A must read – Andrew Gunn’s brilliant satire on Mike Hosking in the Dominion Post. It’s worth reading over and over and over again. Andrew Gunn will not be on Hosking’s invitation to a barbecue at his mansion any time soon.
It's probably a good thing that Nostradumbass can't see far enough to realise he needs to not piss off the military. Especially if he's got any ideas of staying on after the voters reject him or he reaches the end of the time allowed by the constitution.
I would like to know who he did cc to on his email. Apparently it was a lot (over 10) he would have known his job was on the line and some people would not of wanted to make the hard call like he did.
Not sure if Trump will want him charged with something. Hope that Captain Crozier does not lose his military severance.
Everyone wants a hero in a time of crisis. But while Cuomo has certainly been willing to play the part (convincingly enough that a few folks even want him to run for president), what he’s done away from the cameras is telling: using $2/hour prison labor to rebottle hand sanitizer, refusing to release elderly and sick incarcerated persons from Riker’s Island, and slashing Medicaid rather than raising taxes on the 0.01 wealthiest New Yorkers. These aren’t the sorts of measures that would save lives in this crucial moment, and they certainly won’t prevent future crises from happening.
Hmmm, you have been commenting here for over 3 years.
When you viewing the content that you’re citing/quoting, go to the address bar at the top and highlight the address (AKA URL, it usually starts with “https://***** “), copy it, and paste it into your comment.
A question: for a while there was talk of a UBI being introduced – even temporarily – to ease people through this crisis. That talk seems to have subsided.
Setting aside whether people think it's a good or a bad idea, has anyone heard anything more on this? Or was it more of a twiteratti idea, floated by some and quickly lost sight of?
Nothing that I have seen. But I’d also say that there really isn’t and hasn’t been enough time to plan it even if it was on the table. To implement it would months if not years just in the software alone.
For what it happening now, you’re limited to existing channels.
Working for families is specific to a group. It has rules and a database attached to implement it.
What is the system for people who are not in working for families? Because WFF is a specific kind of tax code with a system and data store created specifically for the set of rules for that.
Remember that working for families took more than a year to implement on the old computer, and anecdotally almost as long on the new system.
They probably won’t have as much internal programming wiring to do. But they still have to get all of the other supporting systems in place. Then they have to load millions of data points into the system.
Basically plan on it taking at least a year once the policy is laid down. To do anything less is essentially guaranteed to make it fail.
Not to mention that there would have to be a pretty strong political debate. Personally I remain quite unconvinced that a UBI is a particularly good system for delivering any kind of useful outcome, and I have been reading about mutually contradictory versions here for a decade.
Sounds more like a religious slogan than something that is implementable into something useful for the whole of our society.
I’m also picking that the announcement of any specific UBI proposal will immediately trigger a war between the supporters of it because no proposal is going to satisfy any of its supporters. And that is before the skeptics get to look at it.
Supposedly START is faster to update than FIRST was, but a key difference here would be that the database is everyone or all natural persons, not an application process for a subset with specific criteria.
Agree that long term UBI needs a different debate to a short term grant. Perhaps a simpler option then is to increase benefits and other support so unemployment doesn't hurt so much.
Another option would be to hand out some one-off grants. That could be managed through income tax refunds – just make the minimum refund $1000, or $1000 for income < a figure TBD.
Agree that long term UBI needs a different debate to a short term grant. Perhaps a simpler option then is to increase benefits and other support so unemployment doesn't hurt so much.
That would be my pick – an existing channel.
That could be managed through income tax refunds..
That really isn't an existing channel.
I haven't filed a income tax statement in more than two decades. I haven't needed to. PAYE, witholding taxes, and these days even the close balance between costs and revenue on my rented out apartment haven't required me to.
Every 2-3 years I rough cut my possible tax return as an exercise and it winds up with trivial amounts that the government would have to return to me. I write it off as just another donation like – well – my taxes.
It simply isn't even worth my time to calculate or dispute or even to try to figure out how to avoid with all of the aggravating fiddling. If I want to change tax systems, I'll usually just advocate for it rather than waste the tax departments time.
While I'm sure that the IRD is aware of a few of my bank accounts, they have no idea of where to place refunds. They certainly don't have a tax refund process for a whole swath of people like me who are usually reasonably well paid, don't have significiant periods of unemployment, and who haven't felt that it is worth their time wrangling fewer taxes through refunds.
There will also be a whole range of people who don’t file returns because their income is too low to make it worthwhile.
Imagine having to try to build a refund system for what will be (conservatively) half of the working population who never file returns nor receive refunds.
Kiwisaver would probably be a wider spread – but what good does sticking refunds in there do for the day-to-day.
As of last year, all taxpayers receive a personal tax summary (income statement is the legal term) if they are not IR3 filers, so the mechanism is there now to do that if government really wants to. If you didn't get a refund or a bill, either IRD don't have a current bank a/c (but Kiwisaver transfers from providers to IRD normally include a standard bank a/c number, so they might have that) or you owed them <$20 so it was written off automatically.
Couple that with an advertising campaign, and it might work. Probably the easiest method would be to increase the Independent Earner Tax Credit since that already exists, so income parameters can be adjusted, rather than having to add something new to the system.
Probably easier to just pay higher benefits/TAS though.
Considering what I view as pointed minority faux outrage over example setting, bike rides, bubble bursting and not following advice, and noting the increase of insulting bad language being used here over the past week, like calling others wankers, twats and cunts, maybe a stronger adherence to the edict of be kinder to each other may be in order.
It appears the tests have a problem with producing a lot of false negatives. Possibly especially among the asymptomatic. So while they are still resource constrained and not yet even testing all those presenting with symptoms, it's easy to see how it's not considered worthwhile testing those without symptoms.
Conventional diagnostic tests for the novel coronavirus may give false-negative results about 30% of the time, meaning people with an active COVID-19 infection still test negative for the disease, according to news reports.
…
In one scenario, the initial swab sample may not always collect enough genetic material to provide an accurate test. This problem may arise more often in patients who do not show many symptoms at the time of their test, the Globe reported. In addition, the standard nasopharyngeal swab, wherein a long instrument is wriggled and rotated to the very back of the nasal cavity, can be both difficult for clinicians to perform and uncomfortable for patients to endure, Krumholz wrote.
Yup. The tests developed in Germany ain't flash on the false negative front. But they're 100% accurate on the positive result side.
By the reasoning you present, then trace, track and test ain't gonna happen, and if there's no testing, then Shelter in Place ain't going to have the desired outcome and we'll wind up in the same place as we would have with a Social Distancing strategy. (ie – ~ 70% infection rate)
So the question comes down to whether people who are asymptomatic but worried are more likely to adequately self isolate than 30% who are asymptomatic but infected and received an all-clear.
I believe the result of a negative is relayed as "not found" (some such wording at any rate) – this from a friend who was tested. So not an unequivocal "all clear".
False negatives are a problem for screening tests because people treat it like an all-clear. False positives are a problem for diagnostic tests because they result in unnecessary treatment.
Copy that. Your friend is typical of literally every person ever tested, therefore you must be correct. Yay.
And there are very few tests with zero false positives. I'm sure you checked out the ROC charts on the German test before making that claim, though, so yay for you again.
I couldn't say whether they are typical or atypical. I can only relay their reaction to being given a test result that was worded in such a way as to preserved a measure of uncertainty in their mind.
On the German test, I'm simply repeating what Michael Osterholm (infectious disease epidemiologist, regents professor, and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. ) has said regards its sensitivity – given his field of expertise I thought it reasonable enough to take him at his word, but hey…
As for your comment about the German test, what was the good professor's exact comment? ISTR Roche was touting 95% accuracy, not perfection. Or was Osterholm talking about some other German-developed testing protocol?
So the question comes down to whether people who are asymptomatic but worried are more likely to adequately self isolate than 30% who are asymptomatic but infected and received an all-clear.
The bit I think is lacking is that people living in the same house should be physically distancing within the household if one of them has tested positive. But I don't think that is what is happening? It's a problem if any of them are going out to work.
I think there are guides on physically distancing from flatmates etc, but yeah – if someone in your house is infected, probably don't go to work would be my thinking. No matter what you do, you could well end up infecting other essential workers.
I would like to be more optimistic but I cannot be at this stage. It is the pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic cases as well as the false negative cases and the people not properly isolating who have it that bothers me.
A depiction of a silly person showing their economic model doesn't work. It works how it's supposed to work, how the market has determined it works.
Somewhere down the line when she finds it's not working in the way she wants it to be working she's demanding it change to operate in a different way. Of course in the current awful situation no-one's going to tell her to get off the grass especially the guy she's interviewing. She doesn't get it and even if she were told she probably still wouldn't get it.
For his trouble of doing what life has taught him to do, make money, he's called a traitor. Apparently though patriotism is a big thing, the most important thing. How did that go for career civil servants in the impeachment thing when patriotism had them coming forward looking after their country? This silly woman was probably calling them traitors too.
They don't want globalisation, they want to be self-sufficient. They want American companies operating off-shore making millions through cheap labour and also want to export stuff to other countries. Why don't they put a wall around the whole place? That'll stop masks escaping.
Never been one for Bill Maher. But it has been interesting watching chat shows without the studio audience, and the subtle changes to delivery that entails. The Daily Show is doing some interesting stuff, and John Oliver is largely doing the usual lol.
Not sure what 'NZ widlife' could be road kill, except possibly kiwi in parts of Northland where the numbers have increased with effective predator control recently. The only roadkill on NZ roads are introduced mammals like possums, rabbits and hedgehogs. That means they are probably surviving more and with probably next to no predator control being done, could be an environmental disaster in the making. Noticed the seagulls were looking hungry up at Waitangi the last week with no tourists chucking them chips or sandwichs to eat. The one place that will definitely benefit by hugely reduced traffic will be in Oz where some roads are normally splattered by dead wombats, wallabies, echidnas etc.!
Yes,I did. It's somewhat of a hodgepodge of an article, but the general message is that nature is getting a bit of a reprieve in may places in varied ways, even the climate. NZ's a bit of a outlier because of the pressure from non-native species. I would have thought that marine life generally will benefit from far fewer amateur fishers and boaties out on the water.
Ok, I couldn’t quite tell from your previous comment @ 19.1 if you had read it.
For example, the opening paragraph of the article is:
Scientists are expecting subtle changes in New Zealand wildlife behaviour during these extraordinary times but are frustrated that fieldwork is banned and they can only observe within their bubbles. [my italics]
See the connection to what I quoted @ 19?
In national parks and other conservation areas, human presence is usually low, not including the Great Walks and the like. But 1080 operations have reportedly ceased and there will be knock-on effects from this.
This relates to the “predator control” and the “environmental disaster in the making” in NZ that you mentioned @ 19.1.
The piece also touches on the balance between native and non-native species here in NZ in the last two paragraphs.
Taken together, it is a large-scale ‘experiment’ without observers in the field. I think this could be a missed opportunity to learn from because the ‘experiment’ will hopefully be short-lived.
Having spoken to the culpability of the CCP frequently, I'm going to balance the books with Joe Rogan talking with Eric Weinstein on what is happening in the USA. I've started the link at 14:22 and the next 40 min is probably the guts of it:
These are obviously concerning reports but it also poses the question…why do countries like the US, France Germany and Canada need to import masks from China?
indeed…i can understand that cost may be a factor in using chinese supply but find it difficult to believe that advanced economies arnt capable of their own production especially given we appear to have the capability here
Grateful here in NZ small businesses actually got the govt subsidies. This didn't happen in the US for the most part which all but guarantees widespread failures.
We don't know how lucky we are.
Does the disclosure of what companies received money breach privacy?
World count of approximately 10,000,000 cases by mid April. We are blessed to have a government that acted comparatively early, although there is a desperate need for harsh consequences.
I am trying to not look forward more than a day about the distress Covid-19 is causing. Some governments are just not prepared. The situation has become cruel in Ecuador, dead left out in the street and dead in the homes. I knew this would occur in countries with few resources.
I personally would have chosen Nandy. Maybe next time.
Already those who rage-quit the party when Corbyn was leader are starting to come crawling back, expecting to just pick up where they left off in 2015.
I just remembered your good links ecomaori and I will remember to keep checking to see what music you have heard lately. So I hope you will keep putting it up. Thanks. Kia ora ongoing.
You are reporting positives – gives me a lift, so thanks for telling about the good.
I think that the road sight in Te Taitokerau should be examined by archaeological people before any roads are built. Why are they doing that while the lock down is in place Shady.
I think that the parents should not stress to much if there tamariki are not receiving education resources.
Water problems in Auckland That's part of global warming predictions.
If a business person was running the country he would have waited till the Rinos had run Aotearoa over before making big moves that has big financial effects there way of thinking is money before humanity.
You can't help but try and politicise the virus issue. We have to put people's lives first.
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Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, 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 ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
The virus may scear you – but capitalism's latest round of failure and ever growing monopolies should make you mad.
Do you mean 'scare' or 'scar'?
And by 'mad' to you mean insane, or angry?
And which monopolies are you speaking of?
My poor spelling skills again – scare.
angry
🙂
all of the meanings work, though, in that context. 🙂
Which failures and monopolies are you thinking of in particular ?
Have you got your head in the clouds Stunned Mullet?
No one is unemployed.
There is no bailout
Everything is fine
You must have misunderstood my question… or I misunderstood what you were trying to say.
I thought there were some particular monopolies you were concerned about ?
…and not sure how capitalism or indeed any particular 'ism' is to blame for the current crisis.
Nothing is wrong in Stunned Mullets world.
I never pointed our particulars.
You seem to be avoiding the economic crisis for some odd reason, you know 600 people lost their jobs today.
That had nothing to do with the economic structure we live under ah Stunned Mullet??!?
A must read – Andrew Gunn’s brilliant satire on Mike Hosking in the Dominion Post. It’s worth reading over and over and over again. Andrew Gunn will not be on Hosking’s invitation to a barbecue at his mansion any time soon.
Link?
The Mike Hoskin satire-its actually David Slack if this is the same one. I love the way they find it necessary to tell you it is satire at the end.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/inspire-me/120717536/mike-hosking-loves-a-bath-bomb?fbclid=IwAR0Dh-oBmWmBooW9sQiXC95uoK57d8dLDELtYgA8wmzkfDQEsPV0bKtHuyY
This is probably the one Reality meant: https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-dominion-post/20200404/281904480286046 Was on Stuff this morning but must have been too hot for them.
Even better than the one I posted. Superb
Probably show up on Stuff later.
Mutiny in the mking.
https://twitter.com/AmberSmithUSA/status/1246052144115077120
It's probably a good thing that Nostradumbass can't see far enough to realise he needs to not piss off the military. Especially if he's got any ideas of staying on after the voters reject him or he reaches the end of the time allowed by the constitution.
Yep and US has just passed 30k new cases today!!!
I would like to know who he did cc to on his email. Apparently it was a lot (over 10) he would have known his job was on the line and some people would not of wanted to make the hard call like he did.
Not sure if Trump will want him charged with something. Hope that Captain Crozier does not lose his military severance.
Fighting for every life.
/
Everyone wants a hero in a time of crisis. But while Cuomo has certainly been willing to play the part (convincingly enough that a few folks even want him to run for president), what he’s done away from the cameras is telling: using $2/hour prison labor to rebottle hand sanitizer, refusing to release elderly and sick incarcerated persons from Riker’s Island, and slashing Medicaid rather than raising taxes on the 0.01 wealthiest New Yorkers. These aren’t the sorts of measures that would save lives in this crucial moment, and they certainly won’t prevent future crises from happening.
But hey, the PowerPoints are great.
https://www.theroot.com/andrew-cuomo-is-trash-1842641091?
I believe that I pointed out Coumo's austerity policies not long after he was first elected as New York governor about a decade ago.
Bearded Git – not the same one. I don’t know if Andrew Gunn’s is on Stuff and I don’t know how to do a link.
Just google it that's how I found it
No worries Reality-see above.
Hmmm, you have been commenting here for over 3 years.
When you viewing the content that you’re citing/quoting, go to the address bar at the top and highlight the address (AKA URL, it usually starts with “https://***** “), copy it, and paste it into your comment.
Kinsley gaffe: when a politician tells the truth – some obvious truth he isn't supposed to say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ted2j6KxMf0
A question: for a while there was talk of a UBI being introduced – even temporarily – to ease people through this crisis. That talk seems to have subsided.
Setting aside whether people think it's a good or a bad idea, has anyone heard anything more on this? Or was it more of a twiteratti idea, floated by some and quickly lost sight of?
It already has been to a large extent.
To all the contractors sole traders, business employees and at risk people who cannot work at present.
Nothing that I have seen. But I’d also say that there really isn’t and hasn’t been enough time to plan it even if it was on the table. To implement it would months if not years just in the software alone.
For what it happening now, you’re limited to existing channels.
To implement it would months if not years just in the software alone.
Especially when software designers forget they have an edit function,to resolve mostly duplicated posts.
IRD could pay it easily – they already pay working for families, so they have the system for it
Yep , where theres a will theres a way …. so it appears no will.
Not the same… And rather too simplistic.
Working for families is specific to a group. It has rules and a database attached to implement it.
What is the system for people who are not in working for families? Because WFF is a specific kind of tax code with a system and data store created specifically for the set of rules for that.
Remember that working for families took more than a year to implement on the old computer, and anecdotally almost as long on the new system.
They probably won’t have as much internal programming wiring to do. But they still have to get all of the other supporting systems in place. Then they have to load millions of data points into the system.
Basically plan on it taking at least a year once the policy is laid down. To do anything less is essentially guaranteed to make it fail.
Not to mention that there would have to be a pretty strong political debate. Personally I remain quite unconvinced that a UBI is a particularly good system for delivering any kind of useful outcome, and I have been reading about mutually contradictory versions here for a decade.
Sounds more like a religious slogan than something that is implementable into something useful for the whole of our society.
I’m also picking that the announcement of any specific UBI proposal will immediately trigger a war between the supporters of it because no proposal is going to satisfy any of its supporters. And that is before the skeptics get to look at it.
Supposedly START is faster to update than FIRST was, but a key difference here would be that the database is everyone or all natural persons, not an application process for a subset with specific criteria.
Agree that long term UBI needs a different debate to a short term grant. Perhaps a simpler option then is to increase benefits and other support so unemployment doesn't hurt so much.
Another option would be to hand out some one-off grants. That could be managed through income tax refunds – just make the minimum refund $1000, or $1000 for income < a figure TBD.
That would be my pick – an existing channel.
That really isn't an existing channel.
I haven't filed a income tax statement in more than two decades. I haven't needed to. PAYE, witholding taxes, and these days even the close balance between costs and revenue on my rented out apartment haven't required me to.
Every 2-3 years I rough cut my possible tax return as an exercise and it winds up with trivial amounts that the government would have to return to me. I write it off as just another donation like – well – my taxes.
It simply isn't even worth my time to calculate or dispute or even to try to figure out how to avoid with all of the aggravating fiddling. If I want to change tax systems, I'll usually just advocate for it rather than waste the tax departments time.
While I'm sure that the IRD is aware of a few of my bank accounts, they have no idea of where to place refunds. They certainly don't have a tax refund process for a whole swath of people like me who are usually reasonably well paid, don't have significiant periods of unemployment, and who haven't felt that it is worth their time wrangling fewer taxes through refunds.
There will also be a whole range of people who don’t file returns because their income is too low to make it worthwhile.
Imagine having to try to build a refund system for what will be (conservatively) half of the working population who never file returns nor receive refunds.
Kiwisaver would probably be a wider spread – but what good does sticking refunds in there do for the day-to-day.
As of last year, all taxpayers receive a personal tax summary (income statement is the legal term) if they are not IR3 filers, so the mechanism is there now to do that if government really wants to. If you didn't get a refund or a bill, either IRD don't have a current bank a/c (but Kiwisaver transfers from providers to IRD normally include a standard bank a/c number, so they might have that) or you owed them <$20 so it was written off automatically.
Couple that with an advertising campaign, and it might work. Probably the easiest method would be to increase the Independent Earner Tax Credit since that already exists, so income parameters can be adjusted, rather than having to add something new to the system.
Probably easier to just pay higher benefits/TAS though.
Robertson said that it was being considered. I'm picking that we will hear more about it later on.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__4_fCgjI74&feature=youtu.be
RIP Bill Withers, he had an incredible story. If you haven’t watched this doc yet It's well worth the watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdizl63aols
Considering what I view as pointed minority faux outrage over example setting, bike rides, bubble bursting and not following advice, and noting the increase of insulting bad language being used here over the past week, like calling others wankers, twats and cunts, maybe a stronger adherence to the edict of be kinder to each other may be in order.
Profiles in Leadership. If a self-culling base is what you're after.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-coronavirus-social-distancing-golf_n_5e87c167c5b6cc1e47754e1a
Yeah…
Her son, who lives in a flat with five others, has been self-isolating in a unit next door since he fell sick.
To her shock, none of his flatmates were required to be tested as no one had shown any flu-like symptoms, she said.
"I was just surprised [that's the advice] when he's been living with them all this time and especially when they keep saying: 'Test, test, test'.
But you know what?
"There is no point testing people who don't have symptoms, who are unlikely to have the illness." – David Clark.
It appears the tests have a problem with producing a lot of false negatives. Possibly especially among the asymptomatic. So while they are still resource constrained and not yet even testing all those presenting with symptoms, it's easy to see how it's not considered worthwhile testing those without symptoms.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/false-negative-coronavirus-test-accuracy-rates-worry-experts-report-2020-4?r=US&IR=T
Yup. The tests developed in Germany ain't flash on the false negative front. But they're 100% accurate on the positive result side.
By the reasoning you present, then trace, track and test ain't gonna happen, and if there's no testing, then Shelter in Place ain't going to have the desired outcome and we'll wind up in the same place as we would have with a Social Distancing strategy. (ie – ~ 70% infection rate)
So the question comes down to whether people who are asymptomatic but worried are more likely to adequately self isolate than 30% who are asymptomatic but infected and received an all-clear.
I believe the result of a negative is relayed as "not found" (some such wording at any rate) – this from a friend who was tested. So not an unequivocal "all clear".
Point still stands.
False negatives are a problem for screening tests because people treat it like an all-clear. False positives are a problem for diagnostic tests because they result in unnecessary treatment.
No. My friend isn't treating it as an "all clear". And there are no false positives with the tests being used that were developed in Germany.
Copy that. Your friend is typical of literally every person ever tested, therefore you must be correct. Yay.
And there are very few tests with zero false positives. I'm sure you checked out the ROC charts on the German test before making that claim, though, so yay for you again.
I couldn't say whether they are typical or atypical. I can only relay their reaction to being given a test result that was worded in such a way as to preserved a measure of uncertainty in their mind.
On the German test, I'm simply repeating what Michael Osterholm (infectious disease epidemiologist, regents professor, and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. ) has said regards its sensitivity – given his field of expertise I thought it reasonable enough to take him at his word, but hey…
So your anecdata is irrelevant.
As for your comment about the German test, what was the good professor's exact comment? ISTR Roche was touting 95% accuracy, not perfection. Or was Osterholm talking about some other German-developed testing protocol?
The bit I think is lacking is that people living in the same house should be physically distancing within the household if one of them has tested positive. But I don't think that is what is happening? It's a problem if any of them are going out to work.
I think there are guides on physically distancing from flatmates etc, but yeah – if someone in your house is infected, probably don't go to work would be my thinking. No matter what you do, you could well end up infecting other essential workers.
Screening test vs diagnostic test.
Which also explains why the govt was saying they have sufficient tests, but people are complaining they didn't get tested.
Evidence that the lockdown is working:
1) As per the latest Bloomfield Briefing, the curve is flattening. Very early signs, but that's what we're aiming for, and it's starting to happen.
2) The Spin-Off reports on our reduced contact
Well done New Zealand. Let's keep it up.
And Australia…
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/2020/apr/01/is-australia-flattening-the-coronavirus-curve-look-at-the-charts-
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-australia/australia-gives-free-childcare-as-coronavirus-case-curve-flattens-idUSKBN21J73M
I would like to be more optimistic but I cannot be at this stage. It is the pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic cases as well as the false negative cases and the people not properly isolating who have it that bothers me.
Indeed, neither the room nor the time for complacency!
A depiction of a silly person showing their economic model doesn't work. It works how it's supposed to work, how the market has determined it works.
Somewhere down the line when she finds it's not working in the way she wants it to be working she's demanding it change to operate in a different way. Of course in the current awful situation no-one's going to tell her to get off the grass especially the guy she's interviewing. She doesn't get it and even if she were told she probably still wouldn't get it.
For his trouble of doing what life has taught him to do, make money, he's called a traitor. Apparently though patriotism is a big thing, the most important thing. How did that go for career civil servants in the impeachment thing when patriotism had them coming forward looking after their country? This silly woman was probably calling them traitors too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Wi4yWltXs
They don't want globalisation, they want to be self-sufficient. They want American companies operating off-shore making millions through cheap labour and also want to export stuff to other countries. Why don't they put a wall around the whole place? That'll stop masks escaping.
Good to know Bill Maher will be back on screen tonight (our time).
Looks like a good remote panel line up.
Guests will include Willie Nelson, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, author Max Brooks, Seth MacFarlane and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Never been one for Bill Maher. But it has been interesting watching chat shows without the studio audience, and the subtle changes to delivery that entails. The Daily Show is doing some interesting stuff, and John Oliver is largely doing the usual lol.
Just remember when you buy from Amazon they get to do this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyLT_NUFJN8&ab_channel=TheJimmyDoreShow
heh
https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1246146713523453957
Some mothers do have em:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12322473
Coronavirus: What's happening to NZ wildlife when humans locked down
https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/120759079/coronavirus-whats-happening-to-nz-wildlife-when-humans-locked-down
Not sure what 'NZ widlife' could be road kill, except possibly kiwi in parts of Northland where the numbers have increased with effective predator control recently. The only roadkill on NZ roads are introduced mammals like possums, rabbits and hedgehogs. That means they are probably surviving more and with probably next to no predator control being done, could be an environmental disaster in the making. Noticed the seagulls were looking hungry up at Waitangi the last week with no tourists chucking them chips or sandwichs to eat. The one place that will definitely benefit by hugely reduced traffic will be in Oz where some roads are normally splattered by dead wombats, wallabies, echidnas etc.!
You didn’t read the link, did you?
Yes,I did. It's somewhat of a hodgepodge of an article, but the general message is that nature is getting a bit of a reprieve in may places in varied ways, even the climate. NZ's a bit of a outlier because of the pressure from non-native species. I would have thought that marine life generally will benefit from far fewer amateur fishers and boaties out on the water.
Ok, I couldn’t quite tell from your previous comment @ 19.1 if you had read it.
For example, the opening paragraph of the article is:
See the connection to what I quoted @ 19?
This relates to the “predator control” and the “environmental disaster in the making” in NZ that you mentioned @ 19.1.
The piece also touches on the balance between native and non-native species here in NZ in the last two paragraphs.
Taken together, it is a large-scale ‘experiment’ without observers in the field. I think this could be a missed opportunity to learn from because the ‘experiment’ will hopefully be short-lived.
Having spoken to the culpability of the CCP frequently, I'm going to balance the books with Joe Rogan talking with Eric Weinstein on what is happening in the USA. I've started the link at 14:22 and the next 40 min is probably the guts of it:
https://youtu.be/wf0_nMaQ6tA?t=852
It is high time the rest of the western world got together and stood up to this f*****g fascist bully president and his team of thugs:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52161995
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has started the ball rolling by threatening the current American Administration with threats of his own. [see link]
These are obviously concerning reports but it also poses the question…why do countries like the US, France Germany and Canada need to import masks from China?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bird-flu/news/article.cfm?c_id=560&objectid=12321143
They may want to think twice and run QCs or they may end up with a lemon.
China's coronavirus supplies are being rejected — how do we ensure quality in a pandemic?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-04/china-coronavirus-covid-19-medical-supplies-recalled-regulation/12105110
indeed…i can understand that cost may be a factor in using chinese supply but find it difficult to believe that advanced economies arnt capable of their own production especially given we appear to have the capability here
Grateful here in NZ small businesses actually got the govt subsidies. This didn't happen in the US for the most part which all but guarantees widespread failures.
We don't know how lucky we are.
Does the disclosure of what companies received money breach privacy?
World count of approximately 10,000,000 cases by mid April. We are blessed to have a government that acted comparatively early, although there is a desperate need for harsh consequences.
I am trying to not look forward more than a day about the distress Covid-19 is causing. Some governments are just not prepared. The situation has become cruel in Ecuador, dead left out in the street and dead in the homes. I knew this would occur in countries with few resources.
Yes NZ is blessed.
Sir Keir Starmer has been elected as leader of the British Labour Party. Good luck to him, hopefully they can rebuild for the 2024 election.
I personally would have chosen Nandy. Maybe next time.
Already those who rage-quit the party when Corbyn was leader are starting to come crawling back, expecting to just pick up where they left off in 2015.
https://youtu.be/qQfetkoGrpU
I just remembered your good links ecomaori and I will remember to keep checking to see what music you have heard lately. So I hope you will keep putting it up. Thanks. Kia ora ongoing.
You are reporting positives – gives me a lift, so thanks for telling about the good.
Kia Ora Newshub.
There are idiots everywhere.
Good on that teacher helping people out during these times.
The Internet is a great way for people to carry on making money.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
I think that the road sight in Te Taitokerau should be examined by archaeological people before any roads are built. Why are they doing that while the lock down is in place Shady.
I think that the parents should not stress to much if there tamariki are not receiving education resources.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Water problems in Auckland That's part of global warming predictions.
If a business person was running the country he would have waited till the Rinos had run Aotearoa over before making big moves that has big financial effects there way of thinking is money before humanity.
You can't help but try and politicise the virus issue. We have to put people's lives first.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Newshub.
Its impossible to keep everyone happy during the virus isolation times.
Hope no one is lost in the Cyclone in Vanuatu.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Cool that Iwi checking to make sure there Kaumatua are OK during there weeks of isolation.
Good move starting up there own online Kai delivery service.
I say our government is handling this virus situation well.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Aotearoa is lucky that we are a food produceing nation we can feed our Tangata.
What I can believe that you are a cracked record.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Newshub.
Its cool weather these days .
There will be unscrupulous people ripping off people and the government . Kia Kaha.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Someone ripping off the pepe things from a kohanga reo is not on.
Condolences to Jimmy's whanau for their loss.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub.
I think it's great that The Warehouse is going to donate Easter eggs to familys.
Cool that councils are helping feed their poor people we no who to thank for that phenomenon.
That's the way turn all those logs into timber and other stuff to create local employment just don't ruin our environment in the process.
Ka kite Ano P. S The gloves will come off after isolation
Kia Ora Newshub.
That's good two new channels and laptops being sent out to teach our students and tamariki.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Our government is doing it best to carry on our youth education during isolation.
Its good to see Kiwis working in the horticultural industry like they use to 20 years ago.
A 3rd of Kiwis in Australia could be in harder times kia kaha Whanau.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Hope no lives are lost in Fiji from the Cyclone hitting them.
I remember that incident well it was on the news as well on The Crowd goes wild.
I enjoyed living in my off grid camp till I was under arm bowled by you know who.
😇
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub.
That's is cool everyone person coming into Aotearoa is going into quarantine.
We know who caused the EQC mess.
I don't think 4 week of UN attended of a golf course will ruin it.???. in Autumn /winter
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Condolences to Huirangi whanau for their loss.
Plenty of vegetables growing on Turanga Nui A Kiwa whenua.
Ka pai to the Iwi koha kia to te tangata.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub.
It would be good to find symptoms to aid in early detection of the virus.
That's good online church services you can reach a lot of people online.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
5G protest I was baffled when I found out that some people believe that 5G caused the virus how can A radio wave influence A biological virus.??????.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub.
Yes we are mear mortals on the Mother Earth.
Aotearoa is lucky of our location in the middle of the Pacific.
Awsome our government sending supplies and helping to Vanuatu.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Its good to see our Kaumatua being given groceries during isolation.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub.
Yes our mokopuna enjoyed their Easter.
That's is awesome those Kiwis being aloud to come home into quarantine.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Good on the Cook Islands government for supporting that golden oldies Netball team.
That's is cool neighbours meeting each other and keeping safe inside there isolation bubble in Rotorua.
Great seeing the regions with a lot tangata whenua getting tested for the virus.
Now is a good time to use the Internet to teach Te reo Maori. Kia kaha Te reo Maori.
Ka kite Ano