting
One of the main reasons why we vent is to reduce our stress levels. Rime (2009) states that disclosing stress is a coping mechanism. Venting is a 2-way process: the person venting and the person hearing the vent. As a matter of fact, positive venting can reduce stress, but negative venting can lead to heightened stress and physical health concerns.
Well your opinion stands, as does mine. I however don't measure stress in Unities of stressdessness, but rather consider the stress of someone on a benefit not having the money to pay rent as equally important then the stress of a PM who again has to tell people to be kind and gentle, and stand up and explain why another fuck up has happened, that frankly would not have happened had she not lifted the previous lock up for the cases that started all that.
I don't care at all actually, but the blaming this whole situation on this one dude is pathetic. He ain't responsible for the outbreak, as of now we still don't know the source of the original infection, and again, if the initial outbreak had been contained in the Level 3 declared on the 15th Feb maintained, chances are we would be discussing something else.
As for J.A. if she feels that she can't cope she needs to delegate. She has a good team of highly paid advisors, helpmeets and courtiers, she should make use of them. That should help with the stress.
Being in debt can be stressful. Fortunately I can only imagine the stress that the 10% of NZers who have accumulated a collective debt of $13 billion experience daily. I favour a fair tax on wealth, such as that advocated by the Green party, as a relatively painless method of transferring wealth to alleviate stresses associated with a life in debt.
As to Ardern's "helpmeets and couttiers", she may be using them, but (as they say) "the buck stops here", and I reckon there's a fair bit of stress associated with her leadership role, delegation notwithstanding. Put it this way, it's not a role that I would wish on anyone, and I believe that NZ lucked out when Ardern became PM.
I'll take a guess that many of those with substantial net negative wealth are actually those not long out of completing their tertiary education and embarking on lucrative careers. With substantial student loans. That's kinda hard to get our heads around for those of my generation and older, that got our tertiary educations more or less free.
The ones I'm more concerned about are probably in the next decile or two – more or less zero net wealth and really no prospects of ever building any, just struggling every day to pay the rent, power, food and other bills on minimal incomes that don't have prospects of improving and are vulnerable to displacement by automation.
So the guys who broke out of the Hotels got charged?
No, of course not, only law-abiding citizens who were walking their dog in the wrong suburb without a facemask for their furry friend and bikers biking on the wrong beach while wearing lycra \sarc
You seem to think that National’s plan is simple to implement. It is not; it is impractical and would be hopelessly inefficient as pointed out by others:
Unite Union national secretary Gerard Hehir doubted it would be as simple as that.
IMO, Government made the right call to lift the lockdown; they had no evidence to support longer lockdown. If people had followed the rules, we would not be in the current situation.
Thank-you Anker for noting the rule breakers broke the rules (bar one of them) for recreational reasons and not to go to work. These people may not have English as a first language etc., and granted there needs to be more thorough tracking of individuals, but after a year of Covid lockdowns you can't tell me they don't have some idea what the rules are when caught up in these situations.
And I agree about Pagani (who I mentioned on DR last evening) and others flinging accusations around like confetti which don't stack up with what actually happened.
Yes I saw this, when they were questioned about case L they really struggled, then Hipkins got absolutely reamed by Heather DPA on ZB later too. Not sure if English is case L's first language, but when the web site says no need to isolate, she probably took that as being what to go by. Did they even receive the letters that were posted? It highlights the fact the communication needs to be clearer.
"At the end of the day they were all asked to be tested and none of them were"
I didnt think they struggled. Maybe you should watch the presser again, you appear to have missed a number of facts, example the school sent out 3 letters and the vast majority complied, 98% and case L still went to work despite 2 people in her household were sick. If a Newshub clip is anything to go by, language isn't the problem
I thought Hipkins stood up well against Heather's badgering, who should have acquainted herself with the following:
14 -2 – 2014
“The letters will tell staff and parents of students if
a student or staff member is a close contact because they have been in the same class or room as the student, or
a student or staff member is a casual contact, meaning they are a lower risk of developing the disease because they have NOT been in the same class or room as the student.
Everyone at the school last week – staff, students and visitors – will be asked to get tested.
Close contacts are asked to get tested and stay home until the end of Feb 24 in case they are infectious. Family members in their household are also asked to get tested and stay at home until they receive a negative test result.
Casual contacts are asked to get tested and remain at home until they receive a negative test result”
Even Claire of the NZ Herald seems to think the message was confusing and she normally never has a bad word to say about this government.
"Further confusion came from a Facebook post by the Covid-19 team which stated in black and white that L and her family "complied with advice they were given at the time".
the messaging from the government was not the best
AND
the individual fucked up?
How about that? Would that work, would that may be the closest to what happened?
And for the idea that people should by now know? Heck even Weka stated she has no idea what level three means, and she also stated that in the South Island hardly anyone scans into shops and hte likes. Maybe everyone got a bit complacent and its about time to ramp it all up again and be serious?
Why not that both? Simply the government message could have been more detailed, more forceful, and maybe even speak about things that happen when not complying and the cases could have done better too.
So the guy who went to the gym, dude we have whole youtube channels of 21 year old blokes doing stupid shit even tho they know better. Go figure. Fine him. He will remeber that. \
The girls that went to work? How flush in cash is the family? Was it well communicated that they are supposed to get the wage subsidy? Did KFC disclose that to the girls?
how about both parties could have done better, and we can move on without anyone frothing any further on the seams.
Well then again it could be just a simple matter of picking what suited too. The guy who went to the gym after getting tested had also been though MIQ, he most certainly knew better.
I have sympathy for the KFC worker as the website said she didn't need to isolate at the time. She is standing up for herself as she believes she's correct based on the web site. Also if she is willing to take on Jacinda she is obviously very confident she is correct (or needs to pick her fights better). I don't have any sympathy for the bloke that went to the gym after getting a test.
That doesnt help your argument Jimmy. I thought case L said she had no advice, no communication what so ever? I also thought you said you watched the presser. Bloomfield made the distinction that it didnt come from the MoH website, it was general information & not up to date.
The other day I said returnees were contributing to continued house price inflation but that didn't sit well with some determined to blame the government and the government only.
But here's further evidence of the Covid world supercharging the housing market. Both the inability to travel, and the change to working from home is also putting pressure on prices.
Housing crisis: Kiwis can't travel so they're pouring money into property, expert claims
So these are not returning kiwis but stuck kiwis? I think that was what led to a bit of pushback? The wholesale blame of 'returning kiwis' while it is our homegrown established kiwis with access to easy money that are fucking up for pretty much anyone.
Because the article essentially says that this is "kiwis' not returning.
And yes, the government – all of them for decades now – have not done anything to curb speculation.
But fear not, soon there will be another travel bubble (one way of course ) and then that Kiwi money will go overseas and surely that will then lead to a total collapse of the housing market and its prices.
And did you know that Kiwis just love love love Auctions?
Sabine, a lot of kiwis living overseas buying property at auctions unseen to secure a retirement home. First they F… up the economy and then they come back demanding that the taxpayer pays for their pension. Yep, it seems there is a certain slice of the population who preach compassion but then take everybody to he cleaners.
Simple as. It is time to actually start laying the blame where it belongs, government inaction, personal greed, lax lending rules to those that have enough 'equity' for a down payment, and so on and so forth.
the thing with the 'cashed up kiwis from overseas' they are kiwis, firstly, secondly they all went overseas to make hte money they need to get a a million dollar shack here, cause they will never make enough money here.
So frankly this 'kiwis' this and 'kiwis' that is getting tiresome. We are a low income country, our benefits all sit below the poverty line, we feed millions in accom benefit to landlords who rent shacks for hundreds of dollars unaffordable to most, and our government is doing fuck all other then paying lipservice sand doling out that sweet sweet accom benefit..
The people do as the government does and promotes, and no one likes to be poor, and sadly in NZ hard work does not pay, if it would some of our poor immigrant workers would be rich. So property it is. Thanks government for doing fuck all.
Went for my induction at work this morning, expecting to get on the job after, only to have the pre employment drug screen fail to show me clear of meth. Now I have to wait until the lab clears me, hopefully before Monday.
Checking online as to how I, not being a p head, could have failed and, as I suspected, found one of my diabetes meds is known for false positives. Metformin users, be forewarned. The people have been quite kind about it, but you know, good way to make a great first impression.
As a note for type 2 fellows, I just got put on a new drug to control high blood sugar levels for when diet and exercise isn't working. It's called Jardiance, which makes your kidneys pee out sugar. Drastically dropped my levels after 1 pill, and after only 5 days, I've got bang on numbers. Ask your GP or diabetes nurse.
The recent concerns about how New Zealand treats this who cannot work, or need social assistance just to do basic activities, reminded me of my own time dealing with Work and Income New Zealand. It reminded me of the culture of treating clients with suspicion, where staff commented on clothing, social life and relationships. It reminded me of a pedantic, straight jacketed system with no flexibility for extraordinary cases.
As a response to that I have started a petition that asks the Minister of Social Development and Minister Of Finance to urgently enable a substantial increase in the size of social welfare payments.
Please sign and share. I am happy to write a short guest article about my time dealing with Work and Income.
I copped a lot of abuse in here the other day when I said that I had zero sympathy for the 501 killed by Police.
Now we know the crimes he was in bail for. No, not 'domestic violence'. This 501 was a violent criminal pos both in NZ and Australia. His 'mental problems' no doubt stem from his meth abuse In Australia (well documented – just Google search his name). A long history of extreme violence.
Rather he is gone than innocents suffer. Why do so many hand wringung extreme leftists defend these garbage people?
No abuse from me Peter. I think the police were right to shoot him. He did not put down the weapon when instructed and had fired through a window. He was a danger to the public. NZ is a better safer place without him.
No abuse from me either Peter chch, I don't believe the cops had an option in this case, but they're damned if they do or damned if they don't. Perhaps Simon Bridges should go out with the cops in South Auckland one evening – or any city for that matter just to update himself with what the wokester police have to cope with.
His 'mental problems' no doubt stem from his meth abuse In Australia
"no doubt"?
Pretty sure of yourself there.
But then you'd have to be. God forbid there could ever have been an intervention point in aus or nz, even years ago, that could have stopped him getting shot the other day.
You can't even refer to him as a human being, just label him with the number of the section that was used to inflict another institutional abuse.
Yes, he did wrong. But I suspect he was a more complex individual than most people who cheer at his killing.
Pchch, is this killing regrettable? "Zero sympathy" – OK. "Garbage people" – hmm. But if you're pleased that Turia is dead (say it isn’r so), then you would have a problem, imho.
I'm sure his mother will say he was a really nice bloke but was a misunderstood guy, and this was really out of character, and he simply got mixed up with the wrong crowd!
Would you have liked him living next door to you? He may have shot through your window then.
One person is dead and his children, family & friends will never see him again and you whinge about rather tame ‘abuse’ aimed at you here on TS!? FWIW, I asked two commenters to stop the ad homs.
As with so many unthinking knee-jerk Law & Order proponents, you offer nothing. Shooting is no solution to the underlying problems and causes. Shoot them all? Lock them all up? Or deport them? That will sort things out, won’t it?
Until the root causes are understood, acknowledged, accepted, and acted upon, it will be BAU. Oh, they are complex issues that require more than a simpleton’s reckons.
Showing compassion and trying to help fellow humans in dire need apparently turns people into “hand wringung extreme leftists [who] defend these garbage people” [sic]. Thank God the cancel culture is alive and well to deal with misguided folks like those
"Hannah Tamaki took to the stage during the Sunday service to explain their reasons.
"So of course we escaped down to Rotorua, got here just after 12am because the shutdown was at 6am, and Mark and Daniel got down here to help us do this," she said.
"But it was better for us to be here – be in the atmosphere, be able to do this for you. So thank you for all the team that has made this happen."
Tamaki went on to encourage members to do more than just tithe to the church.
The thing about Brian and I the whole time is that we've always believed you never come to the house of the Lord empty-handed, even though you may do an AP [automatic payment].
"One dollar coin, two dollar coin, bring something into the house of the Lord. Bring what you can, over and above, because really it's the offering where God commands the blessing.
I listened to some of it and she talked about God giving gifts to people and he had gifted her a Tesla . Fancy that she said – a Tesla – and God will gift to youtoo…
@ aj (9) … In their greedy, menacing and selfish quest to extract money from the vulnerable, the charlatan Tamaki duo, are prepared to risk the nation's safety and well being, by hitting the road regardless of the present Covid-19 situation, to top up their dubious coffers! The pair of them are vile to their rotten cores. They deserve to be locked away!
How some people can possibly go along with, let alone believe the Tamakis' brainwashing propaganda BS beggars belief. It really does.
"In 2004, Tamaki predicted the Destiny Church would be "ruling the nation" before its tenth anniversary in 2008." Imagine that!
I see they've condemned the government (naturally) for failing to keep Covid out of the country. Of course if Bishop Brian were the Prime Minister covid wouldn't have got into the country in any way shape or form. And if it had it would have been because it was "God's plan."
Actually if you're reading this Brian and Hannah, if it is here it must be by God's design surely.
One of the final public battles over the Nicky Hager book Dirty Politics – a defamation trial over the defunct Whaleoil blog site – could be over within hours of its High Court opening today. Tim Murphy reports.
Britain once risked a reputation as the weak link in the trilateral AUKUS partnership. But now the appointment of an empowered senior official to drive the project forward and a new burst of British parliamentary ...
Australia’s ability to produce basic metals, including copper, lead, zinc, nickel and construction steel, is in jeopardy, with ageing plants struggling against Chinese competition. The multinational commodities company Trafigura has put its Australian operations under ...
There have been recent PPP debacles, both in New Zealand (think Transmission Gully) and globally, with numerous examples across both Australia and Britain of failed projects and extensive litigation by government agencies seeking redress for the failures.Rob Campbell is one of New Zealand’s sharpest critics of PPPs noting that; "There ...
On Twitter on Saturday I indicated that there had been a mistake in my post from last Thursday in which I attempted to step through the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement issues. Making mistakes (there are two) is annoying and I don’t fully understand how I did it (probably too much ...
Indonesia’s armed forces still have a lot of work to do in making proper use of drones. Two major challenges are pilot training and achieving interoperability between the services. Another is overcoming a predilection for ...
The StrategistBy Sandy Juda Pratama, Curie Maharani and Gautama Adi Kusuma
As a living breathing human being, you’ve likely seen the heart-wrenching images from Gaza...homes reduced to rubble, children burnt to cinders, families displaced, and a death toll that’s beyond comprehension. What is going on in Gaza is most definitely a genocide, the suffering is real, and it’s easy to feel ...
Donald Trump, who has called the Chair of the Federal Reserve “a major loser”. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortest from our political economy on Tuesday, April 22:US markets slump after Donald Trump threatens the Fed’s independence. China warns its trading partners not to side with the US. Trump says some ...
Last night, the news came through that Pope Francis had passed away at 7:35 am in Rome on Monday, the 21st of April, following a reported stroke and heart failure. Pope Francis. Photo: AP.Despite his obvious ill health, it still came as a shock, following so soon after the Easter ...
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review found the NIC to be highly capable and performing well. So, it is not a surprise that most of the 67 recommendations are incremental adjustments and small but nevertheless important ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkThe world has made real progress toward tacking climate change in recent years, with spending on clean energy technologies skyrocketing from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars globally over the past decade, and global CO2 emissions plateauing.This has contributed to a reassessment of ...
Hi,I’ve been having a peaceful month of what I’d call “existential dread”, even more aware than usual that — at some point — this all ends.It was very specifically triggered by watching Pantheon, an animated sci-fi show that I’m filing away with all-time greats like Six Feet Under, Watchmen and ...
Once the formalities of honouring the late Pope wrap up in two to three weeks time, the conclave of Cardinals will go into seclusion. Some 253 of the current College of Cardinals can take part in the debate over choosing the next Pope, but only 138 of them are below ...
The National Party government is doubling down on a grim, regressive vision for the future: more prisons, more prisoners, and a society fractured by policies that punish rather than heal. This isn’t just a misstep; it’s a deliberate lurch toward a dystopian future where incarceration is the answer to every ...
The audacity of Don Brash never ceases to amaze. The former National Party and Hobson’s Pledge mouthpiece has now sunk his claws into NZME, the media giant behind the New Zealand Herald and half of our commercial radio stations. Don Brash has snapped up shares in NZME, aligning himself with ...
A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 13, 2025 thru Sat, April 19, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
“What I’d say to you is…” our Prime Minister might typically begin a sentence, when he’s about to obfuscate and attempt to derail the question you really, really want him to answer properly (even once would be okay, Christopher). Questions such as “Why is a literal election promise over ...
Ruth IrwinExponential Economic growth is the driver of Ecological degradation. It is driven by CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through fossil fuel extraction and burning for the plethora of polluting industries. Extreme weather disasters and Climate change will continue to get worse because governments subscribe to the current global economic system, ...
A man on telly tries to tell me what is realBut it's alright, I like the way that feelsAnd everybody singsWe are evolving from night to morningAnd I wanna believe in somethingWriter: Adam Duritz.The world is changing rapidly, over the last year or so, it has been out with the ...
MFB Co-Founder Cecilia Robinson runs Tend HealthcareSummary:Kieran McAnulty calls out National on healthcare lies and says Health Minister Simeon Brown is “dishonest and disingenuous”(video below)McAnulty says negotiation with doctors is standard practice, but this level of disrespect is not, especially when we need and want our valued doctors.National’s $20bn ...
Chris Luxon’s tenure as New Zealand’s Prime Minister has been a masterclass in incompetence, marked by coalition chaos, economic lethargy, verbal gaffes, and a moral compass that seems to point wherever political expediency lies. The former Air New Zealand CEO (how could we forget?) was sold as a steady hand, ...
Has anybody else noticed Cameron Slater still obsessing over Jacinda Ardern? The disgraced Whale Oil blogger seems to have made it his life’s mission to shadow the former Prime Minister of New Zealand like some unhinged stalker lurking in the digital bushes.The man’s obsession with Ardern isn't just unhealthy...it’s downright ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is climate change a net benefit for society? Human-caused climate change has been a net detriment to society as measured by loss of ...
When the National Party hastily announced its “Local Water Done Well” policy, they touted it as the great saviour of New Zealand’s crumbling water infrastructure. But as time goes by it's looking more and more like a planning and fiscal lame duck...and one that’s going to cost ratepayers far more ...
Donald Trump, the orange-hued oligarch, is back at it again, wielding tariffs like a mob boss swinging a lead pipe. His latest economic edict; slapping hefty tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, has the stench of a protectionist shakedown, cooked up in the fevered minds of his sycophantic ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones that mother gives youDon't do anything at allGo ask AliceWhen she's ten feet tallSongwriter: Grace Wing Slick.Morena, all, and a happy Bicycle Day to you.Today is an unofficial celebration of the dawning of the psychedelic era, commemorating the ...
It’s only been a few months since the Hollywood fires tore through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of devastation, numerous deaths, over 10,000 homes reduced to rubble, and a once glorious film industry on its knees. The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by climate-driven dry winds, didn’t just burn houses; ...
Four eighty-year-old books which are still vitally relevant today. Between 1942 and 1945, four refugees from Vienna each published a ground-breaking – seminal – book.* They left their country after Austria was taken over by fascists in 1934 and by Nazi Germany in 1938. Previously they had lived in ‘Red ...
Good Friday, 18th April, 2025: I can at last unveil the Secret Non-Fiction Project. The first complete Latin-to-English translation of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s twelve-book Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem (Disputations Against Divinatory Astrology). Amounting to some 174,000 words, total. Some context is probably in order. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) ...
National MP Hamish Campbell's pathetic attempt to downplay his deep ties to and involvement in the Two by Twos...a secretive religious sect under FBI and NZ Police investigation for child sexual abuse...isn’t just a misstep; it’s a calculated lie that insults the intelligence of every Kiwi voter.Campbell’s claim of being ...
New Zealand First’s Shane Jones has long styled himself as the “Prince of the Provinces,” a champion of regional development and economic growth. But beneath the bluster lies a troubling pattern of behaviour that reeks of cronyism and corruption, undermining the very democracy he claims to serve. Recent revelations and ...
Give me one reason to stay hereAnd I'll turn right back aroundGive me one reason to stay hereAnd I'll turn right back aroundSaid I don't want to leave you lonelyYou got to make me change my mindSongwriters: Tracy Chapman.Morena, and Happy Easter, whether that means to you. Hot cross buns, ...
New Zealand’s housing crisis is a sad indictment on the failures of right wing neoliberalism, and the National Party, under Chris Luxon’s shaky leadership, is trying to simply ignore it. The numbers don’t lie: Census data from 2023 revealed 112,496 Kiwis were severely housing deprived...couch-surfing, car-sleeping, or roughing it on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on a global survey of over 3,000 economists and scientists showing a significant divide in views on green growth; and ...
Simeon Brown, the National Party’s poster child for hubris, consistently over-promises and under-delivers. His track record...marked by policy flip-flops and a dismissive attitude toward expert advice, reveals a politician driven by personal ambition rather than evidence. From transport to health, Brown’s focus seems fixed on protecting National's image, not addressing ...
Open access notables Recent intensified riverine CO2 emission across the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region, Mu et al., Nature Communications:Global warming causes permafrost thawing, transferring large amounts of soil carbon into rivers, which inevitably accelerates riverine CO2 release. However, temporally and spatially explicit variations of riverine CO2 emissions remain unclear, limiting the ...
Once a venomous thorn in New Zealand’s blogosphere, Cathy Odgers, aka Cactus Kate, has slunk into the shadows, her once-sharp quills dulled by the fallout of Dirty Politics.The dishonest attack-blogger, alongside her vile accomplices such as Cameron Slater, were key players in the National Party’s sordid smear campaigns, exposed by Nicky ...
Once upon a time, not so long ago, those who talked of Australian sovereign capability, especially in the technology sector, were generally considered an amusing group of eccentrics. After all, technology ecosystems are global and ...
The ACT Party leader’s latest pet project is bleeding taxpayers dry, with $10 million funneled into seven charter schools for just 215 students. That’s a jaw-dropping $46,500 per student, compared to roughly $9,000 per head in state schools.You’d think Seymour would’ve learned from the last charter school fiasco, but apparently, ...
India navigated relations with the United States quite skilfully during the first Trump administration, better than many other US allies did. Doing so a second time will be more difficult, but India’s strategic awareness and ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi is concerned for low-income workers given new data released by Stats NZ that shows inflation was 2.5% for the year to March 2025, rising from 2.2% in December last year. “The prices of things that people can’t avoid are rising – meaning inflation is rising ...
Last week, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment recommended that forestry be removed from the Emissions Trading Scheme. Its an unfortunate but necessary move, required to prevent the ETS's total collapse in a decade or so. So naturally, National has told him to fuck off, and that they won't be ...
China’s recent naval circumnavigation of Australia has highlighted a pressing need to defend Australia’s air and sea approaches more effectively. Potent as nuclear submarines are, the first Australian boats under AUKUS are at least seven ...
In yesterday’s post I tried to present the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement for 2025-30, as approved by the Minister of Finance and the Bank’s Board, in the context of the previous agreement, and the variation to that agreement signed up to by Grant Robertson a few weeks before the last ...
Australia’s bid to co-host the 31st international climate negotiations (COP31) with Pacific island countries in late 2026 is directly in our national interest. But success will require consultation with the Pacific. For that reason, no ...
Old and outdated buildings being demolished at Wellington Hospital in 2018. The new infrastructure being funded today will not be sufficient for future population size and some will not be built by 2035. File photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from our political economy on Thursday, April 17:Simeon Brown has unveiled ...
The introduction of AI in workplaces can create significant health and safety risks for workers (such as intensification of work, and extreme surveillance) which can significantly impact workers’ mental and physical wellbeing. It is critical that unions and workers are involved in any decision to introduce AI so that ...
Donald Trump’s return to the White House and aggressive posturing is undermining global diplomacy, and New Zealand must stand firm in rejecting his reckless, fascist-driven policies that are dragging the world toward chaos.As a nation with a proud history of peacekeeping and principled foreign policy, we should limit our role ...
Sunday marks three months since Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. What a ride: the style rude, language raucous, and the results rogue. Beyond manners, rudeness matters because tone signals intent as well as personality. ...
There are any number of reasons why anyone thinking of heading to the United States for a holiday should think twice. They would be giving their money to a totalitarian state where political dissenters are being rounded up and imprisoned here and here, where universities are having their funds for ...
Taiwan has an inadvertent, rarely acknowledged role in global affairs: it’s a kind of sponge, soaking up much of China’s political, military and diplomatic efforts. Taiwan soaks up Chinese power of persuasion and coercion that ...
The Ukraine war has been called the bloodiest conflict since World War II. As of July 2024, 10,000 women were serving in frontline combat roles. Try telling them—from the safety of an Australian lounge room—they ...
Following Canadian authorities’ discovery of a Chinese information operation targeting their country’s election, Australians, too, should beware such risks. In fact, there are already signs that Beijing is interfering in campaigning for the Australian election ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). From "founder" of Tesla and the OG rocket man with SpaceX, and rebranding twitter as X, Musk has ...
Back in February 2024, a rat infestation attracted a fair few headlines in the South Dunedin Countdown supermarket. Today, the rats struck again. They took out the Otago-Southland region’s internet connection. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360656230/internet-outage-hits-otago-and-southland Strictly, it was just a coincidence – rats decided to gnaw through one fibre cable, while some hapless ...
I came in this morning after doing some chores and looked quickly at Twitter before unpacking the groceries. Someone was retweeting a Radio NZ story with the headline “Reserve Bank’s budget to be slashed by 25%”. Wow, I thought, the Minister of Finance has really delivered this time. And then ...
So, having teased it last week, Andrew Little has announced he will run for mayor of Wellington. On RNZ, he's saying its all about services - "fixing the pipes, making public transport cheaper, investing in parks, swimming pools and libraries, and developing more housing". Meanwhile, to the readers of the ...
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming, 1921ALL OVER THE WORLD, devout Christians will be reaching for their bibles, reading and re-reading Revelation 13:16-17. For the benefit of all you non-Christians out there, these are the verses describing ...
Give me what I want, what I really, really want: And what India really wants from New Zealand isn’t butter or cheese, but a radical relaxation of the rules controlling Indian immigration.WHAT DOES INDIA WANT from New Zealand? Not our dairy products, that’s for sure, it’s got plenty of those. ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Yesterday, 5,500 senior doctors across Aotearoa New Zealand voted overwhelmingly to strike for a day.This is the first time in New Zealand ASMS members have taken strike action for 24 hours.They are asking the government tofund them and account for resource shortfalls.Vacancies are critical - 45-50% in some regions.The ...
For years and years and years, David Seymour and his posse of deluded neoliberals have been preaching their “tough on crime” gospel to voters. Harsher sentences! More police! Lock ‘em up! Throw away the key. But when it comes to their own, namely former Act Party president Tim Jago, a ...
Judith Collins is a seasoned master at political hypocrisy. As New Zealand’s Defence Minister, she's recently been banging the war drum, announcing a jaw-dropping $12 billion boost to the defence budget over the next four years, all while the coalition of chaos cries poor over housing, health, and education.Apparently, there’s ...
I’m on the London Overground watching what the phones people are holding are doing to their faces: The man-bun guy who could not be less impressed by what he's seeing but cannot stop reading; the woman who's impatient for a response; the one who’s frowning; the one who’s puzzled; the ...
You don't have no prescriptionYou don't have to take no pillsYou don't have no prescriptionAnd baby don't have to take no pillsIf you come to see meDoctor Brown will cure your ills.Songwriters: Waymon Glasco.Dr Luxon. Image: David and Grok.First, they came for the Bottom FeedersAnd I did not speak outBecause ...
The Health Minister says the striking doctors already “well remunerated,” and are “walking away from” and “hurting” their patients. File photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from our political economy on Wednesday, April 16:Simeon Brown has attacked1 doctors striking for more than a 1.5% pay rise as already “well remunerated,” even ...
The time is ripe for Australia and South Korea to strengthen cooperation in space, through embarking on joint projects and initiatives that offer practical outcomes for both countries. This is the finding of a new ...
Hi,When Trump raised tariffs against China to 145%, he destined many small businesses to annihilation. The Daily podcast captured the mass chaos by zooming in and talking to one person, Beth Benike, a small-business owner who will likely lose her home very soon.She pointed out that no, she wasn’t surprised ...
National’s handling of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis is an utter shambles and a gutless betrayal of every Kiwi scraping by. The Coalition of Chaos Ministers strut around preaching about how effective their policies are, but really all they're doing is perpetuating a cruel and sick joke of undelivered promises, ...
Most people wouldn't have heard of a little worm like Rhys Williams, a so-called businessman and former NZ First member, who has recently been unmasked as the venomous troll behind a relentless online campaign targeting Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle.According to reports, Williams has been slinging mud at Doyle under ...
Illustration credit: Jonathan McHugh (New Statesman)The other day, a subscriber said they were unsubscribing because they needed “some good news”.I empathised. Don’t we all.I skimmed a NZME article about the impacts of tariffs this morning with analysis from Kiwibank’s Jarrod Kerr. Kerr, their Chief Economist, suggested another recession is the ...
Let’s assume, as prudence demands we assume, that the United States will not at any predictable time go back to being its old, reliable self. This means its allies must be prepared indefinitely to lean ...
Over the last three rather tumultuous US trade policy weeks, I’ve read these four books. I started with Irwin (whose book had sat on my pile for years, consulted from time to time but not read) in a week of lots of flights and hanging around airports/hotels, and then one ...
Indonesia could do without an increase in military spending that the Ministry of Defence is proposing. The country has more pressing issues, including public welfare and human rights. Moreover, the transparency and accountability to justify ...
Former Hutt City councillor Chris Milne has slithered back into the spotlight, not as a principled dissenter, but as a vindictive puppeteer of digital venom. The revelations from a recent court case paint a damning portrait of a man whose departure from Hutt City Council in 2022 was merely the ...
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne Lee Charlie/Shutterstock Last week, the federal government announced a $10 million commitment to make Medicare more inclusive for LGBTQIA+ Australians. It aims to improve their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Macdonald, Policy Director, Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute and Adjunct Principal Research Fellow, RMIT University Lordn/Shutterstock The Fair Work Commission has found award pay rates in five industrial awards covering a range of female-dominated occupations and industries ...
Greenpeace spokesperson Amanda Larsson says, "There comes a time when we have to stand up to the forces that conspire to put life on Earth at risk, and this is one of those moments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthis Auger, Research Associate in Physical Oceanography, University of Tasmania NASA ICE via Flickr, CC BY Beneath the surface of the Southern Ocean, vast volumes of cold, dense water plunge off the Antarctic continental shelf, cascading down underwater cliffs to the ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone Pope Francis has died after using his Easter Sunday address to call for peace in Gaza. I don’t know who the cardinals will pick to replace him, but I do know with absolute certainty that there ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Carr, Associate Professor, Strategy and Australian Defence Policy, Australian National University In 2024, the National Defence Strategy made deterrence Australia’s “primary strategic defence objective”. With writing now underway for the 2026 National Defence Strategy, can Australia actually deter threats to ...
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 22, 2025. How will a new pope be chosen? An expert explains the conclaveSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University Following the death of Pope Francis, we’ll ...
New Zealand First is pushing for the term "woman" to be defined in law as "an adult human biological female" as the party vows to fight "cancerous social engineering" and "woke ideology". ...
The What is a woman? campaign last year called for ‘woman’ to be defined as ‘an adult human female’ in all our laws, public policies and regulations and was signed by more than 23,500 people and presented to Parliament last August. We are still ...
We break down the smorgasbord of streaming services available in Aotearoa. We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to streaming services in New Zealand, but as more and more services put their subscription prices up, it’s easy to wonder: who deserves my hard earned dollar? Which platform has the best ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University Following the death of Pope Francis, we’ll soon be seeing a new leader in the Vatican. The conclave – a strictly confidential gathering of Roman Catholic cardinals – is due to meet in a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic O’Sullivan, Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University and Adjunct Professor Stout Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington and Auckland University of Technology., Charles Sturt University Te Pāti Māori’s Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke lead a haka with Eru Kapa-Kingi outside ...
John Minto says the United Nations has repeatedly said there are no safe places in Gaza for Palestinian civilians, where even so-called “safe zones” are systematically attacked as Israel terrorises the population to flee from the territory. ...
The bill’s primary objective was to stoke racial divisions as a means of diverting social anger in the working class over the government’s escalating attacks on living standards and public services. ...
The New Zealand Flag should be flown at half-mast all day on Tuesday 22 April and again on Wednesday 23 April 2025. The Flag should be returned to full mast at 5pm Wednesday 23 April 2025. ...
The discovery that thousands of British women were brought out to Aotearoa as servants – considered ‘surplus’ to the empire’s requirements at home – propelled journalist Michelle Duff’s new short fiction collection, which explores how women’s bodies are valued.MilkIt is the month after I have my first baby. ...
The occupation follows a five-day protest camp of over 70 people, including tamariki and kaumātua, on the Denniston Plateau, the site of Bathurst’s proposed coal expansion. ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 20-year-old second-year university student explains her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female. Age: 20. Ethnicity: NZ European. Role: I’m a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University President Donald Trump has issued an executive order that would block state laws seeking to tackle greenhouse gas emissions – the latest salvo in his administration’s campaign to roll back United States’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Duncan Ian Wallace, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Monash University f11photo/Shutterstock If you’ve ever heard the term “wage slave”, you’ll know many modern workers – perhaps even you – sometimes feel enslaved to the organisation at which they work. But here’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer in Politics, School of Social Sciences, Monash University More than 18 million Australians are enrolled to vote at the federal election on May 3. A fair proportion of them – perhaps as many as half – will ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Houlihan, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, University of the Sunshine Coast Jorm Sangsorn/Shutterstock If you ever find yourself stuck in repeated cycles of negative emotion, you’re not alone. More than 40% of Australians will experience a mental health issue ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Penny Van Bergen, Associate Professor in the Psychology of Education, Macquarie University If you have a child born at the start of the year, you may be faced with a tricky and stressful decision. Do you send them to school “early”, in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Golding, Professor and Chair of the Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Lucasfilm Ltd™ Premiering today, the second and final season of Star Wars streaming show Andor seems destined to be one of the pop culture defining ...
With global tariffs threatening NZ’s economy, the PM is in the UK advocating for free trade while Nicola Willis prepares for a challenging budget at home, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.A PM abroad Prime minister ...
Residents of a seaside suburb in Auckland have been campaigning to reverse the reversal of speed limit reductions on their main road, for fear the changes may end in a fatality. The Twin Coast Discovery Highway passes through a number of suburbs on the Hibiscus Coast. Like all major roads, ...
After Easter, an obscure kind of resurrection. West Virginia University Press has announced the reissue of a book they claim is “the earliest known work of urban apocalyptic fiction”, The Doom of the Great City (1860), by British author William Delisle Hay, set in…New Zealand.The narrator tells ofthe destruction ...
A close friend and business associate of Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, has gone from being an unpaid volunteer in the mayoral office, to a contractor paid more than $300,000 a year.Chris Mathews had managed Brown’s successful 2022 election campaign, and is now employed via his own company, to provide “specialist ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 22 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s billed as the passport to the economy, but a cross-section of New Zealand’s population can’t access one.It’s the humble bank account, a rite of passage for most Kiwis, but for prisoners, refugees, and the homeless, among other vulnerable marginalised people, it’s in the too-hard basket.So, in a bid to ...
Damn you National.
Judith Collins is advocating direct payment, at 100%, to workers for personal COVID related absence from work, via MSD, I like IRD better but whatever, it is a positive suggestion.
The Govt. has distributed “COVID cash” to employers with gay abandon but been tight as when it comes to the working class, and has not promoted what is available with much vigour until the last week or so.
Greens and unions/NZCTU seem to support the basic proposition put forward by National. ‘Pay to isolate’ seems an approach worth trying as lockdowns become more problematic on many fronts.
It is stating the obvious that NZ National by default usually shafts low paid workers, and puts the boot in for dessert, but in this pandemic situation, the Govt. should urgently adopt Collin’s idea.
I suspect Collins is quite keen to see the budget deficit go sky-high under Labour – so that at some time in the future a National government can point at it in horror and start selling assets and cutting government services to pay for it. It's part of setting up the conditions where an austerity narrative can take over. And the fact that she proposed an upper limit for the payment at nearly $3k/week, rather than at (say) the living wage or median wage, makes it clear who she is trying to help.
Working class people need proper, easier to access assistance right now, not in future. If the debate over Collins proposal rectifies the Govt. blindspot and provokes action then good in my view.
Of course National will have ulterior motives, but the future is not yet here. If the Labour Caucus can be shifted, details such as the high upper limit would likely be dealt with.
Have the RBNZ write off all the govt debt it holds. And if that doesn't go far enough get the RBNZ to buy more and write that off too.
It's certainly an admission by National that employers can't be trusted to pass on subsidies and that the private sector is not able to be relied upon in a post pandemic world.
There's hope for them yet!
Frist – The government has distributed Covid Cash to employers with gay abandon – not so fast Hoss please hold your horse.
You actually have to fill out forms, provide all business and employee details for every employee for which you then get a set amount depending on the criteria and besides in order to get that sweet sweet easy Covid Cash you actually have to prove to have lost quite a bit of business before Grant Robertson is happy to part with what he seems to consider his money. So much so that many businesses in NZ only received the original payment for lockdown l4 that was handed out to pretty much every one in NZ. Never mind, blame everyone for the big businesses that did not need it but took it anyways.
There have been many – including me – that already at the time last year in March said that the 'wage subsidy' was the wrong approach and that the payment should have gone to individuals via IRD or ACC for that matter. I.e. an isolation payment when it is needed.
Many have also asked – like me – that the government actually hire bodies to have their governmental 0800 lines answered in a timely fashion. Individuals like me have also pointed out that if hte government requires people to stay at home – that then they should be paying that individual – rather then the business. All the government did was outsourse – for no pay i might add – a task that they could not be bothered to hire people – to businesses.
The wage subsidy is also before tax 200 odd NZD below the min wage, take another hundered off on Tax and you end up with approx $ 480 (for full time – part time is even less) after tax, and for that money in AKL you don't even rent a dog kennel let alone live for a whole week. And the government knows that, as do all the guys preparing food parcels in the various Temples, Churches and Marais in South Auckland and elsewhere.
All of these issues were raised last year by various groups, and the government did an awesome job of not listening. then and it appears it is still not listening.
I give them the first wage subsidy as they made it up as they went along, but we are 1 year in now in this pandemic and we are still working with the same model.
I don't think i ever agreed with J.C ever on anything, but i agree with her on that. IT should not be the employers cost and time to assure their staff goes into isolation and stays there when it is the government that 'requires' it. Anyone in NZ who is on Home D gets paid their cost of living via Winz. ….Just saying.
And to those that want to not pay people enough to be able to self isolate and keep their roof over their heads so that we could keep a surplus or go not into debt needs to understand that people who can't pay rent and eat will go out and do what needs to be done in order to do so.
Has everyone already forgotten the stories of young people not going back to school so that they can grab a job and help families? Or do we not care about these things on the left anymore?
Anytime someone has a test and is required to isolate they should be handed a piece of paper with an 0800 number that is answered within the first three calls and gives his 'testing number' and applies for the isolation payment, and what to do. That is how it should be done, and to boot it would boost employment, specifically for the many women who don't have jobs anymore.
Agree with most of your points Sabine, and after a year it is past time for a relook by Govt. and a “reset” of how much payments are, and how they are made.
That was a good overall look at the situation Sabine, I guess the takeaway is, that if The National under the leadership of Collins tracks left of our left party (not left, actually centrist liberal) then we know we have got some real problems…whatever the motives of JC are.
We live in the hood in Napier, and can feel an undeniable tension brewing in our neighborhood, there is a lot of very stressed fellow citizens out there.
The wage subsidy went through the business’s account to help both the business, by providing cashflow, and the employees, by providing cash to pay their wages.
If it had gone directly to the employees a large number of businesses would have failed because there was no money flowing through the account. Banks don’t like that.
It’s also the way business wanted it done, so really strange that National are coming out now and saying it should be paid direct to the employee.
One thing the wage subsidy structure has done is sort out the dodgy fuckers who weren’t paying tax or pulling other rorts, they had to sort their affairs out pdq or go down. Maybe that’s who Collins is speaking for.
Graeme, we know that companies had been left with mega profits and surplus cash.
Could it be that they spend this on assets? How that works is like this: you cash in on as much of the subsidy you can, pay staff 80% (some did not but lets assume, benefit of doubt etc.). Make a bundle as they had their "doors" open, maybe as a "essential" businesses and competition is dead. Post mega profits, don't pay back the cash that was given in good faith and naively so (my mind still bogles), and buy assets under the heading: we need this to give the employees the best tools- yeah. Now not only have the assets now been bought with taxpayer money, no no no…this can get better still. Now these assets will depreciate through the books and claimed back via tax credits. These are being now for years to come supported in the main by the lowest paid via tax take that supports that the tax refund of the assets bought. Clever eh? I am sorry but this does not speak for a finance minister unless he has a plan to check via IRD what the business has done with the subsidy.
You know what subsidy means, don’t you?
You know the original intent and purpose of the Wage Subsidy Scheme, don’t you? If not, read Graeme’s reply to you @ 1.3.3.
The Wage Subsidy Scheme was much more generous than bog-standard benefits for unemployed, for example. It perversely created a 2-tier social welfare system and beneficiary category for middle class Kiwis.
it is ironic though because the problem with the rule breakers (other than the kfc worker) was not that they broke the rules to go to work. Theybroke the rules to ….let’s see….go for a walk, go to the gym, go to their mit course, go get takeaways etc.
I feel completely sorry for Ardern. The stress on her must be enormous and she has indicated this is the case. She has done extremely well, outstandingly well in fact. Imagine the “shambles” we would be in if National had of been in charge. Understandably she would have been furious with the rule breakers, if for no other reason she has to front late on Saturday night and Sunday and any precious time she gets off is gone. Now Pagani and some business goon, not to mention Seymour are yapping like stupid little dogs. Beat off.
I think the rule breakers are completely responsible for there own actions. I know a commenter yesterday mentioned getting contradictory advice, and this may be the case at a healthline level. But generally the messaging has been excellent. People do know what to do. We all did it last March. All 5 million of us. Anyone with half a brain and an ounce of thoughtfulness about other people would do everything they can to avoid passes the virus on to other people, even if they are a casual contact.
I watch an amazing travel blog and the guy goes to remote parts of the old Soviet Union. He visited Chernobyl where a few elderly people stayed on after the nuclear accident in 1986. Even these very isolated people were socially distancing from him saying “corona virus”.
ok rave over……..and btw incognito, agree I was wrong on dr last night. Btw the travel blog is called bald and bankrupt with Benjamin Rich. Thoroughly recommend
And again,
if the government had thrown the book at the first rule breakers – those that broke out of the quarantine hotels for some beersies and pie, or to go to a funeral, or even to break in – maybe people would take it a bit more serious.
People fuck up, young people more then old people and the onus is on the Government to make sure people are aware of their responsabilites and when they break the rules, bring down the hammer.
Now it appears that we can't do that to some people coming back from overseas, but we are happy to do so with people who live in South Auckland.
Yeah, lets be really kind and gentle with the government, that is what being kind and gentle is all about, right? It never was meant for hte population, specifically not the population that lives in over crowding, has min wage jobs, lives in areas not so nice and leavy, and is young and dumb.
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/how-best-to-get-covid-19-contacts-to-do-the-right-thing
So the guys who broke out of the Hotels got charged? or did not cause we do n't want to not clog up our courts?
and this here
as i said above, hand out a piece of paper with the O800 number to apply for financial aid and self isolate as per legal requirements of face this or that punishment.
And fwiw, all of this could have been prevented if the government would have not lifted the lockdown from the 15th feb after three days – cause its all under controll-, that too was dumb, foolish and quite premature.
Maybe someone tell the government to not call a lockdown 3 unless they are happy to keep it for the two weeks of incubation period. Or is that unkind to mention, rather then blame all this brouhaha on a 21 year old.
So kind Sabine – of course our reckons here are of no consequence, and maybe that's for the best. I for one wouldn't want to be in Ardern's, Hipkin’s or Bloomfield's shoes given the number of snipers out and about.
Covid 19 coronavirus: Health chief Ashley Bloomfield to update on latest Covid-19 test results
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-coronavirus-health-chief-ashley-bloomfield-to-update-on-latest-covid-19-test-results/SOY5BIUYPRBM3WHWQJL3GINSY4/
Well it was dumb, premature and hindsight given, foolish, considering that since the lifting of that lockdown every other day someone tested positive and that was before the foolish fellow went to the gym rather then home.
As for stress? Well, anyone who currently has to manage a job, family, homeschooling, etc under covid and can not safely work from home has high levels of stress. How about we have some compassion for them? How about living in South Auckland under Covid, with no increase in benefits, crap job prospects, over crowding and kids not going to school because the money they make frying chips at KFC is needed to pay rent at home. Stress, we all have it, and not one of us has the resources the PM has to take care of that stress.
My opinion is that the PM is under more stress than most, so my compassion extends to include her. If giving Ardern grief could somehow reduce community stress levels, then I could get behind that.
Maybe I'm under-estimating the benefits of venting
Well your opinion stands, as does mine. I however don't measure stress in Unities of stressdessness, but rather consider the stress of someone on a benefit not having the money to pay rent as equally important then the stress of a PM who again has to tell people to be kind and gentle, and stand up and explain why another fuck up has happened, that frankly would not have happened had she not lifted the previous lock up for the cases that started all that.
I don't care at all actually, but the blaming this whole situation on this one dude is pathetic. He ain't responsible for the outbreak, as of now we still don't know the source of the original infection, and again, if the initial outbreak had been contained in the Level 3 declared on the 15th Feb maintained, chances are we would be discussing something else.
As for J.A. if she feels that she can't cope she needs to delegate. She has a good team of highly paid advisors, helpmeets and courtiers, she should make use of them. That should help with the stress.
Being in debt can be stressful. Fortunately I can only imagine the stress that the 10% of NZers who have accumulated a collective debt of $13 billion experience daily. I favour a fair tax on wealth, such as that advocated by the Green party, as a relatively painless method of transferring wealth to alleviate stresses associated with a life in debt.
As to Ardern's "helpmeets and couttiers", she may be using them, but (as they say) "the buck stops here", and I reckon there's a fair bit of stress associated with her leadership role, delegation notwithstanding. Put it this way, it's not a role that I would wish on anyone, and I believe that NZ lucked out when Ardern became PM.
It's a hard road finding the perfect PM…
I'll take a guess that many of those with substantial net negative wealth are actually those not long out of completing their tertiary education and embarking on lucrative careers. With substantial student loans. That's kinda hard to get our heads around for those of my generation and older, that got our tertiary educations more or less free.
The ones I'm more concerned about are probably in the next decile or two – more or less zero net wealth and really no prospects of ever building any, just struggling every day to pay the rent, power, food and other bills on minimal incomes that don't have prospects of improving and are vulnerable to displacement by automation.
Imagine if the 16 billion would have gone there instead.
No, of course not, only law-abiding citizens who were walking their dog in the wrong suburb without a facemask for their furry friend and bikers biking on the wrong beach while wearing lycra \sarc
You seem to think that National’s plan is simple to implement. It is not; it is impractical and would be hopelessly inefficient as pointed out by others:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/437583/covid-19-government-rejects-full-wage-for-isolation-payments
IMO, Government made the right call to lift the lockdown; they had no evidence to support longer lockdown. If people had followed the rules, we would not be in the current situation.
Thank-you Anker for noting the rule breakers broke the rules (bar one of them) for recreational reasons and not to go to work. These people may not have English as a first language etc., and granted there needs to be more thorough tracking of individuals, but after a year of Covid lockdowns you can't tell me they don't have some idea what the rules are when caught up in these situations.
And I agree about Pagani (who I mentioned on DR last evening) and others flinging accusations around like confetti which don't stack up with what actually happened.
+100 Anker
This is interesting now that more info. has come to light…..seems like KFC worker didn't break the rules.
Covid 19 coronavirus: Government website contradicts Jacinda Ardern's KFC worker claim – NZ Herald
But but but………
Jimmy, suggest you watch Minister Hipkins and Dr Bloomfield's presser
Yes I saw this, when they were questioned about case L they really struggled, then Hipkins got absolutely reamed by Heather DPA on ZB later too. Not sure if English is case L's first language, but when the web site says no need to isolate, she probably took that as being what to go by. Did they even receive the letters that were posted? It highlights the fact the communication needs to be clearer.
"At the end of the day they were all asked to be tested and none of them were"
I didnt think they struggled. Maybe you should watch the presser again, you appear to have missed a number of facts, example the school sent out 3 letters and the vast majority complied, 98% and case L still went to work despite 2 people in her household were sick. If a Newshub clip is anything to go by, language isn't the problem
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/03/covid-19-kfc-worker-says-she-was-never-told-to-self-isolate-wants-an-apology-from-pm.html
I thought Hipkins stood up well against Heather's badgering, who should have acquainted herself with the following:
14 -2 – 2014
“The letters will tell staff and parents of students if
Everyone at the school last week – staff, students and visitors – will be asked to get tested.
Close contacts are asked to get tested and stay home until the end of Feb 24 in case they are infectious. Family members in their household are also asked to get tested and stay at home until they receive a negative test result.
Casual contacts are asked to get tested and remain at home until they receive a negative test result”
https://www.arphs.health.nz/news/confirmed-covid-19-case-at-papatoetoe-high-school/
Even Claire of the NZ Herald seems to think the message was confusing and she normally never has a bad word to say about this government.
"Further confusion came from a Facebook post by the Covid-19 team which stated in black and white that L and her family "complied with advice they were given at the time".
Claire Trevett: The Prime Minister, Case L and the pickle of confusion – NZ Herald
Oh no! Not Claire as well! The last remaining supporter of the PM left in MSM has succumbed after a long brutal battle with the facts 🙁
how about
the messaging from the government was not the best
AND
the individual fucked up?
How about that? Would that work, would that may be the closest to what happened?
And for the idea that people should by now know? Heck even Weka stated she has no idea what level three means, and she also stated that in the South Island hardly anyone scans into shops and hte likes. Maybe everyone got a bit complacent and its about time to ramp it all up again and be serious?
Or more like case L picked which advice she wanted to take notice of.
well there you go again.
Why not that both? Simply the government message could have been more detailed, more forceful, and maybe even speak about things that happen when not complying and the cases could have done better too.
So the guy who went to the gym, dude we have whole youtube channels of 21 year old blokes doing stupid shit even tho they know better. Go figure. Fine him. He will remeber that. \
The girls that went to work? How flush in cash is the family? Was it well communicated that they are supposed to get the wage subsidy? Did KFC disclose that to the girls?
how about both parties could have done better, and we can move on without anyone frothing any further on the seams.
Well then again it could be just a simple matter of picking what suited too. The guy who went to the gym after getting tested had also been though MIQ, he most certainly knew better.
and as he had been tested several times and came out negative he just thought…..Oh well, she'll be right. Which is about as Kiwi as Kiwi can get.
Both sides could have done better.
But the guy, case M, tested positive, along with his mother.
I have sympathy for the KFC worker as the website said she didn't need to isolate at the time. She is standing up for herself as she believes she's correct based on the web site. Also if she is willing to take on Jacinda she is obviously very confident she is correct (or needs to pick her fights better). I don't have any sympathy for the bloke that went to the gym after getting a test.
You keep ignoring all the other facts Jimmy.
That doesnt help your argument Jimmy. I thought case L said she had no advice, no communication what so ever? I also thought you said you watched the presser. Bloomfield made the distinction that it didnt come from the MoH website, it was general information & not up to date.
The other day I said returnees were contributing to continued house price inflation but that didn't sit well with some determined to blame the government and the government only.
But here's further evidence of the Covid world supercharging the housing market. Both the inability to travel, and the change to working from home is also putting pressure on prices.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2021/03/housing-crisis-kiwis-can-t-travel-so-they-re-pouring-money-into-property-expert-claims.html
So these are not returning kiwis but stuck kiwis? I think that was what led to a bit of pushback? The wholesale blame of 'returning kiwis' while it is our homegrown established kiwis with access to easy money that are fucking up for pretty much anyone.
Because the article essentially says that this is "kiwis' not returning.
And yes, the government – all of them for decades now – have not done anything to curb speculation.
But fear not, soon there will be another travel bubble (one way of course ) and then that Kiwi money will go overseas and surely that will then lead to a total collapse of the housing market and its prices.
And did you know that Kiwis just love love love Auctions?
Sabine, a lot of kiwis living overseas buying property at auctions unseen to secure a retirement home. First they F… up the economy and then they come back demanding that the taxpayer pays for their pension. Yep, it seems there is a certain slice of the population who preach compassion but then take everybody to he cleaners.
and our government is a ok with it.
Simple as. It is time to actually start laying the blame where it belongs, government inaction, personal greed, lax lending rules to those that have enough 'equity' for a down payment, and so on and so forth.
the thing with the 'cashed up kiwis from overseas' they are kiwis, firstly, secondly they all went overseas to make hte money they need to get a a million dollar shack here, cause they will never make enough money here.
So frankly this 'kiwis' this and 'kiwis' that is getting tiresome. We are a low income country, our benefits all sit below the poverty line, we feed millions in accom benefit to landlords who rent shacks for hundreds of dollars unaffordable to most, and our government is doing fuck all other then paying lipservice sand doling out that sweet sweet accom benefit..
The people do as the government does and promotes, and no one likes to be poor, and sadly in NZ hard work does not pay, if it would some of our poor immigrant workers would be rich. So property it is. Thanks government for doing fuck all.
Some thoughts on politics from the criminally overlooked John S. Hall…
News Thump – UK spoof news and satire.
Daily Mail vindicated as Prince Philip confirms ‘grandson doing interview’ definitely worse than ‘son being nonce’
Philip's gone to two different hospitals undergoing multiple scans and transfusions and they still can't find a soul.
He's the living link between Covid19 and the Undead.
Unexpected 2 day holiday.
Went for my induction at work this morning, expecting to get on the job after, only to have the pre employment drug screen fail to show me clear of meth. Now I have to wait until the lab clears me, hopefully before Monday.
Checking online as to how I, not being a p head, could have failed and, as I suspected, found one of my diabetes meds is known for false positives. Metformin users, be forewarned. The people have been quite kind about it, but you know, good way to make a great first impression.
As a note for type 2 fellows, I just got put on a new drug to control high blood sugar levels for when diet and exercise isn't working. It's called Jardiance, which makes your kidneys pee out sugar. Drastically dropped my levels after 1 pill, and after only 5 days, I've got bang on numbers. Ask your GP or diabetes nurse.
The recent concerns about how New Zealand treats this who cannot work, or need social assistance just to do basic activities, reminded me of my own time dealing with Work and Income New Zealand. It reminded me of the culture of treating clients with suspicion, where staff commented on clothing, social life and relationships. It reminded me of a pedantic, straight jacketed system with no flexibility for extraordinary cases.
As a response to that I have started a petition that asks the Minister of Social Development and Minister Of Finance to urgently enable a substantial increase in the size of social welfare payments.
Please sign and share. I am happy to write a short guest article about my time dealing with Work and Income.
Signed, made a small donation and shared.
Papatoetoe Police shooting.
I copped a lot of abuse in here the other day when I said that I had zero sympathy for the 501 killed by Police.
Now we know the crimes he was in bail for. No, not 'domestic violence'. This 501 was a violent criminal pos both in NZ and Australia. His 'mental problems' no doubt stem from his meth abuse In Australia (well documented – just Google search his name). A long history of extreme violence.
Rather he is gone than innocents suffer. Why do so many hand wringung extreme leftists defend these garbage people?
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300243284/man-shot-dead-by-police-was-awaiting-sentence-for-sledgehammer-bank-robbery
No abuse from me Peter. I think the police were right to shoot him. He did not put down the weapon when instructed and had fired through a window. He was a danger to the public. NZ is a better safer place without him.
No abuse from me either Peter chch, I don't believe the cops had an option in this case, but they're damned if they do or damned if they don't. Perhaps Simon Bridges should go out with the cops in South Auckland one evening – or any city for that matter just to update himself with what the wokester police have to cope with.
agreed Peter.
"no doubt"?
Pretty sure of yourself there.
But then you'd have to be. God forbid there could ever have been an intervention point in aus or nz, even years ago, that could have stopped him getting shot the other day.
You can't even refer to him as a human being, just label him with the number of the section that was used to inflict another institutional abuse.
Yes, he did wrong. But I suspect he was a more complex individual than most people who cheer at his killing.
the 501 stuff. Fuck.
Pchch, is this killing regrettable? "Zero sympathy" – OK. "Garbage people" – hmm. But if you're pleased that Turia is dead (say it isn’r so), then you would have a problem, imho.
I agree Peter. Better that this bloke decides on suicide by cop, than he goes on to hurt / maim / kill someone else.
I love it when reactionaries completely ignore wider societal issues in favour of disseminating particular narrow consequences.
I'm sure his mother will say he was a really nice bloke but was a misunderstood guy, and this was really out of character, and he simply got mixed up with the wrong crowd!
Would you have liked him living next door to you? He may have shot through your window then.
Well done, you get the othering award for today.
One person is dead and his children, family & friends will never see him again and you whinge about rather tame ‘abuse’ aimed at you here on TS!? FWIW, I asked two commenters to stop the ad homs.
As with so many unthinking knee-jerk Law & Order proponents, you offer nothing. Shooting is no solution to the underlying problems and causes. Shoot them all? Lock them all up? Or deport them? That will sort things out, won’t it?
Until the root causes are understood, acknowledged, accepted, and acted upon, it will be BAU. Oh, they are complex issues that require more than a simpleton’s reckons.
Our role as individuals here is to be compassionate, while the role of the justice system is to be just.
All too often we get them mixed up.
Showing compassion and trying to help fellow humans in dire need apparently turns people into “hand wringung extreme leftists [who] defend these garbage people” [sic]. Thank God the cancel culture is alive and well to deal with misguided folks like those
Destiny Church leaders justify escaping lockdown
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/destiny-church-leaders-justify-escaping-lockdown
Don't read unless you mute your puke button…
And it keeps going downhill after that….
To go downhill from that point is truly miraculous.
I listened to some of it and she talked about God giving gifts to people and he had gifted her a Tesla . Fancy that she said – a Tesla – and God will gift to you too…
I bet it won't be a Tesla.
🤮
so many aucklanders doing that…..so many – escaping to elsewhere rather stay in akl.
the grifting is them tho…..
@ aj (9) … In their greedy, menacing and selfish quest to extract money from the vulnerable, the charlatan Tamaki duo, are prepared to risk the nation's safety and well being, by hitting the road regardless of the present Covid-19 situation, to top up their dubious coffers! The pair of them are vile to their rotten cores. They deserve to be locked away!
How some people can possibly go along with, let alone believe the Tamakis' brainwashing propaganda BS beggars belief. It really does.
"In 2004, Tamaki predicted the Destiny Church would be "ruling the nation" before its tenth anniversary in 2008." Imagine that!
I see they've condemned the government (naturally) for failing to keep Covid out of the country. Of course if Bishop Brian were the Prime Minister covid wouldn't have got into the country in any way shape or form. And if it had it would have been because it was "God's plan."
Actually if you're reading this Brian and Hannah, if it is here it must be by God's design surely.
Maybe its time to tax these people? Same with all churches. It is archaic to still have them not paying tax.
Dirty Politics case close to settlement
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/dirty-politics-case-close-to-settlement/ar-BB1eayXU