The Government is deploying Bailey bridges across six sites in the North Island to reconnect isolated communities impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods, Transport Minister Michael Wood says.
“We’ve moved quickly with the support of NZDF assets to get Bailey bridges into the hardest-hit regions and restore pivotal transport routes for the communities.
There is something not right in Rob Campbell's employment woes.
It seems unjust that the public knew anout his pending sacking from EPA in the day or two before it happened. RNZ had a Craig McCulloch saying a spokesperson for Minister Parker told McCulloch that his firing was pending.
This seems to be a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot action from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
They commissioned an opinion poll asking landlords why they increased rents. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority cited increased costs – due to Government policy changes, and mortgage rises. [Whether that's the 'true' reason or not, it's the obvious answer when asked for an opinion]
This appears to be a gift to the opposition, without any compensating benefit to the Government in additional data to fine tune policies.
The government policy related reasons were not a vast majority, or even a majority at all.
The next most common reasons for putting up rent were all related to government policy changes: 32 per cent cited the costs of the Government’s healthy homes regulations, which enforce minimum quality standards around heating, insulation, ventilation, and dryness; and 26 per cent cited tenancy law changes enacted in 2020 that prohibited ending a periodic tenancy without reason and things like rental bidding.
I'm no statistician but the 32% and 26% are not cumulative because they will mostly be the same people citing both (they could cite multiple reasons).
Any “landlord” knowing there is a fixed cost ought to have their mortgages fixed at the lowest rate possible for the longest period. Add in roughly 10% for yoy increases for rates and insurance, and annual maintenance of roughly 5% of property value, its fairly easy to calculate what rent should be for the next 5 years at a minimum. Any annual increases is just greed.
If rent controls were to be introduced I think they should be set at an amount sufficient to cover expenses such as rates, insurance, maintenance, administration (if appropriate), but not interest (which is really the landlord's concern – the tenant should not be expected to pay extra rent simply because the landlord has taken out a large loan in order to get into the residential rental business). Add to that an appropriate percentage to provide the landlord with a margin of profit.
Is there a new poll out next week? If so, the Herald will be in overdrive putting its thumb on the scales – and then talking endlessly about the poll afterwards if it favours their side. A pretty standard tactic from them.
Looks like Bahkmut is about to fall to Wagner PMC forces…5000+ Ukrainian troops (many just territorials) in danger of encirclement, will Volodymyr Zelenskyy give the order to withdraw in time?..time is running out fast.
Here is an update from Defense Politics Asia, one of the best and most neutral mappers on the net…though neutrality in analysis on this particular topic seems to be a dirty word for many on this site.
Just like the word 'detente' or even more shockingly the words 'peace negotiations' have become a dirty words in Liberal circles, preferring the staunch backing of more death and destruction in Ukraine (well as long as it's Ukrainian men and boys being killed and destroyed, and not their own I assume)….As you can see, I still can't get over how seamlessly the Liberal class have become the most Hawkish/Ghoulish single class of people in the West…it was obvious for all who cared to observe that this class had gone wrong through the Trump years…but I personally never guessed just how broken they had become.
…you only have to listen to someone like Kim Hill (or RNZ in general) once or twice on pretty much any Geopolitical subject to see how hyper reactionary and bloodthirsty the Liberal class has become today…yep up is down now, black is white..or should I say left is right?
Anyway, for those interested in a reasonably neutral look at the sage unfolding on the ground in Bakhmut, here you go…
Reports I have seen suggest the Ukrainians have been gradually withdrawing from Bakhmut.
I have heard the "rumours" of Ukrainian rebellion as well. Just remember, as the report says, these rumours are being reported by the Russian side, that puts up ludicrous, totally obvious, false flag videos such as this. So, anything coming from the Russian side needs to be taken with truckloads of salt.
Most commentators (including military strategists) I have seen are a bit bemused about why Russia is putting so much effort on Bakhmut as it is strategically insignificant. The Ukrainians have been using Bakhmut to burn Russian combat power. The Russian losses have been huge, often involving full frontal assaults with convicts who are treated as cannon fodder.
So, Ukraine will likely lose Bakhmut after six months or so of defending a relatively small, insignificant town. But what does that say about the capability of the Russian military that it has taken them so long to accomplish such a trivial task?
Looking at the big picture, even if Bakhmut falls, as it seems it will, the amount of territory Russia has gained since it lost Kherson prior to Christmas, has been absolutely negligible.
The interesting thing will be to see what happens when the Ukrainians have favourable conditions for their own counter-offensive, and is able to deploy all the new weaponry from the west (Leopard tanks etc).
This war has run a predictable cycle thus far:
Phase 1. The Russians batter themselves senseless for minimal gains against determined Ukrainian defenders, thus weakening their capabilities.
Phase 2. The Ukrainians exploit the resulting Russian weakness with counter offensives that reclaim huge amounts of Ukrainian territory (e.g., Russians being routed around Kyiv, Russians being routed around Karkhiv, Russians withdrawing from Kherson).
We are currrently witnessing Phase 1. It won't be long before the Ukrainians have their turn.
"The Ukrainians exploit the resulting Russian weakness with counter offensives that reclaim huge amounts of Ukrainian territory"…I very much doubt that is going to happen…but what do I know.
I do know this though..the Leopard tanks, in the numbers that are going to be provided and with amount of time for training/retraining the crews are going to only play an insignificant part in this war…infact the way the West goes on about new weapon systems changing the inevitable direction this war will play out, reminds one of the German high command from '43 onwards.
I believe most serious commentators suggest the only possible way the Ukrainians could (maybe) defeat Russia, is with large scale NATO troop deployment…and surely not even the most demented Liberal warmonger wants that?…ie; WW3…but then who knows how crazed the defenders of Western hegemony have become..
…actually quite crazed according to Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad….
“the present war between Ukraine and Russia is caused by the Europeans’ love of war, of hegemony, of dominance”. He warned it “can be interpreted as the start of the Third World War”.
In case you missed it …here are the defenders of Western hegemony that I am pointing out…but you might know them already I think..they are the same ones who just gave us 20 years of war Afghanistan..even today arm and facilitate an endless civil war in Yemen, armed extremist head choppers in Syria..probably still do?….and of course, set the Middle East on fire with Iraq and lots lots lots more…
..but for some reason known only to yourself, you would have us all believe that these same violent extremists, with a track record that would make even the most brutal dictator proud, are now arming the Ukrainians for altruistic/moral/ethical reasons…mate the only one around here who needs to get a grip on reality is you my friend….the longer this NATO proxy war in Ukraine goes on, the happier the US war machine and it's close military allies are…the US thrives on endless war, or haven't you worked that out yet?
I notice the "peace lovers" who go on about peace talks and moan about Ukrainian and western "war mongering", don't loudly condemn Russia for its attack (cause of the war) and loudly demand Russia withdraws its military from Ukraine (will end war).
Instead they seem to back Russia, rather than peace.
Not only Leopard 2 tanks, but also the British Challengers, and a large number of upgraded Soviet tanks I think Poland is supplying. And, probably more importantly, the Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles.
Anyway, you should go back and look at how the Ukrainians made rapid progress into the Kherson region. That was with a concentration of a number of tanks focussed on a specific area.
I think that is how they will make progress in their next offensive as well. I expect they will concentrate their superior equipment on a specific strategic area to force a significant break through.
Mahathir is an interesting choice. He has this much in common with Putin – nothing is ever his fault, and he has essentially chosen to be president for life. His handling of the Asian financial crisis was astute, but, like Trump, his utterances may be geared more for personal than public interest.
Bakhmut is a little more important than that. This map here explains the importance of Bakhmut as it shows the main heavily fortified lines of the Ukrainians in this region. This also explains importance of the Ukrainian victory in the Kharkiv offensive last September. The Russian attempts to recapture Lyman (and thence, one would imagine, Izium – time may pass but the terrain is a constant) only make sense if they have a plan for a grand encirclement of the Donets region with two pincers aimed at Barinvinkove. If the Russians are able to exploit a breakthrough at Bakhmut they can potentially outflank the very heavily fortified zones the Ukrainians have constructed by pushing to the west and south of Kramatorsk – not fatal since the September counter offensive but it would be a worrying development.
Having said that, I doubt the ability of the Russians to engage in a large scale manoeuvre warfare exploitation of any opportunity presented by the fall of Bakhmut. The Donets region is at defensive dream, with numerous settlements that can be easily fortified and the general terrain of this part of the world offers endless strong positions. The recent Russian successes may have possibly come about due to a recent change in Russian infantry tactics, with the use of Wagner style infiltration tactics. These new tactics are essentially a re-invention of German WW1 stormtrooper tactics. These tactics are effective in breaking into and through a fortified zone, but as the Germans discovered in WW1 during the 1918 "Kaisers battle" offensives when using these tactics converting a breakthrough to a breakout is extremely difficult, and the elite Stormtroopers suffer heavy casualties. The loss of so many of your best troops eventually has a considerable blowback when the enemy counterattacks units that have been reduced to second or third class status by the stripping out of their best men and equipment.
However, at the moment I would assess that these new assault tactics being used by the remaining high quality units (paratroopers etc) of the Russian army are too hot for the poorly trained Ukrainian territorial units to handle. But the Russians are suffering heavy losses of hard to replace men attacking poorly trained recruits, which can’t go on for much longer. In the attritional battle even if the Ukrainians are losing heavily themselves in their territorial units they are far easier to replace with new recruits than Russia’s long service professionals.
Your first link doesn't open. But I am quite familiar with what you mean.
Bakhmut made a lot of sense when Russia held Lyman, because it gave the opportunity for a grand pincer movement to take the rest of the Donbass.
But, now, Russia doesn't have Lyman, and looks highly unlikely to get it back now that the ground conditions no longer favour their winter offensive.
I think there is a point to why Ukraine is defending Bakhmut. Firstly, it is fixing in place a lot of Russian forces that could have used elsewhere to better effect. Secondly, the Russians are losing a lot more forces due to them attacking strong defensive positions.
I have seen a lot of criticism that the Russians have been spreading their offensive over a far too large front line, and that they should have been focussing their forces on one or two strategic points. That is how Ukraine managed to make rapid progress.
But, at the moment, the Russians are just wasting a large amount of their combat power. Look at what is happening at Vuldhar. The Russians are continually attacking into a preprepared kill zone. At last count I think the Russians had lost 137 fighting vehicles to achieve nothing.
It doesn't look like Bakhmut is a cakewalk for Russia, even now, btw.
I don't know if you follow this guy. But he seems to give the most detailed and accurate tactical information on what is going on.
It looks like the Ukrainians have reinforced the area, not by going into the Bakhmut cauldron, but rather by positioning to attack the Russian flanks of their pincer.
A big problem for the Russians in this scenario is that it isn't like they are creating a pincer movement with nothing outside of that. The Ukrainians have a lot of forces outside of Bakhmut that they can deploy as they need to upset the Russian plans. Plus, the Russian pincers are largely in open fields which makes them very vulnerable to Ukrainian artillery.
It would not surprise me at all if the Ukrainians counter attacked and pushed the Russians pincers back from Bakhmut, thus undoing a lot of what the Russians had been trying to achieve.
From what I have seen, around Vuldhar, the Ukrainians have mined all the fields. That has forced the Russians to attack along the only road.
So, the rinse and repeat for the Ukrainians is to hit the lead vehicle. Because most of the Russian troops are noobs, they panic and swerve off the road, and run into mines.
Forget the western MBTs, Vuldhar tells us that without advanced demining combat AEVs like the M1150, or captured UR-77s, no armoured attack by either side is going to succeed even reaching the enemy main line of resistance (let alone achieve a mechanised breakthrough/breakout and subsequent operational freedom) if it has to attack across extensive minefields covered by unsuppressed observed artillery fire and crew served LAW/ATGW.
Unlocking such positions requires a level of skilled combined arms assault that I don't think either side has.
Given the right gear, a modern, well equipped army like any number of North Asian states, NATO or even Australia would make light work of these two sides. The Ukrainians are better than the Russian, but they are no NATO army.
Thinking about it, I guess you could do a thunder run with all those MRAPs the Ukrainians have received and use them for percussive clearance. No would be killed by setting off the mines, and follow them with tanks and APCs/MICVs.
I expect mine clearing equipment would have been included with the gear provided by the west, along with training for demining.
They obviously have managed so far with that in terms of their offensives in Karkhiv and Kherson. Also, preparing the assault through a few weeks of intense bombardment likely clears out some of the mines. And, the Ukrainians probably have intelligence on where the Russian minefields are.
But yeah, the MRAPs would come in handy in that respect as well.
If the Russians knew what they were doing, they'd gap minefields with TOS weapons. The US & Israel have cleared mines with FAE attacks.
Can you use FA to clear minefields?
Sure, You can clear a path with Artillery, mortars, even grenades and belts of machinegun fire. Will it be perfect? No, nothing is perfect. What’s better, getting a quick and risky path, or getting a perfectly clearly path. Fuel Air explosives can do a very good job of clearing a path.
The logical reason why the Russians have invested so much time, energy & manpower into Bakhmut. Is its the only major town in the Donbass not Russian hands?
So if the Ukrainian Army has used Bakhmut as form Delayed Defence & then quietly withdrawals from Bakhmut?
What would Russia be left with?
Plus the Ukrainian Army with it superior long range fires can DF Bakhmut & turn it into a living hell.
So far since the Ukrainian Autumn Offensive, Russia has managed only to recapture 85 Sq Km or 0.25% of Ukrainian Territory.
Not much to show for last 12mths since Russia invaded 🇺🇦
Rob Campbell has come out and said that he believes the real reason he was sacked from the two Crown Entity board roles, was that the Government is walking back from co-governance.
But Campbell maintains that his removal was motivated by factors other than questions of impartiality.
He said that since Hipkins became Prime Minister and Verrall became Health Minister the Government has shifted away from its co-governance agenda, something he had been supportive of.
There's been a change in language and Mahuta was removed from local government, both presumably to stop scaring the racist horses on the right, but none of the co-governance policy has changed. Three Waters and Maori Health Authority still intact.
Did Campbell even mention co-governance in his LinkedIn post?
Post has now been removed – so I can't check, but my understanding that he did (indeed that was the context for the 'racist dog-whistling politics' comment)
World beaters in divorce rates, the thick end of 500,000 orphans, leading Europe in abortions per capita but still managed to convince far-right westerners you’re a bastion of traditional values.
Or is it the anti LGBT laws and the right to knock the fam around with impunity?
Russia is a ticking time bomb. Aside from the demographic collapse, Putin has also cratered the economy with his idiotic war. Happiness is down, alcoholism is up.
Every New Zealander is spending $2000 a year on profits for the banks, anti-monopoly campaigner Tex Edwards says, and banks here have four times the mortgage margins of their British counterparts.
…
He contrasts the home loan deals Kiwis get compared to Australians, or British people.
ASB’s floating rate home loan is 7.99%, while the official cash rate is 4.75%, making for a difference of 325 basis points.
Abbey National (UK) is 4.75% floating, compared to the Bank of England’s bank rate of 4%, making for a margin of 75 basis points.
Every New Zealander is spending $2000 a year on profits for the banks,
Many are probably spending a lot more than $2000, while many a lot less. What matters is whether each person's spending is reasonable with regard to his borrowing, and whether the implied ten billion of profits is reasonable with respect to the banks' turnover, and with respect to the amount of capital invested.
Nearly 9000 have signed in past 3 days but they want 10,000 at least before presenting it. I can't find a direct link to actual petition. Maybe somebody else can?
It won't succeed of course but it's all good publicity for a good cause.
Hi Anne, I signed the ‘remove-HH’ petition after clicking on that link/address/URL.
Can't remember all the details (sorry), but definitely typed my name and email address into the appropriate boxes and then clicked on a red 'Sign this petition' button (that button also had a padlock symbol on it).
Once I had signed, the Change.org site remembered that I had signed and so doesn't display a 'Sign this petition' button when I revisit that link/address/URL.
Ahh – I use Firefox as my web browser, but I could get the 'Sign this petition' button back by opening a different web browser (Safari) and pasting that link into the address/URL window.
… that is the link to the petition that can be signed. It might look different to you if you just signed.
I’m okay for most of it, but ever since lprent had one of his big overhauls a year or two or three back, I don’t know how to replace link addresses with my own choice of words.
Rubbish – Campbell had ratings out the wazoo, but wretched RW idealogues crashed their channels trying to substitute in gamey specimens like Paul Henry instead.
The current idiot panels owe much to these policies – the public doesn't like their putrescent offerings, but will tolerate one or two as part of a group of wittering fools, for a while.
At least the current Prime Minister Hipkins has the courage to front up with them, rather than like Ardern retreat like a political coward because feelings, or worse do something as asinine as trying to ban the most popular radio hosts in the country for actually doing nothing other than have an opinion the moist left don't agree with.
It's not a new tax, it's getting the GST from things like Uber and AirBnB. Funny when national broadened the GST take, and taxed children there was never this level of outcry.
Sure. So as I understand it I already pay GST when I use a service like Uber anyway. It's just that if the contractor earns less than $60k PA as a sole trader or company or partnership they do not have to deal with passing the GST on to the government? I mean I claim GST on Uber rides as a GST registered sole trader… ispo facto there is a GST component even if the contractor I engage via Uber is not registered for GST. So exactly what is the proposed change?
Why Minister Parker thinks he can get away with this "adjustment" when he was busted three months ago doing something very similar as an "adjustment" is unfathomable.
Can we please get a decent Minister of Revenue?
Russell would be the actual qualified obvious choice since Parker and Roberston are clearly overloaded.
The minister was quite right to propose the "adjustment". It was public pressure that induced him to change his mind. He should have stood his ground but when unreason rules, and the "great unwashed" are sharpening their pitchforks, what else could he do but back down.
The GST system works because the GST claimed back from the government is offset by the GST paid by the contractor. If the contractor is not charging you GST and handing the proceeds to the government then the government is losing money. It sounds fraudulent to me.
Besides, you have to be able to produce GST invoices, as evidence of GST paid, to recover GST from the government. The contractor cannot supply a GST invoice unless he is charging you GST.
You do not need to get a GST invoice for amounts under $50. In fact now you don't need to produce anything but electronic proof, period. Unless something is zero rated anything you buy includes GST and you are perfectly entitled to claim the GST content of that expense against GST received. Imagine the chaos of only being able to accept rides from taxi and uber drivers who are GST registered.
Worth a listen to Kate Hannah of the NZ Disinformation Project. She gives an overview of the intersection and proliferation of conspiracy theories and anti-vax and anti-government rhetoric. Her analysis towards the end (15 min onwards) points a big finger to international far-right democracy disrupters in building movement momentum in NZ.
DeSantis's Florida – basically Putins Russia but with theme parks. And remember, DeSantis is the front runner for the GOP presidential nomination next year.
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
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Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
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Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
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Good onya Minister Michael Wood and Labour ! Great idea and implementation. Keep this up : )
There is something not right in Rob Campbell's employment woes.
It seems unjust that the public knew anout his pending sacking from EPA in the day or two before it happened. RNZ had a Craig McCulloch saying a spokesperson for Minister Parker told McCulloch that his firing was pending.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018879999/rob-campbell-expected-to-lose-epa-chair-role
Expect to see Labour's red colours to become more mauve as the election nears.
Edit; this probably didn’t help;
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/business-of-health/te-whatu-ora-to-crack-down-on-health-consultant-spend
Heresy–cracking down on bludging, parasitic consultants.
John Tamihere has a new podcast and had Rob Campbell on in episode #3…
https://open.spotify.com/episode/08v0NuHmmQdfT6Tyk8RcWX
and on Apple etc. of course…
Rob was refreshingly honest.
This seems to be a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot action from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
They commissioned an opinion poll asking landlords why they increased rents. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority cited increased costs – due to Government policy changes, and mortgage rises. [Whether that's the 'true' reason or not, it's the obvious answer when asked for an opinion]
This appears to be a gift to the opposition, without any compensating benefit to the Government in additional data to fine tune policies.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/government-policy-changes-help-drive-rents-to-record-highs-government-survey-finds/GAOUK2SYUZBIPF6QL6YLRB4DIE/
The government policy related reasons were not a vast majority, or even a majority at all.
I'm no statistician but the 32% and 26% are not cumulative because they will mostly be the same people citing both (they could cite multiple reasons).
Mortgage payments are not a cost, but essentially an investment. Therefor they should not be a reason for increases in rent.
Any “landlord” knowing there is a fixed cost ought to have their mortgages fixed at the lowest rate possible for the longest period. Add in roughly 10% for yoy increases for rates and insurance, and annual maintenance of roughly 5% of property value, its fairly easy to calculate what rent should be for the next 5 years at a minimum. Any annual increases is just greed.
If rent controls were to be introduced I think they should be set at an amount sufficient to cover expenses such as rates, insurance, maintenance, administration (if appropriate), but not interest (which is really the landlord's concern – the tenant should not be expected to pay extra rent simply because the landlord has taken out a large loan in order to get into the residential rental business). Add to that an appropriate percentage to provide the landlord with a margin of profit.
The greedy being greedy, cherry picking excuses for their greed.
Who would have thought the herald would have given this so much coverage.
I see this coverage, and people who promote it, as just more dirty politics.
Is there a new poll out next week? If so, the Herald will be in overdrive putting its thumb on the scales – and then talking endlessly about the poll afterwards if it favours their side. A pretty standard tactic from them.
Looks like Bahkmut is about to fall to Wagner PMC forces…5000+ Ukrainian troops (many just territorials) in danger of encirclement, will Volodymyr Zelenskyy give the order to withdraw in time?..time is running out fast.
Here is an update from Defense Politics Asia, one of the best and most neutral mappers on the net…though neutrality in analysis on this particular topic seems to be a dirty word for many on this site.
Just like the word 'detente' or even more shockingly the words 'peace negotiations' have become a dirty words in Liberal circles, preferring the staunch backing of more death and destruction in Ukraine (well as long as it's Ukrainian men and boys being killed and destroyed, and not their own I assume)….As you can see, I still can't get over how seamlessly the Liberal class have become the most Hawkish/Ghoulish single class of people in the West…it was obvious for all who cared to observe that this class had gone wrong through the Trump years…but I personally never guessed just how broken they had become.
…you only have to listen to someone like Kim Hill (or RNZ in general) once or twice on pretty much any Geopolitical subject to see how hyper reactionary and bloodthirsty the Liberal class has become today…yep up is down now, black is white..or should I say left is right?
Anyway, for those interested in a reasonably neutral look at the sage unfolding on the ground in Bakhmut, here you go…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPGDqVnF1pk
Reports I have seen suggest the Ukrainians have been gradually withdrawing from Bakhmut.
I have heard the "rumours" of Ukrainian rebellion as well. Just remember, as the report says, these rumours are being reported by the Russian side, that puts up ludicrous, totally obvious, false flag videos such as this. So, anything coming from the Russian side needs to be taken with truckloads of salt.
Most commentators (including military strategists) I have seen are a bit bemused about why Russia is putting so much effort on Bakhmut as it is strategically insignificant. The Ukrainians have been using Bakhmut to burn Russian combat power. The Russian losses have been huge, often involving full frontal assaults with convicts who are treated as cannon fodder.
So, Ukraine will likely lose Bakhmut after six months or so of defending a relatively small, insignificant town. But what does that say about the capability of the Russian military that it has taken them so long to accomplish such a trivial task?
Looking at the big picture, even if Bakhmut falls, as it seems it will, the amount of territory Russia has gained since it lost Kherson prior to Christmas, has been absolutely negligible.
The interesting thing will be to see what happens when the Ukrainians have favourable conditions for their own counter-offensive, and is able to deploy all the new weaponry from the west (Leopard tanks etc).
This war has run a predictable cycle thus far:
Phase 1. The Russians batter themselves senseless for minimal gains against determined Ukrainian defenders, thus weakening their capabilities.
Phase 2. The Ukrainians exploit the resulting Russian weakness with counter offensives that reclaim huge amounts of Ukrainian territory (e.g., Russians being routed around Kyiv, Russians being routed around Karkhiv, Russians withdrawing from Kherson).
We are currrently witnessing Phase 1. It won't be long before the Ukrainians have their turn.
"The Ukrainians exploit the resulting Russian weakness with counter offensives that reclaim huge amounts of Ukrainian territory"…I very much doubt that is going to happen…but what do I know.
I do know this though..the Leopard tanks, in the numbers that are going to be provided and with amount of time for training/retraining the crews are going to only play an insignificant part in this war…infact the way the West goes on about new weapon systems changing the inevitable direction this war will play out, reminds one of the German high command from '43 onwards.
I believe most serious commentators suggest the only possible way the Ukrainians could (maybe) defeat Russia, is with large scale NATO troop deployment…and surely not even the most demented Liberal warmonger wants that?…ie; WW3…but then who knows how crazed the defenders of Western hegemony have become..
…actually quite crazed according to Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad….
“the present war between Ukraine and Russia is caused by the Europeans’ love of war, of hegemony, of dominance”. He warned it “can be interpreted as the start of the Third World War”.
https://twitter.com/chedetofficial/status/1628981908788088840
Get a grip mate. The "crazed defenders of western hegemony" aren't the ones blowing up civilians and committing war crimes.
The defenders of Putin OTOH… 🤯
In case you missed it …here are the defenders of Western hegemony that I am pointing out…but you might know them already I think..they are the same ones who just gave us 20 years of war Afghanistan..even today arm and facilitate an endless civil war in Yemen, armed extremist head choppers in Syria..probably still do?….and of course, set the Middle East on fire with Iraq and lots lots lots more…
..but for some reason known only to yourself, you would have us all believe that these same violent extremists, with a track record that would make even the most brutal dictator proud, are now arming the Ukrainians for altruistic/moral/ethical reasons…mate the only one around here who needs to get a grip on reality is you my friend….the longer this NATO proxy war in Ukraine goes on, the happier the US war machine and it's close military allies are…the US thrives on endless war, or haven't you worked that out yet?
‘Al Qaeda is on our side’: how Obama/Biden team empowered terrorist networks in Syria
Former Israeli PM Bennett says U.S. ‘blocked’ his attempts at a Russia-Ukraine peace deal
Former German Chancellor Merkel admits the Minsk agreement was merely to buy time for Ukraine’s arms build-up
Washington owes world an explanation of Nord Stream explosion
So, even if that were all true, how does it justify Russia invading Ukraine and committing large numbers of war crimes?
I don’t whataboutism does you much favours in justifying your position.
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia give far more of their annual defense budget (and GDP) to arm Ukraine than the USA, UK, France etc.
All former victims of Russian colonisation, who know what it means.
NATO proxy war? Weird way to think about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "NATO made me do it"?
Hang on, didn't the USSR have it's own conflict with the Afghani people first? One could argue that they started that generational war.
I notice the "peace lovers" who go on about peace talks and moan about Ukrainian and western "war mongering", don't loudly condemn Russia for its attack (cause of the war) and loudly demand Russia withdraws its military from Ukraine (will end war).
Instead they seem to back Russia, rather than peace.
Not only Leopard 2 tanks, but also the British Challengers, and a large number of upgraded Soviet tanks I think Poland is supplying. And, probably more importantly, the Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles.
Anyway, you should go back and look at how the Ukrainians made rapid progress into the Kherson region. That was with a concentration of a number of tanks focussed on a specific area.
I think that is how they will make progress in their next offensive as well. I expect they will concentrate their superior equipment on a specific strategic area to force a significant break through.
Mahathir is an interesting choice. He has this much in common with Putin – nothing is ever his fault, and he has essentially chosen to be president for life. His handling of the Asian financial crisis was astute, but, like Trump, his utterances may be geared more for personal than public interest.
Bakhmut is a little more important than that. This map here explains the importance of Bakhmut as it shows the main heavily fortified lines of the Ukrainians in this region. This also explains importance of the Ukrainian victory in the Kharkiv offensive last September. The Russian attempts to recapture Lyman (and thence, one would imagine, Izium – time may pass but the terrain is a constant) only make sense if they have a plan for a grand encirclement of the Donets region with two pincers aimed at Barinvinkove. If the Russians are able to exploit a breakthrough at Bakhmut they can potentially outflank the very heavily fortified zones the Ukrainians have constructed by pushing to the west and south of Kramatorsk – not fatal since the September counter offensive but it would be a worrying development.
Having said that, I doubt the ability of the Russians to engage in a large scale manoeuvre warfare exploitation of any opportunity presented by the fall of Bakhmut. The Donets region is at defensive dream, with numerous settlements that can be easily fortified and the general terrain of this part of the world offers endless strong positions. The recent Russian successes may have possibly come about due to a recent change in Russian infantry tactics, with the use of Wagner style infiltration tactics. These new tactics are essentially a re-invention of German WW1 stormtrooper tactics. These tactics are effective in breaking into and through a fortified zone, but as the Germans discovered in WW1 during the 1918 "Kaisers battle" offensives when using these tactics converting a breakthrough to a breakout is extremely difficult, and the elite Stormtroopers suffer heavy casualties. The loss of so many of your best troops eventually has a considerable blowback when the enemy counterattacks units that have been reduced to second or third class status by the stripping out of their best men and equipment.
However, at the moment I would assess that these new assault tactics being used by the remaining high quality units (paratroopers etc) of the Russian army are too hot for the poorly trained Ukrainian territorial units to handle. But the Russians are suffering heavy losses of hard to replace men attacking poorly trained recruits, which can’t go on for much longer. In the attritional battle even if the Ukrainians are losing heavily themselves in their territorial units they are far easier to replace with new recruits than Russia’s long service professionals.
Your first link doesn't open. But I am quite familiar with what you mean.
Bakhmut made a lot of sense when Russia held Lyman, because it gave the opportunity for a grand pincer movement to take the rest of the Donbass.
But, now, Russia doesn't have Lyman, and looks highly unlikely to get it back now that the ground conditions no longer favour their winter offensive.
I think there is a point to why Ukraine is defending Bakhmut. Firstly, it is fixing in place a lot of Russian forces that could have used elsewhere to better effect. Secondly, the Russians are losing a lot more forces due to them attacking strong defensive positions.
I have seen a lot of criticism that the Russians have been spreading their offensive over a far too large front line, and that they should have been focussing their forces on one or two strategic points. That is how Ukraine managed to make rapid progress.
But, at the moment, the Russians are just wasting a large amount of their combat power. Look at what is happening at Vuldhar. The Russians are continually attacking into a preprepared kill zone. At last count I think the Russians had lost 137 fighting vehicles to achieve nothing.
hmmmm, this link https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-370-summary/
Yep. That works.
It doesn't look like Bakhmut is a cakewalk for Russia, even now, btw.
I don't know if you follow this guy. But he seems to give the most detailed and accurate tactical information on what is going on.
It looks like the Ukrainians have reinforced the area, not by going into the Bakhmut cauldron, but rather by positioning to attack the Russian flanks of their pincer.
A big problem for the Russians in this scenario is that it isn't like they are creating a pincer movement with nothing outside of that. The Ukrainians have a lot of forces outside of Bakhmut that they can deploy as they need to upset the Russian plans. Plus, the Russian pincers are largely in open fields which makes them very vulnerable to Ukrainian artillery.
It would not surprise me at all if the Ukrainians counter attacked and pushed the Russians pincers back from Bakhmut, thus undoing a lot of what the Russians had been trying to achieve.
Thread on the catastrophic disruption of RU fighting vehicles.
From what I have seen, around Vuldhar, the Ukrainians have mined all the fields. That has forced the Russians to attack along the only road.
So, the rinse and repeat for the Ukrainians is to hit the lead vehicle. Because most of the Russian troops are noobs, they panic and swerve off the road, and run into mines.
From down thread on why munitions they're carrying all but guarantees catastrophic disruption.
https://twitter.com/blueboy1969/status/1630853233701797889
Yes, those tanks and apcs are virtually steel coffins at the rate they are being destroyed. Can't be fun to be a Russian tankie.
Forget the western MBTs, Vuldhar tells us that without advanced demining combat AEVs like the M1150, or captured UR-77s, no armoured attack by either side is going to succeed even reaching the enemy main line of resistance (let alone achieve a mechanised breakthrough/breakout and subsequent operational freedom) if it has to attack across extensive minefields covered by unsuppressed observed artillery fire and crew served LAW/ATGW.
Unlocking such positions requires a level of skilled combined arms assault that I don't think either side has.
Given the right gear, a modern, well equipped army like any number of North Asian states, NATO or even Australia would make light work of these two sides. The Ukrainians are better than the Russian, but they are no NATO army.
Thinking about it, I guess you could do a thunder run with all those MRAPs the Ukrainians have received and use them for percussive clearance. No would be killed by setting off the mines, and follow them with tanks and APCs/MICVs.
I expect mine clearing equipment would have been included with the gear provided by the west, along with training for demining.
They obviously have managed so far with that in terms of their offensives in Karkhiv and Kherson. Also, preparing the assault through a few weeks of intense bombardment likely clears out some of the mines. And, the Ukrainians probably have intelligence on where the Russian minefields are.
But yeah, the MRAPs would come in handy in that respect as well.
If the Russians knew what they were doing, they'd gap minefields with TOS weapons. The US & Israel have cleared mines with FAE attacks.
Can you use FA to clear minefields?
Sure, You can clear a path with Artillery, mortars, even grenades and belts of machinegun fire. Will it be perfect? No, nothing is perfect. What’s better, getting a quick and risky path, or getting a perfectly clearly path. Fuel Air explosives can do a very good job of clearing a path.
The logical reason why the Russians have invested so much time, energy & manpower into Bakhmut. Is its the only major town in the Donbass not Russian hands?
So if the Ukrainian Army has used Bakhmut as form Delayed Defence & then quietly withdrawals from Bakhmut?
What would Russia be left with?
Plus the Ukrainian Army with it superior long range fires can DF Bakhmut & turn it into a living hell.
So far since the Ukrainian Autumn Offensive, Russia has managed only to recapture 85 Sq Km or 0.25% of Ukrainian Territory.
Not much to show for last 12mths since Russia invaded 🇺🇦
Rob Campbell has come out and said that he believes the real reason he was sacked from the two Crown Entity board roles, was that the Government is walking back from co-governance.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rob-campbell-speaks-out-once-again-after-being-fired-from-his-second-public-service-role/2I6OK23O7RBYTMKY7E42ZX3IQU/
Does anyone think that is the case? That this is a strong signal that Hipkins is walking back the Ardern policy?
There's been a change in language and Mahuta was removed from local government, both presumably to stop scaring the racist horses on the right, but none of the co-governance policy has changed. Three Waters and Maori Health Authority still intact.
Did Campbell even mention co-governance in his LinkedIn post?
Post has now been removed – so I can't check, but my understanding that he did (indeed that was the context for the 'racist dog-whistling politics' comment)
The Taxdodgers’ Union still has a link to it.
Co-governance is in speech marks, to indicate its status as an instrument with which people like to politic.
Unbelievable that short little post caused so much fuss. And he only spoke the truth!
Speaking truth to power !!
The hypocritical NACT don't like that one little bit. Or, to quote Corporal Jones, "they don't like it up 'em!"
Campbell has done excellent political work for Labour now that he's done his exit-interviews.
His railing against the governments retreat on co-governance was sweet sweet reassurance to the ears of anxious Pakeha NZ.
World beaters in divorce rates, the thick end of 500,000 orphans, leading Europe in abortions per capita but still managed to convince far-right westerners you’re a bastion of traditional values.
Or is it the anti LGBT laws and the right to knock the fam around with impunity?
https://twitter.com/lama_redpajama/status/1631014825793933314
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/1/2155687/-Russia-hoping-to-attract-7-million-Conservatives
https://www.ritmeurasia.org/news–2023-02-24–kto-poedet-v-rossiju-ideologicheskaja-immigracija-64849
Russia is a ticking time bomb. Aside from the demographic collapse, Putin has also cratered the economy with his idiotic war. Happiness is down, alcoholism is up.
What a mess.
Russians are fewer, poorer and more miserable than a decade ago | The Economist
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/131386321/bank-profits-costing-new-zealanders-2000-a-year-each
We are all being fleeced. Excess profit tax now.
Every New Zealander is spending $2000 a year on profits for the banks,
Many are probably spending a lot more than $2000, while many a lot less. What matters is whether each person's spending is reasonable with regard to his borrowing, and whether the implied ten billion of profits is reasonable with respect to the banks' turnover, and with respect to the amount of capital invested.
There's a Change Org petition in progress:
"Remove Hosking and Hawkesbury from Newstalk ZB".
Nearly 9000 have signed in past 3 days but they want 10,000 at least before presenting it. I can't find a direct link to actual petition. Maybe somebody else can?
It won't succeed of course but it's all good publicity for a good cause.
https://www.change.org/p/remove-hosking-and-hawkesby-from-newstalk-zb
Yes. I did try that address but its not the part you sign. But maybe you can link from it to the actual petition.
I'm not well versed in linking procedures unless it is a direct cut and paste.
Hi Anne, I signed the ‘remove-HH’ petition after clicking on that link/address/URL.
Can't remember all the details (sorry), but definitely typed my name and email address into the appropriate boxes and then clicked on a red 'Sign this petition' button (that button also had a padlock symbol on it).
Once I had signed, the Change.org site remembered that I had signed and so doesn't display a 'Sign this petition' button when I revisit that link/address/URL.
Ahh – I use Firefox as my web browser, but I could get the 'Sign this petition' button back by opening a different web browser (Safari) and pasting that link into the address/URL window.
https://www.change.org/p/remove-hosking-and-hawkesby-from-newstalk-zb
Just noticed that the petition was started by one of our former Mayors here in Palmerston North – go Heather Tanguay.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Tanguay
that is the link to the petition that can be signed. It might look different to you if you just signed.
Can you please explain what the problem was for you in linking and we'll see if we can help.
I’m okay for most of it, but ever since lprent had one of his big overhauls a year or two or three back, I don’t know how to replace link addresses with my own choice of words.
A complete and utter waste of time, ratings and advertising revenue trump any petition.
It got your attention, tho.
Rubbish – Campbell had ratings out the wazoo, but wretched RW idealogues crashed their channels trying to substitute in gamey specimens like Paul Henry instead.
The current idiot panels owe much to these policies – the public doesn't like their putrescent offerings, but will tolerate one or two as part of a group of wittering fools, for a while.
At least the current Prime Minister Hipkins has the courage to front up with them, rather than like Ardern retreat like a political coward because feelings, or worse do something as asinine as trying to ban the most popular radio hosts in the country for actually doing nothing other than have an opinion the moist left don't agree with.
Just signed, felt good.
Does anyone know if these two or any of the other imbeciles at ZB who downplayed the cyclone have apologised yet?
Don't think so. Types like them shut up for a while until they think everyone has forgotten about it, then they do it over again.
Kim Hill interviews young Ch.Ch spokesperson re- the proposed Climate Action school strike planned for this afternoon:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018880250
What a refreshing change from the pitiful HdPA attempt of a few weeks ago.
Please tell me this "Axe the APP TAX" is just more BS from National? There's no way a sane Labour caucus would introduce a new tax now?
It's not a new tax, it's getting the GST from things like Uber and AirBnB. Funny when national broadened the GST take, and taxed children there was never this level of outcry.
Welcome to dirty politics — 2023 edition —
Sure. So as I understand it I already pay GST when I use a service like Uber anyway. It's just that if the contractor earns less than $60k PA as a sole trader or company or partnership they do not have to deal with passing the GST on to the government? I mean I claim GST on Uber rides as a GST registered sole trader… ispo facto there is a GST component even if the contractor I engage via Uber is not registered for GST. So exactly what is the proposed change?
Why Minister Parker thinks he can get away with this "adjustment" when he was busted three months ago doing something very similar as an "adjustment" is unfathomable.
Can we please get a decent Minister of Revenue?
Russell would be the actual qualified obvious choice since Parker and Roberston are clearly overloaded.
The minister was quite right to propose the "adjustment". It was public pressure that induced him to change his mind. He should have stood his ground but when unreason rules, and the "great unwashed" are sharpening their pitchforks, what else could he do but back down.
The GST system works because the GST claimed back from the government is offset by the GST paid by the contractor. If the contractor is not charging you GST and handing the proceeds to the government then the government is losing money. It sounds fraudulent to me.
Besides, you have to be able to produce GST invoices, as evidence of GST paid, to recover GST from the government. The contractor cannot supply a GST invoice unless he is charging you GST.
You do not need to get a GST invoice for amounts under $50. In fact now you don't need to produce anything but electronic proof, period. Unless something is zero rated anything you buy includes GST and you are perfectly entitled to claim the GST content of that expense against GST received. Imagine the chaos of only being able to accept rides from taxi and uber drivers who are GST registered.
Have a giggle about the Gig Tax: https://bills.parliament.nz/v/6/d5894797-4e05-4cd5-a11e-0b28520e3a19?Tab=history
Worth a listen to Kate Hannah of the NZ Disinformation Project. She gives an overview of the intersection and proliferation of conspiracy theories and anti-vax and anti-government rhetoric. Her analysis towards the end (15 min onwards) points a big finger to international far-right democracy disrupters in building movement momentum in NZ.
Stuff youtube interview of Kate Hannah
DeSantis's Florida – basically Putins Russia but with theme parks. And remember, DeSantis is the front runner for the GOP presidential nomination next year.
Great thread, full of common sense
https://twitter.com/aniobrien/status/1630853586279350272?s=46&t=YQYWab08lrynsGdyx3LLKg
Trolling & gaslighting the NZ public with drag shows involving children, hmm i don’t see how that could backfire 🤔