Stories of rampant Republican-initiated voter suppression in Georgia and Arizona. Voters thrown off the rolls, forced to cast a provisional ballot if they turn up, which then isn’t counted. Haven’t heard anything about how bad it might be in Texas, but It has to be a worry.
Standard practice for Republicans every cycle sadly. Interesting to see that there’s a narrative developing that Trump is already casting around for someone to blame if next weeks results prove disappointing for Republicans. And that someone looks to be outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan who is not seeking re-election.
Greg Palast (gregpalast.com) saying it is very aggressive this year. Seems that voter suppression is the reason behind discrepancies between polls (including exit polls) and actual results. Provisional ballots cast on the day by those purged from the rolls, are not counted. Will be interesting to watch.
A Federal Judge in Georgia has just ruled that the state must allow over 3 thousand naturalised US citizens to vote in a defeat for Republicans who had sought to suspend their voter registrations.
Mentioned it in yesterdays open mike but at 4ish in the morning…
Cellphones cause cancer.
I’ve known this many years and people just treated me like a loony so I dropped the subject and stopped quoting studies. But the studies continue, and they continue to PROVE cellphones cause cancer. The science was obvious before but still these large corporations lie and deceive – controversy… you know, like global warming, tobacco, and a housing crisis.
Take those stupid damn devices off your face and from your kids now. They make you stupider, reduce concentration span, have all sorts of psychological implications, are deliberately designed to addict…
I asked about corporations.
Like the fossil fuel , pharmaceuticals, animal agriculture, alcohol industries.
The corporate powerful interests that put profit over the people and the planet.
We are on the brink of climate catastrophe thanks to neoliberal capitalism and the actions of corporations.
Kinda of funny then that the biggest contributor to global warming is not capitalist countries, but the good old communist regime of China (over 23% of all global CO2 emissions). Blows your conspiracy theories right out of the water Ed.
“A closer look reveals the industry’s sleight of hand. When Henry Lai, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington, analysed 326 safety-related studies completed between 1990 and 2006, he discovered that 44% of them found no biological effect from mobile phone radiation and 56% did; scientists apparently were split. But when Lai recategorised the studies according to their funding sources, a different picture emerged: 67% of the independently funded studies found a biological effect, while a mere 28% of the industry-funded studies did. Lai’s findings were replicated by a 2007 analysis in Environmental Health Perspectives, which concluded that industry-funded studies were two and a half times less likely than independent studies to find health effects.”
Putting up links from a very right wing Israeli paper from the beginning of September when the dubious crusade against UK Labour was in full swing? And suggesting it’s current? Really!?
@James. What government don’t realise is that sort of behaviour is becoming a wider spread problem of why there is going to be increasing private rental shortages in particular at the affordable end.
The government are only focusing on landlord problems, there are also issues with anti social or mentally ill tenants impacting on housing, people who can’t afford rents or just fraudsters out there.
Even the government does not want to be a landlord anymore and is selling off the state houses and land for private sale and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants.
What happens to the others, a pretty large group of people, some of whom seem have major social issues along with the entitlement who even when given opportunities feel or (litigate) they are the victims.
“Even the government does not want to be a landlord anymore and is selling off the state houses and land for private sale and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants.”
That is untrue. Try having some honour and tell the truth.
Ok $120k – $180k is the income bracket for Kiwibuy is that the middle class? Let me know the ‘true’ answer in your eyes.
The government are selling approx 2/3 of the state house land… to fund new posh housing for a few select renters instead of repairing at much less cost the existing housing and developing the land better for RENTING. (The older housing would last longer anyway judging from modern building practices and standards which is another issue we will ‘find’ out in the next few decades if the new, posh housing fails).
“Even the government does not want to be a landlord anymore and is selling off the state houses and land for private sale and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants.”
you said that and it is not true – if it is put the links and evidence up please.
Yip, in my example Housing Corp wouldn’t even consider “middle class options”:
Reader said residents questioned Housing New Zealand vigorously at the meeting and suggested alternatives such as buy back of houses, and affordable or retirement housing options but alleged Housing New Zealand would not consider these.
The Northern Advocate asked Housing New Zealand if it would consider affordable or retirement housing as alternatives to state housing alongside questions about the meeting and the status of the sale.
In response, Housing New Zealand asset development group general manager Patrick Dougherty provided this statement:
“Housing New Zealand appreciated the opportunity to talk to people on Saturday and explain what the next steps would be following settlement [yesterday] and confirmation that we are now the legal owner of this piece of Crown land.
“We’re now looking forward to getting on and planning what state housing we could put on the land and sharing these details with both the people in the Maunu community and the broader Whangārei community as soon as possible. “
They are taking part of an area used as a public park and owned by Ministry of Education.
Bit of a double standard as in Auckland where the land is so expensive and they need the affordable housing much more due to population growth they have created, they are worried about slums so do not want to put social housing all in one location, hence Kiwibuy, but apparently outside Auckland, no problem?
Housing corp/their private build partners must consider the Whangerei state houses are unlikely to end up as the Auckland slums they worry about as they are treating the cheaper land locations somewhat differently? Sarcasm.
Don’t think you read what i wrote in my first link below:
“Manau is one of Whangarei’s whitest and wealthiest suburbs.”
There are currently no state houses there. That is what is upsetting the nimbies so much. So same policy as in Auckland.
And we DO have a serious problem with homelessness up here now with population increase as cashed up Aucklanders move north. Great work being done on our new day centre for the homeless:
Well, if you don’t think SaveNZ is mistaken to see the private sales component of KiwiBuild as being aimed at the middle class, then how’s about you engage meaningfully with them over that point in lieu of accusatory finger pointing that only encourages boring ‘yes it is’/ ‘no it isn’t’ type exchanges that go nowhere and offer nothing?
I have asked for proof – I know there isn’t any because it is made up. You can’t provide any proof either so how about YOU put some truth up and not just your subjective and bias opinion. When we don’t have made up thinks we can engage meaningfully.
You may like unverified attack lines against labour but I don’t. There is no proof that labour have said the following … “and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants.”
That is an attack line and not true. You may like it or even believe it but I’m not discussing with someone who deliberately muddies the waters before the discussion has even begun.
The truth is imo you are just pissed off with me and are looking for a way to try and ban me. Own your stuff bill.
This is in open mike and not in your thing about Kiwibuild. This discussion started with James linking to an article about a bad tenant. SaveNZ responded by saying that “even the government does not want to be a landlord anymore” which is clearly false as the government is increasing state housing stock. When Marty challenged this false assertion SaveNZ came back with Kiwbuild but Kiwibuild is aimed at people who would not qualify for state housing and so would never be state tenants.
All Marty has done is ask for proof of what is clearly a false assertion. My understanding of the rules here is that making assertions “you are unable to substantiate with some proof” is not tolerated.
SaveNZ didn’t claim NZ Labour had said and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants
That aside, your apparent noble and tribal defense of NZ Labour against any perceived criticism is noted. I’m more in line with Rosemary, Sioban and others on that front. But hey…
I don’t want to ban you marty, and would hardly hae to “search” for a reason to do so – that’s just you projecting (again) and wrongly second guessing my thoughts and/or intentions – which is getting damned tedious if truth be told.
SaveNZ voicing their opinion is legitimate and (get this!) what the standard is intended for.
Attacking a person for expressing an opinion is not what the standard is for.
But this infantile level of exchange does my head in, so instead of trying to steer things in a healthier direction (it’s striking me as a lost cause) I’m outta here in the hope that Rosemary, Carolyn_Nth, Molly and others who make worthwhile contributions to discussion have had something to say in the meantime.
I feel i have as much skin in this game as you. Many of SaveNZ’s posts are false assertions about Labour and the Greens. I hate that, even when it is directed at Nact. I can see that there is a pattern between you and Bill but hey will i be next?
@ bill. Yeah I’m sick of you too especially for bullshit like this, “That aside, your apparent noble and tribal defense of NZ Labour against any perceived criticism is noted”
Always love the big threats you do eh bill – little man big stick syndrome imo but thanks for the LOLs.
[ 🙄 It’s your behaviour I’m finding tedious marty. Not you. Hell, I don’t know you from a bar of soap and could walk past you in the street or even pass time with you over a beer and be none the wiser. But that aside, since you’re obviously not paying any heed to what’s being written and seem determined to carry on on the same track that involves submitting comments that are just excuses for snide or direct ad homs, I’m now assuming you’re angling for self martyrdom. Which is fine. Any more comments coming from you that appear to be just wrappings for pointless abuse, or that appear to have been constructed solely or mostly as a platform from which to launch personal abuse, and I’ll help you honour that 8 week ban you said you were imposing on yourself a week or two back.] – B.
SaveNZ certainly implied intent by the government, but whether the current performance of kiwibuild is by intent or not, the perception is that kiwibuild is not reaching those genuinely in need. The couple proudly paraded by Phil Twyford and Jacinda Ardern as the first owners of a KiwiBuild home are not examples of people who need government assistance into housing. They are classic examples of middle class welfare, and given the Michael Joseph Savage imagery, Labour have to own that.
“About the only people who aren’t happy are those who believe that publicly funded social interventions on the scale of KiwiBuild should be directed first to those most in need. Tragically, however, the Coalition Government is selling the poor a pup.”
It’s interesting, shadrach, that Twyford’s response was pretty much that the poor wouldn’t be able to afford home ownsership anyway so what’s their problem.
While I agree with some concerns re building codes/building smarter, this debate has elements of ridiculous left wing identity politics.
Lower and upper middle class… more categories to divide folks up. And somehow, now, a middle class person buying a house is the ‘private sector’ like they’ve taken the form of some corporate entity upon receiving their keys. They’re people moving into their first homes, not villains.
Hey bill yesterday you challenged me re KiwiBuild homes not being fit for purpose, warm, dry, last well. I re-read your post but could find no link. Can you let me know the source of your information? Cheers
edit – okay, I think I found the comment you made. If you go through the link that was used as the source for the IEA quote, you’ll see under the heading “2. The New Zealand Building Code” further quotes from other studies pointing to the fact that NZ building codes are wanting in relation to other richer countries.
Both the OECD and the IEA point to the necessity of retrofitting in the future should NZ continue to build houses to current standards.
Beyond that, it’s just taken for granted that in a world experiencing warming, houses need (for example) to have enough thermal mass to reduce the amount of energy used for heating and cooling – we can’t construct energy supply networks fast enough to get zero carbon energy in time to avoid shooting through 2 degrees. That means we have to simultaneously reduce demand through efficiences while at the same time expanding energy supply to cater for a whole pile of stuff that’s going to have to shift from fossil and bio to non-carbon and electric.
Beyond the energy side of things, buildings that aren’t built to deal with prolonged heat waves are buildings that people will be dying in. If last year’s northern summer is an indicator of things to come, then we’re probably not looking at decades down the track – more in terms of mere years.
You might find the following of interest in relation to the current NZ building standards being behind those of other countries and maybe with an eye to the comparatively poor standard of insulation in NZ – and expected heat events.
Will read soon. I don’t doubt that our building standards are rubbish, but read (for what it’s worth, and it’s probably not worth much) that KiwiBuild would be warm dry homes… but you may be referring to other needs as our planet warms. The honest truth is that I am so pleased National aren’t in power anymore, that I tend to think well this is better, so much better than what National would have done. Appreciate people such as yourself to critique labour more rigorously.
I do support the idea of young first home buyers getting access to buying their own home though. But clearly more needs to be done for the poor. They are doing stuff eg porirua announcement but I hope they are getting the message to increase their efforts here+++++
I’ll start off with this example where “the government” is moving ahead with a state housing development in the face of strong local opposition. Manau is one of Whangarei’s whitest and wealthiest suburbs.
That is land. No houses built there just ‘paper plans’. Unlike the Kiwibuy which has already got the houses built and middle class tenants moved in there. In contrast the state house tenants have not got houses, but plans and have been evicted and in temporary housing.
And if antisocial tenants and gangs move into Whangarei, when it eventually gets built, how nice will that be for the rest of the residents living there?
And if antisocial tenants and gangs move into Whangarei, when it eventually gets built, how nice will that be for the rest of the residents living there?
You say you want to look after the most vulnerable but don’t want the wealthy to be burdened with having them in ‘their’ neighborhood. I live in a mixed neighborhood and have five direct housing corp neighbors and have never had an issue. All nice people.
“The Government will invest $100 million into tackling homelessness in this month’s Budget.
Of that total, $37m will go into providing 1500 shorter-term houses, which should be in place by the end of winter.
The other $63m will be used to significantly ramp up the Housing First Programme, which is a longer-term solution and targets the most vulnerable families in the country.
Housing First is based on the idea that people should be placed straight into permanent housing, rather than emergency shelters, before any other issues such as addiction or mental health are addressed.
There are no conditions attached for tenants, such as a requirement to be alcohol or drug-free when they come into the progtramme.
The new money will expand the programme to another 550 households outside the main centres, at a cost of $42.9m. The remainder of the $63 million will be used to sustain and expand Housing First services – such as mental health treatment.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Housing Minister Phil Twyford made the announcement at Te Puea Marae in Mangere, which took on large numbers of homeless in recent years as the problem worsened.
Speaking at the marae, Ardern said there should be no homelessness in a country like New Zealand.
“Images of children growing up in cars sits well with no one,” she said.
She said the government would be also seeking out help from other maraes and social services, who have land or the ability to offer services to homeless people.
She acknowledged the funding package would not be enough to end homelessness and said her government aimed to deliver more funding to build permanent housing in coming announcements.
Putting chronically homeless people into emergency housing did not provide them with long-term stability, she said.
“[But] this is us trying to meet the immediate need.”
Twyford said most of the new 1500-odd homes were already available for homeless people to move into.
He said the public housing waiting list in New Zealand was now over 9000 and heading for 10,000.
The minister appealed to the public to assist with finding homes and land which could be used for emergency housing.
“We can’t do this alone … If you know of properties that might be available over winter, such as seasonal worker accommodation or private rental homes, we’d like to hear about those.
“We’d also like to identify small land options suitable for temporary housing with power and water connections ready to go, such as marae and private land.”
The $37m for MSD came from underspend under the previous Government. The $63m was new money and was on top of the $300m committed by the National Government in 2016.”
Hi Marty. Managing HNZ tenants is a massive ongoing challenge with lots of potential to paint the government ugly.
eg: As per your link, providing long term chronic alcoholics with a permanent place to call home is great, the best option I feel. But geez, I wouldn’t want to be fielding the endless streams of complaints from disgruntled neighbours.
I agree Marty, these initiatives do represent movement in the right direction and most certainly is the hard way. Our previous government’s solution to the problem was to try and drop the lot into the lap of The Salvation Army.
They wisely said “No thanks Mr Key, we don’t want your 1000’s of free houses”.
Also you say “The new money will expand the programme to another 550 households outside the main centres, at a cost of $42.9m”
So that seems a ratio of $78,000 per household, per year if yearly or is that amount over how much time?
Cos $650,000 for a house for 50 years adds up to $13,000 per year and if the house lasts 100 years it’s $6,500 per year per household if the state owns the house.
Then they get state house rent from the tenant etc to cover expenses, interest etc.
Long term that’s a significant amount of money to find aka $42.9m and it might be easier just to can Kiwibuy and just pop the homeless in the Kiwibuild houses and save a shit load of tax payer money.
Demand for State Houses is unlikely to be met for generations, if ever. Places like Sweden were building them before white fellas landed in NZ. Millions of us would stick our hand up if offered a home for a third of our available income.
Housing First is not a state agency. The government are giving significant amounts of money to third party providers who then use private housing (aka private landlords) for the housing and obviously there are overheads to having 5 separate organisations who all have their own paid members etc to run all these charities and organisations.
So the money is not going into state housing. It might be going into helping homelessness but it is not going into building the actual housing via groups like Housing First.
If you have a link to an actual NEW state house built with our tax payer money in first years this government has been in power and has permanent and secure tenancy in place, I’m keen to see it.
Grenfell is an example of how things can go wrong when you put overhead over overhead into social and state housing. The money can easily go in the wrong direction and the tenants are at the mercy of organisations that are profiting from the arrangement of them managing the money. Of course it’s all great when they first get the money and full of success stories, but 5, 10, 20, 100 years time, what is going to happen with this approach over just one generation and how much money gets siphoned off the system.
Housing First should only be considered a temporary solution because of the dysfunction caused by National party. Long term it is just siphoning off housing money using third party approaches rather than investing WISELY in the actual housing itself owned by the state specifically for state housing and making housing NZ functional again.
I’m pleased for those who have now got a stable home in GI state housing tenancy. But I doubt that all those who previously resided in GI managed to withstand the continual uncertainty and overt hostility to get keys to replacement houses.
But really, seven years to be relocated? Do you understand how disruptive that is to community, children’s education and general wellbeing?
The full history of what went on previous to the handing over of the keys is relevant, and missing from your link.
The right to buy: the housing crisis that Thatcher built
Now revived by David Cameron, the right to buy social housing was a key Conservative policy in the 80s: populist, profitable, and with its disastrous effects yet to come
My last comment – I appreciate that you are trying to look after the most vulnerable in our society. I don’t agree with many of the extrapolated conclusions you reach. I also want to look after the most vulnerable in our society.
The right to buy your state house was the norm in New Zealand throughout the 50s and 60s and was a successful policy. The only reason for this, though, is because it was regarded as merely one aspect of a wider housing policy of providing low interest home loans to either buy or build, secure low cost tenancies for those who continued to rent, and actively replacing stock that was sold to tenants. The only negative aspect of that era was the shortlived or not used enough approach of pepper-potting, the consequences of which we still see today. A housing policy that has all of these things, including pepper-potting and adding full insulation, is what we need right now.
“the government offered purchasers very generous terms: 5 percent deposit, a 3 percent mortgage rate, with a maximum purchase period of 40 years”
That is the State was the lender- Sate Advances Corporation.
Trading Banks of course didnt lend much to ordinary homeowners and most housing loans were from Savings Banks who required you to have a deposit saved with them. Investors were fairly rare.
In general National wanted renters to buy houses and didnt like building more, while labour was the opposite.
In the 1990s National moved to ‘market rates’ for all state houses and allowed those not normally eligible to rent expensive state houses , often so they could buy , especially in Auckland. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/we-call-it-home/the-state-steps-in-and-out
My concern is that when authority and management is diluted amongst three different entities, it is quite easy and often observed, that it is difficult to get anyone to take responsibility. I feel that is the perspective I share with saveNZ. I feel strongly that state housing should be administered, owned and maintained by the state. Council housing similarly.
The moves to override local government regulations in order to provide housing, would quite rightly be criticised on this forum, if it had been proposed by National. Aligned with PPP models, this is a complete disregard for considered planning, and will most likely result in long-term negative outcomes for those residing in resulting communities, and possibly for the neighbourhoods surrounding. Local government planning and regulations should be putting in place guidelines and rules to improve the wellbeing of residents and communities for years to come – and Phil Twyford is suggesting to ignore all that?
There is a register James. She targets soft touch private landlords who have decided to save 8% of the rent and manage their properties themselves. A landlord that hands over the keys before a tenancy agreement is signed or photo ID sighted deserves their fate. Miniscule savings that can easily cost much more than the rent due.
Tracy’s form is freely and quickly available by tapping her name into the Tenancy Tribunal Orders search facility.
Hi Gabby, not sure I understand your point. Tracy appears to be a chronic liar. As I say, the landlord that rents to anyone without sighting a drivers license or passport does so at their peril.
Does James have the guts to challenge these powerful organisations ?
The US and UK arms industries.
The US and UK governments.
All complicit in mass murder in Yemen.
“Since Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies launched a bombing campaign to oust the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the spring of 2015, the UK has sold and estimated $5 billion worth of arms to Riyadh.”
“Plastic – unlike glass or metal – cannot be recycled infinitely, and after a handful of times it will be discarded, where it will take centuries to degrade. One single water bottle will remain on the planet in some form for a minimum of 450 years.
Even if plastic were easily and infinitely recyclable, it is still manufactured from crude oil often obtained by methods such as fracking, one of the most environmentally damaging processes in existence, which produces carbon emissions and contaminates the surrounding areas, putting people’s health at immediate risk.
It’s clear that something needs to change, and it’s not about recycling. If we want to truly address the devastating impact of single-use plastic the answer is simple: governments must focus on stopping its production entirely.
Single-use plastics should be immediately banned, or at the very least heavily taxed. ”
(Personally I am for a ban on single use plastic, but we are so far gone now that is not enough, we need to create a system where the manufacturers are responsible for the recycling of every type of plastic post use, and that will ensure that they start to eliminate unnecessary plastic through their supply chains. )
“A plan to turn a huge tract of pristine Antarctic ocean into the world’s biggest sanctuary has been rejected, throwing the future of one of the Earth’s most important ecosystems into doubt.
Environmental groups said Russia, China and Norway had played a part in blocking the proposal, with the other 22 members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the organisation set up to protect Antarctic waters, backing the proposal.
The 1.8m sq km reserve – five times the size of Germany – would have banned all fishing in a vast area of the Weddell Sea and parts of the Antarctic peninsula, safeguarding species including penguins, killer whales, leopard seals and blue whales.
Experts said it would also have played a key role in tackling climate change, as the seas around the Antarctic soak up huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. ”
When areas of ocean are protected, allowing marine life to thrive, it creates a spill over effect. The result being increased marine life in adjoining unprotected oceans.
China had previously supported conservation efforts, but now flexing power of where it is going for the future aka not the worldwide, collaborative conservation path… but instead going backwards for short term profits at the expense of future generations and holistic conservation measures…
the world should be increasing conservation, as biodiversity is in major decline, but instead the superpowers and countries of the world seems to be turning a blind eye and making things worse.
Since the rise of the middle class in China’s booming economy seafood has become major staple food source, as where as before the economic boom in China either the rich or those living by sea could afford seafood. The Chinese Fishing Fleet is heavily subsidised to a point in SEA it’s now regarded as the fifth arm of the PLA behind the Chinese Coast Guard due to its illegal conduct against other nations fishing boats on the high seas or in other nations EEZ’s. This aggressive approach by the Chinese Fishing Fleet has lead a number problems such over fishing, collapse of local fishing communities with host nations and possibly long term effects in these host nations will total collapse of the fisheries leading to a total collapse of the economy of that host nation, armed conflict on the high seas which has already happened to the Chinese Fishing Fleet in Southern South America just a couple of yrs ago and that’s before we add the effects of CC.
Having followed Anne Marie Brady research since her break in. In her latest paper on the Antarctic Treaty she has noticed a total lack of disclosure on Chinese and Russia research and military involvement in the Antarctic Region. All other nations that signed the Antarctic Treaty all those years ago have been fully upfront with disclosure in Antarctic Region, but neither Russia or China are compiling to the rules of the Antarctic atm especially over the last 10yrs it seems. We’re already seen land/ water grab by Russia and China over the last 5-10 yrs in the Arctic and in the South China Sea, so they going to do the same thing when the Antarctic Treaty comes up for renewal in the coming yrs?
My guess is they are getting ready to do it. As there is an awful lot fish in those Southern waters, natural resources, oil and gas in the Antarctic Regions ripe exploration.
Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia’s minister for fisheries and maritime affairs, has a strong message for China, owner of the world’s largest fishing fleet.
“The Indonesian fisheries minister – known for her penchant for blowing up wayward vessels – sets her sights on Chinese habits ahead of an international conference that will tackle overfishing”
“Ministers and heads of state from 35 nations are to attend this month’s Our Oceans Conference along with 200 non-governmental and private sector organisations. Maritime security, climate change and pollution of the seas will be on the agenda as well as overfishing.”
And you’ve probably seen this paper… By Anne-Marie Brady that highlights some of China’s interests and activities in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT), which include undeclared military activities and mineral exploration …
Yes, I tend too agree with the Indonesian minister on that, as the Chileans or Arge’s sunk a few fishing boats when the refuse to stop when they were caught illegally fishing inside whoever’s EEZ at the time. The Chinese Fishing Fleet hasn’t been back to those waters since the sinking of it Fishing Boats.
NZ once did the same thing back in the late 70’s using a pair of Skyhawk’s as poor RNZN patrol boat (HDML of WW2 vintage) was struggling to chase them down. NZ didn’t have many problems for a number of yrs/ decades onwards as every Foreign Fishing Boat knew the NZG was prepared to use lethal deadly force to enforce it EEZ rules.
Just before I left work in Jul this yr, I remember reading an article in Janes Defence, that the Chinese were thinking or in the process of upgrading a number of Coast Guard Ships with new Sensor Suite, Weapon Suite IRT mounting a 3’ (76mm) automatic gun with whole host of lethal and non lethal weapons. The big ocean going Chinese Guard vessels which roughly the same size as the ANZAC Frigates, could quite easily mount a 3’ auto gun along with the other upgraded weapon and sensor systems.
But in the footnotes of the Janes Defence Article, they asked the question would you embark on turning your Coast Guard Ships into a De Facto Naval vessel to escort your fishing fleet unless you going to illegally fish in other nations EEZ.
The two OPV’s currently in service with the RNZN are somewhat now under gunned, not having the ideal weapon or mission/ sensor support systems because of the over weight issues with the ice belt added on to the OPV’s. If the Chinese Fishing Fleet does pop up in the Southern Ocean, inside NZ’s EEZ or somewhere else. If going to make an interesting question of enforcement of the rules etc?
Yes I did see Anne-Marie Brady’s paper and it was in the Oz newspaper a couple of weeks ago. It was a very interesting read btw, to a point an ex boss of mine rang up as few questions and my POV on the article.
I heard rumours (backed up by the ODT as well) of the MOD/RNZN scoping out facilities around Port Chambers and Bluff for a possible Southern Naval Base either in the first half of yr or last yr as the RNZN are after a 3rd OPV that’s capable of patrolling the Southern Ocean all yr round, can embark a Sea Sprite and have stern launch and recovery system for the RiB IOT conduct broading parties in all sea states.
This is the effects of CC 101 and it’s only going to get worse.
Ahead of next week’s elections, US President Trump said he will sign an order to bar anyone who illegally entered the US from claiming asylum. He also hinted he would let the military shoot at people throwing stones…..
……On Thursday, the US president said he had told the US military mobilizing at the border to treat rock-throwing by migrants as equivalent to gun usage.
“They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. We’re going to consider, and I told them to consider it a rifle. When they throw rocks like they did at the Mexico military police, I say: Consider it a rifle,” Trump said.
Trump’s violent rhetoric echoes that of Benjamin Netanyahu to his military about Gazans who approach the Israeli border.
The atrocities committed by the Israeli army against protesters at the border, crimes labeled by some as a genocide, are outweighed by the even greater genocide being carried out in Syria by Bashar Assad a comparison the Israeli’s don’t hesitate to make.
‘But there is now a spring in the step of Labour insiders whose polling suggests National is taking a much bigger hit from the disarray created by Jami-Lee Ross than the Colmar Brunton poll indicates.’ A.Young
The expert pollsters do say that negatives take a while to filter through to the poll. Maybe that is why National seems a bit down in the House in spite of the Immigration problem.
You shoot yourself and now its called a hit job ??
And his tweet “I want more facts!!! That’s what it’s all about. Why the wall of silence from Govt?” I see that this has since been deleted, but from the thread I gather it was regarding Peter Thiel.
Remember that ILG used absolute discretion of the minister
“Ardern would not discuss further details of the case, such as whether Sroubek’s life might be in danger, but said “you can draw a fair conclusion on why the Minister made his decision”. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/read-between-lines-drug-smuggler-pm
And then we are told during Question time that “This is not in the public interest” if not then what would be ???
Funny the timing of this ???
Bridesmaid sister gets visa offer following Immigration NZ decision review https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12153884
note the last Min of Imm (M Woodhouse) has questions to be answered as well https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11837608
This should have been cauterised, but has been left to fester, That IMO is where the real damage has been incurred.
Did you hear Woodhouse gleefully telling Lisa Owen on checkpoint last night, “but wait, there’s more!” when she asked him if National had more to throw at Lees-Galloway?
Lees-Galloway has obviously made a hash of the case but Nats have been quietly holding this for a rainy day and, in the wake of the JLR shitfight, it’s been pouring on the National Party.
People get demonised all the time in the media. So many (even here) love to put the boot into those struggling.
Good to read another side of this young mans life not just the sensationalised rubbish used to sell papers.
James Fleet was a P addict – but a meth cook and drug dealer who got what was coming to him? No. His mother, Bron Fleet, reveals publicly for the first time who her son James Fleet was – a deep thinker who was kind, caring, quirky, loyal, intelligent and loved.
“People who are antagonistic resonate more with populist messages”
interesting article in Scientific American
There are many divides in the world right now. But there’s one divide, deeply embedded into the core of human nature, that helps explain many other divides. What I’m referring to is a source of human personality variation that is built right into our DNA: antagonism.
And Stringer had the nerve to say he didn’t have the means to pay off Colin Craig for defamation. The Court clearly should have instructed Stringer to put together a book of his awesome cartoons to raise the money.
But seriously, Siobhan: how on earth could that utterly incompetent fifth-rate cartoonist defame anyone? I imagine it would be something akin to being savaged by a dead sheep, or by our witless friend “James” who sits forlornly just above you in this thread.
A great low cost opportunity for the govt to be seen and acting that would achieve 100% support of the country … And without having to say why did not any previous govt find this organisation deserving !!!
JA make an executive decision and grant NZLS $2-5m annually ? Timing would be almost perfect
We can change. Get your youth into this – it may help a lot of people
“Youth Advisory Group
If you’re aged between 14 and 18 on 1 January 2019, find out how you can have your say about education in New Zealand.
Applications are now open and will close on Sunday 18 November.
To be considered for the Youth Advisory Group you’ll need to:
be aged between 14 and 18 years on the 1 January 2019
live in New Zealand
be respectful of other people’s opinions
get parental, caregiver or legal guardian consent if you are not an independent youth.
You can sign up online, or download and complete the PDF version of the registration form, and email to youth.voice@education.govt.nz. ”
A couple of moral pygmies discuss military matters.
(Where the F**K does Mora’s producer find these people?) The Panel, RNZ National, Thursday 1 November 2018
Jim Mora, Susan Hornsby-Geluk, Mike Rehu
vacuousadj.1. having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence; mindless. 2.(archaic) empty
Protests at Defence Forum
Protestors target the representation of US weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin at Palmerston North’s Defence, Industry and National Security Forum. But, NZ First MP Darroch Ball says many other business are taking part which supply “apples, toilet paper, spare parts, electronics, steel and clothing to the Defence Force” and which have a presence in the city. https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel/audio/2018669360/protests-at-defence-forum
MORA:[speaking over intro. music] W-w-what do you think, both of you, about the vigorous protests in Palmerston North at the Defence Industry Expo? Do you have a view?
SUSAN HORNSBY-GELUK:[inhales and clicks tongue to indicate how thoughtful she is] I think it’s kind of IRONIC that, um, an anti-violence campaign results in a couple of people being assaulted, ahhh, a couple of people assaulting THE police, but, um, I think the point here is it’s not a GUNS expo, it’s really important that this is, like, a defense procurement exercise, and if we’re going to have an army and we’re going to invest millions of, uh, dollars in the army, we clearly need to understand, y’ow, what the best equipment is, so, yeah, I support the right of people to engage in, ahhhmm, peaceful protest but, ah, I do think it might be slightly misGUIDED in this instance.
MORA:[inhales loudly to indicate moral seriousness] What do YOU think?
MIKE REHU: Yeah, I, I, I’m the SAME actually. I, I do feel as though we, [baffled sigh] y’know, the industryyyy, y’know in EVERY industry they HAVE these conferences, they HAVE these exhibitions, this is, and ironically in SOME countries yooouu, you SAY “defense” and it’s not defense, it’s OFFENSE, but I think New Zealand HAS to have a DE-fense, and I, I personally worry that, that we-e-e-e, we don’t. I mean, I was just looking at some numbers earlier today, we spend four hundred and twenty-six dollars a PERSON on our DE-fense compared to Australia’s fifteen HUNDRED, which is over four times, and the U.S.has three point one per cent of their G.D.P. spent on defense, ours is like one point one—
MORA: Yeah.
MIKE REHU: So we spend a MINUSCULE amount, and you can TELL in the quality of aircraft, boats, and blah-blah-blah that we have. But in these days of, y’know, what they’re calling the sharp POWER where we saw, y’know, ahhmm, the Saudi Arabian fella get, ahhh, get assassinated pretty much, allegedly, in Turkey, ahhh, we’ve seen the North Koreans come down and hit somebody. We’ve seen the Russian spies come in. Now, w-w-we’re pretty harmless down here but we’ve got a lotta things that people WANT in the world, especially our natural resources like water. And we’ve seen, we’ve played NICELY with people, we’ve almost GIVEN [snickers] away some of our resources. But when, now that we’re wising UP a little bit, what if people WAN’ our resources and things down here and, and what’re we gonna do—
MORA: Is that—
MIKE REHU: —if somebody comes in?
MORA: Is that push ever gonna come to shove though?
MIKE REHU: Well. I mean, surely we should have some sort of sturdy defense anyway, at least SOME capability, I mean, otherwise we WILL have to turn to bigger powers and, and then we’d, we have to, obviously, sign some kind of compromise deals with people and—-
MORA: Which is what we do now, don’t we. We, we lend them a frigate, or we lend them a, a batch of the S.A.S. and we play our part among a group of nations.
MIKE REHU:[inhales loudly to indicate how serious he is] Yeah, and, but even with AUSTRALIA, y’know, the relationship we have with Australia, apparently, y’know, a lot of our kit is massively inFERIOR, and we get by with our good soft skills, our good people skills when we’re overseas representing our country in part of these United Nations, ahhhm, combinations. So, y’know, again, coming back to your first question about the expo, ahhhmm, it IS a worry that there MAY be some weapons of OFFense, ahhhm, being shown at this exhibition, but I think if it’s about DE-fense then we should play a part.
MORA: Here’s Andy Hickman from Peace Action Manawatu, talking about Lockheed Martin’s presence at the expo, and its manufacture of a laser-guided bomb that destroyed a school bus in Yemen in August.
RECORDED VOICE OF ANDY HICKMAN: Forty schoolboys were killed by that particular bomb, ahhh, Lockheed Martin takes ownership, that WAS their bomb, but they claim no responsibility ‘cos it was fired by the Saudi Arabians, and we say that no, actually, they have a moral and ethical responsibility to take ownership for that.
MORA: And this is a moral dilemma that in LIVING history goes back to the burden of guilt felt by the men who built the atom bomb. But we also know that everybody sells weapons to the Saudi regime. And, the world of realpolitik, this is a very hard one, isn’t it. And are there any easy answers, and is the, I mean, does New Zealand need to take the clear-cut stand that people like Andy Hickman would like? Or do we have to sidle our way through the world as you’re suggesting?
MIKE REHU: And I know that these expos and exhibitions have been held in different cities over the years, but for Palmerston North as well, um, that is very close to where a lot of our military happens, and a lot of the economy is, is DRIVEN by the military as well, so I guess we have to be a bit careful that we kill ALL industry around that.
MORA: Yeah, aah, and New Zealand First M.P. Darroch Ball says a lot of the businesses have a PRESENCE in Palmerston North, actually, and they employ thousands of people right across the country, and it’s as much about apples, toilet paper, spare parts, electronics, steel and clothing as it is about anything else. But just before we leave the topic, ahh, to give the opposite poi-i-innnt, Golriz Ghahraman, writing today, ahhh, talks about the self-steering bullets, tiny killer drones from Israel: “I’ve seen what that looks like on the ground,” she says, referring to her childhood in Iran, “a sea of amputees poured into Iranian cities from the frontlines during the 1980s. Half the world feels like second class citizens, as we did in Iran. Our lives and misery are not as important as the profit being made from war.” So she’s saying, can New Zealand really, with a clear conscience, take part in any of that?
SUSAN HORNSBY-GELUK: There’s, there’s two different issues in tha-a-a-a-at. One is the, ahhhh, equipment itself, and two is, who’s making a profit from it? But in terms of the equipment itself, IF we’re gonna send guyyyys, aah, to Afghanistan or wherever it is, they need to have whatever the other people have got, otherwise, ahhh, we’re sending them into an unsafe environment. Um, that means they need to have, y’ow, technologically the very best that we ca-a-a-an, uh, possibly provide for them. As to who makes the profit from it, I think that’s a different issue, and I think she’s BLENDING the, um, the MORAL judgement about what war CAN result in, with, aah, the issue of who might make a profit and who might not.
MORA:[inhaling loudly] These are not easy answers to find, are they not, but I’m, um, pleased to have had your opinions on it.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Later in the program, we were treated to the following classic comment:
SUSAN HORNSBY-GELUK: I hear the Governor General is a vegan. That’s really cool.
In the first two essays in this sequence, I sketched out the framework of Oswald Spengler’s vision of the process by which great cultures rise, work through their possibilities, and fossilize once those possibilities have been pushed as far as they can go. That vision of history pretty reliably generates a profound unease among people raised in Western industrial societies, for those societies—the heirs of what Spengler named Faustian culture, the great culture that emerged in western and central Europe starting around the year 1000, and holds temporary dominion over the globe—prefer to see history in a different and far more simplistic way.
In the Faustian worldview, it’s inconceivable that the world’s cultures each have their own possibilities, their own values and insights and ways of understanding the world, which cannot be reduced to any single trajectory. In the Faustian worldview, there is only one range of possibilities open to human beings, the one set out by Faustian culture; all other cultures can be seen only as inadequate attempts to attain the Faustian model. There can be no different but equally valid sets of values and insights and ways of understanding the world; there is simply the Faustian way, which is self-evidently true, and every other way, which is superstitious, benighted, and obviously wrong.
I’m so scared I’m having difficulties sleeping,” said André Karipuna, a young indigenous community leader of a protected area in the Brazilian Amazon. According to satellite data from fly-overs commissioned by All Eyes on the Amazon in June and October 2018, his fears are very real. And now after the election of Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, even more so.
Hard evidence of vast deforestation
They show that forest destruction is four times greater than official data suggests. Over 10,000 hectares of the Karipuna territory have already been destroyed – 80 percent in the last three years alone. This deforestation is not only devastating to the Karipuna community. It also forms a major threat to our climate.
Photos of staff at an elementary school in Middleton who were dressed for Halloween as Mexicans, while others posed behind a cardboard cutout of a border wall that says “Make America Great Again,” have gone viral.
ta – so good to read good news. In some ways I really wish I was in Dunners – visiting mum in south dunedin, visiting my mates around the traps and seeing all the Labour people feeling great about this country and where we are going now. So much more to do and we are at last DOING it. That is the way forward – proud to be a left lingering Kiwi. Proud to call this country home.
Seymour goes off half baked and trys to take on the plastic bag ban in supermarkets
hes says he has some ‘research’
“Mr Seymour said the government’s decision to ban single use plastic bags could be killing up to 20 New Zealanders a year.
He said research in the US showed that people using reusable bags were susceptible to diseases such as campylobacter from chicken.
However, Professor Siouxsie Wiles at Auckland University told Checkpoint this research had already been debunked.
“So it’s written by two professors of Law and Economics who are not microbiologists or public health experts.
“They’ve taken a data set around people who are hospitalised or deaths in San Francisco and looked at before plastic bags were banned and then afterwards. They’ve then drawn a bunch of conclusions which if anybody in public health looked at would say no, not true at all.”
Flint isnt backing Seymours crazy claim based on US research by law professors.
Meanwhile the safety of the food itself is ignored !
Ive washed my resuable bag a number of times, and hung it out in the sun- a great sanitiser
Its a super sized one from a hardware store, it probably needs little wheels like luggage does.!
“So far, governments have been slow to react to the human rights disaster in China’s far western Xinjiang region. Its sheer scale demands immediate international action. An estimated one million Uighurs and other Muslims minorities are believed to be held in extra-legal detention centres in Xinjiang because of their ethno-religious identity, with torture and ill-treatment rife in the camps. Authorities in partnership with tech companies have developed and deployed dystopian surveillance technologies to turn the rest of Xinjiang into an open-air prison.
In August, the UN committee on racial discrimination described Xinjiang as a “massive internment camp shrouded in secrecy”. The US congressional-executive commission on China said the Chinese government’s policies in Xinjiang might amount to crimes against humanity. The UK government recently confirmed reports of internment camps for Uighur Muslims following a visit to the region by British diplomats.
Step-by-step the Xi Jinping regime has crossed thresholds unthinkable years ago, with little repercussion. The government detained nearly every single human rights lawyer over a single weekend in July 2015, imprisoned China’s only Nobel peace prize laureate until he died in custody in July 2017, and earlier this year, abolished presidential terms limits, paving the way for Xi to become dictator for life. The Han-dominated Chinese Communist party is now confident that the only way to govern Xinjiang is to eradicate the distinct Uighur identity in the name of countering terrorism. This cannot continue.”
Happy to do that, marty! I’ve got some issues accessing the back end of the site, though I hope to have a post up later today or early tomorrow.
In short, it’s been gloriously upbeat. There have been some rousing standing ovations for the PM, Grant Robertson, and Kristine Bartlett. This arvo is policy amendments (nothing controversial). Then it’s various elections, some of which are tightly contested.
To be fair, the lack of negative issues has meant its been tough on the media. I can see Audrey Young at the back of the room, absentmindedly chewing on the roast limb of a small child, desperately hoping for David Cunliffe to announce a new tilt at the leadership.*
I really hope we get serious about this. So many people are suffering and struggling. I am hoping that it is true and that it will be delivered. Everything is crossed.
Absolutely it’s a priority, marty. I was talking to a minister about homelessness and they made the point that its a health issue, not just about housing. And others have talked about the links between suicide, depression and violence and mental health. This party cares.
I don’t think it’s come up so far, though the policy part of conference is yet to come. From memory, I think Labour have already said they will regularly lift rates.
They’re required by statute to raise benefits according to the CPI. I was referring to raising basic benefits so that people weren’t expected to be forced into debt, either to Work and Income or loan sharks or whomever, just to get by. Wonder what the odds are of that coming up in the “policy” section.
There is one policy proposal that directly affects beneficiaries and that’s to lift the earning threshold and to lower the abatement. This would allow beneficiaries to earn more as part time workers and not lose the benefit at 70 cents in the dollar as it is now.
That can only be good, but is kind of the same as Kiwibuild – aimed at mid-range of the target group. The poorest, those without part-time employment, generally speaking, are again excluded. Let’s see if basic benefit rates come up at tomorrow’s “policy” session. It’s a pity ipredict has shut down – could’ve made a killing.
I’m sure the Labour Party cares a lot more about homelessness than it did in 1984, when in the run-up to the Snap Election it staged a mock soup kitchen in Auckland’s Upper Queen Street to draw attention to the failure of the Muldoon government’s housing policies. Dozens of news media and wellwishers turned up for the event, and were ladled out helpings of soup.
Unfortunately, a couple of real homeless people also turned up and tried to get a plate of soup for their worthless selves—but were swiftly hustled away by Labour Party “security” before their shabbiness and unkemptness could lower the tone.
The Labour Party of 1984 was dominated by such caring people as Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble, Mike Moore, Geoffrey “Footstool” Palmer, and Trevor De Cleene. I hope it’s slightly more caring these days.
Excuse me? When have I “spread lies” here or anywhere else?
prove it or remove it.
It was reported in the New Zealand Herald in June 1984, and quite possibly in the Auckland Star as well. Why don’t you get off your useless asssss and find it for yourself?
Those of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to suffer mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Depression being a leading cause of suicide.
Therefore, it would be good to see this coalition Government do more to address low incomes and benefits, thus improving mental health and our high rate of suicide via this avenue.
Depression is in every group , its rubbish to suggest the poor ore far more adversely affected.
eg medicine has a higher depression rate than some professions as it attracts the ‘ perfect’ type.
Moreover, it’s borne out in our suicide stats (see the following below).
For the majority of the 10-year period 2006-2015, the rate of suicide for those living in the most deprived areas was significantly higher (around twice as high) than for those living in the least deprived areas.
“The whole point of this is that for too long we’ve measured ourselves on a very narrow basis…so not having every single data point shouldn’t stop us from saying the health of our environment, our people and our communities is as important as our financial wealth.”
At first I thought he was channelling the Greens but this was at the Labour Party annual conference so I clicked on the link and read the article.
There was a nod to sceptics however, with Robertson saying the Government knew it had to strike a balance between “careful management of the economy and making significant investments in our social progress”.
“Previous Labour governments have done it, this coalition Government is doing it, and I know that we can keep doing it.”
He told media afterwards there was “a tricky balance to strike” between maintaining a robust economy and making the investment that was required around the country.
I read it several times to make sure I got it right but I can’t tell.
To me it seems he (and Labour) are framing it as two targets that oppose one another or are perhaps even mutually exclusive. And if they’re on an equal footing, which one would a true Labour Party stand for?
Is Robertson framing it this way to avoid frightening the horses or is he simply showing his personal (and/or his party’s) beliefs on these matters?
Perceptions matter a lot in politics (and in life) but any decisions (or lack thereof) speak volumes no matter how you frame (spin) things – are we on the cusp of something special?
” the big driver of future costs: long-term invalids and sickness beneficiaries, a group he describes as “this big hard lump of long-term waste of human potential”. ”
….was to replicate ACC’s tactics…
” If they were ACC customers, we would be spending a lot of money on trying to move them. They cost a bit less on sickness and invalids [benefits], not a hell of a lot less(bullshit), but we do nothing and we are actually doing nothing to reduce this very large long-term liability.” ”
And that sure worked well…with how many shifted from ACC to SLP and Jobseekers?
So far….I’m certainly not seeing how this government attitude towards those whose health and disability needs prevent them from being in paid work differ from National’s.
Policy change to encourage those on benefits to participate in paid employment ( https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03-11-2018/#comment-1546092) without increasing the base rate for the SLP for those who simply can’t work sounds like more arbeit macht frei to me.
“His plan for the sick and disabled folk… was to replicate ACC’s tactics”
And with Labour apparently just passing a remit (extending ACC to include illness) can we assume they plan to do the same (replicate ACC’s tactics) albeit a little softer?
When people are (badly) haemorrhaging you don’t because you can’t wait, you must act there & then. So, I reject that we should sit & wait for ‘something special’ or even for a budget surplus, a healthy economy or what have you.
This is how I see the main political parties in NZ framing their view [singular] of our society: A is as important as B, but B is conditional on A.
Craig H…sorry, can you explain your remit? What exactly does it entail? ‘extending ACC to cover illness’…is this the ACC weekly compensation? ACC level treatment, rehab, ongoing support? Heavens forbid to be able to have a resident family member as your paid carer? Only ‘illness’, or would the extension cover those born with disabilities?
That Labour could entertain the possibility of extending the scheme to cover those born with disabilities seems too far-fetched. Up there with raising basic benefit levels.
“Even the pro-Government blogsite, The Standard, is publishing criticisms of the scheme – see: KiwiBuild doesn’t fly. According to this critique, the Government is effectively privatising “state housing land”, to be used by private developers and the KiwiBuild scheme, meaning that most of the land will be for privately-owned houses. It says John Tamihere is correct in his call that development on state housing land in Mangere is akin to “social engineering”…..
Didn’t know that Kiwibuild was ever meant for low earners. So Kiwibuild becomes fodder for the Edwards with his mates in the Opposition.
Yeah, this has come up at conference. More explanation about state housing improvements is needed. Kiwibuild is about intervention in a buggered market. Building new state houses is complimentary, but different. Both are good policies.
So many lies spread by some well known names on Standard
.
State housing land is being ‘gifted’ to private buyers.
Kiwibuild homes have a big subsidy.
No new State houses are being built.
That ultra high insulation/glazing is required to make them ‘warm and dry’
Those who don’t qualify for state housing and would get laughed out of the bank if they tried to get a $650K mortgage for a Kiwibuild loan. Some of these households don’t even qualify for WFF, FFS. They are hard working families which for a variety of reasons haven’t been able to be stable enough to be seen as good loan material. They have young kids and instead of subjecting them to years of austerity have decided to give them what opportunities they can now instead of scrimping for an ever increasing deposit. Dad slogs his guts out and mum works part time around the kids.
Building new State Houses is urgent. Demolishing existing State Houses and using any of the land they were built on for Kiwibuild houses is uncomplimentary.
The East Porirua scheme is very like the Glen Innes one – building fewer state houses on the land; some Kiwibuild homes there and some homes on the general market.
The promise is for 150 more state houses than before. But the 2000 state homes being replaced in East Porirua, may not be on that land as far as I can see.
Basically, it looks like many state home tenants will be moved elsewhere in Porirua – uprooted from their existing community to make way for more homes in the area on the market for the middle classes.
Why? Why not build the new Kiwibuild and general market homes elsewhere in Porirua, rather than shift the state homes there?
TBH Carolyn_Nth, my usual talent for being able to seek out the nitty gritty on Government work appears to be failing me. For the life of me I can’t seem to find a one stop website that tells everything a citizen would ever want to know about Government’s plans and schemes for housing. Slogans…yes. But actual hard core nitty gritty from an actual government website (not a ‘partner’ website) is proving a challenge.
Must be because I’m closer to 86 than 16 and am tuning out. 🙁 🙁
The announcement by the government is not totally clear. But, to me ot looks like there will be 150 new state homes on top of the ones already in East Porirua.
The East Porirua land that currently has 2000 state homes, will be regenerated – ie the existing state homes will be rebuilt, and also on the same land will be Kiwibuild homes, plus homes built by developers for the general market.
it’s not totally clear to me whether the current 2000 state homes will all be rebuilt on the existing land, or whether some will be rebuilt elsewhere in the wider area.
Lots of pretty images, but I’m not seeing any more detail there and it says:
In Eastern Porirua, we expect physical works to start in 2019. This is a 25-year project, and it is very early days, so the detail is still to come. But we expect the first public housing to be delivered in 2019 and the first KiwiBuild homes in 2020.
““For instance, in Māngere – just one of many projects that the Government is working on at the moment – 2700 state homes are going to be demolished and 3000 state homes are going to be rebuilt, but in a third of the land area.
“The other two-thirds are going to be KiwiBuild and affordable.
“By my estimations, in 2700 homes there now, there’s probably 12,000 to 15,000 people in those homes. Multiply that to be 10,000 homes [on the site in total] and we’re looking at 25,000 to 30,000 people living on the same land mass.
“That’s 30,000 human beings of different cultures, different religions, differing values and life, living in the same space as 12,000 people used to.”
I do think Labour have learned somewhat from the debacle of Glen Innes. however, the vagueness about some details is concerning.
I do get the idea that people might be rehoused in greater Porirua, rather than in the area of Porirua where they currently live. But that still might be a disruption for many.
“Kiwibuild is about intervention in a buggered market”
I wish people would see that. In previous times people would rent and build up an asset base to move into home ownership. Now, due to a combination of factors that step has become impossible for most people in Auckland and many other areas, and they are trapped in the rental market. KiwiBuild is about moving the people who would otherwise have left the rental market into ownership by “de-risking” the building of lower spec homes for developers (4 bed, 2 bath and office appeals to more buyers, so more are built) and using the power / guarantee of government to drive the cost down. The resulting churn in rental market then helps those further down.
Probably a poor choice of words there using “down”, but it will allow people to leave the rental market and provide opportunities for others to enter the same limited market.
But KiwiBuild is really only targeting a very limited group, and it’s an easy and cheap intervention. The targets are, or were, potential National voters being the aspirational young things striving for their first homes. They will be ensuring the Coalition’s second and maybe third term. That’s why 101st keyboard brigade is loosing it’s shit over it.
There’s a big difference between this and completely rebuilding our social housing infrastructure, it’s been fucked by being run like a hire centre. That will require a much stronger government, with say 75 or 80 seats in the house and the corresponding public support to undertake bold projects. KiwiBuild is a step on that path, both physically and politically.
Pretty sure they’ll enjoy their foray into the centre having hoovered up all those soft right wing votes. I don’t have any confidence they’ll do much at all for long term tenants in the face of that.
Last Saturday was a watershed moment for me because I saw where Labour were going for their survival. I feel they have abandoned a lot of the people who voted for them in the hope they’d get a fairer crack.
Not to be so far.
It’s not too late though. They just need to rethink eligibility and support for Kiwibuild accessibility, fast.
Nope. You don’t get to comment on this, sorry. You are from the other side. Those who don’t believe in any support for families who find the equation of modern life difficult to comprehend. Families who work super hard but have had mistakes hang around their neck for years.
I hear the criticisms of the current version of Kiwibuild from the Nats and the right wing but they are criticisms born of simple and automatic opposition to the government, rather than support of low income families finding peace and security in their communities.
We see simple calls from the low regulation right wing for more housing – ‘just build them’ – but whenever a house is built there are wider, 100 year factors to be taken into account.
I don’t have any issue with Auckland City putting the brakes on wild-west developments because you cannot move these people to work without the right long term strategy.
Yep. Although I believe she said, ‘I’m not going to carry a table’ or words to that effect, the cosying up to Savage while standing next to a portrait of white upper middle class privilege was a huge mistake from JA.
“”If I can hark back to some Labour tradition,” said Ardern, going on to remember the “great father of the Labour Party” Michael Joseph Savage and Norman Kirk, who had one of her favourite sayings: “All one really needs is something to do, somewhere to live, someone to love and something to hope for.””
Yeah. This government removed hope for tens of thousands of families last Saturday.
If the Greens could stop navel gazing for five seconds and ramp up their already strong housing policy they could really teach Labour a lesson on this.
I’d be very happy with a Labour/Green government next term with the Greens making sure Labour didn’t slop down in the centre, fat dumb and happy.
“If the Greens could stop navel gazing for five seconds and ramp up their already strong housing policy they could really teach Labour a lesson on this.”
Yes. I voted for the Greens. Two ticks. Hoping they’d put on their steel toe-caps and do some proper social advocacy.
Speaking of the Greens and their inaction. Remember the glimmer of hope shown by Marama re her bold stance taken in support of the disabled grandmother who was offered a free solar setup but was declined approval by HNZ to install it? Winter has come and gone and it has still yet to be resolved.
I had my suspicions about the Lange government from before it was elected. Two things in particular concerned me:
1) LABOUR’S CRASS, BOORISH, DULL CAMPAIGN
The choice of the egregious Jennifer Warnes/Joe Cocker song “Up Where We Belong” made me cringe every time I heard it, and pointed to a dire lack of imagination and creativity in the party. Funnily enough, the New Zealand Labour Party’s use of that virtually unlistenable pop song in 1984 was echoed by the Democratic Party eight years later, when Slick Willie’s campaign song was Fleetwood Mac’s equally awful “Don’t Stop Thinkin’ About Tomorrow”.
2) THE SOUP KITCHEN INCIDENT
Shortly before the 1984 election, the Labour Party organised a brilliant media event to draw attention to the plight of the poor and homeless under the heartless National government. They organised a mock soup kitchen, to be held at Myers Park. Overtones of the Great Depression, unemployment, sugarbag years….
The media was invited, and all the Labour candidates they could muster would be there. Talking about poverty, of course. It was a MOCK soup kitchen, of course, but the soup was real, and prepared by one of Auckland’s most renowned chefs, and everyone would of course be served some of this top-grade soup after the speeches.
A short time before the event was about to get under way, as the assembled guests and dignitaries were arriving, the organisers were annoyed to see that a couple of real homeless men had arrived. They’d seen the mock-up Depression-style “Soup Kitchen” sign and assumed….
Assumed WRONGLY, it turned out. Labour’s hired muscle for the day escorted the horrible, tatty, unwashed tramps away from the “Soup Kitchen” quick smart, and the Labour Party Soup Kitchen event got under way. There was no further trouble from lowlifes that day.
Fair point, Ad. I do indeed support Labour, though not uncritically. We need always to be vigilant about what is happening in our party, who is calling the shots, and whether or not they should be entrusted with leading us. It’s worth remembering that a small clique of ideologues took over the Labour Party in 1984 and nearly destroyed it. It’s no coincidence that that Soup Kitchen debacle and that rotten advertising campaign ushered in the regime of Douglas, Moore, Palmer, and Prebble.
“One of the women who accused Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault has apparently admitted she lied and used the allegations as a “ploy” to get attention.”
But the saga of Jacob Wohl took a turn this week, when he was unexpectedly implicated in a bizarre plot to smear special counsel Robert Mueller as a sexual predator. The exact nature of the scheme, and Wohl’s involvement, is somewhat unclear. On October 17, a number of journalists reportedly received an e-mail from “Lorraine Parsons,” alleging that she had been contacted by a man claiming to work for a firm called Surefire Intelligence, on behalf of G.O.P. operative Jack Burkman, who had offered her substantial sums of money to make false accusations about Mueller. Yet no reporters were able to verify that Lorraine is a real person. Surefire Intelligence, too, appeared to be fake. When NBC News investigated, they found the Web site was registered to Wohl’s e-mail; a phone number on the site went to a voice mail that provided another number listed as belonging to Wohl’s mother. (Wohl stopped responding to NBC after they asked why his mother’s phone number was in that voice mail.) In perhaps the most amateurish element of the whole sordid episode, Internet sleuths quickly discovered that headshots of Surefire’s purported employees actually belonged to celebrities including Israeli model Bar Refaeli and Austrian actor Christoph Waltz. A photograph of “Matthew Cohen,” allegedly a managing partner at Surefire Intelligence, is simply a darkened image of Wohl himself.
Note: This woman was not one of the women to make solid accusations against Kavanaugh. Those accusations still stand. The letter she forwarded was a copy of a letter from an anonymous accuser – Jane Doe – which may or may not be false.
rimmer from act just called for plastic bags to be brought back and people caught littering for the third time should be jailed . Boys lost the plot.🤣🤣🤣🤣
the hui Kia ora Its tricky I think its cool Jacinda’s on your show Its best that all common poor people are lifted up there ladders of life together . Just targeting maori we need unity and targeting maori will just divide Aotearoa society .
The Labour Party has done a awesome job in there first 12 month’s in the New Coalition
Government. Ka kite ano P.S I see
All Americana Wahine and minority cultures should houner your Children and Ancestors buy getting up and voting for a better brighter healthy future for all HUMAN KIND. That’s how big a ISSUE The mid term elections in America is at this point in time if you don’t vote that’s a vote for trump and we can not have him letting people think that behaving like a ASS is OK we need and want PEACE and Harmony not War and lies.
Ka kite ano Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
Now All The Latino people in America We Have a link Its a well known fact that Aotearoa New Zealand Ngati Porou iwi has a great Ancestor Jose Manuel .I have a direct link through my Grate-grand mother there was talk about a African link to .
Don’t let the go oil party or trump rain over our moko /Grand childrens future and your mana/ power get up and vote there people out of power. link to Jose Manuel site below
Ka kite ano. P.S Don’t let them rain ruin over the WORLD.
Native American cultures have a lot in common with Native Aotearoa /New Zealand.
In the way we see and treat most thing’s .Respect for our Ancestors respect for our whenua/land respect for our decedents. ka kite ano vote for your childrens future
The Navajo, like tribes across the country, have bristled at Trump’s suggestion that tribes should be reclassified as races rather than separate governments, a legal shift that would mean that tribal members were no longer exempt from Medicaid work requirements. Trump’s downsizing of Bears Ears national monument, which was done at the urging of Utah Republicans, has also been a key rallying point for Native Americans link below https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/01/navajo-nation-utah-midterm-election-gerrymandering
American Wahine / Ladies of all cultures step up and vote so there is no illusion in thoughts of man that you want your daughters treated Equally in all aspects of our Worlds society
Jordan is part of a blue wave of candidates pushing to change the face of US politics, with record-breaking numbers of women and history-making women of color and Native Americans on the ballot. With progressive stars like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stunning pundits with victories, there’s a sense among some non-traditional Democratic campaigns that anything is possible. Ka kite ano Link below https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/31/paulette-jones-idaho-governor-native-american-democrat
Syria need’s peace or million’s will suffer starve and DIE War should be in OUR history books in the year 2018. I have figured out why war has not been left behind GREED
The White Helmets risked life and limb to save over 115,000 lives during the Syrian conflict, despite attacks at the hands of the Syrian regime and the Russian military,” Hunt said. “The UK is proud to stand behind them.”Raed al-Saleh said Moscow’s record of broken promises meant he had little confidence in a ceasefire brokered between Russia and Turkey in September. The agreement halted a planned advance on Idlib, one of the last parts of Syria still outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad, and currently home to more than 3 million people.Ana to kai ka kite ano links below.
Eco Maori has a good grasp of the situation in the Middle East and around the World.
I’m not laying blame on one side or thee other you are both to blame clean this mess
UP in Syria and the World. Ka kite ano.
I know the big company’s are manipulating the market’s and push out the new smaller company’s
“The big retailers are rigging the market to stop smaller players competing and getting bigger prices to the public.In a current situation where there’s a squeeze on gas and lakes are bit a lower, these are the perfect conditions for them to exercise market power. I would expect it the big business all ways cheat to squeezes out the small company’s
But Marc England, chief executive at gentailer Genesis Energy, said while there was “something unusual” going on, there was no gaming of the system. “There’s no big versus small plot here.” this man is lieing through his teeth.ka kite ano link below.
Kia ora Newshub Its not the fire works its the idiots using them wrong deliberately
With the 2 hedge fires in South Island .?????????????? hope its not to bad this year for fires caused by idiots
The new support staff for teachers is cool the Labour party had a good event in Dunedin in the South Island this weekend.
That will be cool to have a pest free Banks peninsula that’s more logical than trying to eliminate all pest in Aotearoa.
The wind is going hard in Itlay at the moment I hope no one was injured global warming no
There was a Black out in Chicago & Japan this weekend and the Green Irish won to .
I bet that guy will be wishing his horse does not win the Melbourne Cup lol.
Good win Israel at your fight in UFC Ka kite ano
. Alex I have experienced the wind Castle point and Turn again it sure get the Boat rolling thats why its called turn again we would get there and turn for shelter .
Can we trust New Zealand’s military? There must now be serious doubt, given the landmark report released on Friday concluding the investigation into allegations made in the book Hit and Run by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson about a 2010 SAS killing raid in Afghanistan. The most recent Colmar Brunton ...
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Former National Minister - Wayne MappYou could tell that the Hit and Run book by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson was right on the money by the way former National Party Minister of Defence, Wayne Mapp, reacted to its now largely vindicated claims.Even though the recent inquiry into ...
So, the Hit and Run inquiry has reported back, and found some appalling shit at NZDF and NZSIS. And while they quibble a few of the details - the name of a dead child - they basicly uphold Hager and Stephenson's version of events. The SAS went to those villages. ...
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On different trajectories and from different ends of the political spectrum, last night’s One News/Colmar Brunton poll has the Green Party and ACT converging around the five percent mark. And, as odd as it may sound, they head into the election campaign with a lot in common.Putting the Greens and ...
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. . For the mainstream media, today (22 July) was even a better day than yesterday. More Sex. More Politics. More Sex AND Politics. Yesterday, the msm dealt with Andrew Falloon. The obscure backbench MP had been found to have sent pornographic images to at least four women. The woman’s ...
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Today a full bench of the High Court is hearing Andrew Borrowdale's challenge to the legality of the COVID-19 lockdown. That lockdown ended two months ago, so the point seems moot - but it was never about ending it. Instead, as Andrew Geddis points out, its about a key principle ...
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It hasn’t taken long for the advent of Judith Collins as National party leader to change the tone of the political debate. After several days of headlines and airwaves dominated by reports of a National MP sending pornographic images to young women, the National leader had had enough of that ...
Don Franks An already fired up general election looks like getting even edgier. When final votes have been counted, a rather unlikely coalition government now seems possible As National and Labour implode with sexual proclivities while New Zealand First fling their last toys from the cot, others show more maturity. ...
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. . “The Martians had no resistance to the bacteria in our atmosphere to which we have long since become immune. Once they had breathed our air, germs, which no longer affect us, began to kill them. The end came swiftly. All over the world, their machines began to stop ...
In October 2018, Sealord's fishing boat Ocean Dawn repeatedly bottom-trawled in a Benthic Protection Area on the Chatham Rise. It was a crime which devastated a pristine marine environment. And today, they've been properly punished for it: Sealord has today been ordered to forfeit a $24 million fishing vessel for ...
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Last night, the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2020 was passed unanimously by Parliament. The Act updates the 1972 Equal Pay Act to create a bargaining framework for equal pay claims and hopefully avoid the need to take them to court. It doesn't go far enough - there's no pay transparency ...
The New Zealand government has done the right thing and granted journalist Behrouz Boochani refugee status: Eight months after arriving in New Zealand, acclaimed author Behrouz Boochani has been granted refugee status. The Kurdish-Iranian writer joins a small group of successful applicants – with almost two thirds of asylum ...
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Both Labour and National are talking about requiring people arriving in New Zealand to pay $3,000 of the cost of the mandatory managed isolation/quarantine period. The policy has been criticised as “shameful”. There are petitions against it. I have some concerns about the politics behind the proposal, but I’m neither ...
Auckland Philippines Solidarity and Migrante Aotearoa are jointly holding a rally to speak up for human rights in the Philippines. The human rights situation in the Philippines has deteriorated significantly since President Duterte came to power in 2016. As many as 27,000 people have been killed in police operations during ...
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WELLINGTON – Thursday July 23, 2020 Good morning everybody. I’m the latest leader of the National Party. It’s me! Judith Collins. There has been a lot said over the past week month few months years about the culture within the National Party. Today I would like to clear a few ...
Last night, the New Plymouth District Council approved the creation of a Māori ward to ensure that Māori would have a voice in their local government. Its the second time they've tried to do this - an earlier attempt in 2015 was overturned by a racist referendum. And predictably, there ...
Investing in our people, backing businesses, and upgrading infrastructure and housing throughout the country - it's been another week of progress for New Zealanders as we deliver our plan to recover and rebuild. ...
July was another busy month, packed with key investments aimed at progressing our economic recovery as we rebuild New Zealand. We extended support for businesses, helped create jobs through local infrastructure projects, and kept working to clean up our waterways so Kiwis can access safe clean water. Check out the ...
The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failures within the Defence Force led to ‘a series of incorrect statements in briefings to ministers and public releases’ regarding alleged breaches of international torture prevention ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
The Green Party are ensuring that New Zealanders who were overseas when COVID-19 hit will not be charged for the cost of isolation or quarantine if they return home to live. ...
It's been another week of creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and investing in infrastructure up and down the country - all of which are helping to keep our economy moving post-COVID-19. ...
The Green Party have secured legislative amendments in a bill expected to pass third reading this week, to ensure better rules for school teachers and staff, so they can de-escalate children with diverse needs and cognitive differences, such as autism, rather than using unnecessary and often traumatising force. ...
New Zealand needs to be more aggressive in pursuing economic opportunities and resist the short-term thinking affecting some of its major industry, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says.Mr Peters told Wellington Chamber of Commerce members this morning that the planned closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will have ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has ridiculed the National Party "circus", with the politician saying it was in "chaos" after the resignation of another MP.Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon announced on Monday he would retire from politics after he allegedly sent inappropriate pornographic images to a young woman. Following a ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters today outlined what he saw as the requirements to re-open New Zealand's borders for tourists and travellers. If New Zealand was dealing solely with an Australian state such as Tasmania, we wouldn't need a vaccine, said Mr Peters, but these moves were complicated by the ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters appears to have prompted last-minute alterations to proposed legislation for commercial landlords and their tenants. Mr Peters told reporters on Wednesday said that he was making sure the proposed bill was in step with what the parties had actually agreed to. He said he ...
Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprise and New Zealand First List MP Shane Jones attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new NZ Post "super depot" in Wellington. The state-owned postal service, which got $280 million from the Coalition Government last month, is expanding its operations to handle surging parcel volumes. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First CHECK AGAINST DELIVERYIntroduction Good afternoon. Welcome to you all here today and party supporters watching from around the country. We appreciate your hard work keeping New Zealand First strong; thank you for keeping the faith. Sixty-three days out from Election Day, ...
The diversity of conservation boards around Aotearoa is increasing with 47 appointments to 14 of the 15 conservation boards across New Zealand announced today by the Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party is honoured to be remembering former co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons today at a public memorial service in the heart of Wellington at the Cathedral of St. Paul’s. Following her passing in March, this celebration of her life brings together her friends, family and colleagues to honour her life ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has announced a $2.5 million boost for South Westland to help a regional alliance of local businesses and government agencies provide nature based jobs. ...
Investing in infrastructure is one major way we can create jobs, stimulate the economy, and keep New Zealand moving post COVID-19. That's why this week we rolled out a massive number of infrastructure announcements - in Tairāwhiti, Wairarapa, Otago, Southland and more! ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters says the National Party’s Auckland Transport announcement today is a breath-taking plan on the never never. While it is promising to see that National all of a sudden has rediscovered railways in Auckland, including trains ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP A range of projects announced by the Hon Shane Jones in Southland and Otago will build communities and create jobs, according to New Zealand First List MP Mark Patterson. The town of Gore received funding to build a new public library and ...
News that Rio Tinto has announced that it is planning to wind-down operations at the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter could not have a come at a worse time for the people of Southland. While it has been clear that Rio Tinto was never going to support Southlanders over the long haul, ...
Whenua/land, roto/lakes and awa/rivers in the central North Island will benefit from increased habitat protection with new biosecurity investment across iwi and Crown-managed lands and lakes announced Conservation and Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage in Rotorua today. ...
As part of a broader plan to reduce the increasing amount of rubbish ending up in New Zealand’s landfills, the Government is to fund new recycling infrastructure and expand the national waste levy scheme.$124 million Government investment in recycling infrastructurePlans confirmed to increase and expand the waste ...
The Government is providing an investment totalling more than $100 million for regions to protect against and mitigate the effects of climate change, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones have announced. Six regions will receive funding from the $3 billion allocated to infrastructure projects from the ...
Three major local projects at Te Kuiti and Otorohanga have been given the money to get moving after the impact of Covid 19, says the Minister of Māori Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta. The projects range from a Sports Centre for Te Kuiti, a redevelopment of the Otorohanga Kiwi House and ...
The Coalition Government has extended three New Zealand Defence Force deployments to the Middle East and Africa by two years, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “These deployments promote peace in the Middle East and Africa by protecting civilians and countering the spread of ...
The release of the National Climate Change Risk Assessment shows that the progress this Government has made to solve the climate crisis is essential to creating cleaner and safer communities across New Zealand. “Because of this report, we can see clearer than ever that the action our Government is taking ...
The second round of the Community Resilience Fund is now open for applications for sport and recreation organisations experiencing financial hardship between 1 July and 30 September 2020. “The fund opens today for five weeks – closing on September 6. The amount awarded will be decided on a case-by-case basis ...
Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today declared Rakitū Island, off the coast of Aotea/Great Barrier Island, predator free. “I’m delighted to announce that with rats now gone, Rakitū is officially predator free. This is a major milestone because Rakitū is the last DOC administered island in the Hauraki Gulf Marine ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.75 million to restore significant historic sites at Ōhaeawai in the Far North, upgrade marae and fund fencing and riparian planting. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones made the announcements following a service at the historic St Michael’s Anglican Church at Ōhaeawai today. Just ...
The Chatham Islands will receive close to $40 million for projects that will improve its infrastructure, add to its attraction as a visitor destination, and create jobs through a planned aquaculture venture, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the islands, first ...
The Government is delivering more initiatives to reduce energy hardship and to give small electricity consumers a voice, Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods said today. “In addition to the initiatives we have already delivered to support New Zealand families, we are responding to the Electricity Price Review with further ...
Government, iwi, NGOs and rehabilitation groups are working together to turn around the fortunes of the nationally endangered hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin following a series of terrible breeding seasons. The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage helped launch the Five Year Action Plan at the annual Yellow-Eyed Penguin symposium in Dunedin today. “I ...
The membership of the Tourism Futures Taskforce has now been confirmed, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced at an event at Whakarewarewa in Rotorua today. “The main purpose of the independent Tourism Futures Taskforce is to lead the thinking on the future of tourism in New Zealand,” Kelvin Davis said. Joining ...
More than $300 million in funding has been approved to protect strategic tourism businesses, drive domestic tourism through regional events and lift digital capability in the tourism industry, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. A $400 million Tourism Recovery Package was announced at Budget 2020, and with today’s announcements is ...
From 2021 permits will be required for New Zealanders wanting to export hard-to-recycle plastic waste. The Associate Minister for the Environment, Eugenie Sage, today announced the requirements as part of New Zealand’s commitments to the Basel Convention, an international agreement of more than 180 countries which was amended in May ...
The building and construction sector is still showing strong growth, with the number of new dwellings consented up more than 8 per cent compared to last year, reflecting a welcome confidence in the Government’s COVID-19 response package, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. “While it is still too ...
Government investment of $23 million for Bay of Plenty flood protection will allow local communities to address long-standing flood risks and provide jobs, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced in Rotorua today. These projects are being funded by the Infrastructure Reference Group’s (IRG) shovel ...
Investment for projects that will create hundreds of jobs in Rotorua were announced today by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. These projects will provide opportunities for economic development in a region that has been hard hit by COVID-19,” Winston Peters said. Fletcher ...
For the first time, primary schools will have access to funding for counsellors for their students, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. “A major investment of $75.8 million will provide greater access to guidance counsellors to help primary and secondary school students deal with mental health and wellbeing issues,” ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark today welcomed the release of the Report of the Government Inquiry into Operation Burnham and related matters, and the Government response. “I thank the Inquiry for their thorough and detailed report, on a highly complex issue. I accept the recommendations of the report, and fully support ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones has announced $6 million of One Billion Trees funding for seven regional initiatives to create jobs and provide long-lasting environmental and economic benefits. The projects range from improving one of the poorest-quality water catchments in Otago to restoring 52km of waterways around Hokianga Harbour. Six of the ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters today announced $5.5 million in funding from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) for two Kawerau projects and says this is a significant boost for the people of Kawerau. “These projects will bring much-needed investment and will create up to 60 jobs for locals,” Mr Peters ...
Kaingaroa Village in the Bay of Plenty is to get $5 million to help fund a comprehensive upgrade of its infrastructure, facilities and housing, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. Mr Tabuteau travelled to the remote village to make the announcement, telling Kaingaroa residents how the funding ...
The Rangiuru Business Park project near Te Puke is getting $18 million from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This is all about unlocking the potential of this region. When it’s finished, the Rangiuru Business Park will be the Bay of Plenty’s ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has today announced that a $26 million investment in Ōpōtiki will see important public amenities upgraded and further progress made on new aquaculture opportunities. “The people of Ōpōtiki have been waiting decades for real investment in key infrastructure, and support for the incredible aquaculture opportunities ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio wishes to congratulate the Cook Islands community throughout Aotearoa for the 9th year of Te ‘Epetoma o Te Reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani, the Cook Islands Language Week. “This is a proud milestone that reflects on the huge effort made by the Cook ...
Aucklanders in the Eastern Suburbs will soon have more ways to get around, with Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter kicking off construction on Section 2 of Te Ara Ki Uta Ki Tai, the Glen Innes to Tāmaki Drive Shared Path today. The Glen Innes ...
The Government is stepping up the fight against measles and protecting hundreds of thousands more young adults by investing up to $40 million for a year-long measles-catch-up campaign and $23 million to fully fund and develop the National Immunisation Solution, Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter announced at Mangere ...
Attorney-General David Parker has today released the findings of the Government inquiry held into Operation Burnham and related events. The operation took place on 21-22 August 2010 in Tirgiran Valley, Afghanistan, and was carried out by NZSAS troops and other nations’ forces operating as part of the International Security Assistance ...
From tomorrow, community groups around New Zealand can apply to a $36 million fund established to encourage locally-led solutions as communities rebuild and recover from COVID-19, announced Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni and Minister for Community and Voluntary Sector Poto Williams. “The Community Capability and Resilience Fund (CCRF) builds ...
The Government has committed to improving Māori health and wellbeing over the next five years. The Associate Minister of Health (Māori Health) today released Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan 2020-2025 which sets the pathway towards achieving healthy futures for all Māori. “As kaitiaki of the system, the Ministry of Health ...
New environmental standards will make the re-consenting of existing marine farms more consistent across the country. The new regulations for the National Environmental Standards for Marine Aquaculture (NES-MA) will come into effect on 1 December, Environment Minister David Parker and Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash said. “The NES-MA removes complexities and ...
Today marks a milestone as the Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta co-sign an Addendum – with the Iwi Chairs of Te Rarawa, Ngāi Takoto and Te Aupōuri – to the Te Hiku o Te Ika Iwi-Crown Social Development and Wellbeing Accord (the ...
The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill (No 2) passed its third reading today and will become law, announced Minister for Veterans Ron Mark. This amends the Veterans’ Support Act 2014 in response to recommendations from the 2018 review of the operation of the Act by Professor Ron Paterson. “Veterans have been ...
Minister for Racing Winston Peters says race courses can improve safety with this year’s first round of funding from the Racing Safety Development Fund. The Racing Safety Development Fund makes available $990,000 for distribution over two funding rounds for the 2020/21 financial year. “The racing industry is integral to the ...
The Government’s commitment to increase primary sector jobs and opportunities has been further boosted today with the re-opening of the Taratahi Agriculture Centre, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The Wairarapa-based training centre is reopening its doors after two years to deliver industry taster and familiarisation courses, to help workers displaced ...
New Zealanders are being invited to help recognise the work of the many “unsung heroes” in our ethnic communities during COVID-19. “Aotearoa New Zealand is home to 920,000 people who identify their ethnicity as Middle Eastern, Latin American, African, Asian, and Continental European. During the extraordinary time of the COVID-19 ...
The Government is allocating $40 million to assist with the cost of mediation and arbitration for New Zealand businesses and landlords to resolve issues about adjusting rent as they face the economic impacts of COVID-19, Justice Minister Andrew Little said. The Government had previously announced funding to improve access to ...
The Government has announced details of a planned new law to give Police the power to conduct random roadside drug testing of drivers, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter and Minister of Police Stuart Nash announced today. The Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Bill was introduced to the house today ...
More warmer, drier homes and a big building boost for regional centres across New Zealand are two of the major benefits from a $500 million investment in the upgrade and renewal of state homes. Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi has confirmed the multi-million dollar expansion of the Kāinga Ora – ...
The Government will provide $8 million towards the revitalisation of the Paihia waterfront in the iconic Bay of Islands, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Bay of Islands is the cornerstone of Northland tourism and Paihia the hub for maritime-based tourism and recreation in the area. “Weather and economic ...
Health Minister Chris Hipkins welcomes confirmation of Canterbury DHB’s move into state-of-the-art Christchurch Hospital Hagley building which will serve the community well for decades to come. The Ministry of Health is on track to hand over the facility on 10 August 2020. Sterile Services is due to be operational on ...
The science on transgender women in sport, from the person whose scientific work informed World Rugby's controversial new proposed policy The man who helped write guidelines on transgender players in women’s rugby says he hates that his work has created a platform for people to attack transgender people as cheats. ...
Kāpiti Coast commuter rail campaigner Gwynn Compton says the National Party’s announcement that, if elected to government, they will fund the electrification and double tracking of the Wellington metropolitan commuter rail network to Ōtaki is ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Timor-Leste’s Journalist Association (AJTL) and journalism students marched through the streets of the capital Dili today calling on the government to scrap plans to change the law to make defamation a criminal offence. Under the proposed law journalists could face jail sentences. Opponents of the proposed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute The announcement of stage 4 restrictions in Victoria marks a new, and depressing, stage in Australia’s response to COVID-19. The new measures will close non-essential retailers and most child-care centres across Melbourne, and impose ...
China said on Monday it will suspend its extradition agreement with New Zealand in response to Wellington suspending its existing extradition treaty with Hong Kong, Reuters reports. ...
China said on Monday it will suspend its extradition agreement with New Zealand in response to Wellington suspending its existing extradition treaty with Hong Kong, Reuters reports. ...
On Saturday the man behind Game of Thrones hosted the ceremony for the prestigious Hugo Awards. Sam Brooks recaps. In a blog post just over a year ago, American writer George R.R. Martin said that New Zealand had “formal written permission” to jail him if he didn’t have The Winds of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Wood, Chief executive officer, Grattan Institute How do you occupy a child for long enough to get any work done? This will be the question confronting more than 150,000 Melbourne families for at least the next six weeks. The Stage 4 ...
China said on Monday it will suspend its extradition agreement with New Zealand in response to Wellington suspending its existing extradition treaty with Hong Kong, Reuters reports. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Non-essential retailers across Melbourne will be shut except for “click and collect” and delivery sales, and industries including meatworks and construction will be drastically scaled back, under Victoria’s unprecedented lockdown. The business shutdown details came ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Russo, Associate Professor, Director Cabrini Monash University Department of Nursing Research, Monash University Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced sweeping changes to businesses across metropolitan Melbourne, including closure of retail stores and restrictions on some industries, including construction. The new constraints ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security), Edith Cowan University In what seems to be a common occurrence, Chinese video-sharing app TikTok is once again in the headlines. After months of speculation about national security risks and users’ data being harvested by ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Controversial Papua New Guinea citizen Joe Chan has been arrested in Malaysia – this time under the name Djoko Soegiarto Tjandra. And also this time as an Indonesian, a wanted and convicted fugitive and graft convict, reports the PNG Post-Courier. He has been on the run ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Can we trust New Zealand’s military? There must now be serious doubt, given the landmark report released on Friday concluding the investigation into allegations made in the book Hit and Run by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson about a ...
We need to crack on with building the systems and infrastructure necessary to be able to safely accommodate far more travellers than the system can currently handle. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Trigg, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of English Literature, University of Melbourne In our series Art for Trying Times, authors nominate a work they turn to for solace or perspective during this pandemic. The Greeks are at the gates, and the city ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there are plans to increase testing of staff at airports and isolation facilities and to equip GPs to ramp up testing. ...
What happens when New Zealand’s queen of K-Pop rallies a room full of kids to become homegrown popstars? You get TVNZ On Demand’s K-Pop Academy.Korean pop music – or “K-pop” – is, arguably, the biggest musical genre on the planet. BTS is its most famous name, but South Korea is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University Creative destruction “is the essential fact about capitalism”, wrote the great Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942. New technologies and processes continuously revolutionise the economic structure from within, “incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is condemning Kaikoura District Council and Tararua District Council for failing to identify earthquake-prone buildings , as required by law. Union spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke says, “These Councils broke the law ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) has welcomed today’s release of the first National Climate Change Risk Assessment , but say that unless it’s paired up with a framework that enables councils to act on the assessments, communities will be ...
With women leading both major parties and the highest number of female MPs (38%) since women were first allowed to stand for Parliament in 1919, it’s time that proper attention was paid to one of the most fatal of women’s cancers. ...
Taxpayer handouts to electric car buyers will not save the planet, says the car review website dogandlemon.com . Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, who has studied electric cars for over a decade, says: “The lobby group Drive Electric , which wants the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, UNSW With Victorians heading into a new round of even harsher lockdown measures, there will again be a focus on how people will cope — the ...
Respected business journalist Rod Oram visits the Nelson region next week to give two talks on the opportunities that Covid-19 presents for New Zealand to tackle climate change, poverty and what he calls “other deeply systemic failures”. Oram has ...
Transparency and clear disclosure of actions and policies have been key to the COVID-19 response, Reserve Bank Head of Financial System Policy and Analysis Toby Fiennes said delivering a speech in Wellington today. Market discipline is one of the three ...
Latest from the Beehive- The tourist industry is the biggest beneficiary of government funding distributed as loans or grants from an array of programmes and pots in the past few days. The $311 million of funding involved has resulted in the $400 million Tourism Recovery Package being fully allocated. Invitations, ...
As Victoria locks down again over a second wave of Covid-19, Andrew Geddis looks at how New Zealand might respond should community transmission be again detected here Melbourne’s adoption of “stage 4” restrictions to combat its Covid-19 outbreak - stay-at-home orders, limited exercise time, a night-time curfew - are a timely warning to us here ...
A major new report has outlined the biggest and most pressing risks New Zealand faces from climate change, and they go well beyond the science of changing weather patterns. What’s all this then?One of the most dangerous and concerning aspects of climate change is the unpredictability of it all. Some ...
The country's first national climate change risk assessment has identified 10 significant areas that need to be urgently addressed by the government in the next six years. ...
The first ever National Climate Change Risk Assessment has found 'New Zealand’s climate is warming, sea levels are rising, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe', Marc Daalder reports Over the next 70 years, wildfires and extreme storms will become more common in New Zealand, vast swathes ...
Time is running out to make voting easy in the 2020 General Election and referendums. About 500,000 eligible New Zealanders still haven’t enrolled to vote and half of them are under the age of 30. “Make voting easy this year by getting your enrolment ...
By Bryan Kramer, Papua New Guinea’s Minister of Police Assistant Commissioner Lesa Gale of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) staged a press conference to announce the arrest of five members of an Australian drug syndicate connected to the recent drug bust in PNG. This was a multi-agency operation that had ...
Announcing eight new episodes coming soon to The Spinoff and RNZ.Good news for people who love Bad News – Alice Snedden’s docu-comedy series tackling some of Aotearoa’s most contentious social and political issues is back for a second season.Like the first, which saw Alice go head-to-head with Don Brash in ...
One of the puzzling aspects of the global Coronavirus pandemic has been the absence of an international accord to grapple with the greatest challenge since the Second World War. After the global financial crisis of 2008-9, world leaders agreed to devise solutions – US presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama, ...
The Crazy Rich Asians author creates froth that may in fact be genius, says Sam Brooks. Kevin Kwan’s first novel Crazy Rich Asians had the kind of success every populist author dreams of. It became a beloved bestseller, which turned into a slightly less beloved trilogy, which then turned into ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Labour's economic plan is to focus on Covid recovery with investment in training and jobs, and that National's plan to reduce debt would mean $80 billion in cuts. ...
heTruly making a difference to New Zealanders’ mental health means addressing factors that go far beyond the health system’s remit. There’s a plan ready to go, writes Shaun Robinson of the Mental Health Foundation, and the next government must put it into action. “I need help.” That’s how many of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Celia Harris, Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow, Western Sydney University We are all living through a major historical event, a once-in-a-century pandemic that has radically changed how we work, learn, travel, socialise and spend our free time. But for many of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Howard Manns, Lecturer in Linguistics, Monash University Things are really jeffed up for Karens right now. The Miley (“coronavirus”) did a Melba (“made yet another a comeback”), and Joe and Jane Bloggs are being drongos. In the process, “Karen” has become the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn Moore, Social Researcher, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania In his book Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe writes that settler Australians wilfully misunderstood, hid and destroyed evidence of Aboriginal Australians’ farming practices. My analysis of secondary school textbooks shows this behaviour ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carl Grodach, Professor and Director of Urban Planning & Design, Monash University COVID-19 and the growing recession concentrated in the services sector will not just increase social inequality, but accelerate the growing spatial divide in our cities. As our new research report ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Glennda Scully, Professor, Curtin University The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a surge of calls to domestic violence support services, as survivors of violence spend more time at home with their abusers due to lockdowns and other restrictions. Many feel they can’t leave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carly Osborn, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Adelaide In our series Art for Trying Times, authors nominate a work they turn to for solace or perspective during this pandemic. There is a genre of novel that I have relied upon for many ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 3, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz7.45am: PM defends limited border chargesJacinda Ardern has defended the government’s decision to only charge Kiwis returning back into ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Exploring the rapid rise of Billy TK’s NZ Public Party, report finds senior military officers misled ministers over Operation Burnham, and Lake Taupō water monitoring to be led by iwi.Within the space of a few months, Billy Te Kahika Jr ...
There are four big decisions to get ready to make in this year's elections. As well as picking a preferred party and candidate, voters will vote on the End of Life Choice Bill and whether they support a bill which would legalise cannabis. Here are the basics on the Cannabis Legalisation and ...
The Health Ministry ticked off the aged care sector for restricting visitors to rest homes before the national lockdown. David Williams reports On March 17, the coronavirus outbreak was seemingly in its infancy – yet it was closer to pushing politicians into drastic action than many thought. Ministry of Health ...
As the cannabis referendum draws nearer, Finlay Macdonald takes note of a new book about New Zealand's attitude towards marijuana Like any number of New Zealanders, I have a rich store of anecdote about my personal relationship with weed. Youthful adventure, horticultural experimentation, bad cabbage, Thai sticks and close shaves ...
We are more comfortable than ever telling stories about intimate experiences in public, so why is miscarriage still such a taboo subject? I recall my mother telling me a story, many years ago, about losing a baby to miscarriage. She had experienced bleeding and been told by her doctor to go home, put ...
Whether in the boardroom, or behind the lens, Angela Ruske has played a crucial part in the Otago Nuggets' golden NBL basketball season. As the Otago Nuggets were on their way to grasping their first men's NBL title, Angela Ruske was trying to stay calm courtside by focusing through her camera lens. ...
When do we get a prime minister who looks like New Zealand, asks Laura O’Connell Rapira.I want a Māori prime minister. I want a trans Samoan deputy prime minister and I want a former refugee as speaker of the house.I want a Muslim mayor. I want a disabled deputy mayor ...
People like me already don’t know when we will see ‘home’ again, thanks to the forthcoming border fees, writes Jai Breitnauer. We don’t need to be judged for it too.About eight weeks ago we got a message we had been dreading – my father-in-law was in hospital having been in ...
What's in the diary for this week? Newsroom Pro collates the newsworthy events you need to know about. Today | 6 July sdfsdf sfsdf sfds Tuesday | 7 July sdfsdf sfsdf sfds Wednesday | 8 July sdfsdf sfsdf sfds Thursday | 9 July sdfsdf sfsdf sfds ...
New Zealanders are about to vote on two of the most polarising social issues of our time - how much do you know about the cannabis and end of life referendums? In less than five weeks, New Zealanders will vote on two polarising issues in referendums, held at the same ...
Social Credit has prevailed in the first round of its High Court challenge to the Overseas Investment Office decision to grant Chinese owned company Hong Kong Jingang permission to take over New Zealand’s second largest milk processing company, Westland ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As Melbourne moved to an extraordinary 8pm to 5am daily curfew and Stage 4 restrictions, and Victoria declared a “state of disaster”, Scott Morrison took to social media with a message for the embattled residents. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rodney Tiffen, Emeritus Professor, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney James Murdoch is not the most obvious candidate for editorial heroism. His route to resigning from the News Corp board because of “disagreements over certain editorial content” has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney A “state of disaster” has been declared for the whole of Victoria from 6pm, Sunday August 2, for a month. How is this different from the existing “state of emergency” and what powers ...
As the state of Victoria continues to record shocking new Covid-19 numbers – 671 cases today – a strict new stage 4 lockdown is being imposed. Adrian Esterman, an epidemiologist at the University of South Australia explains what the means.Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that metropolitan Melbourne will move ...
Jacinda Ardern’s “kind” government rather unkindly wants to push through under urgency this week amendments to residential rental tenancy law that are both unworkable and vicious, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today. If the Residential Tenancies ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that metropolitan Melbourne will move to “stage 4” restrictions from 6pm Sunday, as new cases of COVID-19 continue to rise. The state recorded another 671 cases and ...
Open Mike 03/11/2018 
Can we trust New Zealand’s military? There must now be serious doubt, given the landmark report released on Friday concluding the investigation into allegations made in the book Hit and Run by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson about a 2010 SAS killing raid in Afghanistan. The most recent Colmar Brunton ...12 hours ago
In New Zealand, we've just had the report of the Hit and Run inquiry, which found that a New Zealand led raid had accidentally killed civilians, including a child. meanwhile, around the same time, the British SAS was conducting its own raids in Afghanistan, and theirs were a hell of ...13 hours ago
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Rising Seas Could Menace Millions Beyond Shorelines, Study Finds As climate change raises sea levels, storm surges and high tides will ...16 hours ago
"Who's youse accusin' of innference?" Without the timely intervention of a team of top American political consultants and campaign experts, Boris Yeltsin would never have won his second term as President of the Russian Federation. The Russians waited 20 years to return the favour.WHEN IT COMES to the disinformation game, ...19 hours ago
As polling day in the American presidential election draws closer, things are looking bad for Donald Trump. The polls show that he is tracking well behind his Democrat rival. Most people assume that the President will be striving might and main to avoid what looks increasingly likely to be a ...21 hours ago
Our health professionals do an amazing job. Image credit: Wikipedia – Cardiac surgery. Finally, I have got back to these rankings. A long period in hospital and computer problems meant the June 2020 rankings were abandoned. Now, with a new personal defibrillator implanted in my chest and a new hard ...2 days ago
Over the last few days, reports have emerged of people travelling from New Zealand and testing positive for Covid-19 upon arrival at their destination. First in South Korea and now in Australia. What might these positive tests mean? They’re false-positives As Toby Morris and I have explained before, there are ...3 days ago
Former National Minister - Wayne MappYou could tell that the Hit and Run book by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson was right on the money by the way former National Party Minister of Defence, Wayne Mapp, reacted to its now largely vindicated claims.Even though the recent inquiry into ...3 days ago
We are failing to think though the interdependencies in an economy. We miss economist Bryan Philpott (1921-2000). I miss him personally – we used to have such great discussions – but this column is about how the nation misses his economic experience and wisdom. We tend to ...3 days ago
TUESDAY AUGUST 4Grand Designs UK (Three, 7.30pm). ...5 days ago
Most of the claims made by anti-fluoride propagandists are simply wrong. Image source: Fluoridation and the ‘sciency’ facts of critics Anti-fluoride propagandists continually cite studies from areas of endemic fluorosis in their arguments against ... 5 days ago
Daphna Whitmore So far this year over 7.4 million people have died from preventable communicable diseases. There were 4.3 million children who died under the age of five. Nearly one million people have died of HIV/AIDS in the past six months. A similar number of people have died from malaria ...7 days ago
. . For the mainstream media, today (22 July) was even a better day than yesterday. More Sex. More Politics. More Sex AND Politics. Yesterday, the msm dealt with Andrew Falloon. The obscure backbench MP had been found to have sent pornographic images to at least four women. The woman’s ...7 days ago
There’s ultimately two key narratives overall that are seeking to take front row in order to reshape the world as a whole going forward from the COVID pandemic. The first is a very desperate attempt to reimpose “a return” to what is perceived as “the old normal”, quite impossible. ...1 week ago
Auckland Philippines Solidarity and Migrante Aotearoa are jointly holding a rally to speak up for human rights in the Philippines. The human rights situation in the Philippines has deteriorated significantly since President Duterte came to power in 2016. As many as 27,000 people have been killed in police operations during ...2 weeks ago
Hosted by Selwyn Manning and EveningReport.nz, ” A View from Afar” is a podcast series dedicated to exploring current affairs, international relations, political events and military-security issues from somewhat uncommon angles. In this first episode we continue the coverage of the Portland protests first offered on these pages. The conversation ...2 weeks ago
WELLINGTON – Thursday July 23, 2020 Good morning everybody. I’m the latest leader of the National Party. It’s me! Judith Collins. There has been a lot said over the past week month few months years about the culture within the National Party. Today I would like to clear a few ...2 weeks ago
Read article here ...2 weeks ago
Investing in our people, backing businesses, and upgrading infrastructure and housing throughout the country - it's been another week of progress for New Zealanders as we deliver our plan to recover and rebuild. ...3 days ago
The Green Party is calling for greater prioritisation of Māori and Pāsefika healthcare to fix systemic inequities in the health system. ...4 days ago
New Zealand needs to be more aggressive in pursuing economic opportunities and resist the short-term thinking affecting some of its major industry, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says. Mr Peters told Wellington Chamber of Commerce members this morning that the planned closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will have ...2 weeks ago
The Government is providing an investment totalling more than $100 million for regions to protect against and mitigate the effects of climate change, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones have announced. Six regions will receive funding from the $3 billion allocated to infrastructure projects from the ...12 hours ago
The science on transgender women in sport, from the person whose scientific work informed World Rugby's controversial new proposed policy The man who helped write guidelines on transgender players in women’s rugby says he hates that his work has created a platform for people to attack transgender people as cheats. ...2 mins ago
Kāpiti Coast commuter rail campaigner Gwynn Compton says the National Party’s announcement that, if elected to government, they will fund the electrification and double tracking of the Wellington metropolitan commuter rail network to Ōtaki is ...12 mins ago
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Timor-Leste’s Journalist Association (AJTL) and journalism students marched through the streets of the capital Dili today calling on the government to scrap plans to change the law to make defamation a criminal offence. Under the proposed law journalists could face jail sentences. Opponents of the proposed ...6 hours ago
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Cruz by 3 polling points.
C’mon Beto!
The Cook Political Report has moved that race to toss-up. And there’s record early voting turnout for key Democrat voters.
Stories of rampant Republican-initiated voter suppression in Georgia and Arizona. Voters thrown off the rolls, forced to cast a provisional ballot if they turn up, which then isn’t counted. Haven’t heard anything about how bad it might be in Texas, but It has to be a worry.
Standard practice for Republicans every cycle sadly. Interesting to see that there’s a narrative developing that Trump is already casting around for someone to blame if next weeks results prove disappointing for Republicans. And that someone looks to be outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan who is not seeking re-election.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/31/trump-rips-paul-ryan-over-birthright-citizenship-comments-with-days-to-go-before-midterms.html
Greg Palast (gregpalast.com) saying it is very aggressive this year. Seems that voter suppression is the reason behind discrepancies between polls (including exit polls) and actual results. Provisional ballots cast on the day by those purged from the rolls, are not counted. Will be interesting to watch.
Widespread early voting may help to ameliorate some of these voter suppression tactics I suppose?
A Federal Judge in Georgia has just ruled that the state must allow over 3 thousand naturalised US citizens to vote in a defeat for Republicans who had sought to suspend their voter registrations.
Mentioned it in yesterdays open mike but at 4ish in the morning…
Cellphones cause cancer.
I’ve known this many years and people just treated me like a loony so I dropped the subject and stopped quoting studies. But the studies continue, and they continue to PROVE cellphones cause cancer. The science was obvious before but still these large corporations lie and deceive – controversy… you know, like global warming, tobacco, and a housing crisis.
Take those stupid damn devices off your face and from your kids now. They make you stupider, reduce concentration span, have all sorts of psychological implications, are deliberately designed to addict…
And cancer.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/14/mobile-phones-cancer-inconvenient-truths
What, you think the biggest companies in the world tell the truth? You and your children mean nothing except to bolster their profits.
Nope you are still acting like a looney.
https://www.livescience.com/63996-cellphones-cancer-rats-ntp-study.html
When have you ever had the guts to question the motivations of large corporations?
You just want a simple life.
See no evil, hear no evil.
So you shill for the powerful.
It dosnt take guys – it take a strange view on life to think everyone is a dr evil.
And I was simply pointing out he was wrong.
See post below about labour UK and their anti-Semitism below.
I question the motivations of this large organisation. I see evil in this.
Happy now Ed ?
I asked about corporations.
Like the fossil fuel , pharmaceuticals, animal agriculture, alcohol industries.
The corporate powerful interests that put profit over the people and the planet.
We are on the brink of climate catastrophe thanks to neoliberal capitalism and the actions of corporations.
Interesting that you ignore the anti-Semitism comments also.
Just sayin
Ed has no time for your propaganda.
Yes you are so right there. Ed has so much propaganda of his own that he can’t keep up with even that.
Whilst it would be great to be so powerful- it’s not owned by me.
Reported in numerous reputable news outlets and is actually being investigated by the police.
That’s facts not propaganda
Kinda of funny then that the biggest contributor to global warming is not capitalist countries, but the good old communist regime of China (over 23% of all global CO2 emissions). Blows your conspiracy theories right out of the water Ed.
They even say that “the findings do not apply to people”.
So what they are pointing out is what you have “known” for years is proven wrong by a huge study.
Did you read the article?
I highly doubt it.
Says the guy who recommends movies having only seen the trailer.
I read the abstract.
It is very funny how you jump back to prove my point.
I watch the film.
I share the trailer.
Interesting article.
This bit stood out.
“A closer look reveals the industry’s sleight of hand. When Henry Lai, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington, analysed 326 safety-related studies completed between 1990 and 2006, he discovered that 44% of them found no biological effect from mobile phone radiation and 56% did; scientists apparently were split. But when Lai recategorised the studies according to their funding sources, a different picture emerged: 67% of the independently funded studies found a biological effect, while a mere 28% of the industry-funded studies did. Lai’s findings were replicated by a 2007 analysis in Environmental Health Perspectives, which concluded that industry-funded studies were two and a half times less likely than independent studies to find health effects.”
2011 – WHO – EMF – Possible Carcinogen
Listen to some people who actually know what they’re talking about
LOL. Why we have no need for concern:
“You are not a male rat.”
This calls for the cone of silence.
Labout (UK). Hate speech enablers:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/cancer-jew-boy-uk-police-probing-dozens-of-labour-anti-semitism-allegations/
Of course only against Jews. Use the wrong pronoun and they will be all over it.
That is horrid if true.
But one has to point out that what Israel has done to the Palestinians hasn’t exactly helped with Jewish PR.
Are you allowed to say that cindy?
Who would one ask for permission to say it?
Hi james, You might be interested in this petition..
https://www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-tory-links-to-antisemitism-in-eu-politics
Putting up links from a very right wing Israeli paper from the beginning of September when the dubious crusade against UK Labour was in full swing? And suggesting it’s current? Really!?
Here is a link from the BBC dated November 2nd.
Hope that is independent and current (dated nov 2).
Perhaps now you will be happy to discuss labour (uk) anti-Semitism?
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-46073470/labour-anti-semitism-claims-investigated
There should be a register to stop people like this ever being able to rip off landlords.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/108223999/a-tenant-from-hell-facing-her-16th-tribunal-hearing
@James. What government don’t realise is that sort of behaviour is becoming a wider spread problem of why there is going to be increasing private rental shortages in particular at the affordable end.
The government are only focusing on landlord problems, there are also issues with anti social or mentally ill tenants impacting on housing, people who can’t afford rents or just fraudsters out there.
Even the government does not want to be a landlord anymore and is selling off the state houses and land for private sale and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants.
What happens to the others, a pretty large group of people, some of whom seem have major social issues along with the entitlement who even when given opportunities feel or (litigate) they are the victims.
“Even the government does not want to be a landlord anymore and is selling off the state houses and land for private sale and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants.”
That is untrue. Try having some honour and tell the truth.
Ok $120k – $180k is the income bracket for Kiwibuy is that the middle class? Let me know the ‘true’ answer in your eyes.
The government are selling approx 2/3 of the state house land… to fund new posh housing for a few select renters instead of repairing at much less cost the existing housing and developing the land better for RENTING. (The older housing would last longer anyway judging from modern building practices and standards which is another issue we will ‘find’ out in the next few decades if the new, posh housing fails).
“Even the government does not want to be a landlord anymore and is selling off the state houses and land for private sale and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants.”
you said that and it is not true – if it is put the links and evidence up please.
How is it not true marty?
Isn’t “right to buy” the government selling housing stock into the private sector? How else might that be seen?
And public land has been transferred to the private sector as a part of KiwiBuild.
“… and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants.” ”
That is not true.
Yip, in my example Housing Corp wouldn’t even consider “middle class options”:
Reader said residents questioned Housing New Zealand vigorously at the meeting and suggested alternatives such as buy back of houses, and affordable or retirement housing options but alleged Housing New Zealand would not consider these.
The Northern Advocate asked Housing New Zealand if it would consider affordable or retirement housing as alternatives to state housing alongside questions about the meeting and the status of the sale.
In response, Housing New Zealand asset development group general manager Patrick Dougherty provided this statement:
“Housing New Zealand appreciated the opportunity to talk to people on Saturday and explain what the next steps would be following settlement [yesterday] and confirmation that we are now the legal owner of this piece of Crown land.
“We’re now looking forward to getting on and planning what state housing we could put on the land and sharing these details with both the people in the Maunu community and the broader Whangārei community as soon as possible. “
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503439&objectid=12068423
They are taking part of an area used as a public park and owned by Ministry of Education.
Bit of a double standard as in Auckland where the land is so expensive and they need the affordable housing much more due to population growth they have created, they are worried about slums so do not want to put social housing all in one location, hence Kiwibuy, but apparently outside Auckland, no problem?
Housing corp/their private build partners must consider the Whangerei state houses are unlikely to end up as the Auckland slums they worry about as they are treating the cheaper land locations somewhat differently? Sarcasm.
Don’t think you read what i wrote in my first link below:
“Manau is one of Whangarei’s whitest and wealthiest suburbs.”
There are currently no state houses there. That is what is upsetting the nimbies so much. So same policy as in Auckland.
And we DO have a serious problem with homelessness up here now with population increase as cashed up Aucklanders move north. Great work being done on our new day centre for the homeless:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/362943/crazy-response-to-whangarei-homeless-centre
Well, if you don’t think SaveNZ is mistaken to see the private sales component of KiwiBuild as being aimed at the middle class, then how’s about you engage meaningfully with them over that point in lieu of accusatory finger pointing that only encourages boring ‘yes it is’/ ‘no it isn’t’ type exchanges that go nowhere and offer nothing?
I have asked for proof – I know there isn’t any because it is made up. You can’t provide any proof either so how about YOU put some truth up and not just your subjective and bias opinion. When we don’t have made up thinks we can engage meaningfully.
In asking for proof, you’re lazily (and again) “having a go” instead of engaging around the ideas and opinions people hold or promote.
What proof can there possibly be that would back up an ostensibly subjective notion of what is and isn’t middle class?
If you think it’s a financial thing and that the finances are within reach of non-middle class peeps, then have that debate with SaveNZ.
Truth is, that would make for better reading than the shouty ad homs you’re pinging up.
You may like unverified attack lines against labour but I don’t. There is no proof that labour have said the following … “and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants.”
That is an attack line and not true. You may like it or even believe it but I’m not discussing with someone who deliberately muddies the waters before the discussion has even begun.
The truth is imo you are just pissed off with me and are looking for a way to try and ban me. Own your stuff bill.
@Bill
This is in open mike and not in your thing about Kiwibuild. This discussion started with James linking to an article about a bad tenant. SaveNZ responded by saying that “even the government does not want to be a landlord anymore” which is clearly false as the government is increasing state housing stock. When Marty challenged this false assertion SaveNZ came back with Kiwbuild but Kiwibuild is aimed at people who would not qualify for state housing and so would never be state tenants.
All Marty has done is ask for proof of what is clearly a false assertion. My understanding of the rules here is that making assertions “you are unable to substantiate with some proof” is not tolerated.
@ solkta
It’s alright. Appreciate the support and this is an old pattern between bill and I and I accept some responsibility for it.
Truth is I know there is no proof – I just get sick of these dim attacks on Labour.
Actually it is up to Marty and Solka to provide proof of the ‘lies’.
So please link to how many state houses have been built this year and moved into by state house tenants?
No, the burden of proof is on you SaveNZ. You made the statement yet can’t back it up.
SaveNZ didn’t claim NZ Labour had said and only wants to provide middle class options for middle, upper class tenants
That aside, your apparent noble and tribal defense of NZ Labour against any perceived criticism is noted. I’m more in line with Rosemary, Sioban and others on that front. But hey…
I don’t want to ban you marty, and would hardly hae to “search” for a reason to do so – that’s just you projecting (again) and wrongly second guessing my thoughts and/or intentions – which is getting damned tedious if truth be told.
@ solka.
SaveNZ voicing their opinion is legitimate and (get this!) what the standard is intended for.
Attacking a person for expressing an opinion is not what the standard is for.
But this infantile level of exchange does my head in, so instead of trying to steer things in a healthier direction (it’s striking me as a lost cause) I’m outta here in the hope that Rosemary, Carolyn_Nth, Molly and others who make worthwhile contributions to discussion have had something to say in the meantime.
Chow.
@Marty
I feel i have as much skin in this game as you. Many of SaveNZ’s posts are false assertions about Labour and the Greens. I hate that, even when it is directed at Nact. I can see that there is a pattern between you and Bill but hey will i be next?
@ solkta
Yeah I get it. Hard to deal with spin sometimes.
@ bill. Yeah I’m sick of you too especially for bullshit like this, “That aside, your apparent noble and tribal defense of NZ Labour against any perceived criticism is noted”
Always love the big threats you do eh bill – little man big stick syndrome imo but thanks for the LOLs.
[ 🙄 It’s your behaviour I’m finding tedious marty. Not you. Hell, I don’t know you from a bar of soap and could walk past you in the street or even pass time with you over a beer and be none the wiser. But that aside, since you’re obviously not paying any heed to what’s being written and seem determined to carry on on the same track that involves submitting comments that are just excuses for snide or direct ad homs, I’m now assuming you’re angling for self martyrdom. Which is fine. Any more comments coming from you that appear to be just wrappings for pointless abuse, or that appear to have been constructed solely or mostly as a platform from which to launch personal abuse, and I’ll help you honour that 8 week ban you said you were imposing on yourself a week or two back.] – B.
Hi Marty
SaveNZ certainly implied intent by the government, but whether the current performance of kiwibuild is by intent or not, the perception is that kiwibuild is not reaching those genuinely in need. The couple proudly paraded by Phil Twyford and Jacinda Ardern as the first owners of a KiwiBuild home are not examples of people who need government assistance into housing. They are classic examples of middle class welfare, and given the Michael Joseph Savage imagery, Labour have to own that.
If you are interested, Chris trotter has written on Kiwibuild at https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2018/11/kiwibuild-should-be-targeting-poor.html. I’ll finish with his closing quote:
“About the only people who aren’t happy are those who believe that publicly funded social interventions on the scale of KiwiBuild should be directed first to those most in need. Tragically, however, the Coalition Government is selling the poor a pup.”
It’s interesting, shadrach, that Twyford’s response was pretty much that the poor wouldn’t be able to afford home ownsership anyway so what’s their problem.
While I agree with some concerns re building codes/building smarter, this debate has elements of ridiculous left wing identity politics.
Lower and upper middle class… more categories to divide folks up. And somehow, now, a middle class person buying a house is the ‘private sector’ like they’ve taken the form of some corporate entity upon receiving their keys. They’re people moving into their first homes, not villains.
Hey bill yesterday you challenged me re KiwiBuild homes not being fit for purpose, warm, dry, last well. I re-read your post but could find no link. Can you let me know the source of your information? Cheers
You mean in relation to AGW?
edit – okay, I think I found the comment you made. If you go through the link that was used as the source for the IEA quote, you’ll see under the heading “2. The New Zealand Building Code” further quotes from other studies pointing to the fact that NZ building codes are wanting in relation to other richer countries.
Both the OECD and the IEA point to the necessity of retrofitting in the future should NZ continue to build houses to current standards.
Beyond that, it’s just taken for granted that in a world experiencing warming, houses need (for example) to have enough thermal mass to reduce the amount of energy used for heating and cooling – we can’t construct energy supply networks fast enough to get zero carbon energy in time to avoid shooting through 2 degrees. That means we have to simultaneously reduce demand through efficiences while at the same time expanding energy supply to cater for a whole pile of stuff that’s going to have to shift from fossil and bio to non-carbon and electric.
Beyond the energy side of things, buildings that aren’t built to deal with prolonged heat waves are buildings that people will be dying in. If last year’s northern summer is an indicator of things to come, then we’re probably not looking at decades down the track – more in terms of mere years.
You might find the following of interest in relation to the current NZ building standards being behind those of other countries and maybe with an eye to the comparatively poor standard of insulation in NZ – and expected heat events.
From pp36 onwards in Your Home in a Changing Climate retrofitting existing homes for climate change impacts (for policy makers)
and
Impact of climate change on the domestic indoor environment and associated health risks in the UK
Thanks for replying Bill.
Will read soon. I don’t doubt that our building standards are rubbish, but read (for what it’s worth, and it’s probably not worth much) that KiwiBuild would be warm dry homes… but you may be referring to other needs as our planet warms. The honest truth is that I am so pleased National aren’t in power anymore, that I tend to think well this is better, so much better than what National would have done. Appreciate people such as yourself to critique labour more rigorously.
I do support the idea of young first home buyers getting access to buying their own home though. But clearly more needs to be done for the poor. They are doing stuff eg porirua announcement but I hope they are getting the message to increase their efforts here+++++
I’ll start off with this example where “the government” is moving ahead with a state housing development in the face of strong local opposition. Manau is one of Whangarei’s whitest and wealthiest suburbs.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=12152740
That is land. No houses built there just ‘paper plans’. Unlike the Kiwibuy which has already got the houses built and middle class tenants moved in there. In contrast the state house tenants have not got houses, but plans and have been evicted and in temporary housing.
And if antisocial tenants and gangs move into Whangarei, when it eventually gets built, how nice will that be for the rest of the residents living there?
Right, so you are all for the state providing rental housing but only if it contains low income people in slums well segregated from the well to do.
Time for your private room there Solka. Even I can’t make out what you are on about, which is apparently being annoyed about what I am on about.
PS Did you bother to post on the Labour conference any ideas of your own?
This is supposed to be a site for comments and ideas not what you are using it for, aka to derail debate.
You said:
And if antisocial tenants and gangs move into Whangarei, when it eventually gets built, how nice will that be for the rest of the residents living there?
You say you want to look after the most vulnerable but don’t want the wealthy to be burdened with having them in ‘their’ neighborhood. I live in a mixed neighborhood and have five direct housing corp neighbors and have never had an issue. All nice people.
https://www.labour.org.nz/kiwibuild
Multiple initiatives to tackle the housing issue.
“The Government will invest $100 million into tackling homelessness in this month’s Budget.
Of that total, $37m will go into providing 1500 shorter-term houses, which should be in place by the end of winter.
The other $63m will be used to significantly ramp up the Housing First Programme, which is a longer-term solution and targets the most vulnerable families in the country.
Housing First is based on the idea that people should be placed straight into permanent housing, rather than emergency shelters, before any other issues such as addiction or mental health are addressed.
There are no conditions attached for tenants, such as a requirement to be alcohol or drug-free when they come into the progtramme.
The new money will expand the programme to another 550 households outside the main centres, at a cost of $42.9m. The remainder of the $63 million will be used to sustain and expand Housing First services – such as mental health treatment.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Housing Minister Phil Twyford made the announcement at Te Puea Marae in Mangere, which took on large numbers of homeless in recent years as the problem worsened.
Speaking at the marae, Ardern said there should be no homelessness in a country like New Zealand.
“Images of children growing up in cars sits well with no one,” she said.
She said the government would be also seeking out help from other maraes and social services, who have land or the ability to offer services to homeless people.
She acknowledged the funding package would not be enough to end homelessness and said her government aimed to deliver more funding to build permanent housing in coming announcements.
Putting chronically homeless people into emergency housing did not provide them with long-term stability, she said.
“[But] this is us trying to meet the immediate need.”
Twyford said most of the new 1500-odd homes were already available for homeless people to move into.
He said the public housing waiting list in New Zealand was now over 9000 and heading for 10,000.
The minister appealed to the public to assist with finding homes and land which could be used for emergency housing.
“We can’t do this alone … If you know of properties that might be available over winter, such as seasonal worker accommodation or private rental homes, we’d like to hear about those.
“We’d also like to identify small land options suitable for temporary housing with power and water connections ready to go, such as marae and private land.”
The $37m for MSD came from underspend under the previous Government. The $63m was new money and was on top of the $300m committed by the National Government in 2016.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12044775
Hi Marty. Managing HNZ tenants is a massive ongoing challenge with lots of potential to paint the government ugly.
eg: As per your link, providing long term chronic alcoholics with a permanent place to call home is great, the best option I feel. But geez, I wouldn’t want to be fielding the endless streams of complaints from disgruntled neighbours.
I agree Marty, these initiatives do represent movement in the right direction and most certainly is the hard way. Our previous government’s solution to the problem was to try and drop the lot into the lap of The Salvation Army.
They wisely said “No thanks Mr Key, we don’t want your 1000’s of free houses”.
Also you say “The new money will expand the programme to another 550 households outside the main centres, at a cost of $42.9m”
So that seems a ratio of $78,000 per household, per year if yearly or is that amount over how much time?
Cos $650,000 for a house for 50 years adds up to $13,000 per year and if the house lasts 100 years it’s $6,500 per year per household if the state owns the house.
Then they get state house rent from the tenant etc to cover expenses, interest etc.
Long term that’s a significant amount of money to find aka $42.9m and it might be easier just to can Kiwibuy and just pop the homeless in the Kiwibuild houses and save a shit load of tax payer money.
Demand for State Houses is unlikely to be met for generations, if ever. Places like Sweden were building them before white fellas landed in NZ. Millions of us would stick our hand up if offered a home for a third of our available income.
Housing First is not a state agency. The government are giving significant amounts of money to third party providers who then use private housing (aka private landlords) for the housing and obviously there are overheads to having 5 separate organisations who all have their own paid members etc to run all these charities and organisations.
So the money is not going into state housing. It might be going into helping homelessness but it is not going into building the actual housing via groups like Housing First.
If you have a link to an actual NEW state house built with our tax payer money in first years this government has been in power and has permanent and secure tenancy in place, I’m keen to see it.
Grenfell is an example of how things can go wrong when you put overhead over overhead into social and state housing. The money can easily go in the wrong direction and the tenants are at the mercy of organisations that are profiting from the arrangement of them managing the money. Of course it’s all great when they first get the money and full of success stories, but 5, 10, 20, 100 years time, what is going to happen with this approach over just one generation and how much money gets siphoned off the system.
Housing First should only be considered a temporary solution because of the dysfunction caused by National party. Long term it is just siphoning off housing money using third party approaches rather than investing WISELY in the actual housing itself owned by the state specifically for state housing and making housing NZ functional again.
New state house built – heres it is, as part of ongoing Tamaki Regeneration
https://www.tamakiregeneration.co.nz/our-community/news/new-residents-enjoying-show-home
They also have homes for sale under shared equity arrangements
And another Auckland suburb
https://www.hnzc.co.nz/news/latest-news/monk-mackenzie-award-winning-state-housing-should-be-the-norm/
And New State flats in Wellington
https://www.hnzc.co.nz/news/latest-news/te-maru-o-tawatawa-homes-open-in-the-capital/
New state houses Timaru
https://www.hnzc.co.nz/news/latest-news/regenerating-regional-nz-housing/
The TRC link does not tell the full history of what went on in Glen Innes, which started way back in 2011 with evictions of existing tenants.
The transfer of state housing to Auckland Council and the TRC is still a transfer, and a shirking of responsibility.
A Facebook link to some of the tactics used in 2012 to get people to move gives an indication of the failure to negotiate with the existing community in good faith.
I’m pleased for those who have now got a stable home in GI state housing tenancy. But I doubt that all those who previously resided in GI managed to withstand the continual uncertainty and overt hostility to get keys to replacement houses.
But really, seven years to be relocated? Do you understand how disruptive that is to community, children’s education and general wellbeing?
The full history of what went on previous to the handing over of the keys is relevant, and missing from your link.
Corrections, the Tamaki Reboot started in 2008 under Labour, according to John Minto (who has been following this process from the start).
Ten years… great.
The right to buy: the housing crisis that Thatcher built
Now revived by David Cameron, the right to buy social housing was a key Conservative policy in the 80s: populist, profitable, and with its disastrous effects yet to come
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/26/right-to-buy-margaret-thatcher-david-cameron-housing-crisis
My last comment – I appreciate that you are trying to look after the most vulnerable in our society. I don’t agree with many of the extrapolated conclusions you reach. I also want to look after the most vulnerable in our society.
The right to buy your state house was the norm in New Zealand throughout the 50s and 60s and was a successful policy. The only reason for this, though, is because it was regarded as merely one aspect of a wider housing policy of providing low interest home loans to either buy or build, secure low cost tenancies for those who continued to rent, and actively replacing stock that was sold to tenants. The only negative aspect of that era was the shortlived or not used enough approach of pepper-potting, the consequences of which we still see today. A housing policy that has all of these things, including pepper-potting and adding full insulation, is what we need right now.
National introduced right buy in the mid 50s
“the government offered purchasers very generous terms: 5 percent deposit, a 3 percent mortgage rate, with a maximum purchase period of 40 years”
That is the State was the lender- Sate Advances Corporation.
Trading Banks of course didnt lend much to ordinary homeowners and most housing loans were from Savings Banks who required you to have a deposit saved with them. Investors were fairly rare.
In general National wanted renters to buy houses and didnt like building more, while labour was the opposite.
In the 1990s National moved to ‘market rates’ for all state houses and allowed those not normally eligible to rent expensive state houses , often so they could buy , especially in Auckland.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/we-call-it-home/the-state-steps-in-and-out
Even though it was the previous government, HNZ did hand over half the equity and the management of HNZ stock to Auckland Council, and the Tāmaki Regeneration Company. And that model is currently being used as validation for other proposals along similar lines.
My concern is that when authority and management is diluted amongst three different entities, it is quite easy and often observed, that it is difficult to get anyone to take responsibility. I feel that is the perspective I share with saveNZ. I feel strongly that state housing should be administered, owned and maintained by the state. Council housing similarly.
The moves to override local government regulations in order to provide housing, would quite rightly be criticised on this forum, if it had been proposed by National. Aligned with PPP models, this is a complete disregard for considered planning, and will most likely result in long-term negative outcomes for those residing in resulting communities, and possibly for the neighbourhoods surrounding. Local government planning and regulations should be putting in place guidelines and rules to improve the wellbeing of residents and communities for years to come – and Phil Twyford is suggesting to ignore all that?
Why is that seen a reasonable thing to do?
There is a register James. She targets soft touch private landlords who have decided to save 8% of the rent and manage their properties themselves. A landlord that hands over the keys before a tenancy agreement is signed or photo ID sighted deserves their fate. Miniscule savings that can easily cost much more than the rent due.
Tracy’s form is freely and quickly available by tapping her name into the Tenancy Tribunal Orders search facility.
https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/TT/
Just as well she always uses her real name isn’t it davy. Crikey, imagine what she could get away with if she told fibs about stuff.
Hi Gabby, not sure I understand your point. Tracy appears to be a chronic liar. As I say, the landlord that rents to anyone without sighting a drivers license or passport does so at their peril.
You know, i wouldn’t put it past her to be less than 100% accurate in providing a driver’s licence.
Does James have the guts to challenge these powerful organisations ?
The US and UK arms industries.
The US and UK governments.
All complicit in mass murder in Yemen.
“Since Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies launched a bombing campaign to oust the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the spring of 2015, the UK has sold and estimated $5 billion worth of arms to Riyadh.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-saudi-arabia-oxfam-aid-air-strikes-civilian-casualties-a8615081.html
“UK government ‘has blood on its hands’ over Yemen conflict but poll shows 42% of British public do not know war exists”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/yemen-war-saudi-arabia-bombing-british-uk-arms-exports-public-poll-keith-vaz-blood-hands-a8604521.html
Switzerland has now halted arm sales to the Saudi’s.
Sure do Ed.
I’ve stopped eating broad beans.
Makes as much impact as the stands you make.
“Plastic – unlike glass or metal – cannot be recycled infinitely, and after a handful of times it will be discarded, where it will take centuries to degrade. One single water bottle will remain on the planet in some form for a minimum of 450 years.
Even if plastic were easily and infinitely recyclable, it is still manufactured from crude oil often obtained by methods such as fracking, one of the most environmentally damaging processes in existence, which produces carbon emissions and contaminates the surrounding areas, putting people’s health at immediate risk.
It’s clear that something needs to change, and it’s not about recycling. If we want to truly address the devastating impact of single-use plastic the answer is simple: governments must focus on stopping its production entirely.
Single-use plastics should be immediately banned, or at the very least heavily taxed. ”
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/plastic-waste-wish-recycling-bins-black-environment-green-shopping-a8548736.html?fbclid=IwAR1lkdImgBHjdQyiVV_YeB2jZmcRUgxjKO4MWB7xye-hemUQHQkhcmZFdzo
(Personally I am for a ban on single use plastic, but we are so far gone now that is not enough, we need to create a system where the manufacturers are responsible for the recycling of every type of plastic post use, and that will ensure that they start to eliminate unnecessary plastic through their supply chains. )
Completely disgusting.
“A plan to turn a huge tract of pristine Antarctic ocean into the world’s biggest sanctuary has been rejected, throwing the future of one of the Earth’s most important ecosystems into doubt.
Environmental groups said Russia, China and Norway had played a part in blocking the proposal, with the other 22 members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the organisation set up to protect Antarctic waters, backing the proposal.
The 1.8m sq km reserve – five times the size of Germany – would have banned all fishing in a vast area of the Weddell Sea and parts of the Antarctic peninsula, safeguarding species including penguins, killer whales, leopard seals and blue whales.
Experts said it would also have played a key role in tackling climate change, as the seas around the Antarctic soak up huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. ”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/02/plan-create-worlds-biggest-nature-reserve-antarctic-rejected
As blocking the nature reserve in Antartica with Russia and Norway apparently China is now allowing the sale of endangered animal parts.
Agree 100%
When areas of ocean are protected, allowing marine life to thrive, it creates a spill over effect. The result being increased marine life in adjoining unprotected oceans.
Short clip under 3mins
China Lifts The Ban On Endangered Animal Parts To Promote Medicine
http://medicaldailytimes.com/news/china-lifts-ban-endangered-animal-parts-promote-medicine/4246/
China had previously supported conservation efforts, but now flexing power of where it is going for the future aka not the worldwide, collaborative conservation path… but instead going backwards for short term profits at the expense of future generations and holistic conservation measures…
the world should be increasing conservation, as biodiversity is in major decline, but instead the superpowers and countries of the world seems to be turning a blind eye and making things worse.
This will finish the rhinos off….more than a 1000 are poached from just South Africa alone each year, and these are the official figures.
China should hang its head in shame.
Terrible news.
The article reads like a beat-up, without any substance…
Read it slowly, and look for the signs, of which there are many
This is an interesting article from the Oz ABC News website,
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-03/fish-wars-likely/10459584
Since the rise of the middle class in China’s booming economy seafood has become major staple food source, as where as before the economic boom in China either the rich or those living by sea could afford seafood. The Chinese Fishing Fleet is heavily subsidised to a point in SEA it’s now regarded as the fifth arm of the PLA behind the Chinese Coast Guard due to its illegal conduct against other nations fishing boats on the high seas or in other nations EEZ’s. This aggressive approach by the Chinese Fishing Fleet has lead a number problems such over fishing, collapse of local fishing communities with host nations and possibly long term effects in these host nations will total collapse of the fisheries leading to a total collapse of the economy of that host nation, armed conflict on the high seas which has already happened to the Chinese Fishing Fleet in Southern South America just a couple of yrs ago and that’s before we add the effects of CC.
Having followed Anne Marie Brady research since her break in. In her latest paper on the Antarctic Treaty she has noticed a total lack of disclosure on Chinese and Russia research and military involvement in the Antarctic Region. All other nations that signed the Antarctic Treaty all those years ago have been fully upfront with disclosure in Antarctic Region, but neither Russia or China are compiling to the rules of the Antarctic atm especially over the last 10yrs it seems. We’re already seen land/ water grab by Russia and China over the last 5-10 yrs in the Arctic and in the South China Sea, so they going to do the same thing when the Antarctic Treaty comes up for renewal in the coming yrs?
My guess is they are getting ready to do it. As there is an awful lot fish in those Southern waters, natural resources, oil and gas in the Antarctic Regions ripe exploration.
One option …
Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia’s minister for fisheries and maritime affairs, has a strong message for China, owner of the world’s largest fishing fleet.
“The Indonesian fisheries minister – known for her penchant for blowing up wayward vessels – sets her sights on Chinese habits ahead of an international conference that will tackle overfishing”
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2169153/china-calls-it-fishing-indonesia-calls-it-crime-pudjiastuti
“Ministers and heads of state from 35 nations are to attend this month’s Our Oceans Conference along with 200 non-governmental and private sector organisations. Maritime security, climate change and pollution of the seas will be on the agenda as well as overfishing.”
https://ourocean2018.org/
And you’ve probably seen this paper… By Anne-Marie Brady that highlights some of China’s interests and activities in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT), which include undeclared military activities and mineral exploration …
https://www.aspi.org.au/report/chinas-expanding-interests-antarctica
Yes, I tend too agree with the Indonesian minister on that, as the Chileans or Arge’s sunk a few fishing boats when the refuse to stop when they were caught illegally fishing inside whoever’s EEZ at the time. The Chinese Fishing Fleet hasn’t been back to those waters since the sinking of it Fishing Boats.
NZ once did the same thing back in the late 70’s using a pair of Skyhawk’s as poor RNZN patrol boat (HDML of WW2 vintage) was struggling to chase them down. NZ didn’t have many problems for a number of yrs/ decades onwards as every Foreign Fishing Boat knew the NZG was prepared to use lethal deadly force to enforce it EEZ rules.
Just before I left work in Jul this yr, I remember reading an article in Janes Defence, that the Chinese were thinking or in the process of upgrading a number of Coast Guard Ships with new Sensor Suite, Weapon Suite IRT mounting a 3’ (76mm) automatic gun with whole host of lethal and non lethal weapons. The big ocean going Chinese Guard vessels which roughly the same size as the ANZAC Frigates, could quite easily mount a 3’ auto gun along with the other upgraded weapon and sensor systems.
But in the footnotes of the Janes Defence Article, they asked the question would you embark on turning your Coast Guard Ships into a De Facto Naval vessel to escort your fishing fleet unless you going to illegally fish in other nations EEZ.
The two OPV’s currently in service with the RNZN are somewhat now under gunned, not having the ideal weapon or mission/ sensor support systems because of the over weight issues with the ice belt added on to the OPV’s. If the Chinese Fishing Fleet does pop up in the Southern Ocean, inside NZ’s EEZ or somewhere else. If going to make an interesting question of enforcement of the rules etc?
Yes I did see Anne-Marie Brady’s paper and it was in the Oz newspaper a couple of weeks ago. It was a very interesting read btw, to a point an ex boss of mine rang up as few questions and my POV on the article.
I heard rumours (backed up by the ODT as well) of the MOD/RNZN scoping out facilities around Port Chambers and Bluff for a possible Southern Naval Base either in the first half of yr or last yr as the RNZN are after a 3rd OPV that’s capable of patrolling the Southern Ocean all yr round, can embark a Sea Sprite and have stern launch and recovery system for the RiB IOT conduct broading parties in all sea states.
This is the effects of CC 101 and it’s only going to get worse.
The Syrianisation of the World.
Trump threatens to shoot stone-throwing migrants
Trump’s violent rhetoric echoes that of Benjamin Netanyahu to his military about Gazans who approach the Israeli border.
The atrocities committed by the Israeli army against protesters at the border, crimes labeled by some as a genocide, are outweighed by the even greater genocide being carried out in Syria by Bashar Assad a comparison the Israeli’s don’t hesitate to make.
‘But there is now a spring in the step of Labour insiders whose polling suggests National is taking a much bigger hit from the disarray created by Jami-Lee Ross than the Colmar Brunton poll indicates.’ A.Young
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12153414
The expert pollsters do say that negatives take a while to filter through to the poll. Maybe that is why National seems a bit down in the House in spite of the Immigration problem.
And that goes some way to explaining the timing this week of the Sroubek hit-job on Lee’s-Galloway.
You shoot yourself and now its called a hit job ??
And his tweet “I want more facts!!! That’s what it’s all about. Why the wall of silence from Govt?” I see that this has since been deleted, but from the thread I gather it was regarding Peter Thiel.
Remember that ILG used absolute discretion of the minister
“Ardern would not discuss further details of the case, such as whether Sroubek’s life might be in danger, but said “you can draw a fair conclusion on why the Minister made his decision”.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/read-between-lines-drug-smuggler-pm
And then we are told during Question time that “This is not in the public interest” if not then what would be ???
Funny the timing of this ???
Bridesmaid sister gets visa offer following Immigration NZ decision review
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12153884
note the last Min of Imm (M Woodhouse) has questions to be answered as well
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11837608
This should have been cauterised, but has been left to fester, That IMO is where the real damage has been incurred.
Did you hear Woodhouse gleefully telling Lisa Owen on checkpoint last night, “but wait, there’s more!” when she asked him if National had more to throw at Lees-Galloway?
Lees-Galloway has obviously made a hash of the case but Nats have been quietly holding this for a rainy day and, in the wake of the JLR shitfight, it’s been pouring on the National Party.
When I have a spring in my step it is because I feel good about myself.
People get demonised all the time in the media. So many (even here) love to put the boot into those struggling.
Good to read another side of this young mans life not just the sensationalised rubbish used to sell papers.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12151856
Trump tells 83 lies in ONE day!
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/02/politics/donald-trump-lies/index.html
Gosh that’s Key-like, or even worse. Another thing where NZ is not the world leader we naively imagine we are.
Its getting busier in here. 43 comments and only 9:46 am
Go Helen!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12153899
“People who are antagonistic resonate more with populist messages”
interesting article in Scientific American
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-personality-trait-that-is-ripping-america-and-the-world-apart/
We’ve found him! The world’s most useless cartoonist.
This guy makes Rod Emmerson look like Gerald Scarfe.
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2018/11/cartoon-3.html/comment-page-1#comment-2350120
Lol. The fact that you link to a comment by yourself and refer to yourself as “we’ve”
Explains a lot.
And Stringer had the nerve to say he didn’t have the means to pay off Colin Craig for defamation. The Court clearly should have instructed Stringer to put together a book of his awesome cartoons to raise the money.
But seriously, Siobhan: how on earth could that utterly incompetent fifth-rate cartoonist defame anyone? I imagine it would be something akin to being savaged by a dead sheep, or by our witless friend “James” who sits forlornly just above you in this thread.
A great low cost opportunity for the govt to be seen and acting that would achieve 100% support of the country … And without having to say why did not any previous govt find this organisation deserving !!!
JA make an executive decision and grant NZLS $2-5m annually ? Timing would be almost perfect
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/surf-lifesaving-struggling-traditional-funding-sources-dry-up
Beach Tax!
Gfoffoloffle would come to that partee!
We can change. Get your youth into this – it may help a lot of people
“Youth Advisory Group
If you’re aged between 14 and 18 on 1 January 2019, find out how you can have your say about education in New Zealand.
Applications are now open and will close on Sunday 18 November.
To be considered for the Youth Advisory Group you’ll need to:
be aged between 14 and 18 years on the 1 January 2019
live in New Zealand
be respectful of other people’s opinions
get parental, caregiver or legal guardian consent if you are not an independent youth.
You can sign up online, or download and complete the PDF version of the registration form, and email to youth.voice@education.govt.nz. ”
http://www.education.govt.nz/school/student-support/youth-advisory-group/?fbclid=IwAR3Sfb8edmqQHeslWkh21V5rUDaEYZ8FG7wSgAG4Yg9QBYHfAlGZmfbsYEQ
A couple of moral pygmies discuss military matters.
(Where the F**K does Mora’s producer find these people?)
The Panel, RNZ National, Thursday 1 November 2018
Jim Mora, Susan Hornsby-Geluk, Mike Rehu
vacuous adj. 1. having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence; mindless. 2. (archaic) empty
MORA: [speaking over intro. music] W-w-what do you think, both of you, about the vigorous protests in Palmerston North at the Defence Industry Expo? Do you have a view?
SUSAN HORNSBY-GELUK: [inhales and clicks tongue to indicate how thoughtful she is] I think it’s kind of IRONIC that, um, an anti-violence campaign results in a couple of people being assaulted, ahhh, a couple of people assaulting THE police, but, um, I think the point here is it’s not a GUNS expo, it’s really important that this is, like, a defense procurement exercise, and if we’re going to have an army and we’re going to invest millions of, uh, dollars in the army, we clearly need to understand, y’ow, what the best equipment is, so, yeah, I support the right of people to engage in, ahhhmm, peaceful protest but, ah, I do think it might be slightly misGUIDED in this instance.
MORA: [inhales loudly to indicate moral seriousness] What do YOU think?
MIKE REHU: Yeah, I, I, I’m the SAME actually. I, I do feel as though we, [baffled sigh] y’know, the industryyyy, y’know in EVERY industry they HAVE these conferences, they HAVE these exhibitions, this is, and ironically in SOME countries yooouu, you SAY “defense” and it’s not defense, it’s OFFENSE, but I think New Zealand HAS to have a DE-fense, and I, I personally worry that, that we-e-e-e, we don’t. I mean, I was just looking at some numbers earlier today, we spend four hundred and twenty-six dollars a PERSON on our DE-fense compared to Australia’s fifteen HUNDRED, which is over four times, and the U.S.has three point one per cent of their G.D.P. spent on defense, ours is like one point one—
MORA: Yeah.
MIKE REHU: So we spend a MINUSCULE amount, and you can TELL in the quality of aircraft, boats, and blah-blah-blah that we have. But in these days of, y’know, what they’re calling the sharp POWER where we saw, y’know, ahhmm, the Saudi Arabian fella get, ahhh, get assassinated pretty much, allegedly, in Turkey, ahhh, we’ve seen the North Koreans come down and hit somebody. We’ve seen the Russian spies come in. Now, w-w-we’re pretty harmless down here but we’ve got a lotta things that people WANT in the world, especially our natural resources like water. And we’ve seen, we’ve played NICELY with people, we’ve almost GIVEN [snickers] away some of our resources. But when, now that we’re wising UP a little bit, what if people WAN’ our resources and things down here and, and what’re we gonna do—
MORA: Is that—
MIKE REHU: —if somebody comes in?
MORA: Is that push ever gonna come to shove though?
MIKE REHU: Well. I mean, surely we should have some sort of sturdy defense anyway, at least SOME capability, I mean, otherwise we WILL have to turn to bigger powers and, and then we’d, we have to, obviously, sign some kind of compromise deals with people and—-
MORA: Which is what we do now, don’t we. We, we lend them a frigate, or we lend them a, a batch of the S.A.S. and we play our part among a group of nations.
MIKE REHU: [inhales loudly to indicate how serious he is] Yeah, and, but even with AUSTRALIA, y’know, the relationship we have with Australia, apparently, y’know, a lot of our kit is massively inFERIOR, and we get by with our good soft skills, our good people skills when we’re overseas representing our country in part of these United Nations, ahhhm, combinations. So, y’know, again, coming back to your first question about the expo, ahhhmm, it IS a worry that there MAY be some weapons of OFFense, ahhhm, being shown at this exhibition, but I think if it’s about DE-fense then we should play a part.
MORA: Here’s Andy Hickman from Peace Action Manawatu, talking about Lockheed Martin’s presence at the expo, and its manufacture of a laser-guided bomb that destroyed a school bus in Yemen in August.
RECORDED VOICE OF ANDY HICKMAN: Forty schoolboys were killed by that particular bomb, ahhh, Lockheed Martin takes ownership, that WAS their bomb, but they claim no responsibility ‘cos it was fired by the Saudi Arabians, and we say that no, actually, they have a moral and ethical responsibility to take ownership for that.
MORA: And this is a moral dilemma that in LIVING history goes back to the burden of guilt felt by the men who built the atom bomb. But we also know that everybody sells weapons to the Saudi regime. And, the world of realpolitik, this is a very hard one, isn’t it. And are there any easy answers, and is the, I mean, does New Zealand need to take the clear-cut stand that people like Andy Hickman would like? Or do we have to sidle our way through the world as you’re suggesting?
MIKE REHU: And I know that these expos and exhibitions have been held in different cities over the years, but for Palmerston North as well, um, that is very close to where a lot of our military happens, and a lot of the economy is, is DRIVEN by the military as well, so I guess we have to be a bit careful that we kill ALL industry around that.
MORA: Yeah, aah, and New Zealand First M.P. Darroch Ball says a lot of the businesses have a PRESENCE in Palmerston North, actually, and they employ thousands of people right across the country, and it’s as much about apples, toilet paper, spare parts, electronics, steel and clothing as it is about anything else. But just before we leave the topic, ahh, to give the opposite poi-i-innnt, Golriz Ghahraman, writing today, ahhh, talks about the self-steering bullets, tiny killer drones from Israel: “I’ve seen what that looks like on the ground,” she says, referring to her childhood in Iran, “a sea of amputees poured into Iranian cities from the frontlines during the 1980s. Half the world feels like second class citizens, as we did in Iran. Our lives and misery are not as important as the profit being made from war.” So she’s saying, can New Zealand really, with a clear conscience, take part in any of that?
SUSAN HORNSBY-GELUK: There’s, there’s two different issues in tha-a-a-a-at. One is the, ahhhh, equipment itself, and two is, who’s making a profit from it? But in terms of the equipment itself, IF we’re gonna send guyyyys, aah, to Afghanistan or wherever it is, they need to have whatever the other people have got, otherwise, ahhh, we’re sending them into an unsafe environment. Um, that means they need to have, y’ow, technologically the very best that we ca-a-a-an, uh, possibly provide for them. As to who makes the profit from it, I think that’s a different issue, and I think she’s BLENDING the, um, the MORAL judgement about what war CAN result in, with, aah, the issue of who might make a profit and who might not.
MORA: [inhaling loudly] These are not easy answers to find, are they not, but I’m, um, pleased to have had your opinions on it.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Later in the program, we were treated to the following classic comment:
SUSAN HORNSBY-GELUK: I hear the Governor General is a vegan. That’s really cool.
Susy would totally get those arms dealers off.
A bigger, deeper read – well worth it imo
https://www.ecosophia.net/america-and-russia-tamanous-and-sobornost/
Evidence.
What day is it today? asked Pooh.
Making ‘Murica, the place where feeding a live puppy to a snapping turtle in front of the kids is regarded as a teaching moment, great.
Photos of staff at an elementary school in Middleton who were dressed for Halloween as Mexicans, while others posed behind a cardboard cutout of a border wall that says “Make America Great Again,” have gone viral.
https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/education/article221015995.html
Test!
yay – give us some good news from the conference about this awesome government and leader please!!!
See below, comrade!
ta – so good to read good news. In some ways I really wish I was in Dunners – visiting mum in south dunedin, visiting my mates around the traps and seeing all the Labour people feeling great about this country and where we are going now. So much more to do and we are at last DOING it. That is the way forward – proud to be a left lingering Kiwi. Proud to call this country home.
Hi te reo putake. Ad has sent some info .. give us your take.
Seymour goes off half baked and trys to take on the plastic bag ban in supermarkets
hes says he has some ‘research’
“Mr Seymour said the government’s decision to ban single use plastic bags could be killing up to 20 New Zealanders a year.
He said research in the US showed that people using reusable bags were susceptible to diseases such as campylobacter from chicken.
However, Professor Siouxsie Wiles at Auckland University told Checkpoint this research had already been debunked.
“So it’s written by two professors of Law and Economics who are not microbiologists or public health experts.
“They’ve taken a data set around people who are hospitalised or deaths in San Francisco and looked at before plastic bags were banned and then afterwards. They’ve then drawn a bunch of conclusions which if anybody in public health looked at would say no, not true at all.”
Food safety expert Steve Flint said it was a valid concern.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/108270526/reusable-bags-could-kill-about-20-people-a-year-claims-politician
Seemore will be ok as long as he doesn’t put his raw Coq in his reusable bag. Stick to frozen Coq Seemore.
I hope that is going to be Coq au Vin..
Flint isnt backing Seymours crazy claim based on US research by law professors.
Meanwhile the safety of the food itself is ignored !
Ive washed my resuable bag a number of times, and hung it out in the sun- a great sanitiser
Its a super sized one from a hardware store, it probably needs little wheels like luggage does.!
Time to stand up to this atrocious oppression
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/03/china-is-committing-ethnic-cleansing-in-xinjiang-its-time-for-the-world-to-stand-up
Happy to do that, marty! I’ve got some issues accessing the back end of the site, though I hope to have a post up later today or early tomorrow.
In short, it’s been gloriously upbeat. There have been some rousing standing ovations for the PM, Grant Robertson, and Kristine Bartlett. This arvo is policy amendments (nothing controversial). Then it’s various elections, some of which are tightly contested.
To be fair, the lack of negative issues has meant its been tough on the media. I can see Audrey Young at the back of the room, absentmindedly chewing on the roast limb of a small child, desperately hoping for David Cunliffe to announce a new tilt at the leadership.*
*may not be 100% accurate.
I’m loving this
“Mental health is likely to get a significant funding boost, the Finance Minister has indicated in his address to Labour party members.”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/370139/wellbeing-budget-to-give-mental-health-the-priority-and-focus-it-deserves
I really hope we get serious about this. So many people are suffering and struggling. I am hoping that it is true and that it will be delivered. Everything is crossed.
Absolutely it’s a priority, marty. I was talking to a minister about homelessness and they made the point that its a health issue, not just about housing. And others have talked about the links between suicide, depression and violence and mental health. This party cares.
Good one – so good you get to talk to the ministers – feel a wee bit envious tbh – but pleased it’s you talking to them.
Anything about social welfare? Raising basic benefit rates?
I don’t think it’s come up so far, though the policy part of conference is yet to come. From memory, I think Labour have already said they will regularly lift rates.
Every blue moon. like clockwork.
They’re required by statute to raise benefits according to the CPI. I was referring to raising basic benefits so that people weren’t expected to be forced into debt, either to Work and Income or loan sharks or whomever, just to get by. Wonder what the odds are of that coming up in the “policy” section.
Raising basic benefits would also be of benefit to mental health. See my post at 25.1.1.4.
There is one policy proposal that directly affects beneficiaries and that’s to lift the earning threshold and to lower the abatement. This would allow beneficiaries to earn more as part time workers and not lose the benefit at 70 cents in the dollar as it is now.
“There is one policy proposal that directly affects beneficiaries and that’s to lift the earning threshold and to lower the abatement.”
So…nothing for Tui then? https://thestandard.org.nz/poverty-and-disability/
Or Kay? https://thestandard.org.nz/beneficiary-for-life-the-joys-of-permanent-disability-in-present-day-nz/
Maybe you could ask them TRP….in between standing ovations?
Give them one more chance. Perhaps 2020 will be different?
That can only be good, but is kind of the same as Kiwibuild – aimed at mid-range of the target group. The poorest, those without part-time employment, generally speaking, are again excluded. Let’s see if basic benefit rates come up at tomorrow’s “policy” session. It’s a pity ipredict has shut down – could’ve made a killing.
So no mention of raising basic benefit rates in the “policy” section? Bugger. you had me quite excited there for a while.
Make it happen, Chris: https://www.labour.org.nz/join
Be easier to just join a party that already has that policy.
Will that make it happen?
Nice.
This party cares.
I’m sure the Labour Party cares a lot more about homelessness than it did in 1984, when in the run-up to the Snap Election it staged a mock soup kitchen in Auckland’s Upper Queen Street to draw attention to the failure of the Muldoon government’s housing policies. Dozens of news media and wellwishers turned up for the event, and were ladled out helpings of soup.
Unfortunately, a couple of real homeless people also turned up and tried to get a plate of soup for their worthless selves—but were swiftly hustled away by Labour Party “security” before their shabbiness and unkemptness could lower the tone.
The Labour Party of 1984 was dominated by such caring people as Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble, Mike Moore, Geoffrey “Footstool” Palmer, and Trevor De Cleene. I hope it’s slightly more caring these days.
Monty Python-esque. Probably still happen today.
I wouldn’t trust Palmer or Moore to look after a dog, let alone have any say in a welfare policy for people.
Spreading lies again Moronissey ?
prove it or remove it.
Spreading lies again Moronissey ?
Excuse me? When have I “spread lies” here or anywhere else?
prove it or remove it.
It was reported in the New Zealand Herald in June 1984, and quite possibly in the Auckland Star as well. Why don’t you get off your useless asssss and find it for yourself?
Papers past doesn’t go past 1948.
Online herald site doesn’t mention it.
If you have it , give a link. But you don’t do you.
And no Muldoon telling fibs doesn’t count
Those of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to suffer mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Depression being a leading cause of suicide.
Therefore, it would be good to see this coalition Government do more to address low incomes and benefits, thus improving mental health and our high rate of suicide via this avenue.
Depression is in every group , its rubbish to suggest the poor ore far more adversely affected.
eg medicine has a higher depression rate than some professions as it attracts the ‘ perfect’ type.
Numerous studies acknowledge the correlation. The Childrens’ Commissioner acknowledges the correlation (see link below).
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12050722
Moreover, it’s borne out in our suicide stats (see the following below).
For the majority of the 10-year period 2006-2015, the rate of suicide for those living in the most deprived areas was significantly higher (around twice as high) than for those living in the least deprived areas.
https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/suicide-facts-data-tables-19962015
“Finance Minister Grant Robertson has confirmed mental health will be one of the Government’s five priorities in its first Wellbeing Budget,….”
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/11/03/304816/wellbeing-budget-to-prioritise-mental-health
“The whole point of this is that for too long we’ve measured ourselves on a very narrow basis…so not having every single data point shouldn’t stop us from saying the health of our environment, our people and our communities is as important as our financial wealth.”
At first I thought he was channelling the Greens but this was at the Labour Party annual conference so I clicked on the link and read the article.
I read it several times to make sure I got it right but I can’t tell.
To me it seems he (and Labour) are framing it as two targets that oppose one another or are perhaps even mutually exclusive. And if they’re on an equal footing, which one would a true Labour Party stand for?
Is Robertson framing it this way to avoid frightening the horses or is he simply showing his personal (and/or his party’s) beliefs on these matters?
Perceptions matter a lot in politics (and in life) but any decisions (or lack thereof) speak volumes no matter how you frame (spin) things – are we on the cusp of something special?
An earlier newsroom piece….https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/09/05/224294/what-will-the-wellbeing-budget-change
…and yes!!!! There’s Uncle Bill ‘if there’s a loophole you’d be a fool not to exploit it’ English’s Social Investment plan….https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10644993
His plan for the sick and disabled folk…
” the big driver of future costs: long-term invalids and sickness beneficiaries, a group he describes as “this big hard lump of long-term waste of human potential”. ”
….was to replicate ACC’s tactics…
” If they were ACC customers, we would be spending a lot of money on trying to move them. They cost a bit less on sickness and invalids [benefits], not a hell of a lot less(bullshit), but we do nothing and we are actually doing nothing to reduce this very large long-term liability.” ”
And that sure worked well…with how many shifted from ACC to SLP and Jobseekers?
So far….I’m certainly not seeing how this government attitude towards those whose health and disability needs prevent them from being in paid work differ from National’s.
Policy change to encourage those on benefits to participate in paid employment ( https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03-11-2018/#comment-1546092) without increasing the base rate for the SLP for those who simply can’t work sounds like more arbeit macht frei to me.
Prove me wrong.
“His plan for the sick and disabled folk… was to replicate ACC’s tactics”
And with Labour apparently just passing a remit (extending ACC to include illness) can we assume they plan to do the same (replicate ACC’s tactics) albeit a little softer?
Here’s the entire speech here;
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1811/S00028/grant-robertson-speech-to-labour-party-conference.htm
But as Ad says we may have to wait … https://thestandard.org.nz/labour-conference-random-notes/#comment-1546345
Would prefer to believe we may be on the cusp of something special myself ….
Thanks for the link to the speech.
When people are (badly) haemorrhaging you don’t because you can’t wait, you must act there & then. So, I reject that we should sit & wait for ‘something special’ or even for a budget surplus, a healthy economy or what have you.
This is how I see the main political parties in NZ framing their view [singular] of our society: A is as important as B, but B is conditional on A.
A logical flaw? Bad framing? Or something else?
I couldn’t make it due to family reasons (attending a 50th birthday party!) but I hear our policy remit (extending ACC to include illness) passed!
“I couldn’t make it due to family reasons (attending a 50th birthday party!) but I hear our policy remit (extending ACC to include illness) passed!”
?????
Craig H…sorry, can you explain your remit? What exactly does it entail? ‘extending ACC to cover illness’…is this the ACC weekly compensation? ACC level treatment, rehab, ongoing support? Heavens forbid to be able to have a resident family member as your paid carer? Only ‘illness’, or would the extension cover those born with disabilities?
That Labour could entertain the possibility of extending the scheme to cover those born with disabilities seems too far-fetched. Up there with raising basic benefit levels.
The remit encompassed both.
Don’t worry te reo Putake, Audrey has already had a little snide dig and grudging praise for Jacinda “Becoming a PM of substance” So you never know.
Who loves Bryce Edwards? Not me.
“Even the pro-Government blogsite, The Standard, is publishing criticisms of the scheme – see: KiwiBuild doesn’t fly. According to this critique, the Government is effectively privatising “state housing land”, to be used by private developers and the KiwiBuild scheme, meaning that most of the land will be for privately-owned houses. It says John Tamihere is correct in his call that development on state housing land in Mangere is akin to “social engineering”…..
Didn’t know that Kiwibuild was ever meant for low earners. So Kiwibuild becomes fodder for the Edwards with his mates in the Opposition.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12154010
Yeah, this has come up at conference. More explanation about state housing improvements is needed. Kiwibuild is about intervention in a buggered market. Building new state houses is complimentary, but different. Both are good policies.
So many lies spread by some well known names on Standard
.
State housing land is being ‘gifted’ to private buyers.
Kiwibuild homes have a big subsidy.
No new State houses are being built.
That ultra high insulation/glazing is required to make them ‘warm and dry’
All falsehoods.
+ 1
Saw that coming. Sour grapes is the MO for some.
And what of the missing middle?
Those who don’t qualify for state housing and would get laughed out of the bank if they tried to get a $650K mortgage for a Kiwibuild loan. Some of these households don’t even qualify for WFF, FFS. They are hard working families which for a variety of reasons haven’t been able to be stable enough to be seen as good loan material. They have young kids and instead of subjecting them to years of austerity have decided to give them what opportunities they can now instead of scrimping for an ever increasing deposit. Dad slogs his guts out and mum works part time around the kids.
Did that come up at the conference?
Building new state houses is complimentary, [sic] but different.
complementary.
” Building new state houses is complimentary,…”
Building new State Houses is urgent. Demolishing existing State Houses and using any of the land they were built on for Kiwibuild houses is uncomplimentary.
The East Porirua scheme is very like the Glen Innes one – building fewer state houses on the land; some Kiwibuild homes there and some homes on the general market.
The promise is for 150 more state houses than before. But the 2000 state homes being replaced in East Porirua, may not be on that land as far as I can see.
Basically, it looks like many state home tenants will be moved elsewhere in Porirua – uprooted from their existing community to make way for more homes in the area on the market for the middle classes.
Why? Why not build the new Kiwibuild and general market homes elsewhere in Porirua, rather than shift the state homes there?
TBH Carolyn_Nth, my usual talent for being able to seek out the nitty gritty on Government work appears to be failing me. For the life of me I can’t seem to find a one stop website that tells everything a citizen would ever want to know about Government’s plans and schemes for housing. Slogans…yes. But actual hard core nitty gritty from an actual government website (not a ‘partner’ website) is proving a challenge.
Must be because I’m closer to 86 than 16 and am tuning out. 🙁 🙁
The announcement by the government is not totally clear. But, to me ot looks like there will be 150 new state homes on top of the ones already in East Porirua.
The East Porirua land that currently has 2000 state homes, will be regenerated – ie the existing state homes will be rebuilt, and also on the same land will be Kiwibuild homes, plus homes built by developers for the general market.
it’s not totally clear to me whether the current 2000 state homes will all be rebuilt on the existing land, or whether some will be rebuilt elsewhere in the wider area.
The government announcement.
It links to the Porirua development led by HLC (a subsidiary of HNZ), saying more details there.
Lots of pretty images, but I’m not seeing any more detail there and it says:
I’m all for 16 year olds getting the vote.
State Housing Action (includes John Minto) – is sceptical.
Report on it on Stuff
HCNZ is one another is kiwibuild.co.nz
Who says there will be fewer state houses on the redeveloped land.
It doesn’t say whether or not there will be fewer or the same amount of state homes on the land – a bit vague.
But, given they are also going to build kiwibuild and general market homes there – will they all fit?
“… a bit vague.” That’s what I was getting at. Nothing crystal clear.
“… will they all fit?”
Yep, they’ll rack ’em and stack ’em.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/10/25/291004/kiwibuild-a-community-trainwreck
““For instance, in Māngere – just one of many projects that the Government is working on at the moment – 2700 state homes are going to be demolished and 3000 state homes are going to be rebuilt, but in a third of the land area.
“The other two-thirds are going to be KiwiBuild and affordable.
“By my estimations, in 2700 homes there now, there’s probably 12,000 to 15,000 people in those homes. Multiply that to be 10,000 homes [on the site in total] and we’re looking at 25,000 to 30,000 people living on the same land mass.
“That’s 30,000 human beings of different cultures, different religions, differing values and life, living in the same space as 12,000 people used to.”
Carolyn look at the video of the speeches… there was a definite statement that locals would be in the communities they loved and had helped form.
Which video? What speeches?
I do think Labour have learned somewhat from the debacle of Glen Innes. however, the vagueness about some details is concerning.
I do get the idea that people might be rehoused in greater Porirua, rather than in the area of Porirua where they currently live. But that still might be a disruption for many.
“Kiwibuild is about intervention in a buggered market”
I wish people would see that. In previous times people would rent and build up an asset base to move into home ownership. Now, due to a combination of factors that step has become impossible for most people in Auckland and many other areas, and they are trapped in the rental market. KiwiBuild is about moving the people who would otherwise have left the rental market into ownership by “de-risking” the building of lower spec homes for developers (4 bed, 2 bath and office appeals to more buyers, so more are built) and using the power / guarantee of government to drive the cost down. The resulting churn in rental market then helps those further down.
“The resulting churn in rental market then helps those further down.”
Ah! The ‘trickle-down effect’ , I’ve heard about that.
Yep. Everyone else wait while we look after the already privileged.
Me too.
How did that work out again in terms of financial wellbeing?….
Probably a poor choice of words there using “down”, but it will allow people to leave the rental market and provide opportunities for others to enter the same limited market.
But KiwiBuild is really only targeting a very limited group, and it’s an easy and cheap intervention. The targets are, or were, potential National voters being the aspirational young things striving for their first homes. They will be ensuring the Coalition’s second and maybe third term. That’s why 101st keyboard brigade is loosing it’s shit over it.
There’s a big difference between this and completely rebuilding our social housing infrastructure, it’s been fucked by being run like a hire centre. That will require a much stronger government, with say 75 or 80 seats in the house and the corresponding public support to undertake bold projects. KiwiBuild is a step on that path, both physically and politically.
How? The people buying Kiwi Build houses wouldn’t be living in some shit box rental in South Auckland.
They’d be renting out some new place in the better parts of Auckland.
No need for an opposition party when labours in power . There own side fucks them daily .
Wouldn’t happen if they hadn’t made a hard right turn, bwag. It’s like 1984 all over again.
Maybe we should give them a couple more years before deliver a verdict
That’s been happening since 1999 – first time back in government since Rogernomics. Trouble is a verdict is never given, just more chances.
Pretty sure they’ll enjoy their foray into the centre having hoovered up all those soft right wing votes. I don’t have any confidence they’ll do much at all for long term tenants in the face of that.
Last Saturday was a watershed moment for me because I saw where Labour were going for their survival. I feel they have abandoned a lot of the people who voted for them in the hope they’d get a fairer crack.
Not to be so far.
It’s not too late though. They just need to rethink eligibility and support for Kiwibuild accessibility, fast.
It’s not like it should come as a surprise.
Nope. You don’t get to comment on this, sorry. You are from the other side. Those who don’t believe in any support for families who find the equation of modern life difficult to comprehend. Families who work super hard but have had mistakes hang around their neck for years.
I hear the criticisms of the current version of Kiwibuild from the Nats and the right wing but they are criticisms born of simple and automatic opposition to the government, rather than support of low income families finding peace and security in their communities.
So, GTFO.
Let’s see what the well being budget does next year a??
You do realise there’s no money in the budget for any extra expenditure.
The 5 billion dollar surplus was an illusion, Labour borrowed 6.5 billion dollars through Crown entities so it wouldn’t appear on the balance sheet.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12104552
Also, the roading network got revalued which added another 7 billion dollars to the total.
Any extra expenditure has to either come through more borrowing or higher taxes.
Famous RW Blogger miraculous discovery of Stephen Joyce’s “Missing Hole” likening to Dr Orbell….
https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/tag/steven-joyce/
I always prefered Winstons Kiwiland idea, free up and develop land for housing and then get out of the way.
Not enough photo ops, feel-good marketing stories in that sort of policy for Labour so it was never considered.
We’ve seen what problems occur without planning.
We see simple calls from the low regulation right wing for more housing – ‘just build them’ – but whenever a house is built there are wider, 100 year factors to be taken into account.
I don’t have any issue with Auckland City putting the brakes on wild-west developments because you cannot move these people to work without the right long term strategy.
Hey look at this – I can comment – yaaaay!!!!
But hey you were stupid enough to drink the Kiwibuild cool aid when this was so obvious from the outset.
You kinda deserve what you get.
Careful bwaghorn, you’ll be accused of bias.
Now, about Ardern referencing Savage and the 1937 launch of State Housing at the Kiwibuild launch.
Yep. Although I believe she said, ‘I’m not going to carry a table’ or words to that effect, the cosying up to Savage while standing next to a portrait of white upper middle class privilege was a huge mistake from JA.
She should have gone nowhere near Savage.
“”If I can hark back to some Labour tradition,” said Ardern, going on to remember the “great father of the Labour Party” Michael Joseph Savage and Norman Kirk, who had one of her favourite sayings: “All one really needs is something to do, somewhere to live, someone to love and something to hope for.””
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12149888
Yeah. This government removed hope for tens of thousands of families last Saturday.
If the Greens could stop navel gazing for five seconds and ramp up their already strong housing policy they could really teach Labour a lesson on this.
I’d be very happy with a Labour/Green government next term with the Greens making sure Labour didn’t slop down in the centre, fat dumb and happy.
“If the Greens could stop navel gazing for five seconds and ramp up their already strong housing policy they could really teach Labour a lesson on this.”
Yes. I voted for the Greens. Two ticks. Hoping they’d put on their steel toe-caps and do some proper social advocacy.
Speaking of the Greens and their inaction. Remember the glimmer of hope shown by Marama re her bold stance taken in support of the disabled grandmother who was offered a free solar setup but was declined approval by HNZ to install it? Winter has come and gone and it has still yet to be resolved.
The story can be seen in the link below from about 19 mins in. https://www.threenow.co.nz/shows/the-hui/season-3%3A-sunday-6-may-2018/125685/M21250-300
If I recall, there was something not quite right about that particular scheme. It set my bullshit antennae quivering.
We can do better.
The rot goes back to that infamous year 1984….
I had my suspicions about the Lange government from before it was elected. Two things in particular concerned me:
1) LABOUR’S CRASS, BOORISH, DULL CAMPAIGN
The choice of the egregious Jennifer Warnes/Joe Cocker song “Up Where We Belong” made me cringe every time I heard it, and pointed to a dire lack of imagination and creativity in the party. Funnily enough, the New Zealand Labour Party’s use of that virtually unlistenable pop song in 1984 was echoed by the Democratic Party eight years later, when Slick Willie’s campaign song was Fleetwood Mac’s equally awful “Don’t Stop Thinkin’ About Tomorrow”.
2) THE SOUP KITCHEN INCIDENT
Shortly before the 1984 election, the Labour Party organised a brilliant media event to draw attention to the plight of the poor and homeless under the heartless National government. They organised a mock soup kitchen, to be held at Myers Park. Overtones of the Great Depression, unemployment, sugarbag years….
The media was invited, and all the Labour candidates they could muster would be there. Talking about poverty, of course. It was a MOCK soup kitchen, of course, but the soup was real, and prepared by one of Auckland’s most renowned chefs, and everyone would of course be served some of this top-grade soup after the speeches.
A short time before the event was about to get under way, as the assembled guests and dignitaries were arriving, the organisers were annoyed to see that a couple of real homeless men had arrived. They’d seen the mock-up Depression-style “Soup Kitchen” sign and assumed….
Assumed WRONGLY, it turned out. Labour’s hired muscle for the day escorted the horrible, tatty, unwashed tramps away from the “Soup Kitchen” quick smart, and the Labour Party Soup Kitchen event got under way. There was no further trouble from lowlifes that day.
Bullshit about the lowlife escorted from the fake soup kitchen….
Join Labour and engage in actual stuff Morrissey. Whole bunch more fun than an anecdotal whine 35 years old.
Fair point, Ad. I do indeed support Labour, though not uncritically. We need always to be vigilant about what is happening in our party, who is calling the shots, and whether or not they should be entrusted with leading us. It’s worth remembering that a small clique of ideologues took over the Labour Party in 1984 and nearly destroyed it. It’s no coincidence that that Soup Kitchen debacle and that rotten advertising campaign ushered in the regime of Douglas, Moore, Palmer, and Prebble.
Absolutely.
So, Weeple, what’s your take on the right’s hijacking of the party in the 1980s?
How disgusting is this.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2018/11/judge-kavanaugh-s-sexual-assault-accuser-allegedly-admits-she-lied-wanted-attention.html
“One of the women who accused Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault has apparently admitted she lied and used the allegations as a “ploy” to get attention.”
Hope she goes to jail for a long time.
If she lied, yes, she should be tried.
But what about all the other women who testified against this weasel?
Sadly a his word against hers.
But glad we agree that this woman should be in front of a court.
She should be. He is not fit to judge her, or anyone else.
Got nothing on this shit.
But the saga of Jacob Wohl took a turn this week, when he was unexpectedly implicated in a bizarre plot to smear special counsel Robert Mueller as a sexual predator. The exact nature of the scheme, and Wohl’s involvement, is somewhat unclear. On October 17, a number of journalists reportedly received an e-mail from “Lorraine Parsons,” alleging that she had been contacted by a man claiming to work for a firm called Surefire Intelligence, on behalf of G.O.P. operative Jack Burkman, who had offered her substantial sums of money to make false accusations about Mueller. Yet no reporters were able to verify that Lorraine is a real person. Surefire Intelligence, too, appeared to be fake. When NBC News investigated, they found the Web site was registered to Wohl’s e-mail; a phone number on the site went to a voice mail that provided another number listed as belonging to Wohl’s mother. (Wohl stopped responding to NBC after they asked why his mother’s phone number was in that voice mail.) In perhaps the most amateurish element of the whole sordid episode, Internet sleuths quickly discovered that headshots of Surefire’s purported employees actually belonged to celebrities including Israeli model Bar Refaeli and Austrian actor Christoph Waltz. A photograph of “Matthew Cohen,” allegedly a managing partner at Surefire Intelligence, is simply a darkened image of Wohl himself.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/10/jacob-wohl-robert-mueller-sexual-assault-allegations
I would think most people would find one just as bad as the other.
In both cases it’s a bloke who has been smeared unjustly
For a more nuanced take on this article I recommend the following:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/3/18058832/judy-munro-leighton-brett-kavanaugh-trump-tweet.
Note: This woman was not one of the women to make solid accusations against Kavanaugh. Those accusations still stand. The letter she forwarded was a copy of a letter from an anonymous accuser – Jane Doe – which may or may not be false.
rimmer from act just called for plastic bags to be brought back and people caught littering for the third time should be jailed . Boys lost the plot.🤣🤣🤣🤣
I doubt he had a plot to loose unfortunately….
Oumuamua (the messenger) and its sail?”
https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.11490
Oumuamua … Mind blowing in its possibilities.
As heinous was Clinton apparently……are Deplorables a thing ?
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/existential-anxiety-not-poverty-motivates-trump-support/558674/
the hui Kia ora Its tricky I think its cool Jacinda’s on your show Its best that all common poor people are lifted up there ladders of life together . Just targeting maori we need unity and targeting maori will just divide Aotearoa society .
The Labour Party has done a awesome job in there first 12 month’s in the New Coalition
Government. Ka kite ano P.S I see
All Americana Wahine and minority cultures should houner your Children and Ancestors buy getting up and voting for a better brighter healthy future for all HUMAN KIND. That’s how big a ISSUE The mid term elections in America is at this point in time if you don’t vote that’s a vote for trump and we can not have him letting people think that behaving like a ASS is OK we need and want PEACE and Harmony not War and lies.
Ka kite ano Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
Now All The Latino people in America We Have a link Its a well known fact that Aotearoa New Zealand Ngati Porou iwi has a great Ancestor Jose Manuel .I have a direct link through my Grate-grand mother there was talk about a African link to .
Don’t let the go oil party or trump rain over our moko /Grand childrens future and your mana/ power get up and vote there people out of power. link to Jose Manuel site below
Ka kite ano. P.S Don’t let them rain ruin over the WORLD.
https://www.manueljose.org.nz/whakapapa-233/
Native American cultures have a lot in common with Native Aotearoa /New Zealand.
In the way we see and treat most thing’s .Respect for our Ancestors respect for our whenua/land respect for our decedents. ka kite ano vote for your childrens future
The Navajo, like tribes across the country, have bristled at Trump’s suggestion that tribes should be reclassified as races rather than separate governments, a legal shift that would mean that tribal members were no longer exempt from Medicaid work requirements. Trump’s downsizing of Bears Ears national monument, which was done at the urging of Utah Republicans, has also been a key rallying point for Native Americans link below
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/01/navajo-nation-utah-midterm-election-gerrymandering
American Wahine / Ladies of all cultures step up and vote so there is no illusion in thoughts of man that you want your daughters treated Equally in all aspects of our Worlds society
Jordan is part of a blue wave of candidates pushing to change the face of US politics, with record-breaking numbers of women and history-making women of color and Native Americans on the ballot. With progressive stars like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stunning pundits with victories, there’s a sense among some non-traditional Democratic campaigns that anything is possible. Ka kite ano Link below
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/31/paulette-jones-idaho-governor-native-american-democrat
Syria need’s peace or million’s will suffer starve and DIE War should be in OUR history books in the year 2018. I have figured out why war has not been left behind GREED
The White Helmets risked life and limb to save over 115,000 lives during the Syrian conflict, despite attacks at the hands of the Syrian regime and the Russian military,” Hunt said. “The UK is proud to stand behind them.”Raed al-Saleh said Moscow’s record of broken promises meant he had little confidence in a ceasefire brokered between Russia and Turkey in September. The agreement halted a planned advance on Idlib, one of the last parts of Syria still outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad, and currently home to more than 3 million people.Ana to kai ka kite ano links below.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/03/idlib-jeremy-hunt-syria-russia-turkey
Eco Maori has a good grasp of the situation in the Middle East and around the World.
I’m not laying blame on one side or thee other you are both to blame clean this mess
UP in Syria and the World. Ka kite ano.
I know the big company’s are manipulating the market’s and push out the new smaller company’s
“The big retailers are rigging the market to stop smaller players competing and getting bigger prices to the public.In a current situation where there’s a squeeze on gas and lakes are bit a lower, these are the perfect conditions for them to exercise market power. I would expect it the big business all ways cheat to squeezes out the small company’s
But Marc England, chief executive at gentailer Genesis Energy, said while there was “something unusual” going on, there was no gaming of the system. “There’s no big versus small plot here.” this man is lieing through his teeth.ka kite ano link below.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/108312588/whats-gone-wrong-with-new-zealands-electricity-market
Kia ora Newshub Its not the fire works its the idiots using them wrong deliberately
With the 2 hedge fires in South Island .?????????????? hope its not to bad this year for fires caused by idiots
The new support staff for teachers is cool the Labour party had a good event in Dunedin in the South Island this weekend.
That will be cool to have a pest free Banks peninsula that’s more logical than trying to eliminate all pest in Aotearoa.
The wind is going hard in Itlay at the moment I hope no one was injured global warming no
There was a Black out in Chicago & Japan this weekend and the Green Irish won to .
I bet that guy will be wishing his horse does not win the Melbourne Cup lol.
Good win Israel at your fight in UFC Ka kite ano
. Alex I have experienced the wind Castle point and Turn again it sure get the Boat rolling thats why its called turn again we would get there and turn for shelter .