Mark Mitchell has had his meeting with Andrew Coster. According to Mitchell the meeting lasted two hours; was positive and Mitchell will respect the office of the police commissioner( why?). He wants police to get back to core policing.
So fucking disappointing. I think of all the victims that crime will continue to churn out under Mitchell's watch as police minister. I really can't in all honesty continue to bag Poto Williams when her replacement will be little better.
Sure, National may increase police numbers by 300. Open two closed police stations. Have a foot patrol every second day down Auckland's empty CBD. But that's just tinkering.
1- Will they arm the police?
2-Will they ban all gang patches in public areas?
3- Will they build a huge super max prison so criminals who commit minor offences repeatedly with few consequences at present, can be jailed?
Nope.
Hell, I could cut drink driving offences by 20-35% overnight. I could get an 80% success rate in resolving who had killed a Maori baby. The whanau would be more than happy to cough up the offender.
According to Mitchell the meeting lasted two hours; was positive and Mitchell will respect the office of the police commissioner (why?)
Would you prefer politicians with the police portfolio did not resect the office of the police commissioner?
I don't think you would because this means police would be under direct control of the government which is, by definition, a police state.
Mitchell has been told off for telling the police what to do in the media. He appears to have got the message which is good but his behaviour should worry all Kiwis; you can imagine the daily interference in police operations were he ever minister.
''Would you prefer politicians with the police portfolio did not respect the office of the police commissioner?''
Respect is earnt. When the commissioner is not doing a good job, that should be pointed out to him and options explored. Mitchell failed on that account. The Commissioner and his office are basically intertwined.
''Mitchell has been told off for telling the police what to do in the media.''
I know nothing of this. Could you explain further?
In this context respect is not earned, it is formally prescribed. See the two bullet points under definition 2 below:
verb respect
admire (someone or something) deeply, as a result of their abilities, qualities, or achievements.
"she was respected by everyone she worked with"
have due regard for (someone's feelings, wishes, or rights).
"I respected his views"
avoid harming or interfering with.
"it is incumbent upon all hill users to respect the environment"
agree to recognize and abide by (a legal requirement).
"the crown and its ministers ought to respect the ordinary law"
My reading was that in the meeting Mitchell had been asked by Coster to stop interfering in police operational matters via the media (told off). That's why he has said, "he will respect the office of the police commissioner".
Eh? Mitchell supposedly said "respect the office". That's nothing to do with individuals – it's respecting the constitutional arrangement that makes police operational matters a no go area for politicians. As Muttonbird said – without that, you've taken the first step towards a police state. Most likely, Mitchell said "respect the office" to make it clear that he didn't respect the individual. Mitchell has always appeared to me as a sub-verbal, incipient thug – not surprising he needs something as simple as the importance of this constitutional convention pointed out to him.
According to Mitchell the meeting lasted two hours; was positive and Mitchell will respect the office of the police commissioner
I think you will find this statement was made in reference that he wouldn't talk about what was discussed in the meeting on the open airways and I can't find fault with that.
As soon as Labour has gone so is Coster. History will show him a failure as is Poto Williams. Crime under Labour just like the public Service always goes up.
Simon who? History will show who of those two was the greatest failure.
Coster's decision to rule out "enforcement action" was criticised by the National Party's police spokesman Mark Mitchell, who claimed that Coster had lost credibility as Police Commissioner. On 2 March, Police evicted the remaining anti-mandate protesters following a violent riot.
Seems you’re right P4L, not only would Coster be gone under a National party-led govt, I doubt that he would have been appointed in the first place.
And the public service numbers needed to rise. After National cut it so much as to make it dysfunctional. Very obvious in health, education and other services. Then they lost any savings by employing a whole heap of private contractors.
Who do you think does all that covid tracing, vaccinations, border control and health services, for one.
Those data indeed show that the headcount in the Public Service increased 2000-2007 and 2017-2021 under Labour Governments and was fairly static 2008-2016 under National. However, the same trend was observed for the headcount in the Private Sector. In fact, it is strikingly similar with a very high correlation. So, Labour governments are good for employment overall; don’t you hate the facts, sometimes
Over the last five years, the overall public sector workforce increased by 13.7% (with central government up 13.9% and local government up 12.4%). This compares with an 8.9% growth in the private sector over the same period.
''Eh? Mitchell supposedly said "respect the office". That's nothing to do with individuals – it's respecting the constitutional arrangement that makes police operational matters a no go area for politicians.''
Like I said, the office of the commissioner and the commissioner( individual) are intertwined. The constitutional separation of the office from political interference is a given( but not proven over the years). The man in the street doesn't make such a fine distinction.
''Most likely, Mitchell said "respect the office" to make it clear that he didn't respect the individual.''
That is supposition. If true, it means Mitchell is playing games hoping voters ( wink,wink) can read between the lines. Many won't.
Again, if National had any intentions of introducing hardline policing, Mitchell should have gone after the commissioner… and it shouldn't have taken two hours. Two hours is a mighty long time. Maybe they had gingernuts, a latte and a chat about rugby.
Mitchell has been told off for telling the police what to do in the media. He appears to have got the message which is good but his behaviour should worry all Kiwis; you can imagine the daily interference in police operations were he ever minister.
There is a reason why the police, armed forces, judiciary, and a few other branches are directly responsible to the crown. In other words at exactly the same level as parliament. Parliament allocates funding for them, but has no direct operational control. They are subject to the crown.
Basically because no-one trusts a politicians over the long term. There are always a few idiots with a limited understanding of how our society operates at a structural level and inclined towards short-term stupidity.
Similar could be said for many other Crown entities:
ACC, NZSuperFund, NZTA, Kainga Ora, Crown Infrastructure partners, NZPost/Kiwibank, all Universities, Kiwirail, RBNZ, TVNZ, Transpower, the majority shareholdings in power generators, and a lot more.
Some still respond to Ministerial direction and media grief, but often quite faintly. Some are statutorily protected. Most would have the independence to tell even the Minister of Finance where to stick it. A few have workarounds.
Raises the question of how the new water entities will be treated as kinds of public entity.
3- Will they build a huge super max prison so criminals who commit minor offences repeatedly with few consequences at present, can be jailed?"
Maybe "they" will.
National has a long track record of ignoring evidence and doing the things that increase, not reduce crime. Like sending minor offenders, the mentally ill, literacy challenged, and silly teenagers to "crime University"/Prisons. Dog whistling to those who ignore the evidence and think “tough on crime” actually works.
The Police commissioner is heading towards evidence based approaches, that really do reduce crime. Reducing crime is the goal, is it not?
Your revenge fantasies are the approaches that have been shown not to work. What will you say if your prescription is adopted and there is more crime, recidivism, and crime victims.
''Your revenge fantasies are the approaches that have been shown not to work. What will you say if your prescription is adopted and there is more crime, recidivism, and crime victims.''
The day you front up with some original ideas of your own, is the day I will take you seriously. That goes for Peter above who's forced to copy my korero.
But, to be fair, you sometimes fluke good points. For example:
What will you say if your prescription is adopted and there is more crime, recidivism, and crime victims.''
Good point. I would say. ''Well, I'm wrong. What I have suggested, hasn't worked. I'm sorry, we need to try something else. At least it's one strategy we can cross off the list.''
See, I care about innocent victims. I want something that helps them. I don't have a ego regarding this issue. I'm not trying to protect an ideological position like so many on this blog. Hence my caning of those liberal sops who call themselves the National Party.
Oh. I've fronted up with plenty of ideas about what works.
Don't need "original ones". I leave that to people who have researched it at length. Who have proof of what works. I'll leave those who think their individual uneducated "opinions" mean jack shit, to Facebook warriors like yourself.
If you cared about "innocent victims" you would, like me be advocating for approaches to crime reduction that works.
I know it is over your head, but less crimes equal less victims.
Your approach has been tried for decades. It doesn’t fucking work!
Tough on crime nitwits, and politicians who pander to them, do not address underlying causes, so we get more victims.
Look, your trouble is you are believing your own bullshit.
”Don't need original ones". I leave that to people who have researched it at length.”
You aren't capable of original ideas. People who have researched things at length don't have a mortgage on good ideas. If they did we wouldn't have as much crime as we have today.
''Your approach has been tried for decades. It doesn’t fucking work!''
No, it hasn't. I have two original ideas to start with that haven't been tried.
1-How to reduce drink driving offences overnight,
2- How to make whanau cough up a suspected baby killer.
Provide a link. I'm calling you out. You are a liar. And you need to be shown as such. Your comments are vacuous and sloppy. You put nothing into your posts…and it shows.
Don't deflect. I'm not letting you get away with lies and trolling when you can't muster an argument, or back yourself up. Here's an example:
''Really lost the plot. Eh. It is OK to ask for help with your violent fantasies, you know!''
Sad bottom of the barrel stuff.
Of course you could apologise and admit you may have got things wrong. I had to do that yesterday.
Blade…
2 June 2022 at 9:54 pm
That was incorrect. My apologies.
What I should have wrote was ”I’m a beneficiary of the trust board,” not a member of the trust board.
You did not have to correct yourself and apologise, you chose this on your own accord. We would have been none the wiser about your ‘error’. In fact, you had an earlier opportunity to correct your ‘error’ (here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31-05-2022/#comment-1891353), but you failed to do so then!?
Seems to me you’re making up stuff here to suit your narrative and when it does no longer suit your narrative you ‘correct’ it (aka twist & change). If so, that would be disingenuous and not commenting in good faith and it would mean we cannot take your comments at face value.
''You did not have to correct yourself and apologise, you chose this on your own accord. We would have been none the wiser about your ‘error’. In fact, you had an earlier opportunity to correct your ‘error’ (here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31-05-2022/#comment-1891353), but you failed to do so then!?''
I had to correct myself when you pointed my error out indirectly because what I had written was factually incorrect. I hadn't previously corrected my error because I hadn't noticed it until your post.
''Seems to me you’re making up stuff here to suit your narrative and when it does no longer suit your narrative you ‘correct’ it (aka twist & change). If so, that would be disingenuous and not commenting in good faith and it would mean we cannot take your comments at face value.''
Fair enough, I can't change your perceptions of me. Would your perceptions also apply to the KJT's comments above?
Interesting / scary comment on the video around 2:30' – "30% of enquiries to the dairy and small business Association from dairy / small business owners, was asking how they obtain a gun licence"
They have decided to take security matters in to their own hands. It will only be a matter of time until one does fight back.
It's good to see they've been arrested, however I think Jimmy's point may be that apparently most of the perpetrators are under 15. I'm not sure they'll spend long in custody.
Yep, Jimmy, arming the dairy owners is common sense to me. I have suggested previously on this blog a three months small arms course for those shop owners wanting to protect themselves with a gun.
Of course it will never happen. I don't think this government understands the shit storm that's hanging over their heads. Either a ram raider is going to be killed by a shop owner…or a shop owner is going to be killed by a robber. In this political climate all hell could break loose. That will be on Labours head.
Democracy means different things to different people. This is a short thread on the 2022 Democracy Perception Index Report 2022 – the world’s largest annual study on how people perceive democracy.
It is commissioned by "The Alliance of Democracies Foundation", founded by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former NATO Secretary General and former Prime Minister of Denmark.
Every year, this is by far the most interesting study on democracy because it doesn't rely on the opinion of "experts" but on people's actual perceptions.
As such the results are often surprising and it raises profound questions of what democracy actually is.
What is states – crimes against property has gone down. I suspect people are no longer reporting as they know the crime won't be resolved.
Crime against people has gone up.
I firmly believe that I am correct in my original statement.
We know gun violence has gone through the roof. Auckland has more shooting incidence per week than Mahuta has MFAT meetings. Gang violence is out of control, Labour is soft on crime, it is just a fact that NZ knows
[Nope, you’re still 2 links short and you’re wasting my time because this clearly doesn’t support your assertion.
I don’t care if you go for the easiest one or if you genuinely believe your own assertions to be correct or what you suspect or if “it is just a fact that NZ knows”. I care about you providing evidential support for your claims, which shouldn’t be too hard if they’re correct, as you allege. If somebody else provides them for you in the meantime you’ll still receive a ban – how unfair is that? Put up or shut up.
You did so well with your other link about the Public Service under Labour!
Since you mention Mahuta again, a few days ago you hinted at corruption charges (https://thestandard.org.nz/nationals-policies-dont-add-up/#comment-1891222) but you never followed up on these when I asked you about it. Here’s your chance and use your words carefully. The odds have been raised to a fortnight ban – Incognito]
Kainga Ora is now structured commercially so that it keeps delivering housing construction no matter which party is in parliament. It does this by ensuring that it raises its own capital through property sales, and then spends it on intensive housing on the remaining land. Might not sound particularly leftie in the socialist sense of controlling the means of production, but it's a way of extracting the politics out of it as much as possible.
This has been going on for a while. The results you can see for yourself.
If you went up to the Sky City revolving restaurant you might just see the extent of it from Pt England to Mangere to Oranga to Mt Roskill to Hobsonville to Northcote.
Brand new high quality intensified integrated communities.
Yeah so commercial they (this time last year) issued a 300m$ inflation bond( coupon rate 2.5%) going to be paying 7.5% for a longtime unless they get cost inflation out of their builds.
Debt has blown out to 7.1 billion,with new debt being around 4.2% .NZ building costs have increased by 20% last 12 months,Australia 9%.
Australia also has seen building consents for new houses decrease by 33% over the last 12 months,and mortgage pain has not even started there.
In the US where markets are better informed,construction costs responded in real time (as did unsold new housing stock) with lumber falling 55% in 2 months.( 58 cents a board foot)
Absolutely. There are sites that are more suitable for the kind of medium density housing that Kainga Ora is delivering now, and there are sites that are not suitable for it. It makes sense to sell the latter, particularly if they are small, and fragmented from previous sell offs by National governments. Also some sites on major arterials are less suitable for the kind of community based developments and also need extensive noise attenuation and particulate control from 30 to 40 thousand vehicle movements per day. In many cases the private sector can develop these better.
I saw a meme earlier in those colours saying if 10% of people want a fair pay agreement 100% of people get it. Thought their comms team needed to sit and have a bit of a think about that.
According to the committee, they will "present previously unseen material documenting January 6th, receive witness testimony, preview additional hearings, and provide the American people a summary of its findings about the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power."
This Labour government has gone from being a band of merry socialists, to a band of perpetual losers. Do you have any advice for them Puck? Advice the can be printed that is.
Pick people based on talent, not on diversity and realise that the people most affected by the rise in crime are most likely Labour voters so they risk a massive backlash if they don't do something and quickly
As an example how long is this guy actually going to spend in prison:
From your link "The data, given to the NZ Herald through the Official Information Act, showed annual assaults on staff increased in seven of the last 10 years"
"He cited what he considered a long-standing problem"
"In a statement, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis referenced the "prison crisis" inherited by the Government in 2017 when the prison population had increased beyond 10,000. Since then, it had reduced 27 per cent. However, he said more serious offenders – including gang members – had been locked up during this time which posed a risk to staff. "This brings its own challenges, particularly to staff who have to manage a heightened environment where mental health issues and methamphetamine addiction are also increasingly more prevalent," he said. Davis said staff deserved to feel safe and the Violence and Aggression plan was one way to reduce assaults. He referenced the $23 million from Budget 2022 given to hire an extra 64 staff across the three prisons facing the most challenges in this area – Auckland Prison, Christchurch Men's and Mt Eden. That was part of the extra 518 staff who would be hired during the next four years"
Since then, it had reduced 27 per cent ( prison population)
Question: where are the people who would have formally been in prison for more minor offences?
''However, he said more serious offenders – including gang members – had been locked up during this time which posed a risk to staff. ''
Correct. However, the gang population is exploding. 10 years ago a major hole in gang numbers would have occurred with the number of gangsters now locked up. Nowadays the gangs always have the numbers to fill in shortfalls in their ranks.
"the gang population is exploding" because of growing demand for meth. Fucked if I now why is it a coping mechanism like booze or to stay awake longer or some kind of sexual performance thing or the stress of modern life maybe. The gangs have a crucial supply role anyway and good on them. Not much else while prostitutes are legal and I'm guessing because of our low wages not so much demand for trafficked slave labour – no idea if they are into bribing small businesses with threats of violence – after all who would let the cat out of the bag on that one ?
On home detention as work was done to find suitable lodging for them. I can't remember where I read it so can't give a source, but the main reason people are declined home detention is lack of a suitable address to serve the sentence. Sounds like work has been done to remove that barrier.
Yes, but my point is they haven't been in the wheel house for the past 6 years – Labour has. The blood is on Labours hands. Just like Labours responsibility for crime will be passed on to National next year, regardless of what Labour has or hasn't done regarding crime.
''Do you have a link to cover your last paragraph?''
No, I don't. There is no need. It is general knowledge and has been in the news time and again. In fact, on another blog, I pointed to a huge increase in gang numbers close to a year before the issue started being reported in MSM. How did I know?From extended family in the mob who told me about new recruiting methods being employed. It's all about numbers.
You acknowledge that National were in power during that time, but then claim its all Labour's fault, despite efforts to address long standing issues. No one said it could be sorted over night. Consequences from the National government didn't suddenly disappear when National got kicked out in late 2017. It hasn't been 6 years.
Well if you think Labour has blood on its hands, then so does National.
"Just like Labours responsibility for crime will be passed on to National next year"
Like Labour inherited the shambles National left and there is no guarantee that National will win the election next year.
You obviously can't understand what I'm writing, or you are being wilfully ignorant.
I'm noticing when you Lefties run out of an argument you become surly and nasty very fast.
I'll try one more time.
National is not in power. Labour is. National cannot do a fucking thing about crime because they are not in power. Labour can do something about crime because they are in power. It matters not what National did before. It matters not what supposed mess National left Labour. It doesn't matter. But it matters big time for Labour because they are the government.
BTW.., have you read that link you posted? Talk about a gift for people like me. It's also a record for future generations to understand the dynamics of failure when ideology trumps common sense and real world needs.
Quote from your link. Talk about bs of the first water. Tell that crap to crime victims, frightened citizens and dairy owners.
”Government goal:
This Government has made a commitment to create a more effective criminal justice system and safer New Zealand. Achieving these long-term objectives will require systemic reform consistent with New Zealand values and aspirations, across the whole of the criminal justice system and the social sector. This will involve public engagement, partnerships with iwi/Māori and other community groups, legislative reform, investment in new services and operational change – amongst other things.”
"I'm noticing when you Lefties run out of an argument you become surly and nasty very fast"
That's what you are doing and you are being deliberately obtuse.
"showed annual assaults on staff increased in seven of the last 10 years"
National had been in power during some of those years. Labour has only been in power since late 2017, not 6 years like you falsely claimed and they are trying to do something about it. You cannot discount National's time in govt because it doesn't suit your narrative. National left an appalling legacy.
Re link, I don't think you understood it.
“This Government has made a commitment to create a more effective criminal justice system and safer New Zealand. Achieving these long-term objectives will require systemic reform consistent with New Zealand values and aspirations, across the whole of the criminal justice system and the social sector. This will involve public engagement, partnerships with iwi/Māori and other community groups, legislative reform, investment in new services and operational change”
So what’s wrong in that exactly?
Tell me, when National were in govt, did you blame them for the “crime victims, frightened citizens and dairy owners” or have you conveniently forgotten the ram raids, the attacks on the dairies, liquor stores?
You’ve been told before that you can argue your opinions but not your facts.
Yes, but my point is they haven't been in the wheel house for the past 6 years – Labour has.
You are wrong! Megan Woods said in a debate in Parliament 2 days ago that they have been in government for four and a half years.
It's all about numbers.
You raised it, you should put up the numbers, and it is that simple. You cannot hide behind “It is general knowledge and has been in the news time and again” and some vague stuff you may have heard from your “extended family in the mob”. The media megaphone is rarely a good source of facts but a very good source for hype & emotion.
You are an unreliable commenter with regards to facts and supporting claims of facts. You must lift your game or your comments will be moderated.
Seems to me I may have misjudged the general knowledge of some on this blog.
What I thought was apparent general knowledge, apparently is not, even though it's on the screens and in the papers nearly every week. I could have added many more links, but stopped in the name of brevity.
''You are wrong! Megan Woods said in a debate in Parliament 2 days ago that they have been in government for four and a half years.''
Quite true. I took a liberty knowing nothing would improve under Labour. Even my 6 years will fall a few months short depending on the election. Peripheral issues count.
''Some vague stuff you may have heard from your “extended family in the mob”.
It's not vague stuff. I have stated on this blog that in a change of tack, many chapters of the mob allow a patch to be bought. Of course there is still a probation period. That story will eventually come to light in MSM. Just like I was talking about gang numbers increasing roughly a year before MSM pick up the story.
That’s a lovely selection of links some of which even contain actual useful numbers that allow us to distinguish hype & spin from fact, thank you.
From a couple of your links it seems the steepest increase year-on-year in gang members was under National. Oops.
You must not take no liberty with facts. You made up shit about how long Labour has been (not: will have been) in Government. We cannot mind-read and we should not have to second-guess either what twisted facts you construct to suit your narrative.
It is vague and anecdotal stuff when you say “it’s all about numbers” and cannot produce anything other than what you may have heard at your family gatherings. You talk a lot of shit and your vague reckons are worth shit unless you can back them up. What will eventually be reported in and by the media is anybody’s guess and your predilections may come true or quite possibly not ever and at all.
In any case, it is not about the general knowledge of some (but not all?) readers of this blog, it is about what you claim here and do or do not support when asked.
I’m done with this convo, as I made myself crystal clear and don’t see any point in spending more time & effort on this.
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TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
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Sounds like the police had a good night last night in Pakuranga arresting 12 people. Good result as long as its not a catch and release policy.
Pakuranga arrests: Residents 'frightened' after gang incident in east Auckland overnight | Stuff.co.nz
And Andrew Coster apologises!!!!!! He's obviously getting some pretty harsh feedback from the front line officers.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster apologises after backlash from officers over pursuit comments | Newshub
Coster is a good cop. But he's not a man for our times. Someone with an attitude like this chap is:
https://www.laworderreferendum.org.nz/Tait.htm
Yep agreed. Thanks ….very interesting article.
Mark Mitchell has had his meeting with Andrew Coster. According to Mitchell the meeting lasted two hours; was positive and Mitchell will respect the office of the police commissioner( why?). He wants police to get back to core policing.
So fucking disappointing. I think of all the victims that crime will continue to churn out under Mitchell's watch as police minister. I really can't in all honesty continue to bag Poto Williams when her replacement will be little better.
Sure, National may increase police numbers by 300. Open two closed police stations. Have a foot patrol every second day down Auckland's empty CBD. But that's just tinkering.
1- Will they arm the police?
2-Will they ban all gang patches in public areas?
3- Will they build a huge super max prison so criminals who commit minor offences repeatedly with few consequences at present, can be jailed?
Nope.
Hell, I could cut drink driving offences by 20-35% overnight. I could get an 80% success rate in resolving who had killed a Maori baby. The whanau would be more than happy to cough up the offender.
Then there's this paywalled BOPT headline:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/gang-member-prison-rates-at-seven-year-low-but-proportion-of-incarcerated-gangsters-increases/SFTUUA23F2VQKYDYDOQEGXFIQY/
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/pollies-mps-mark-mitchell-and-megan-woods-on-mitchells-meeting-with-andrew-coster-the-pacific-and-mahuta-and-the-latest-polls/
Aotearoa…a gangsters paradise.
Would you prefer politicians with the police portfolio did not resect the office of the police commissioner?
I don't think you would because this means police would be under direct control of the government which is, by definition, a police state.
Mitchell has been told off for telling the police what to do in the media. He appears to have got the message which is good but his behaviour should worry all Kiwis; you can imagine the daily interference in police operations were he ever minister.
''Would you prefer politicians with the police portfolio did not respect the office of the police commissioner?''
Respect is earnt. When the commissioner is not doing a good job, that should be pointed out to him and options explored. Mitchell failed on that account. The Commissioner and his office are basically intertwined.
''Mitchell has been told off for telling the police what to do in the media.''
I know nothing of this. Could you explain further?
In this context respect is not earned, it is formally prescribed. See the two bullet points under definition 2 below:
My reading was that in the meeting Mitchell had been asked by Coster to stop interfering in police operational matters via the media (told off). That's why he has said, "he will respect the office of the police commissioner".
Eh? Mitchell supposedly said "respect the office". That's nothing to do with individuals – it's respecting the constitutional arrangement that makes police operational matters a no go area for politicians. As Muttonbird said – without that, you've taken the first step towards a police state. Most likely, Mitchell said "respect the office" to make it clear that he didn't respect the individual. Mitchell has always appeared to me as a sub-verbal, incipient thug – not surprising he needs something as simple as the importance of this constitutional convention pointed out to him.
A reply to all.
According to Mitchell the meeting lasted two hours; was positive and Mitchell will respect the office of the police commissioner
I think you will find this statement was made in reference that he wouldn't talk about what was discussed in the meeting on the open airways and I can't find fault with that.
As soon as Labour has gone so is Coster. History will show him a failure as is Poto Williams. Crime under Labour just like the public Service always goes up.
That would be a first time for Mitchell.
I wonder what was said off the record?
Maybe off the record Mitchell told him that when the national/Act Government comes in they'll:
1 – Arm the police
2 – Ban all gang patches in public areas
3 – Build a huge super max prison so criminals who commit minor offences can be jailed
4 – Increase police numbers by 300.
5 – Open two closed police stations.
6 – Have a foot patrol every second day down Auckland's empty CBD
7 – Cut drink driving offences by 20-35% overnight.
Oh, and go along with ACT and liberalise gun laws.
Simon who? History will show who of those two was the greatest failure.
Seems you’re right P4L, not only would Coster be gone under a National party-led govt, I doubt that he would have been appointed in the first place.
https://www.transparency.org.nz/blog/transparency-and-intelligence
[links required]
But. He wants more police. Are they not "Public service".
Joined up thinking not his strong point?
The way to lower
measuredcrime rates is to electa party which games the stats,National.They are not part of the Public Service as defined by the Public Service Act 2020. They are obviously part of the public or state sector, however.
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-work/workforce-data/public-sector-composition/workforce-size
Despite claims NZ's policing is too 'woke', crime rates are largely static — and even declining (theconversation.com)
And the public service numbers needed to rise. After National cut it so much as to make it dysfunctional. Very obvious in health, education and other services. Then they lost any savings by employing a whole heap of private contractors.
Who do you think does all that covid tracing, vaccinations, border control and health services, for one.
Thank you.
Those data indeed show that the headcount in the Public Service increased 2000-2007 and 2017-2021 under Labour Governments and was fairly static 2008-2016 under National. However, the same trend was observed for the headcount in the Private Sector. In fact, it is strikingly similar with a very high correlation. So, Labour governments are good for employment overall; don’t you hate the facts, sometimes![laugh laugh](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png?x42494)
Looking forward to your other link 😊
''Eh? Mitchell supposedly said "respect the office". That's nothing to do with individuals – it's respecting the constitutional arrangement that makes police operational matters a no go area for politicians.''
Like I said, the office of the commissioner and the commissioner( individual) are intertwined. The constitutional separation of the office from political interference is a given( but not proven over the years). The man in the street doesn't make such a fine distinction.
''Most likely, Mitchell said "respect the office" to make it clear that he didn't respect the individual.''
That is supposition. If true, it means Mitchell is playing games hoping voters ( wink,wink) can read between the lines. Many won't.
Again, if National had any intentions of introducing hardline policing, Mitchell should have gone after the commissioner… and it shouldn't have taken two hours. Two hours is a mighty long time. Maybe they had gingernuts, a latte and a chat about rugby.
How do you know? Where you present at the 2-hour meeting? Did you read a full first-hand account in the media? No? Then you’re making up stuff again.
Nope
There is a reason why the police, armed forces, judiciary, and a few other branches are directly responsible to the crown. In other words at exactly the same level as parliament. Parliament allocates funding for them, but has no direct operational control. They are subject to the crown.
Basically because no-one trusts a politicians over the long term. There are always a few idiots with a limited understanding of how our society operates at a structural level and inclined towards short-term stupidity.
Similar could be said for many other Crown entities:
ACC, NZSuperFund, NZTA, Kainga Ora, Crown Infrastructure partners, NZPost/Kiwibank, all Universities, Kiwirail, RBNZ, TVNZ, Transpower, the majority shareholdings in power generators, and a lot more.
Some still respond to Ministerial direction and media grief, but often quite faintly. Some are statutorily protected. Most would have the independence to tell even the Minister of Finance where to stick it. A few have workarounds.
Raises the question of how the new water entities will be treated as kinds of public entity.
"1- Will they arm the police?
2-Will they ban all gang patches in public areas?
3- Will they build a huge super max prison so criminals who commit minor offences repeatedly with few consequences at present, can be jailed?"
Maybe "they" will.
National has a long track record of ignoring evidence and doing the things that increase, not reduce crime. Like sending minor offenders, the mentally ill, literacy challenged, and silly teenagers to "crime University"/Prisons. Dog whistling to those who ignore the evidence and think “tough on crime” actually works.
The Police commissioner is heading towards evidence based approaches, that really do reduce crime. Reducing crime is the goal, is it not?
Your revenge fantasies are the approaches that have been shown not to work. What will you say if your prescription is adopted and there is more crime, recidivism, and crime victims.
''Your revenge fantasies are the approaches that have been shown not to work. What will you say if your prescription is adopted and there is more crime, recidivism, and crime victims.''
The day you front up with some original ideas of your own, is the day I will take you seriously. That goes for Peter above who's forced to copy my korero.![frown frown](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/confused_smile.png?x42494)
But, to be fair, you sometimes fluke good points. For example:
What will you say if your prescription is adopted and there is more crime, recidivism, and crime victims.''
Good point. I would say. ''Well, I'm wrong. What I have suggested, hasn't worked. I'm sorry, we need to try something else. At least it's one strategy we can cross off the list.''
See, I care about innocent victims. I want something that helps them. I don't have a ego regarding this issue. I'm not trying to protect an ideological position like so many on this blog. Hence my caning of those liberal sops who call themselves the National Party.
Oh. I've fronted up with plenty of ideas about what works.
Don't need "original ones". I leave that to people who have researched it at length. Who have proof of what works. I'll leave those who think their individual uneducated "opinions" mean jack shit, to Facebook warriors like yourself.
If you cared about "innocent victims" you would, like me be advocating for approaches to crime reduction that works.
I know it is over your head, but less crimes equal less victims.
Your approach has been tried for decades. It doesn’t fucking work!
Tough on crime nitwits, and politicians who pander to them, do not address underlying causes, so we get more victims.
Look, your trouble is you are believing your own bullshit.
”Don't need original ones". I leave that to people who have researched it at length.”
You aren't capable of original ideas. People who have researched things at length don't have a mortgage on good ideas. If they did we wouldn't have as much crime as we have today.
''Your approach has been tried for decades. It doesn’t fucking work!''
No, it hasn't. I have two original ideas to start with that haven't been tried.
1-How to reduce drink driving offences overnight,
2- How to make whanau cough up a suspected baby killer.
Two that are not original and that have been tried and failed elsewhere.
Eco-ing the "Sensible sentencing trust is hardly "original thought".
That's a lie. Don't flounder around, provide a link.
To your "original thoughts"?
Don't think I want to rummage around in that mess.
Provide a link. I'm calling you out. You are a liar. And you need to be shown as such. Your comments are vacuous and sloppy. You put nothing into your posts…and it shows.
Really lost the plot. Eh.
It is OK to ask for help with your violent fantasies, you know!
Don't deflect. I'm not letting you get away with lies and trolling when you can't muster an argument, or back yourself up. Here's an example:
''Really lost the plot. Eh. It is OK to ask for help with your violent fantasies, you know!''
Sad bottom of the barrel stuff.
Of course you could apologise and admit you may have got things wrong. I had to do that yesterday.
Blade…
2 June 2022 at 9:54 pm
That was incorrect. My apologies.
What I should have wrote was ”I’m a beneficiary of the trust board,” not a member of the trust board.
You did not have to correct yourself and apologise, you chose this on your own accord. We would have been none the wiser about your ‘error’. In fact, you had an earlier opportunity to correct your ‘error’ (here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31-05-2022/#comment-1891353), but you failed to do so then!?
Seems to me you’re making up stuff here to suit your narrative and when it does no longer suit your narrative you ‘correct’ it (aka twist & change). If so, that would be disingenuous and not commenting in good faith and it would mean we cannot take your comments at face value.
You may have got the wrong end of the stick.
''You did not have to correct yourself and apologise, you chose this on your own accord. We would have been none the wiser about your ‘error’. In fact, you had an earlier opportunity to correct your ‘error’ (here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31-05-2022/#comment-1891353), but you failed to do so then!?''
I had to correct myself when you pointed my error out indirectly because what I had written was factually incorrect. I hadn't previously corrected my error because I hadn't noticed it until your post.
''Seems to me you’re making up stuff here to suit your narrative and when it does no longer suit your narrative you ‘correct’ it (aka twist & change). If so, that would be disingenuous and not commenting in good faith and it would mean we cannot take your comments at face value.''
Fair enough, I can't change your perceptions of me. Would your perceptions also apply to the KJT's comments above?
My perceptions depend on context and (can) change over time. My perceptions of your comments don’t apply equally to comments by others.
I got it.
I sincerely doubt it but time will tell.
Maybe try living in the States.
The cops are armed, got a death penalty, super-max prisons, Hell they even have a incarceration industry they've gotta have crime under control…
Totally.
National plan's been hatched watching 'Mayor of Kingstown' as a way to regenerate provincial NZ via incarceration.
Their justice system is shot. They have regional police forces. They have poorly trained police who rely more on toys and gizmos to get the job done.
But they send people away for life. They never taste freedom again. You can't commit crime if you are in jail.
Check out my clip I posted the other day – China v USA.
Interesting / scary comment on the video around 2:30' – "30% of enquiries to the dairy and small business Association from dairy / small business owners, was asking how they obtain a gun licence"
They have decided to take security matters in to their own hands. It will only be a matter of time until one does fight back.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/06/calls-for-pm-jacinda-ardern-to-declare-crime-crisis-as-dairy-owners-arm-themselves-amid-spike-in-violent-robberies.html
Why bother. Most of the ram raiders will be in jail soon.
More than 80 people arrested for ram raids since February 1 | Stuff.co.nz
Arrested by those "soft on crime" cops.
I hope you are right. But many are back out there the following evening.
[Link required – Incognito]
And. You know that, how?
It's good to see they've been arrested, however I think Jimmy's point may be that apparently most of the perpetrators are under 15. I'm not sure they'll spend long in custody.
Mod note
Yep, Jimmy, arming the dairy owners is common sense to me. I have suggested previously on this blog a three months small arms course for those shop owners wanting to protect themselves with a gun.
Of course it will never happen. I don't think this government understands the shit storm that's hanging over their heads. Either a ram raider is going to be killed by a shop owner…or a shop owner is going to be killed by a robber. In this political climate all hell could break loose. That will be on Labours head.
Democracy means different things to different people. This is a short thread on the 2022 Democracy Perception Index Report 2022 – the world’s largest annual study on how people perceive democracy.
It is commissioned by "The Alliance of Democracies Foundation", founded by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former NATO Secretary General and former Prime Minister of Denmark.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1532236805143027713.html
Yes I know it behind a paywall. You can get a summery of facts over at the Daily Blog
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/sale-of-the-century-55-60-of-aucklands-large-scale-state-land-to-be-sold-for-private-ownership/F6WLWIURSPW2UMRKGUD5Z6PUTY/
Good ole Labour, such a party of the left.
[You’re now 2 links short of a Happy Meal. Put up the links or take a week off. In Pre-Mod until you oblige – Incognito]
Mod note
Only one Link short and here it is:
https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/crime-at-a-glance-dec2020.pdf
Bit old but the easiest one I could find.
What is states – crimes against property has gone down. I suspect people are no longer reporting as they know the crime won't be resolved.
Crime against people has gone up.
I firmly believe that I am correct in my original statement.
We know gun violence has gone through the roof. Auckland has more shooting incidence per week than Mahuta has MFAT meetings. Gang violence is out of control, Labour is soft on crime, it is just a fact that NZ knows
[Nope, you’re still 2 links short and you’re wasting my time because this clearly doesn’t support your assertion.
I don’t care if you go for the easiest one or if you genuinely believe your own assertions to be correct or what you suspect or if “it is just a fact that NZ knows”. I care about you providing evidential support for your claims, which shouldn’t be too hard if they’re correct, as you allege. If somebody else provides them for you in the meantime you’ll still receive a ban – how unfair is that? Put up or shut up.
You did so well with your other link about the Public Service under Labour!
Since you mention Mahuta again, a few days ago you hinted at corruption charges (https://thestandard.org.nz/nationals-policies-dont-add-up/#comment-1891222) but you never followed up on these when I asked you about it. Here’s your chance and use your words carefully. The odds have been raised to a fortnight ban – Incognito]
Mod note
Kainga Ora is now structured commercially so that it keeps delivering housing construction no matter which party is in parliament. It does this by ensuring that it raises its own capital through property sales, and then spends it on intensive housing on the remaining land. Might not sound particularly leftie in the socialist sense of controlling the means of production, but it's a way of extracting the politics out of it as much as possible.
This has been going on for a while. The results you can see for yourself.
If you went up to the Sky City revolving restaurant you might just see the extent of it from Pt England to Mangere to Oranga to Mt Roskill to Hobsonville to Northcote.
Brand new high quality intensified integrated communities.
Yeah so commercial they (this time last year) issued a 300m$ inflation bond( coupon rate 2.5%) going to be paying 7.5% for a longtime unless they get cost inflation out of their builds.
I can't speak to their commerciality …
… but best of luck to them if they can generate fixed price contracts that all the main banks seem to require for lending now.
Debt has blown out to 7.1 billion,with new debt being around 4.2% .NZ building costs have increased by 20% last 12 months,Australia 9%.
Australia also has seen building consents for new houses decrease by 33% over the last 12 months,and mortgage pain has not even started there.
In the US where markets are better informed,construction costs responded in real time (as did unsold new housing stock) with lumber falling 55% in 2 months.( 58 cents a board foot)
https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/commodities/lbs
Absolutely. There are sites that are more suitable for the kind of medium density housing that Kainga Ora is delivering now, and there are sites that are not suitable for it. It makes sense to sell the latter, particularly if they are small, and fragmented from previous sell offs by National governments. Also some sites on major arterials are less suitable for the kind of community based developments and also need extensive noise attenuation and particulate control from 30 to 40 thousand vehicle movements per day. In many cases the private sector can develop these better.
Dairy owners would have a far easier and safer life if they stopped pushing drugs like cigarettes and vape shit.
So many of them are marginal that about half of them need to shut anyway.
Not a fun prospect but it's more likely you will buy milk and bread from the petrol station anyway. It's just that kind of society.
depends on what part of the country you live in.
Avoid Papakura at the moment, there has been a daytime shooting.
Police operation underway in Papakura, Auckland – NZ Herald
I'm going to talk smack about the propaganda coming out of businessnz.
So if you don't like that sort of thing please scroll past – thank you.
It's just another think tank from the school of hard right shitfuckery trying to manipulate the agenda with fake experts.
With their half baked adds all over YouTube, full of fear and half truths.
I'm surprised, they have not cried "think of the Children"
https://www.yourworkyourway.co.nz/
Greedy wankers are going to be greedy wanker I suppose. And screw working people actually getting a decent wage from you greedy scum.
Working people will never get a fair go, when so many have let cupidity taint their souls.
I saw a meme earlier in those colours saying if 10% of people want a fair pay agreement 100% of people get it. Thought their comms team needed to sit and have a bit of a think about that.
June 9th is when the US January 6th Commission finally goes straight into prime time tv.
(75) Pat Attention – YouTube
According to the committee, they will "present previously unseen material documenting January 6th, receive witness testimony, preview additional hearings, and provide the American people a summary of its findings about the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power."
That's our calendar next Friday.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-january-6-committee-hearing-june-9-primetime/
This is when some of the darker group texts, QAnon influence, and attack orders get truly exposed as the insurrection plan they actually were.
Here's more scary stuff. Time Kelvin Davis was shown the door.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/assaults-on-corrections-staff-up-156-per-cent-6000-workdays-lost/CVRFXXRWAI6B4Y6ARKRNABU774/
Way past time he was shown the door.
This Labour government has gone from being a band of merry socialists, to a band of perpetual losers. Do you have any advice for them Puck? Advice the can be printed that is.
Pick people based on talent, not on diversity and realise that the people most affected by the rise in crime are most likely Labour voters so they risk a massive backlash if they don't do something and quickly
As an example how long is this guy actually going to spend in prison:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/128138095/man-jailed-after-breaking-eye-sockets-of-fourmonthold-baby
Great reply. Sage advice that unfortunately won't be followed.
”As an example how long is this guy actually going to spend in prison”
About 4-5 years. Nothing too strenuous.
Meanwhile this happened in Hastings.
Warning: disturbing video.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/three-year-old-toddler-covered-in-blood-after-hastings-park-brawl-involving-gang-member/HIS3GMEOYHPN3SCVRRN4S53ROE/
When National were in power, did you blame them for every criminal act that was committed?
How is that Labour's fault? and that's a court's decision.
"the people most affected by the rise in crime are most likely Labour voters"
Do you have a link to back up that claim?
Why?
From your link "The data, given to the NZ Herald through the Official Information Act, showed annual assaults on staff increased in seven of the last 10 years"
"He cited what he considered a long-standing problem"
"In a statement, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis referenced the "prison crisis" inherited by the Government in 2017 when the prison population had increased beyond 10,000. Since then, it had reduced 27 per cent. However, he said more serious offenders – including gang members – had been locked up during this time which posed a risk to staff. "This brings its own challenges, particularly to staff who have to manage a heightened environment where mental health issues and methamphetamine addiction are also increasingly more prevalent," he said. Davis said staff deserved to feel safe and the Violence and Aggression plan was one way to reduce assaults. He referenced the $23 million from Budget 2022 given to hire an extra 64 staff across the three prisons facing the most challenges in this area – Auckland Prison, Christchurch Men's and Mt Eden. That was part of the extra 518 staff who would be hired during the next four years"
First off, National aren't on duty. Labour is.
Since then, it had reduced 27 per cent ( prison population)
Question: where are the people who would have formally been in prison for more minor offences?
''However, he said more serious offenders – including gang members – had been locked up during this time which posed a risk to staff. ''
Correct. However, the gang population is exploding. 10 years ago a major hole in gang numbers would have occurred with the number of gangsters now locked up. Nowadays the gangs always have the numbers to fill in shortfalls in their ranks.
"the gang population is exploding" because of growing demand for meth. Fucked if I now why is it a coping mechanism like booze or to stay awake longer or some kind of sexual performance thing or the stress of modern life maybe. The gangs have a crucial supply role anyway and good on them. Not much else while prostitutes are legal and I'm guessing because of our low wages not so much demand for trafficked slave labour – no idea if they are into bribing small businesses with threats of violence – after all who would let the cat out of the bag on that one ?
https://www.1news.co.nz/2019/10/06/drugs-a-main-factor-in-rise-of-gangs-in-new-zealand-police-say/
"showed annual assaults on staff increased in seven of the last 10 years"
National was on duty during that time.
https://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/strategic_reports/statements-of-intent/statement_of_intent_2018-2022/our_strategic_direction
Do you have a link to cover your last paragraph?
On home detention as work was done to find suitable lodging for them. I can't remember where I read it so can't give a source, but the main reason people are declined home detention is lack of a suitable address to serve the sentence. Sounds like work has been done to remove that barrier.
''National was on duty during that time.''
Yes, but my point is they haven't been in the wheel house for the past 6 years – Labour has. The blood is on Labours hands. Just like Labours responsibility for crime will be passed on to National next year, regardless of what Labour has or hasn't done regarding crime.
''Do you have a link to cover your last paragraph?''
No, I don't. There is no need. It is general knowledge and has been in the news time and again. In fact, on another blog, I pointed to a huge increase in gang numbers close to a year before the issue started being reported in MSM. How did I know? From extended family in the mob who told me about new recruiting methods being employed. It's all about numbers.
You acknowledge that National were in power during that time, but then claim its all Labour's fault, despite efforts to address long standing issues. No one said it could be sorted over night. Consequences from the National government didn't suddenly disappear when National got kicked out in late 2017. It hasn't been 6 years.
Well if you think Labour has blood on its hands, then so does National.
"Just like Labours responsibility for crime will be passed on to National next year"
Like Labour inherited the shambles National left and there is no guarantee that National will win the election next year.
So you cant back yourself up. I am not surprised.
You obviously can't understand what I'm writing, or you are being wilfully ignorant.
I'm noticing when you Lefties run out of an argument you become surly and nasty very fast.
I'll try one more time.
National is not in power. Labour is. National cannot do a fucking thing about crime because they are not in power. Labour can do something about crime because they are in power. It matters not what National did before. It matters not what supposed mess National left Labour. It doesn't matter. But it matters big time for Labour because they are the government.
BTW.., have you read that link you posted? Talk about a gift for people like me. It's also a record for future generations to understand the dynamics of failure when ideology trumps common sense and real world needs.
Quote from your link. Talk about bs of the first water. Tell that crap to crime victims, frightened citizens and dairy owners.
”Government goal:
This Government has made a commitment to create a more effective criminal justice system and safer New Zealand. Achieving these long-term objectives will require systemic reform consistent with New Zealand values and aspirations, across the whole of the criminal justice system and the social sector. This will involve public engagement, partnerships with iwi/Māori and other community groups, legislative reform, investment in new services and operational change – amongst other things.”
"I'm noticing when you Lefties run out of an argument you become surly and nasty very fast"
That's what you are doing and you are being deliberately obtuse.
"showed annual assaults on staff increased in seven of the last 10 years"
National had been in power during some of those years. Labour has only been in power since late 2017, not 6 years like you falsely claimed and they are trying to do something about it. You cannot discount National's time in govt because it doesn't suit your narrative. National left an appalling legacy.
Re link, I don't think you understood it.
“This Government has made a commitment to create a more effective criminal justice system and safer New Zealand. Achieving these long-term objectives will require systemic reform consistent with New Zealand values and aspirations, across the whole of the criminal justice system and the social sector. This will involve public engagement, partnerships with iwi/Māori and other community groups, legislative reform, investment in new services and operational change”
So what’s wrong in that exactly?
Tell me, when National were in govt, did you blame them for the “crime victims, frightened citizens and dairy owners” or have you conveniently forgotten the ram raids, the attacks on the dairies, liquor stores?
You’ve been told before that you can argue your opinions but not your facts.
You are wrong! Megan Woods said in a debate in Parliament 2 days ago that they have been in government for four and a half years.
You raised it, you should put up the numbers, and it is that simple. You cannot hide behind “It is general knowledge and has been in the news time and again” and some vague stuff you may have heard from your “extended family in the mob”. The media megaphone is rarely a good source of facts but a very good source for hype & emotion.
You are an unreliable commenter with regards to facts and supporting claims of facts. You must lift your game or your comments will be moderated.
Seems to me I may have misjudged the general knowledge of some on this blog.
What I thought was apparent general knowledge, apparently is not, even though it's on the screens and in the papers nearly every week. I could have added many more links, but stopped in the name of brevity.
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/02/14/why-new-zealand-has-so-many-gang-members
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/gang-member-numbers-almost-double-around-the-country-in-five-years/MDXZ4BWDVO3P4I7CWWW6Y6UAPA/
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2105/S00150/more-than-8000-gang-members-in-new-zealand.htm
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300464553/gang-numbers-have-nearly-doubled-in-five-years-police-say
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/10/number-of-gang-members-on-national-list-rises-but-government-says-it-s-not-complete-picture.html
https://www.national.org.nz/gang-numbers-surge-53-per-cent-under-labour
https://www.act.org.nz/government_s_spin_on_gang_numbers_exposed
''You are wrong! Megan Woods said in a debate in Parliament 2 days ago that they have been in government for four and a half years.''
Quite true. I took a liberty knowing nothing would improve under Labour. Even my 6 years will fall a few months short depending on the election. Peripheral issues count.
''Some vague stuff you may have heard from your “extended family in the mob”.
It's not vague stuff. I have stated on this blog that in a change of tack, many chapters of the mob allow a patch to be bought. Of course there is still a probation period. That story will eventually come to light in MSM. Just like I was talking about gang numbers increasing roughly a year before MSM pick up the story.
That’s a lovely selection of links some of which even contain actual useful numbers that allow us to distinguish hype & spin from fact, thank you.
From a couple of your links it seems the steepest increase year-on-year in gang members was under National. Oops.
You must not take no liberty with facts. You made up shit about how long Labour has been (not: will have been) in Government. We cannot mind-read and we should not have to second-guess either what twisted facts you construct to suit your narrative.
It is vague and anecdotal stuff when you say “it’s all about numbers” and cannot produce anything other than what you may have heard at your family gatherings. You talk a lot of shit and your vague reckons are worth shit unless you can back them up. What will eventually be reported in and by the media is anybody’s guess and your predilections may come true or quite possibly not ever and at all.
In any case, it is not about the general knowledge of some (but not all?) readers of this blog, it is about what you claim here and do or do not support when asked.
I’m done with this convo, as I made myself crystal clear and don’t see any point in spending more time & effort on this.