Open mike 03/03/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 3rd, 2024 - 33 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step up to the mike …

33 comments on “Open mike 03/03/2024 ”

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  1. Michael P 1
    3 March 2024 at 11:52 am

    Many many people work hard and do the right thing yet struggle to pay their rent let alone save anything or have any hope of ever being able to afford a house of their own.

    Meanwhile, people like these 2 have multiple properties, multiple businesses (failed) despite showing literally zero business ability, yet seem to have access to an endless supply of money to carry on leading comfortable lives.

    These 2 arseholes are a clear example of how our system isn't working for the majority,

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nick-hoogwerf-donna-miers-tenants-landlords-and-customers-left-out-of-pocket-by-mother-and-son-duo/ZS3AP726WZAKVM5MWEL4TNIV2I/

  2. John Thomson 2
    3 March 2024 at 12:35 pm

    First time commenter but long time reader.

    I read Robert MacCulloch’s post attached to the Standard headlined as an “Economics 101” explanation for the demise, his word was “bankrupted”, of Newshub. In it, this economics chair at Auckland University claims that it was because Newshub was too “left wing”, and his so called evidence for this was his quoting of a survey that “David Farrar at Kiwiblog did .. to work out how right or left-leaning are our major media outlets”. This so-called survey was a request from DF to his readers at kwb*og to rate the various media outlets on their perceived political leanings.

    My reaction to this is two fold. Firstly, economists, especially those in university positions, are supposed to deal with evidence, not feelings from consumers of an obviously right wing blog.

    Secondly, I am reminded of George Bernard Shaw’s adage, “If all the economists were laid end to end they’d never reach a conclusion.”

    https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2024/03/02/robert-macculloch-economics-101-explains-why-newshub-bankrupted/

    https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/06/which_media_are_seen_as_most_left_and_right_leaning.html#google_vignette

    • Belladonna 2.1
      3 March 2024 at 1:47 pm

      Actual survey of public opinion on perceived media bias – from 2023.

      https://www.everand.com/article/656217958/Behind-The-Headlines-Investigating-Curia-s-Latest-Media-Bias-Poll-Findings

      Farrar followed up the unscientific vox pop 'poll' on Kiwiblog with several standard polls from Curia on the same topic.

      The most recent one is (as far as I'm aware) from 2023 (linked above)

      I agree that an academic should have linked to a more reliable source for his opinion piece. But the actual survey data doesn't seem to be strikingly different to his conclusions. There is a public perception that many (if not most) news tend towards left wing.

      This is supported by other data. Around 2/3 of journalists self-report as being left-wing (from a Massey University study in 2022) – note this is after discounting the 23% who self-identify as centrist)

      https://thefacts.nz/other/journalists-political-views/

      • Muttonbird 2.1.1
        3 March 2024 at 2:51 pm

        In my experience, people who claim they are centrist are invariably right wing (this despite the outlandish claim in the report associated with your link, equating “Centre” with “Middle leftish”). You, yourself are one of the best examples of that phenomenon here.

        As such there's a tendency among ring wing people to forge their social responsibility attributes in order to appear more compassionate and attractive to others.

        The survey you posted a link to is woeful. It was self selecting, and had a response rate of 29%. Even reading the associated report I linked to above, there was no attempt at ascertaining the makeup of that 29% by age, gender, or income.

        Dreadful, amateurish stuff which should have been thrown in the bin before they published.

        • alwyn 2.1.1.1
          3 March 2024 at 6:37 pm

          "In my experience, people who claim they are centrist are invariably right wing"

          Come come MH. I would guess that you think Karl Marx was a fascist and as for those Nazis Mao and Josef Stalin you probably see them as being far to the right of Mussolini

        • Phillip ure 2.1.1.2
          3 March 2024 at 7:57 pm

          Wot m.b. sez…

        • Belladonna 2.1.1.3
          4 March 2024 at 9:30 am

          Well, when you come from the perspective of the far Marxist left – I'm sure that all Centrists do appear Right Wing.

          Mote in your own eye….

        • Drowsy M. Kram 2.1.1.4
          4 March 2024 at 1:17 pm

          smiley My perception too – with 'centrists' like B, who needs NAct supporters. They typically counterbalance comments on TS – not that middle of the road, imho..

          • Muttonbird 2.1.1.4.1
            4 March 2024 at 1:48 pm

            Indeed. A centrist by definition will agree with some policy from both sides, and disagree with some policy from both sides.

            Evidenced by that person's comment history, Belladonna can in no way claim to be a centrist, at least on this forum.

            I'm not sure what the issue is, although I took a guess earlier. Why don't RW people just own it instead of masquerading as someone who cares?

            • Drowsy M. Kram 2.1.1.4.1.1
              4 March 2024 at 5:38 pm

              Why don't RW people just own it instead of masquerading as someone who cares?

              Yes, it's a puzzle – although it's not all RW people. A good friend for more than a quarter of a century will sometimes launch a regressive opinion with:
              "As you know, I'm hopelessly right wing…"

              Our political views are poles apart, but I admire their candour – always bearing in mind that I am hopelessly left wing…

    • Muttonbird 2.2
      3 March 2024 at 2:05 pm

      I didn't realise Robert McCulloch was an academic. I assumed he was some disgruntled right wing former journo like Graham Adams or Karl du Fresne.

      Providing a blog poll by a conflicted right wing political activist as evidence Newshub is too left wing is well below the standards one would accept from a University economics professor.

      But then I just looked at his blog and there seems for Robert to suffer just as much a conflict of interest as David Farrar does. Probably worse since at least part of Robert's salary must be publicly funded.

      There's been a bit of discussion here recently about the legitimacy of David Farrar's polling methods and publishing, and the integrity of Farrar himself. I'm not quite sure how you can be so very political active and continue to masquerade as an independent pollster.

      I'm not sure the research industry in New Zealand is at all regulated. Perhaps it's about time?

  3. joe90 3
    3 March 2024 at 12:52 pm

    Scott Hamilton on Trotter's swing to the right.

    Chris Trotter's long journey from the social democratic left to the far right is complete. In a January column, Trotter urged Prime Minister Luxon to call an emergency meeting of state security forces and plan for a race war with the Kīngitanga, whom Trotter likens to the Nazi army in 1938. What has brought Trotter to such paranoid and delusional thinking?

    https://buttondown.email/Fightback/archive/fear-of-a-maori-planet-chris-trotters-single/

    • AB 3.1
      3 March 2024 at 1:45 pm

      Scott Hamilton is consistently good and it's a plausible diagnosis: single-issue obsession plus a craving for radical excitement.

  4. Hunter Thompson II 4
    3 March 2024 at 1:07 pm

    The White Island fatalities have resulted in the companies involved being fined some $10 million in total.

    Will those fines be paid? (Reparations to victims and their families are included). We are told one company is a corporate trustee with no bank account.

  5. Muttonbird 5
    3 March 2024 at 1:36 pm

    Premier House: Report into Prime Minister Chris Luxon’s apartment reveals it’s draughty, dated, uninsulated…

    …The report included an independent building assessment which found it would need re-roofing in 2025, and that was little or no insulation, meaning it was well below current building standards. It was drafty and noisy because the windows were single-glazed and not well sealed and the gas-fired heating was not energy efficient.

    The board concluded it only partially met building and residential tenancy requirements, was badly laid out, lacked soundproofing and had limited natural light.

    Welcome to nearly all New Zealand residential rental accommodation, you fucking genius. Maybe Luxton should do a spell in there to see what it's like.

    The Herald has seen part of the report from the Premier House Board which advises the PM on the condition of Premier House. It has not yet been released because Luxon says decisions are yet to be made on what work to do with the property.

    The report obviously has been released, to one Claire Trevett, by the office of the prime minister, no doubt.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/premier-house-report-into-prime-minister-chris-luxons-apartment-reveals-its-drafty-dated-uninsulated-leaky/EE6S7OFDAJBIPJABV5CR4SNUEQ/

    • AB 5.1
      3 March 2024 at 2:08 pm

      The whole incident is just National Party DNA in action: getting ahead financially by using any legal means available, irrespective of the broader effects on others or on society in general. Mere legality is their only test of what is acceptable.

      To be sure, these are habits that are shared by most of the National-voting electorate, but I think the issue for Mr Luxon is that such habits are inconsistent with what many people regard as the key qualities of leadership. Sir Philip Sidney is reputed to have cast aside his thigh armour at the battle of Zutphen because his men did not have such armour. He did not want to be any better protected than they were, but later died from a musket shot to the thigh. Mr Luxon seems not to have similar instincts.

    • Bearded Git 5.2
      3 March 2024 at 2:11 pm

      Luxon is an idiot.

      The Premier House report, and what is to be actioned from the report, are mutually exclusive. The public should know what is in the report NOW.

      The public can then make it's own assessment as which repairs are reasonable, and compare this with what actually happens.

      • alwyn 5.2.1
        3 March 2024 at 3:15 pm

        The report is what was wrong with the place in about 2020. It went to the Prime Minister of the day who, as was her wont, did nothing about it. It wasn't even allowed in the too hard basket. It was then inherited by he successor who did the same. Now a third PM has been landed with the problem.

        The only update you could add would be a statement something like "In the absence of any action being taken the property has further deteriorated"

        The most sensible PM was Peter Fraser. When he took over the Office in 1940 he refused to live there and demanded a better house. The place was then converted to what Wellington children knew as "The Murder House", or more formally The Dental Clinic. They should have left it that way.

        Norman Kirk, when he became PM, refused to even live in Thorndon, as Holland, Nash and Holyoake had done. He also refused Bolton St and demanded they buy him a place in Seatoun. Ruth apparently liked it but it was a long trip to Parliament.

        The best thing they could do with the property is to demolish the house and subdivide the land. It could, I would think, be divided into about 30 sections for townhouses. The could be sold for high prices I should imagine. It is one and a half hectares after all. I'm sure you could find another suitable house for the PM in Wadestown or Kelburn. The house in Bolton street is still available in the meantime.

        • joe90 5.2.1.1
          3 March 2024 at 3:51 pm

          did nothing about it.

          The PM was fiscally prudent in a year that the IMF forecast the New Zealand economy could contract by 7.2%.
          fify
          https://abcnews.go.com/International/zealand-pm-ardern-pay-cut-country-recovers-covid/story?id=70159746

          • alwyn 5.2.1.1.1
            3 March 2024 at 4:14 pm

            "fiscally prudent".

            I wish that you believers in the faith of the left could make up your minds.

            The time when you say that she wouldn't spend money because fiscal prudence was called for was exactly when Grant was borrowing and spending tens of billions because that was the way to prevent such a contraction. At least that was his story.

            So who was doing the right thing? Your story about Jacinda or his own story from Grant? After all it is impossible for both propositions to be right.

            S

            • Macro 5.2.1.1.1.1
              3 March 2024 at 4:54 pm

              what was wrong with the place in about 2020. It went to the Prime Minister of the day who, as was her wont, did nothing about it.

              Remind me what happened in 2020….

              • alwyn …
                3 March 2024 at 5:56 pm

                Here's the gist of what the PM was told, and that she ignored even though it could have fitted in beautifully with the spend-up that Grant was pushing.

                https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/premier-house-needs-more-renovation-work-department-tells-pm/QZ7QAFXVPXEIB32SQRWZL6KPKI/

                • Macro …
                  3 March 2024 at 6:34 pm

                  And perhaps you might recall that there was a world Pandemic and the country was in lockdown for almost 2 years. To get any repairs on property done was nigh impossible unless it was an emergency.

                  • alwyn …
                    3 March 2024 at 6:49 pm

                    "was in lockdown for almost 2 years. To get any repairs on property done was nigh impossible unless it was an emergency."

                    The covid lockdown in Wellington started on 25 March when the level was raised to 4. It was reduced to level 3 a month later on 27 Aril and down to level 2 on 13 May. It was about a month and a half and was nothing like the two years you are claiming.

                    Of course repairs could have started.

                    • Macro …
                      3 March 2024 at 7:11 pm

                      OK "lockdown" was probably the wrong word. The link I supplied shows that for almost 2 years there were significant restrictions on people activities. Getting a plumber to fix a leaking pipe was about all that one could do. Getting a builder to do any alterations was like hunting hens teeth. Building times expanded from months to years. That was probably more to do with the emphasis on new builds as a response to the Govt putting pressure on expanding the supply of social and affordable housing.

                      The annual number of new homes consented in the year ended January 2021 was 39,881, up 5.8% from the year ended January 2020. The high levels of residential consents continued to be driven by increases in consents for multi-unit homes, including apartments, townhouses and flats.

                      The volume of non-residential building work decreased by 4.9% (seasonally adjusted) in the December 2020 quarter, compared with the September 2020 quarter,

                      The latest Quarterly Building Activity Survey from Stats NZ found that approximately 6 out of 10 respondents from home building projects in Auckland reported an impact on the availability of materials and/or equipment — this reflects the ongoing issues with supply chains worldwide due to COVID-19.

                    • alwyn …
                      3 March 2024 at 11:11 pm

                      I can't really be bothered checking your numbers for 2020. What are your excuses for 2021?

                      And 2022

                      And 2023.

                      I live in Wellington. In 2021 I had my house re-clad. I had no trouble getting the Cedar to do the job. I had no trouble getting a builder to do the work. Why would the Government have had any trouble getting people to fix Premier House if they had wanted to do it?

            • Peter 5.2.1.1.1.2
              3 March 2024 at 5:03 pm

              I have absolutely no doubt that had the Prime Minister in about 2020 said the Government was to spend $30 million on Premier House the reaction would have been crazed. From the quarter which would have at that time expected the PM to tolerate a dive.

        • Kokako 5.2.1.2
          3 March 2024 at 5:13 pm

          You are too much man, too much. Subdivide more public space. How depressingly predictable a predatory response.

          • alwyn 5.2.1.2.1
            3 March 2024 at 6:06 pm

            "public space."?

            How do you get that idea. I can assure you that if you go onto that property you won't be welcomed as a person who is welcome.

            You would be far more likely to be looking at a weapon held by someone in the DPS.

            The public did, back in the 1990's get some benefit from the property. I knew, back in those days, a person who looked after the flowers for the cathedral. If you don't know Wellington it is over the road from Parliament and a couple of hundred meters from Premier House. Bolger and hen Shipley were quite happy that they could collect flowers from the PH garden. It was done when they weren't in the house so they weren't bothered. When Clark took over the practice stopped abruptly. She wasn't having anyone helping themselves to flowers from Her garden.

        • Bearded Git 5.2.1.3
          7 March 2024 at 2:15 pm

          But if the subdivided and sold it this government would squander the money on gold-plated motorways.

    • gsays 5.3
      3 March 2024 at 4:21 pm

      That report and Luxon's response is a good argument for squatters rights to be recognised. Not only Premier House but any of his or other's properties, should they be uninhabited.

      Definitely an empty home tax. To make this palatable, it can initially be used to fund the repair and upkeep of PH.