Listening to Adrian Orr and other RBNZ leads this morning on RNZ I had an odd sublimely fatalist shivering sensation observing an inflation+interest rate wave rising high and entirely beyond any party or state power or instrument to protect us.
Labour is doing what it did during the pandemic – making sure average earners are shielded as much as possible from the fallout of high inflation by restricting the labour supply to keep unemployment low and wages rising in line with inflation.
Nicola Willis, who sounds more and more like yesterdays supply side fanatic everytime she appears in the media, attacks the government for the cost of living crisis, whilst demanding austerity, higher unemployment, wage cuts and higher interest rates.
For all the faults of this Labour government, it has never been clearer that they are party of the people who live in this country, and National is the party of the people who see the country mainly as a place to make money – the bosses, the rentiers and the speculators.
Actually he sounds like someone who has been burned by all the peer criticism from the ultra-dry economically orthodox and is now mainly concerned with keeping his job, even if it costs thousands of others theirs.
Seems to have changed tack after the trip to Jackson Hole. This I put down to realising intetest rate hikes were the only game in town and he would be required to follow each time the Fed did to keep investors on side.
If he doesn’t think thats sensible policy its going to get deflating to understand what policy you will be explaining for the rest of your term.
That would be my pick. Not so clear how he will explain it, because its more or less motivated by the Fed decision, but he needs to justify it in terms of what's happening in NZ (which maybe nothing new).
I didn't read the whole thing, but it struck me as, on the face of it, well written, evenhanded and researched. In stark contrast to much of the debate in twitter around this.
What I do on twitter is that I look at the account that is saying or doing the controverisal stuff. Sometimes the account looks new, or odd in some way, and I sometimes tweet about the third party actors who are there to shit post or do intentional damage to feminists, trans people and/or society. Lots of people are stuck in an us/them paradigm (GC/Genderist).
If it was a topic I was interested in or had some investment in, I might join the conversation and push back against the bullshit (on both sides). My experience with this is that depending on who I talk with and how hard I push, I will get blocked by both sides 🤷♀️ It's important to do.
That was a pleasant surprise. Mind you the damage Bolsonaro wrought upon the land of Brazil was even greater than Trump in the US – at least in conservational and climactic terms.
The election was actually far from a good outcome. Lula scraped in and:
"Brazilians elected a more conservative Congress in the Oct. 2 ballot, with supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro and the agribusiness lobby winning seats in both the lower and upper houses."
“As the rest of the world closely watched Brazil’s presidential election on Oct. 2, the country’s conservative bloc made significant gains in a Congress that it already dominates. This could prove a key stumbling block to any future efforts to rein in the deforestation and environmental destruction that’s become a signature of the Jair Bolsonaro administration.”
“Ricardo Salles, Bolsonaro’s former environment minister, whose resignation last year amid an ongoing illegal logging investigation….[won] one of the highest vote totals of any legislative candidate in the country.” [In the senate]
Australia still lags with total renewable the record set last friday at 68.7%,NZ at 1 pm today was 98% renewable (with only cogeneration being FF and biomass).
All 4 main eastern states are now in excess production,with spot prices being negative from -36 to -41pmwh.This effectively means generators are being charged to generate.
Seems pretty sensible- if people are fit and able to work, but simply would rather not work, and just receive the benefit when there are numerous industries crying out for staff.
Jimmy, do you actually know anybody in that position? One of my nephews was unemployed a few years ago. He had an excellent Case Manager at WINZ who required him to apply for a certain number of jobs every two weeks – she checked up on him as well. Within a month he had 2 part time jobs, one of which turned into a full time job within a couple of months. He then decided that there was actually a Tech course he wanted to do do he enrolled in that and dropped back to part time hours at the same employer.
I have refugee friends who will do any sort of work that is available – one woman had a junk mail delivery route within a month of getting out of Mangere, and then a part time cleaning job. She quit that job a few years later when she qualified for the pension as she had a shoulder injury from the heavy floor cleaner.
The ones who "sit around" tend to be unemployable because of drugs or alcohol – or personality disorders.
Well done to those people who try to get ahead. It would not be targeting them. I do think WFF needs to be changed as I don't like the way it reduces if a person earns more / does more hours (as that's a disincentive to work more). Also I strongly believe the tax brackets need to adjust for inflation. The governments tax take has been far higher than expected partly due to wages increasing.
I do think WFF needs to be changed as I don't like the way it reduces if a person earns more / does more hours (as that's a disincentive to work more).
No I didn't expect any support for it here. Ironically I used a different "10 people at dinner analogy" on the tax cuts article – comment no. 17.
The wealth distribution, that 10% of people have +50% of the wealth to me is a different subject. Why should wealthy people (who may have worked hard or not), or even middle class working people, have some of their wealth re-distributed to fit healthy people or would rather stay on a benefit when they could be working? To me it seems like a good policy to get people in to work rather than be benefit dependent.
The people still on unemployment benefits at 3% unemployed are people in very serious strife and need all the help we can give them, not more punishment.
From my experience on multiple public and private institutions and mega-projects they need among other things:
a safe room to live in, paid literacy training, paid driver licensing training,
work designed that is enough for their skill level, right hours in the day,
people who can help get the kids into childcare,
lots of paid healthcare for addictions,
paid staff for a highly supported transition out of jail or other institutions
a really supportive on-site supervisor and team who can get them up out of bed and dressed and at work clean and sober every morning,
paid help with accounts and earning money, and often
a team that becomes a new set of friends as well.
Check out the number of paid staff that needs. It's a lot. There are really good institutions around that do that, and a few really good employers as well – but as you can see it is a huge investment in social transition from social welfare entities and from the businesses who take them on.
But honestly at 3% unemployed it is increasingly what we have to do. And it is intensely rewarding.
You are quite right about the sort of support that is needed. One of my refugee friends works for a chap who supplies contract labour to orchards, packhouses etc. He has a couple of vans which go around and pick them up in the mornings – poor people have crap and unreliable cars – and he stops at a bakery or something on the way so that they can pile out and buy breakfast/lunch if needed. When he gets to where they are going he makes sure that they can do what is needed safely, and he has all the gloves etc they might need. He also spends quite a lot of time telling them how much he appreciates them and what good work they do – or if necessary he will coach and help until they are doing good work. Consequently, he never has to look for additional workers – his staff recruit for him every time and there is a waiting list. My friend used to have 2 part time jobs in Rest Homes which involved a lot of down time and travel. Now she is full time with overtime and really enjoying it. "Hard work" she says – "but good work".
At least the bus driver crisis is finally hitting this government in its policy interests: public transport.
There are of course massive government partnerships that enable this stuff to occur like Mana In Mahi which goes from strength to strength. But our company has been taking in long-term beneficiaries and people straight out of prison for some years now.
Everyone has to make a commercial decision about what they take on, but the loyalty you get in return is so critical in this market.
It amazes me that some of the bigger firms have not caught up with the idea of the firm providing transport to workers.
I worked at a series of jobs in factories while going through varsity. At least two of them provided transport to and from work. One in HB where I was living in Napier and the work was in Hastings. You just stood at a bus stop and a bus cruised past and picked you up. Same at night when you had finished your shift. There was public transport you could catch but the drop offs were not nearly as convenient. The bus particularly went through the suburbs where the majority of people lived, so south Napier on the flat.
Thanks Ad (7.1.1.2.1.1) – a fantastic, humane, clear-eyed and true comment. But for the Seymours of the world, the strawman of the 'idle scrounger' has to be maintained as an ideological foundation stone of the just-world fallacy.
The most successful people are not the most talented, just the luckiest, a new computer model of wealth creation confirms.
…
The distribution of wealth follows a well-known pattern sometimes called an 80:20 rule: 80 percent of the wealth is owned by 20 percent of the people. Indeed, a report last year concluded that just eight men had a total wealth equivalent to that of the world’s poorest 3.8 billion people.
This seems to occur in all societies at all scales. It is a well-studied pattern called a power law that crops up in a wide range of social phenomena. But the distribution of wealth is among the most controversial because of the issues it raises about fairness and merit. Why should so few people have so much wealth?
“They were useless. Absolutely useless. Particularly young Kiwi men. I’m talking, sort of, under 21. Unreliable, dishonest, lazy.”
As Lord Seymour suggests, all those "fit [and] healthy" ‘slackers’ could be 'encouraged' to perform any number of menial tasks, although these comments of PM English seem more considered than Seymour's.
Prime Minister Bill English 'puzzled' by high numbers out of work and education [1 May 2017]
"We find there's quite interesting groups in there – there's quite a big group of carers, for instance. Young people who aren't in education, employment or training for the very good reason they are at home looking after a younger sibling who might be disabled, or quite often an older person, maybe grandparents, who aren't well."
Cluxon's got staying power alright, no question – flips 'em like a pro. Best opposition joke leader since JuDarth's left eyebrow – what was the question again?
Is that the same David Seymour who predicted 20 people a year would die from food poisoning if we banned cheap plastic shopping bags? That the same half wit? Just asking for a friend….
Probably not. I reckon Hendy wasn't too far wrong about 80k if we did nothing. Looking at the two US states of similar population, they had 16k deaths with 20% of population infected just before the vaccines came out. So herd immunity at that rate would have been at least 60k deaths before considering the effect on the hospital system. And that excess deaths were higher than official covid deaths so 80k might have been a bit light in any case.
Seems unlikely to me that Aotearoa NZ could have lost more than 20,000 – 22,000 Kiwis, i.e. similar to the COVID-19 death rates in the ten worst-affected states in the USA, but the early worst-case scenario predictions didn't allow for a vaccine, so who knows. Better safe than sorry, imho.
So far NZ is sitting at ~15% of rate of deaths in those ten worst-affected states, all but a handful of which have occured in the last 8 months, over two years since the first COVID-19 cases were detected here. Could be worse!
Jimmy, you missed out the part that said "without strict measures such as the country-wide lockdown" It is thanks to the measures taken, including lockdowns that prevented large scale deaths in New Zealand, as seen in other countries.
ACT are pathetic, let their supporters hire their own private security, and build their own highways for their Porsche Cayennes (Toyotas more like for most of them)! No police protection or two lane blacktop on the taxpayer for the Chicago Boy lot.
Short memory Jimmy? National and Act have already done it. Have you forgotten National's punitive welfare reforms that weren't exactly a success story? National created more poverty and hardship and it appears you want a repeat of that.
"And if the beneficiaries refuse to work, Ms Bennett says the Government will reduce their sickness benefit.
"There will be expectations that they are fronting up and working where they can, and if they're not actually doing those sorts of activities then yes we will be cutting their benefit by 50% to start with," she said"
"welfare policy announced by Prime Minister John Key at the weekend, 16, 17 and 18-year-old beneficiaries would receive a payment card for food and clothes from approved stores"
Job search obligations are currently required by the Social Security Act for those on the Jobseeker Support benefit other than beneficiaries with those obligations deferred for health reasons (formerly the sickness benefit). Failing the obligations will eventually lead to benefit sanctions up to and including cessation of benefit, so I don't know what he's on about.
That's all as assessed by case managers, so it's not automatic that failing to look for work for a couple of weeks will immediately result in total loss of benefit, but the stick is there eventually.
It was funny seeing it at the time. There were a handful of cops who started hurling the pavers protesters had thrown at them, back at the protesters. It only happened a few times until, it seems, someone must've said "hey, we're cops, we can't be seen to be throwing these pavers back at the protesters!", then they stopped and started stacking the pavers up behind them. Quite apart from the fact they're cops, throwing the pavers back at the protesters was pretty dumb because they were just giving them back to the protesters to be thrown at the cops again. Upon reflection, it's probably more likely this was the reason they stopped, rather than the fact they're cops throwing pavers, which probably wouldn't have dawned on them.
Yes, I think you're right, although for some it'd simply come down to their inability to contain what for them comes naturally. Certainly an indication of the calibre of some of the cops we have these days.
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
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New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
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A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nicole Sharwood, Injury epidemiologist | Expert Witness, UNSW Sydney Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock Injuries are the leading cause of disability and death among Australian children and adolescents. At least a quarter of all emergency department presentations during childhood are injury-related. Injuries can ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, Living with Disability Research Centre, La Trobe University Shutterstock/Ground PictureMany Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Salman Shooshtarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Salman Shooshtarian Asbestos has been found in mulch used for playgrounds, schools, parks and gardens across Sydney and Melbourne. Local communities naturally fear for the health of their ...
Family First says that the latest abortion statistics make grim and upsetting reading, with a 25% increase in abortions since the decriminalisation of abortion in March 2020. According to an Official Information Act request received by Right to Life ...
Ipsos New Zealand's inaugural participation in a global study on populism reveals a pervasive sense of societal and economic decline among New Zealanders. MORE DETAILS AND FULL REPORT HERE Ipsos New Zealand's inaugural participation in a global study ...
Listening to Adrian Orr and other RBNZ leads this morning on RNZ I had an odd sublimely fatalist shivering sensation observing an inflation+interest rate wave rising high and entirely beyond any party or state power or instrument to protect us.
Labour is doing what it did during the pandemic – making sure average earners are shielded as much as possible from the fallout of high inflation by restricting the labour supply to keep unemployment low and wages rising in line with inflation.
Nicola Willis, who sounds more and more like yesterdays supply side fanatic everytime she appears in the media, attacks the government for the cost of living crisis, whilst demanding austerity, higher unemployment, wage cuts and higher interest rates.
For all the faults of this Labour government, it has never been clearer that they are party of the people who live in this country, and National is the party of the people who see the country mainly as a place to make money – the bosses, the rentiers and the speculators.
He was a bit waffly and unclear I thought.
Actually he sounds like someone who has been burned by all the peer criticism from the ultra-dry economically orthodox and is now mainly concerned with keeping his job, even if it costs thousands of others theirs.
Seems to have changed tack after the trip to Jackson Hole. This I put down to realising intetest rate hikes were the only game in town and he would be required to follow each time the Fed did to keep investors on side.
If he doesn’t think thats sensible policy its going to get deflating to understand what policy you will be explaining for the rest of your term.
US Fed just jacked to 4%.
I guess a .5% jump for us in 2 weeks?
That would be my pick. Not so clear how he will explain it, because its more or less motivated by the Fed decision, but he needs to justify it in terms of what's happening in NZ (which maybe nothing new).
Although they were talking of a possible 0.75% jump!
BREAKING:
Leading bank economists volunteer to be sacked to help fight inflation.
Love your sense of humour Sanc (2)
A question for those who have spare time on their hands. For those that don't – cool down – scroll past
I read this story a while ago – and visited the social media and other direct sources of the main two subjects ( which may now have gone).
Have come across this fairly comprehensive blogpost which outlines how this incident was wrongly portrayed by "alt=right trolls".
When reading it, what questions arise (if any?), and what actions do you take?
And what – in the end – do you take away?
https://dogpatch.press/2019/09/10/hoax-alt-right-trolls/
I didn't read the whole thing, but it struck me as, on the face of it, well written, evenhanded and researched. In stark contrast to much of the debate in twitter around this.
What I do on twitter is that I look at the account that is saying or doing the controverisal stuff. Sometimes the account looks new, or odd in some way, and I sometimes tweet about the third party actors who are there to shit post or do intentional damage to feminists, trans people and/or society. Lots of people are stuck in an us/them paradigm (GC/Genderist).
If it was a topic I was interested in or had some investment in, I might join the conversation and push back against the bullshit (on both sides). My experience with this is that depending on who I talk with and how hard I push, I will get blocked by both sides 🤷♀️ It's important to do.
"My experience with this is that depending on who I talk with and how hard I push, I will get blocked by both sides It's important to do."
As well as being hellish cute, a sense of fun, and playfulness, have been linked to intelligence.
I imagine, this discovery was also a joy for the researchers
The more we find out about the natural world, the more you gotta love it.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ball-rolling-bumble-bees-just-wanna-have-fun/?
Who'da thunk the US makes Brazil look ordered and good.
Bolsonaro clearly accepting defeat and enabling the transition of power to Lula shows by comparison how fast US democracy is degrading in real time.
That was a pleasant surprise. Mind you the damage Bolsonaro wrought upon the land of Brazil was even greater than Trump in the US – at least in conservational and climactic terms.
The election was actually far from a good outcome. Lula scraped in and:
"Brazilians elected a more conservative Congress in the Oct. 2 ballot, with supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro and the agribusiness lobby winning seats in both the lower and upper houses."
“As the rest of the world closely watched Brazil’s presidential election on Oct. 2, the country’s conservative bloc made significant gains in a Congress that it already dominates. This could prove a key stumbling block to any future efforts to rein in the deforestation and environmental destruction that’s become a signature of the Jair Bolsonaro administration.”
“Ricardo Salles, Bolsonaro’s former environment minister, whose resignation last year amid an ongoing illegal logging investigation….[won] one of the highest vote totals of any legislative candidate in the country.” [In the senate]
https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/conservatives-tighten-grip-on-brazil-congress-hampering-environmental-agenda/
yup, here have the ceremonial chains of office and sit at the head of the table as the chooks come home to roost so we can all blame you.
A bit of good news from the West Island!
Brilliant…NZ is dragging its feet on solar.
Australia still lags with total renewable the record set last friday at 68.7%,NZ at 1 pm today was 98% renewable (with only cogeneration being FF and biomass).
All 4 main eastern states are now in excess production,with spot prices being negative from -36 to -41pmwh.This effectively means generators are being charged to generate.
This is a good idea from Act. You guys will hate it.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/11/david-seymour-says-act-would-put-beneficiaries-refusing-jobs-on-income-management-to-tackle-labour-shortage.html
I know who I'd like to put on “income management“, and it's not the serfs.
Expect to (Sey)more of this – again and again and again.
Seems pretty sensible- if people are fit and able to work, but simply would rather not work, and just receive the benefit when there are numerous industries crying out for staff.
Jimmy, do you actually know anybody in that position? One of my nephews was unemployed a few years ago. He had an excellent Case Manager at WINZ who required him to apply for a certain number of jobs every two weeks – she checked up on him as well. Within a month he had 2 part time jobs, one of which turned into a full time job within a couple of months. He then decided that there was actually a Tech course he wanted to do do he enrolled in that and dropped back to part time hours at the same employer.
I have refugee friends who will do any sort of work that is available – one woman had a junk mail delivery route within a month of getting out of Mangere, and then a part time cleaning job. She quit that job a few years later when she qualified for the pension as she had a shoulder injury from the heavy floor cleaner.
The ones who "sit around" tend to be unemployable because of drugs or alcohol – or personality disorders.
Well done to those people who try to get ahead. It would not be targeting them. I do think WFF needs to be changed as I don't like the way it reduces if a person earns more / does more hours (as that's a disincentive to work more). Also I strongly believe the tax brackets need to adjust for inflation. The governments tax take has been far higher than expected partly due to wages increasing.
You will love how income support abatement works.
Jiminy, your support for Seymour's opinion is pretty predictable, but surely you can’t expect to garner much support for it here.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/16-08-2022/the-side-eyes-two-new-zealands-the-table
No I didn't expect any support for it here. Ironically I used a different "10 people at dinner analogy" on the tax cuts article – comment no. 17.
The wealth distribution, that 10% of people have +50% of the wealth to me is a different subject. Why should wealthy people (who may have worked hard or not), or even middle class working people, have some of their wealth re-distributed to fit healthy people or would rather stay on a benefit when they could be working? To me it seems like a good policy to get people in to work rather than be benefit dependent.
The people still on unemployment benefits at 3% unemployed are people in very serious strife and need all the help we can give them, not more punishment.
From my experience on multiple public and private institutions and mega-projects they need among other things:
Check out the number of paid staff that needs. It's a lot. There are really good institutions around that do that, and a few really good employers as well – but as you can see it is a huge investment in social transition from social welfare entities and from the businesses who take them on.
But honestly at 3% unemployed it is increasingly what we have to do. And it is intensely rewarding.
You are quite right about the sort of support that is needed. One of my refugee friends works for a chap who supplies contract labour to orchards, packhouses etc. He has a couple of vans which go around and pick them up in the mornings – poor people have crap and unreliable cars – and he stops at a bakery or something on the way so that they can pile out and buy breakfast/lunch if needed. When he gets to where they are going he makes sure that they can do what is needed safely, and he has all the gloves etc they might need. He also spends quite a lot of time telling them how much he appreciates them and what good work they do – or if necessary he will coach and help until they are doing good work. Consequently, he never has to look for additional workers – his staff recruit for him every time and there is a waiting list. My friend used to have 2 part time jobs in Rest Homes which involved a lot of down time and travel. Now she is full time with overtime and really enjoying it. "Hard work" she says – "but good work".
At least the bus driver crisis is finally hitting this government in its policy interests: public transport.
There are of course massive government partnerships that enable this stuff to occur like Mana In Mahi which goes from strength to strength. But our company has been taking in long-term beneficiaries and people straight out of prison for some years now.
Everyone has to make a commercial decision about what they take on, but the loyalty you get in return is so critical in this market.
It amazes me that some of the bigger firms have not caught up with the idea of the firm providing transport to workers.
I worked at a series of jobs in factories while going through varsity. At least two of them provided transport to and from work. One in HB where I was living in Napier and the work was in Hastings. You just stood at a bus stop and a bus cruised past and picked you up. Same at night when you had finished your shift. There was public transport you could catch but the drop offs were not nearly as convenient. The bus particularly went through the suburbs where the majority of people lived, so south Napier on the flat.
Thanks Ad (7.1.1.2.1.1) – a fantastic, humane, clear-eyed and true comment. But for the Seymours of the world, the strawman of the 'idle scrounger' has to be maintained as an ideological foundation stone of the just-world fallacy.
Likewise the meritocracy myth:
https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/03/01/144958/if-youre-so-smart-why-arent-you-rich-turns-out-its-just-chance/
Yes, I put Seelittle's idea in the same basket as the "homeless man who got free MIQ' of Woodlouse invention. Inventions of their narrative.
Agree with your comments AB and of course with those of Ad.
AD at 711211 100%
That is a very factual and clear eyed list Ad.
Don't be fooled that a helper can got through the list and 'tick', 'tick'. Most have got sub-lists behind, so:
And we have to
1 look at kids vaccination records, any done? or are they up to date?
and while we are there what about the other children and vaccinations for Mum?
2 How is the child going to get to child care? So transport arrangements
3 Clothes and spare clothes in case of play or other mishaps
So if there are at least 3 sub projects for each item of Ad's this is a big 'do'. And wraparound services provided by a team.
Plenty of ‘attitude‘ out there:
As Lord Seymour suggests, all those "fit [and] healthy" ‘slackers’ could be 'encouraged' to perform any number of menial tasks, although these comments of PM English seem more considered than Seymour's.
Gosh, doesn’t Luxon make English look relatively competent, in hindsight.
"Get people in to work" is laudable – forcing people into work not so much, although I acknowledge the appeal of an easy fix.
https://www.connected.govt.nz/support-for-you/careers-advice/employment-support-services/
I love holidaying in Te Puke again, and again, and again.
Cluxon's got staying power alright, no question – flips 'em like a pro. Best opposition
jokeleader since JuDarth's left eyebrow – what was the question again?Is that the same David Seymour who predicted 20 people a year would die from food poisoning if we banned cheap plastic shopping bags? That the same half wit? Just asking for a friend….
Perhaps he got modelling from Shaun (80,000 will die) Hendy!
Probably not. I reckon Hendy wasn't too far wrong about 80k if we did nothing. Looking at the two US states of similar population, they had 16k deaths with 20% of population infected just before the vaccines came out. So herd immunity at that rate would have been at least 60k deaths before considering the effect on the hospital system. And that excess deaths were higher than official covid deaths so 80k might have been a bit light in any case.
You're dreaming!
"80,000 will die" was output from a Hendy et al. model in the worst-case scenario.
Seems unlikely to me that Aotearoa NZ could have lost more than 20,000 – 22,000 Kiwis, i.e. similar to the COVID-19 death rates in the ten worst-affected states in the USA, but the early worst-case scenario predictions didn't allow for a vaccine, so who knows. Better safe than sorry, imho.
So far NZ is sitting at ~15% of rate of deaths in those ten worst-affected states, all but a handful of which have occured in the last 8 months, over two years since the first COVID-19 cases were detected here. Could be worse!
Jimmy, you missed out the part that said "without strict measures such as the country-wide lockdown" It is thanks to the measures taken, including lockdowns that prevented large scale deaths in New Zealand, as seen in other countries.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120604818/new-model-shows-coronavirus-could-kill-80000-kiwis-without-lockdown
Of course he did. Lurching from headline to headline and with antis too many to count, why bother with the facts?
Just the misinterpretations please served with a side of Maccas.
Classic Bennie bashing from the Epsom incel.
ACT are pathetic, let their supporters hire their own private security, and build their own highways for their Porsche Cayennes (Toyotas more like for most of them)! No police protection or two lane blacktop on the taxpayer for the Chicago Boy lot.
Short memory Jimmy? National and Act have already done it. Have you forgotten National's punitive welfare reforms that weren't exactly a success story? National created more poverty and hardship and it appears you want a repeat of that.
"And if the beneficiaries refuse to work, Ms Bennett says the Government will reduce their sickness benefit.
"There will be expectations that they are fronting up and working where they can, and if they're not actually doing those sorts of activities then yes we will be cutting their benefit by 50% to start with," she said"
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1008/S00260/government-to-crack-down-on-sickness-beneficiaries.htm
"welfare policy announced by Prime Minister John Key at the weekend, 16, 17 and 18-year-old beneficiaries would receive a payment card for food and clothes from approved stores"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/bennett-beneficiary-cards-no-backtrack/YGAEOLWCAQVDBNEDXYVLTUTPCU/
Job search obligations are currently required by the Social Security Act for those on the Jobseeker Support benefit other than beneficiaries with those obligations deferred for health reasons (formerly the sickness benefit). Failing the obligations will eventually lead to benefit sanctions up to and including cessation of benefit, so I don't know what he's on about.
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/on-a-benefit/obligations/obligations-for-getting-jobseeker-support.html has the obligations, one of which is finding or preparing for work.
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/on-a-benefit/obligations/not-meeting-your-obligations.html has the consequences of failing those obligations and includes losing the benefit.
That's all as assessed by case managers, so it's not automatic that failing to look for work for a couple of weeks will immediately result in total loss of benefit, but the stick is there eventually.
How it's done (2m clip when you click on the tweet)
https://twitter.com/PeterMcDade/status/1587917131907219459
Inspiring!
Consistently too.
Hasn't had his first Council meeting and already Wayne Brown's promises are coming undone.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown backs off election promise to get $400 million from Ports of Auckland – NZ Herald
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/130362166/taranaki-man-threw-concrete-pavers-at-police-as-officers-ended-parliament-protest
What about the cops who were throwing the pavers at protesters?
Link, please.
It was shown on tv news clips at the time of the protest.
It was funny seeing it at the time. There were a handful of cops who started hurling the pavers protesters had thrown at them, back at the protesters. It only happened a few times until, it seems, someone must've said "hey, we're cops, we can't be seen to be throwing these pavers back at the protesters!", then they stopped and started stacking the pavers up behind them. Quite apart from the fact they're cops, throwing the pavers back at the protesters was pretty dumb because they were just giving them back to the protesters to be thrown at the cops again. Upon reflection, it's probably more likely this was the reason they stopped, rather than the fact they're cops throwing pavers, which probably wouldn't have dawned on them.
The cops who did that did it because specific radiation was being emitted and microchips deliberately put in their equipment was activated.
They had no control, they just acted. There you go, explained perfectly, logically.
Yes, I think you're right, although for some it'd simply come down to their inability to contain what for them comes naturally. Certainly an indication of the calibre of some of the cops we have these days.