When I became eligible for superannuation I got a sense of how UBI would motivate those who strive – which actually is most of us. "Scum" is getting welfare now anyway so nothing changes there. What changes with UBI (and in my case now with superannuation) , is the ability to get ahead, to "get the foot in the door."
The other point I like about UBI is that we are all recognised as equal, nothing has to be qualified, justified, or scutinised, We are all recognised as equal and are valued at the point of adulthood. From there it is over to the individual to take the opportunity to run with it or to sit back in the sun and become "scum," or as most of us would, do just get on with life in a constructive way.
UBI would be a much more economic to administrate than the many headed monsters that ACC and social welfare have become.
UBI should be available to all New Zealand born citizens.
Ahhhh the miracle of turning 65 when you magically go from bloodsucking scum to deserving recipient who has paid taxes all your life.
It's as magic as caterpillars turning into butterflies or water into wine.
There are some special ones though who despite not having paid taxes all their lives in New Zealand want to get both a full NZ pension and keep their overseas one on top of. They are really extra special those ones – presumably cause the specifically chose to retire here – they have magic wings.
I absolutely agree with the UBI but need to point out:
Overseas pensions – you can choose either but not both.
DoS – you seem to believe that you can both, NZ and OS pension but I reassure you, you cant.
If you are receiving a pension from overseas and opted for the NZ one the former is being paid to the NZ Government. We are talking some 18 billion per annum here that goes into the consolidated fund.
How will this work if you are a permanent resident and worked in NZ 30 odd years contributing possibly more than some not so keen to work? Is it better to keep the overseas pension and what does this say about the status of being a permanent (not so permanent after decades?) resident. There are many reasons why people opt for not taking up citizenship. It does not have to be parochial. Fuel for thought.
UBI payable to Permanent Resident – this needs to be reviewed in the same way as its done with the pension and pegged against minimum years of tax contribution perhaps?
No UBI should be paid for people not living here and have just bought their way into NZ. Millions buy you a seat at the table kind of process.
Some fairness needs to be introduced and some serious thought put into this.
Generally, the UBI would be more efficient to administer.
People need to be prepared to get tax number and registration with the IRD as soon as they turn 18 (?).
"DoS – you seem to believe that you can both, NZ and OS pension but I reassure you, you cant."
Nope you can't but I was referring to all the lobbying that goes on to make this possible as if they were hard done by.
"If you are receiving a pension from overseas and opted for the NZ one the former is being paid to the NZ Government. We are talking some 18 billion per annum here that goes into the consolidated fund."
While you have said opted you still don't fairly represent the position. In essence if you have lived and worked for part of your life in two countries you will often be entitled to a pension in both countries. in essence a part pension for the time you worked in NZ and a part pension for the time you worked overseas. This means you are not advantaged over someone who ha actually lived and worked in New Zealand and contributed taxes for their entire life. You can get a NZ pension if you have lived here for 10 years.
So it is possible that you could have left home and worked overseas at 18 – which many of my peers did especially to the UK, worked there til 55 then returned and lived here til 65. So 37 years of your working life was in the UK and 10 here (if indeed you worked). 37 years of a UK pension is a decent amount.
The standard practise is to have your overseas pension calculated and then top up to the full NZS pension if your overseas pension is less than the NZ one. This will vary on a regular basis due to exchange rates etc and according to my father-in-law was bloody annoying. He was amongst those who lobbied some years ago now to have a simple system that people could opt into. His UK pension wasn't particularly large as he had only spent a small portion of his working life in the UK. You can choose to make the administration easier select to have your UK pension paid to the government and receive a full NZS pension.
It's incorrect to suggest the government takes your pension and puts it in the consolidated fund.You would have only ever been paid the difference between the two pensions so there is no net gain for the government or the consolidated fund. It's just easier administratively to have created that option for everyone.
For 10 years working in the UK you'd get not a lot from their government. We're pretty generous already.
Pigs at the trough. And in light of some contributions on a thread yesterday (I think maybe McFlock and Red), it never ceases to amaze me how some, who profess they follow religious guidance (of whatever religion) will selectively focus on a particular aspect to justify their antics – in this case the idea of 'self-reliance'. These greedy, status-seeking blokes are apt to forget the 5 Virtues and have well and truly signed up the 5 Thieves instead! Nanak would be rolling in his grave – probably let alone their own grandfathers. And these arseholes probably justify it all by thinking that they probably had to go through similar shit when they were starting out. And if they thought about it in any depth, 'self reliance' is actually the last thing they'e up to – taking handouts, ripping off others for their own personal gain, and then trying to justify it by wanking on about how they 'give back'. There are one or two politicians who operate in similar fashion.
I repeat btw, that its not limited to their particular religious belief (i.e. the selectivity in the aspects they use in order to justify their actions)
These pirates should be audited with extreme prejudice, particularly given their penchant for shafting their workers. I would be incredibly suspicious of that money being used appropriately. (There's a fancy mansion to complete and green fees to pay.) They're obviously awash with remorse for their previous actions.
"These pirates should be audited with extreme prejudice……."
Indeed! And not just by WINZ or whichever agency has provided the money, but IRD and others as well. But that won't necessary stop a few others from taking the risk to do likewise. You'll find that not only have these greedy, status-seeking, arrogant arseholes ripped people off, but they've lied to them repeatedly as well by way of false promises and what is effectively bondage – slavery even.
And if we really don't want to see this sort of thing as a feature of the future, we'd go further: Things like offering an amnesty to a few of their former employees and even PR if necessary – a sufficient number to ensure a successful prosecution. There are a few people around that'd be able to assist in tracing those employees if the appropriate agencies don't feel they're up to the job.
I really have to stop myself from beginning a rave, but the damage they do is far worse than they imagine because at times like this, it allows people's prejudices to seemingly become justified: Tarring everyone of like bretheren with the same brush (I've seen it often such as the "us" lecturing on how "they" are ripping off "their own"); ensuring the next/younger generations from becoming utterly cynical of the positive values this religion (but others as well) espouse – even though I'm basically agnostic tending (oops – pivoting) atheist.
No different though than those that religiously espouse "Good, Wholeseome Family Values" that think family, child and sexual abuse is quite OK (as long as its done in private) …. from the Capills and others, to the tithing Tamakis, or the 'exceptional' followers of Islam who are perfectly prepared to gruesomely murder others of the faith.
There's probably a chemical cure for most of them – it'd probably involve massive doses of oestrogen, but suffice to say these two are well-versed in Kaam, Krodh, Lobh, Moh and Hankaar – AND its a matter of record. I'm kind of wondering if a "kind and transformational" gummint is up to the challenge of facing them down through the various agencies and their supposed capabilities they have. I suspect not – but maybe in the fullness of time ("in this space, going forward")
Then lets look forward to F&P bringing their manufacturing back home!
Further processing of our all primary products, wood, wool, meat , hides, horticultural, fish and the return to the making of medical products from our primary products like thyroxine as Glaxo used to do, would be a logical manufacturing re- development and development!
Will not make sense for all firms. Both the F&P companies must remain focused on overseas markets to be viable (and have shifted manufacturing closer to those) and one is not even NZ-owned anymore.
The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and Stuff are all owned by Channel 9 (Australian). Personally, I find the Ozzie variants better researched with better comments than Stuff. Think there is a bit of cross Tasman rivalry going on in Oz and there have been a few poorly written articles about NZ's response to Covid-19. Not matched by the NZ equivalents.
I see our Sith African Mayor here in Gisbo, capital of Maori NZ, wants to push on. Oh, to have the virtue of obliviousness. Or, the straight path to National MPdom. I can't remember the particularities of our present MP's unawareness of others, except all we fellow Napier exiles refuse to vote for her, in her Ohope homestead. So much we can get away with, or National.
Michael Reddell has another go at it, on Spinoff this time: "Successful economies tend to be ones where foreign trade – exports and imports – is rising as a share of GDP: especially for small countries the wider world is where most of the potential markets are. In New Zealand, the foreign trade share has hardly changed since about 1980, and has been falling this century – the peak years of the latest wave of globalisation. We were once among the most successful trading nations in the world – matched by really high living standards for the times – but no longer. Ministers and officials like to talk about the numerous preferential trade deals they sign, but the data tell their own story." https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-05-2020/rebuilding-a-shattered-economy-in-a-post-covid-world/
Running to stand still for 40 years gives us a good idea of the merit of all the macho business thrusters we had to endure the propanda from during Rogernomics & Ruthenasia. Nothing much heard from our right-wing thinktanks in recent years along those lines though, nor now. Zero from our sole left-wing thinktank.
Michael's point about the contrast between all the media hoop-la surrounding our foreign ministers signing trade deals, and the consequent lack of any bump in foreign trade earnings, shows just how much our media are captivated by froth not substance.
“When the economy is going backwards, when there is little appetite by firms to invest, and a strong precautionary motive to save, we need the OCR to be quite deeply negative for a time.” Nudge.
We were the "most successful trading nation " when we only had one customer, the UK, with butter, cheese and meat because it was desperately short of protein and wool for the mills for clothing. The price of wool was artificially high because of the Korean War at famously " a pound a pound " when average wages in NZ were about 5 Pound a week, that made wool about $180 a pound in todays money. Wool is probably about 12-15 dollars a pound today.
I have a grocery bill of my parents from 1950 and butter and milk even heavily subsidised as they were then, were a lot more expensive than now.
Having only one customer who takes all you can produce at huge prices only makes you "successful "in a limited sense.
to Adrian at 5:1 : Sorry Adrian …. milk was 4d a pint albeit subsidised. I know because had four children from 1955 < , my husband and I drank milk because cheaper than tea ( coffee a rarity then). Therefore we consumed 10 pints a day for years, allowing milk vendor to accept a cheque monthly rather than so much cash ( yes 40d was well worth pinching!) each day.
Not old enough to remember the fifties, but growing up in the sixties, my parents, with one earner, on less than half the average wage at the time, were able to buy 6 pints of milk daily, plenty of bread and other food, and put a lamb roast to feed at least eight, on the table every Sunday.
People on similar income, from two earners today, would be paying half their weekly food budget, after rent, for one roast.
You mean we were selling them quality produce, in return for their shoddy manufactured goods. Little has changed, apart from the countries we are selling to.
I would have a good think about which country was "propping up" the other, if I were you?
We were selling them quality produce in return for foreign exchange. The UK basically provided our high standard of living. They didn't need us at all. As for their ‘shoddy’ goods, you have a very short memory. Remember Tri-Ang, Corgi and Meccano toys, Morris and Austin motor cars, the Beatles (and hundreds of others). They did very well by the world did the UK.
I remember 2 shillings for a pound of butter and a shilling for a loaf of bread. 4 pence for a pint of milk. Nine pence for a seat in local movie theatre. Lamb was cheap and chickens only for special occasions.
2 cents (thats right, cents ) for a pint of milk…mind you wages were equally low.
It is important to remember that when this 'regime' was in place we had a very compressed remuneration structure which included a top tax rate of 60 cents in the dollar….and capital controls. Some of the solutions from the past are relevant….as are some of the lifestyle impacts.
So here's how the Democrats are trying to impress voters: "government programs in the United States—even those supported by the purportedly pro-government party—are not designed to solve problems. Rather, they are designed to solve a given problem only to a degree—and that degree can’t require an amount of spending that would necessitate financial sacrifice on the part of high-income taxpayers. This is not a leftist conspiracy theory, but the overt position of the party’s leaders, who believe they will not be able to achieve crucial voting margins in upscale suburbs if they authorize too much taxation and spending." https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/coronavirus-stimulus-failures-hit-professional-class.html?via=features
"To put it cynically, the job of much Democratic legislation is to make liberal voters of means feel good that something is being done for the less fortunate, not necessarily to actually do that thing."
"Some people might really benefit, but the process of doing so will be time-consuming and byzantine, and will only affect their overall life situation at the margins. (Consider the “free college in New York state” program that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo often takes credit for starting. Seventy percent of those who apply to the program are rejected—and it doesn’t cover the costs of housing or class materials, but you also can’t participate in it if you’re a part-time student, i.e., someone who needs to work on the side to cover the costs of housing and class materials. During his 2018 reelection campaign Cuomo belittled his opponent’s proposal to raise taxes on incomes over $1 million a year and called it a political “nonstarter.”)"
"Voters who might need better benefits have the choice of either accepting these as the best they can get or not voting at all, because the other party wants new programs to be inadequate on purpose—and wants to cut back the ones that do work, like Social Security and Medicare—so as to “incentivize” individuals to work harder to get a job or to get a better job or to save more. The choice is between drowning gradually or all at once."
But hey, Democrats are the progressive option, apparently. "“Our constituents have a lot of questions about where the hell this $3 trillion is going and why it isn’t coming into their pockets,” Pennsylvania Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon told Politico in an article about rank-and-file Democratic backlash against the party’s limited stimulus efforts."
Downside of that: those sociopaths who ignore the rules will get new recruits. Did you see those figures for the number of parties on saturday night complained about? Plenty of folks have a `been there, done that' attitude to social distancing…
either we will have a spike in infections which will be traceable to those parties and we go back to L4 and people learn to stop being dicks, or we don't have a spike because the curve was sufficiently flattened and we carry on figuring it all out as we go along and some people politicise the issue and we go back to the old macho politics (except Labour are in charge, with St Jacinda at the helm, lol).
28 days of this 0.00 and I'll be getting the champers out of the fridge. I'm picking that we may stay at level 3 until after the queens birthday weekend.
Saw some figures way back (for Aus) which indicted that lockdown compliance needed to be 70% or above to reduce transmission – we look like we went through level 4 in the high 90's – which makes the track to 0.00 faster. So if level 3 means we have dropped but are still above 70% we will get there but the more compliance the quicker.
Time to roll out the ad campaigns " play to the whistle" , " game not over yet" "fancy going to the beach this summer?" – make it really clear that we are close to full time but need that extra push just to get us there
Yes – brilliant. Now the plan to ensure that in those sectors of the economy that aren't coming back, nobody is left behind. The plan to ensure that after everybody has put in the effort, the result isn't that some people get to make out economically like bandits, while others go to the wall.
The PM working her magic again. Unusual times for sure, but this suggests her stance on AUS/NZ relations has not been as damaging as some alarmists on the right would have us believe.
Fortunately for Ardern the meeting is a phone in, but an interesting turn of events all the same. It's my sense that quite a few Australian politicians are quietly grateful that Ardern has paved the way for SloMo to follow.
But the outcome is a good one, both countries have responded magnificently so far, at least to the best extent you might reasonably imagine. It’s set the stage for a major trans-Tasman refresh.
There are scarcely two nations on earth more tightly linked socially and economically, but we've allowed the political relationship to drift. This may well be a good chance to reset the politics, because I think in this coming unsettled decade we are going to need the relationship working at full strength.
Certainly a common adversary helps focus common interests. If they get this trans tasman bubble working it could strengthen ties even further with each others citizens boosting badly damaged tourism sectors.
Australia's deportation policy is still a massive issue though.
Yes. The trick to sorting that issue will be getting the Australian public and politicians to start putting a higher value on their unique relationship with NZ. Ardern has raised our credibility enormously over here, almost everyone we have spoken with is aware of our govt's bold and gutsy approach. They respect that.
lol @ "SloMo" … their PMs are always good nickname fodder 😂
More seriously, there are stumbling blocks that both nations need to face up to in order to normalise & strengthen relations. Citizenship, border security, foreign policy, the FIRE sector, workers rights
I don’t think it’s so much that we’ve let the relationship drift on our side. It’s more a case of Australia thinking they have bigger fish to fry as they reach for middle-power status. At any rate, if this is a reset it’s welcome.
I think Scomo wants to bask in the positive "halo" effect around Jacinda. She's had a lot of good publicity so he may be wanting some of it to rub off on him. Suspect he needs it. Next Mike Pence will be wanting a phone in!!?
"this suggests her stance on AUS/NZ relations has not been as damaging as some alarmists on the right would have us believe."
Too many hilariously bad takes to choose from, especially after Ardern's last trip across the Tasman, where (shock!) a NZ PM spoke up for NZ. Here's one of the classics …
"Should she be returned to power, a prospect that looks remote, Jacinda Ardern has almost zero likelihood of a rapprochement with our PM." (The Australian, March 5 2020 – emphasis added).
(it's subscription only, but you can copy/Google the quote)
That says it all really doesn’t it? They’ve spent the last 3 years convinced she was just some weird aberration and that normal service would resume. Frankly I’m happy if they continue to underestimate her.
TDB's got a good appraisal of the reeferendum: "under this model almost everyone wins. Access to cannabis will be legal yet controlled, medical access gets easier and cheaper, current providers aren’t locked out and can go legal, social equity provisions are built in, overseas corporates are blocked, micro cultivators have a place, sales taxes support increased health and education and don’t just disappear to a general government fund, our police get better things to do, and people will have legal options other than alcohol." https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/05/04/cannabis-referendum-bills-recipe-for-success/
"A Yes vote will take away money and influence from organised crime, and it will reduce the dominance of our alcohol industry, and the pharma trade won’t be part of this. There won’t be cannabis stores on every corner. There won’t be a Big Cannabis industry. and imports won’t be allowed. Vertical integration will be banned, and advertising prohibited, so those who banked on a big corporate approach may be ruing their bets. Instead, this model supports local growers, producers and small businesses."
"The parties that make up the current Government have pledged to make the result binding. They’ve put forward the Bill, so they’re obviously supportive of it. Notably, the final version of the Bill has not backtracked on any parts of the earlier draft."
I'm surprised & pleased by the constructive collaboration of NZF. Well done, all involved in the process!
I seem to recall that in the early days of debate about legalisation especially in regard to medicinal cannabis that Grey Power (or a significant part of them) were strongly in favour, so this may have something to do with NZF's attitude.
See the hypocrisy around me almost every day. Employers complaining about young employees doping and drinking. They would never have passed a drug test, back in their day.
Yeah I'm with you on reducing the possibility of cartel formation like petrol retailers, but I assume the regulator will keep an eye on that tendency. Unlike the USA, we are small enough a democracy that regulator-capture isn't obviously happening.
Yet Mullah Bob al-McCroskie of the Christian Taliban is still not happy. If he had his way, people with a spliff in their pocket would be publicly flogged in Aotea Square.
A wee while back the case against the IRA was dropped, and now we find out that the outgoing administration, through the FBI, deliberately set up Flynn on minor crimes of process which they then used to puff up their whole Russia conspiracy crap.
But the lack of those involved anymore in current events and their alienation from organised society in the Rogernomics era is just an open door to bullshit, and the Right has the copyright on that.
The craft industry has promise, based on a long tradition of quality and uniqueness and I'm hoping will continue the Covid 19 rebirth of knitting and other handcrafts. The luxury goods market will not die. A hand knitted item from locally grown, spun and dyed fibres posted to a status conscious consumer overseas with cash to spend and rellies and friends to impress or gift could be a nice little earner.
Blood test today, what a nightmare, queue in the rain, people pushing past to front, maybe texted because its their turn. No staff long wait. In and out same tiny entry. If it was a burger bar would be shut down, Privatisation, lowest tender wins, all for profit. I should have flagged it but its a time dependant test.
"In other words many businesses – whether S&P 500 companies or small and medium-sized enterprises – will be rendered insolvent by the pandemic. No amount of liquidity, however, cheap, will avert that fate.
There are estimates that about 16 per cent of US listed companies either couldn’t cover their interest costs or barely covered them even before the crisis has cost them months of lost cash flow.
With the likelihood that any recovery will be slow and halting rather than the "V-shaped" recovery US markets had been pricing in since March 23, it is probable that the pandemic will cut swathes through corporate and Main Street America, along with similar impacts, albeit to differing degrees, on the rest of the world’s economies."
"We're a society that is governed by the rule of law, which means the state can't exercise power over people without the legal authority to do so," he told Magic Talk host Ryan Bridge on Monday.
Hey, Chris Findlayson, remember that time you let Police exercise power over Nicky Hager without the legal authority to do so?
“I remember, going back to my time as Security Minister, [the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet] had a list of national security concerns, and the pandemic possibility was toward the top of that list.” he said.
Right underneath Nicky Hager, who seemed to be the start and finish of the Prime Minister’s security concerns.
"In fact, nobody upheld the public-health interventions as long as they should have. San Francisco reduced mortality by at least 25% – the highest rate among US cities. But, rather than reinforcing its commitment to its interventions, this success led the city to cancel its restrictions in November; a second, much deadlier wave of infections followed in December and January. Had San Francisco sustained its social-distancing rules for longer, the National Academy of Sciences estimates, it could have cut the death toll by 95%."
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” George Santayana famously quipped in 1905….. all those clamouring for level 2 and trans tasman travel might want to consider such.
Global warming is still having big negative effects yet we still don't have efficient plans to minimise Global warming.
We are lucky to have the 21st century commutation devices to help businesses function during isolation there are many ways to make money using the Internet.?????.
That's is cool a company making a more cost effective ventilator in Aotearoa.
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
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This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
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Happy Star Wars Day! 🙂
May the fourth be with you, too.
The problem with universal payments is that scum may be eligible for them as well: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121359471/coronavirus-wealthy-liqour-store-barons-claim-550k-covid19-wage-subsidy
It goes to their staff.
Audit the hell out of them to make sure because of their past practises, but this is how welfare should be operated.
I agree. There will always be some bad apples but that does not invalidate the whole scheme. May be a challenge we see to UBI.
When I became eligible for superannuation I got a sense of how UBI would motivate those who strive – which actually is most of us. "Scum" is getting welfare now anyway so nothing changes there. What changes with UBI (and in my case now with superannuation) , is the ability to get ahead, to "get the foot in the door."
The other point I like about UBI is that we are all recognised as equal, nothing has to be qualified, justified, or scutinised, We are all recognised as equal and are valued at the point of adulthood. From there it is over to the individual to take the opportunity to run with it or to sit back in the sun and become "scum," or as most of us would, do just get on with life in a constructive way.
UBI would be a much more economic to administrate than the many headed monsters that ACC and social welfare have become.
UBI should be available to all New Zealand born citizens.
[lprent: I removed the double up for you. ]
Ahhhh the miracle of turning 65 when you magically go from bloodsucking scum to deserving recipient who has paid taxes all your life.
It's as magic as caterpillars turning into butterflies or water into wine.
There are some special ones though who despite not having paid taxes all their lives in New Zealand want to get both a full NZ pension and keep their overseas one on top of. They are really extra special those ones – presumably cause the specifically chose to retire here – they have magic wings.
Hi Janet
I absolutely agree with the UBI but need to point out:
Overseas pensions – you can choose either but not both.
DoS – you seem to believe that you can both, NZ and OS pension but I reassure you, you cant.
If you are receiving a pension from overseas and opted for the NZ one the former is being paid to the NZ Government. We are talking some 18 billion per annum here that goes into the consolidated fund.
How will this work if you are a permanent resident and worked in NZ 30 odd years contributing possibly more than some not so keen to work? Is it better to keep the overseas pension and what does this say about the status of being a permanent (not so permanent after decades?) resident. There are many reasons why people opt for not taking up citizenship. It does not have to be parochial. Fuel for thought.
UBI payable to Permanent Resident – this needs to be reviewed in the same way as its done with the pension and pegged against minimum years of tax contribution perhaps?
No UBI should be paid for people not living here and have just bought their way into NZ. Millions buy you a seat at the table kind of process.
Some fairness needs to be introduced and some serious thought put into this.
Generally, the UBI would be more efficient to administer.
People need to be prepared to get tax number and registration with the IRD as soon as they turn 18 (?).
"DoS – you seem to believe that you can both, NZ and OS pension but I reassure you, you cant."
Nope you can't but I was referring to all the lobbying that goes on to make this possible as if they were hard done by.
"If you are receiving a pension from overseas and opted for the NZ one the former is being paid to the NZ Government. We are talking some 18 billion per annum here that goes into the consolidated fund."
While you have said opted you still don't fairly represent the position. In essence if you have lived and worked for part of your life in two countries you will often be entitled to a pension in both countries. in essence a part pension for the time you worked in NZ and a part pension for the time you worked overseas. This means you are not advantaged over someone who ha actually lived and worked in New Zealand and contributed taxes for their entire life. You can get a NZ pension if you have lived here for 10 years.
So it is possible that you could have left home and worked overseas at 18 – which many of my peers did especially to the UK, worked there til 55 then returned and lived here til 65. So 37 years of your working life was in the UK and 10 here (if indeed you worked). 37 years of a UK pension is a decent amount.
The standard practise is to have your overseas pension calculated and then top up to the full NZS pension if your overseas pension is less than the NZ one. This will vary on a regular basis due to exchange rates etc and according to my father-in-law was bloody annoying. He was amongst those who lobbied some years ago now to have a simple system that people could opt into. His UK pension wasn't particularly large as he had only spent a small portion of his working life in the UK. You can choose to make the administration easier select to have your UK pension paid to the government and receive a full NZS pension.
It's incorrect to suggest the government takes your pension and puts it in the consolidated fund.You would have only ever been paid the difference between the two pensions so there is no net gain for the government or the consolidated fund. It's just easier administratively to have created that option for everyone.
For 10 years working in the UK you'd get not a lot from their government. We're pretty generous already.
Previous articles suggested the offenders had committed to no longer being employers, by selling their liquour store.
I guess their greed outed them again, then.
They just parted ways with Super Liquor and rebranded under a new corporate structure.
Pigs at the trough. And in light of some contributions on a thread yesterday (I think maybe McFlock and Red), it never ceases to amaze me how some, who profess they follow religious guidance (of whatever religion) will selectively focus on a particular aspect to justify their antics – in this case the idea of 'self-reliance'. These greedy, status-seeking blokes are apt to forget the 5 Virtues and have well and truly signed up the 5 Thieves instead! Nanak would be rolling in his grave – probably let alone their own grandfathers. And these arseholes probably justify it all by thinking that they probably had to go through similar shit when they were starting out. And if they thought about it in any depth, 'self reliance' is actually the last thing they'e up to – taking handouts, ripping off others for their own personal gain, and then trying to justify it by wanking on about how they 'give back'. There are one or two politicians who operate in similar fashion.
I repeat btw, that its not limited to their particular religious belief (i.e. the selectivity in the aspects they use in order to justify their actions)
These pirates should be audited with extreme prejudice, particularly given their penchant for shafting their workers. I would be incredibly suspicious of that money being used appropriately. (There's a fancy mansion to complete and green fees to pay.) They're obviously awash with remorse for their previous actions.
"These pirates should be audited with extreme prejudice……."
Indeed! And not just by WINZ or whichever agency has provided the money, but IRD and others as well. But that won't necessary stop a few others from taking the risk to do likewise. You'll find that not only have these greedy, status-seeking, arrogant arseholes ripped people off, but they've lied to them repeatedly as well by way of false promises and what is effectively bondage – slavery even.
And if we really don't want to see this sort of thing as a feature of the future, we'd go further: Things like offering an amnesty to a few of their former employees and even PR if necessary – a sufficient number to ensure a successful prosecution. There are a few people around that'd be able to assist in tracing those employees if the appropriate agencies don't feel they're up to the job.
I really have to stop myself from beginning a rave, but the damage they do is far worse than they imagine because at times like this, it allows people's prejudices to seemingly become justified: Tarring everyone of like bretheren with the same brush (I've seen it often such as the "us" lecturing on how "they" are ripping off "their own"); ensuring the next/younger generations from becoming utterly cynical of the positive values this religion (but others as well) espouse – even though I'm basically agnostic tending (oops – pivoting) atheist.
No different though than those that religiously espouse "Good, Wholeseome Family Values" that think family, child and sexual abuse is quite OK (as long as its done in private) …. from the Capills and others, to the tithing Tamakis, or the 'exceptional' followers of Islam who are perfectly prepared to gruesomely murder others of the faith.
There's probably a chemical cure for most of them – it'd probably involve massive doses of oestrogen, but suffice to say these two are well-versed in Kaam, Krodh, Lobh, Moh and Hankaar – AND its a matter of record. I'm kind of wondering if a "kind and transformational" gummint is up to the challenge of facing them down through the various agencies and their supposed capabilities they have. I suspect not – but maybe in the fullness of time ("in this space, going forward")
Manufacturing returning to NZ: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/prosper/121177344/coronavirus-manufacturing-can-be-the-backbone-the-covid19-economic-recovery
Then lets look forward to F&P bringing their manufacturing back home!
Further processing of our all primary products, wood, wool, meat , hides, horticultural, fish and the return to the making of medical products from our primary products like thyroxine as Glaxo used to do, would be a logical manufacturing re- development and development!
Will not make sense for all firms. Both the F&P companies must remain focused on overseas markets to be viable (and have shifted manufacturing closer to those) and one is not even NZ-owned anymore.
I see a piece in Ozzie daily 'the age' quoting soimon, Gisborne mayor and no one else whining on about lockdown levels.
JA has her work cut out.
Isn't that a Murdoch rag?
The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and Stuff are all owned by Channel 9 (Australian). Personally, I find the Ozzie variants better researched with better comments than Stuff. Think there is a bit of cross Tasman rivalry going on in Oz and there have been a few poorly written articles about NZ's response to Covid-19. Not matched by the NZ equivalents.
I see our Sith African Mayor here in Gisbo, capital of Maori NZ, wants to push on. Oh, to have the virtue of obliviousness. Or, the straight path to National MPdom. I can't remember the particularities of our present MP's unawareness of others, except all we fellow Napier exiles refuse to vote for her, in her Ohope homestead. So much we can get away with, or National.
Michael Reddell has another go at it, on Spinoff this time: "Successful economies tend to be ones where foreign trade – exports and imports – is rising as a share of GDP: especially for small countries the wider world is where most of the potential markets are. In New Zealand, the foreign trade share has hardly changed since about 1980, and has been falling this century – the peak years of the latest wave of globalisation. We were once among the most successful trading nations in the world – matched by really high living standards for the times – but no longer. Ministers and officials like to talk about the numerous preferential trade deals they sign, but the data tell their own story." https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-05-2020/rebuilding-a-shattered-economy-in-a-post-covid-world/
Running to stand still for 40 years gives us a good idea of the merit of all the macho business thrusters we had to endure the propanda from during Rogernomics & Ruthenasia. Nothing much heard from our right-wing thinktanks in recent years along those lines though, nor now. Zero from our sole left-wing thinktank.
Michael's point about the contrast between all the media hoop-la surrounding our foreign ministers signing trade deals, and the consequent lack of any bump in foreign trade earnings, shows just how much our media are captivated by froth not substance.
“When the economy is going backwards, when there is little appetite by firms to invest, and a strong precautionary motive to save, we need the OCR to be quite deeply negative for a time.” Nudge.
We were the "most successful trading nation " when we only had one customer, the UK, with butter, cheese and meat because it was desperately short of protein and wool for the mills for clothing. The price of wool was artificially high because of the Korean War at famously " a pound a pound " when average wages in NZ were about 5 Pound a week, that made wool about $180 a pound in todays money. Wool is probably about 12-15 dollars a pound today.
I have a grocery bill of my parents from 1950 and butter and milk even heavily subsidised as they were then, were a lot more expensive than now.
Having only one customer who takes all you can produce at huge prices only makes you "successful "in a limited sense.
to Adrian at 5:1 : Sorry Adrian …. milk was 4d a pint albeit subsidised. I know because had four children from 1955 < , my husband and I drank milk because cheaper than tea ( coffee a rarity then). Therefore we consumed 10 pints a day for years, allowing milk vendor to accept a cheque monthly rather than so much cash ( yes 40d was well worth pinching!) each day.
And in 1963/4 when i was flatting, a leg of lamb was 7 and 6d.
crikey that's impressive memory and track record.
good to have on this site.
Coarse wool ( which is most wool not off a merino) is about $2.80 a kg at the moment.
Not old enough to remember the fifties, but growing up in the sixties, my parents, with one earner, on less than half the average wage at the time, were able to buy 6 pints of milk daily, plenty of bread and other food, and put a lamb roast to feed at least eight, on the table every Sunday.
People on similar income, from two earners today, would be paying half their weekly food budget, after rent, for one roast.
In the '60's NZ was still being propped up by the UK. Today we have no such safety net.
You mean we were selling them quality produce, in return for their shoddy manufactured goods. Little has changed, apart from the countries we are selling to.
I would have a good think about which country was "propping up" the other, if I were you?
We were selling them quality produce in return for foreign exchange. The UK basically provided our high standard of living. They didn't need us at all. As for their ‘shoddy’ goods, you have a very short memory. Remember Tri-Ang, Corgi and Meccano toys, Morris and Austin motor cars, the Beatles (and hundreds of others). They did very well by the world did the UK.
I remember 2 shillings for a pound of butter and a shilling for a loaf of bread. 4 pence for a pint of milk. Nine pence for a seat in local movie theatre. Lamb was cheap and chickens only for special occasions.
2 cents (thats right, cents ) for a pint of milk…mind you wages were equally low.
It is important to remember that when this 'regime' was in place we had a very compressed remuneration structure which included a top tax rate of 60 cents in the dollar….and capital controls. Some of the solutions from the past are relevant….as are some of the lifestyle impacts.
Hi Denis, follow the money….
Look who was talking about "predators" in 1994
Starts at the 0:30 mark….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq-JrH5tAnw
Speaking of manufacturing, the past and future and wool.
It is such a great fibre and massively undervalued.
The rise of the plastic/fossil fuel based clothing has to have reached its peak. Surely a clever marketing crowd can put that message across.
Unsustainable vs organic. Foreign sourced vs made in Aotearoa.
All the different businesses/people that would be involved. Farmers, shearers, science (R&D), manufacturing….
Combined with a hemp product it would be unstoppable.
we've been trying for 50 years without success
Cheap plastic vs expensive bespoke organic fibres
A choice few can afford
Boots theory?..we seem to have lost the ability to apply it.
But you are right to observe that price will be even more of a factor in the current environment.
So here's how the Democrats are trying to impress voters: "government programs in the United States—even those supported by the purportedly pro-government party—are not designed to solve problems. Rather, they are designed to solve a given problem only to a degree—and that degree can’t require an amount of spending that would necessitate financial sacrifice on the part of high-income taxpayers. This is not a leftist conspiracy theory, but the overt position of the party’s leaders, who believe they will not be able to achieve crucial voting margins in upscale suburbs if they authorize too much taxation and spending." https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/coronavirus-stimulus-failures-hit-professional-class.html?via=features
"To put it cynically, the job of much Democratic legislation is to make liberal voters of means feel good that something is being done for the less fortunate, not necessarily to actually do that thing."
"Some people might really benefit, but the process of doing so will be time-consuming and byzantine, and will only affect their overall life situation at the margins. (Consider the “free college in New York state” program that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo often takes credit for starting. Seventy percent of those who apply to the program are rejected—and it doesn’t cover the costs of housing or class materials, but you also can’t participate in it if you’re a part-time student, i.e., someone who needs to work on the side to cover the costs of housing and class materials. During his 2018 reelection campaign Cuomo belittled his opponent’s proposal to raise taxes on incomes over $1 million a year and called it a political “nonstarter.”)"
"Voters who might need better benefits have the choice of either accepting these as the best they can get or not voting at all, because the other party wants new programs to be inadequate on purpose—and wants to cut back the ones that do work, like Social Security and Medicare—so as to “incentivize” individuals to work harder to get a job or to get a better job or to save more. The choice is between drowning gradually or all at once."
But hey, Democrats are the progressive option, apparently. "“Our constituents have a lot of questions about where the hell this $3 trillion is going and why it isn’t coming into their pockets,” Pennsylvania Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon told Politico in an article about rank-and-file Democratic backlash against the party’s limited stimulus efforts."
Zero!
Zero new cases today!
WOOT!
Downside of that: those sociopaths who ignore the rules will get new recruits. Did you see those figures for the number of parties on saturday night complained about? Plenty of folks have a `been there, done that' attitude to social distancing…
either we will have a spike in infections which will be traceable to those parties and we go back to L4 and people learn to stop being dicks, or we don't have a spike because the curve was sufficiently flattened and we carry on figuring it all out as we go along and some people politicise the issue and we go back to the old macho politics (except Labour are in charge, with St Jacinda at the helm, lol).
I'll raise a glass to New Zealand. Well done
Then several glasses to JA and AB
I agree with this man and so does my wife!
Lovely Beef Stroganoff tonight thankyou Sanctuary.
We just celebrated too! Extra treats for lunch and I've knocked over my last bottle of Corona!
My partner said "Guess how many we got today" and I could just hear the zero answer in her voice.
28 days of this 0.00 and I'll be getting the champers out of the fridge. I'm picking that we may stay at level 3 until after the queens birthday weekend.
Saw some figures way back (for Aus) which indicted that lockdown compliance needed to be 70% or above to reduce transmission – we look like we went through level 4 in the high 90's – which makes the track to 0.00 faster. So if level 3 means we have dropped but are still above 70% we will get there but the more compliance the quicker.
Time to roll out the ad campaigns " play to the whistle" , " game not over yet" "fancy going to the beach this summer?" – make it really clear that we are close to full time but need that extra push just to get us there
Yes – brilliant. Now the plan to ensure that in those sectors of the economy that aren't coming back, nobody is left behind. The plan to ensure that after everybody has put in the effort, the result isn't that some people get to make out economically like bandits, while others go to the wall.
Hong Kong had zero for last two days,and 14 days with no local infection (cases being repatriation flights)
Clearly not a case of location.
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3082640/coronavirus-hong-kong-records-no-new-cases-sunday
A NZ doctor was responsible for HK's pandemic readiness as they had previous experience with Sars early 2,000's.
Taiwan no other countries were as well prepared.
A NZ doctor was responsible for HK's pandemic readiness as they had previous experience with Sars early 2,000's.
Taiwan and HK no other countries were as well prepared.
Desperate blame game rather lame
The PM working her magic again. Unusual times for sure, but this suggests her stance on AUS/NZ relations has not been as damaging as some alarmists on the right would have us believe.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300003988/jacinda-ardern-to-join-australian-national-cabinet-on-tuesday
I wonder if they'll seat her next to Dutton?
Fortunately for Ardern the meeting is a phone in, but an interesting turn of events all the same. It's my sense that quite a few Australian politicians are quietly grateful that Ardern has paved the way for SloMo to follow.
But the outcome is a good one, both countries have responded magnificently so far, at least to the best extent you might reasonably imagine. It’s set the stage for a major trans-Tasman refresh.
There are scarcely two nations on earth more tightly linked socially and economically, but we've allowed the political relationship to drift. This may well be a good chance to reset the politics, because I think in this coming unsettled decade we are going to need the relationship working at full strength.
Yes of course, a virtual meeting.
Certainly a common adversary helps focus common interests. If they get this trans tasman bubble working it could strengthen ties even further with each others citizens boosting badly damaged tourism sectors.
Australia's deportation policy is still a massive issue though.
Yes. The trick to sorting that issue will be getting the Australian public and politicians to start putting a higher value on their unique relationship with NZ. Ardern has raised our credibility enormously over here, almost everyone we have spoken with is aware of our govt's bold and gutsy approach. They respect that.
lol @ "SloMo" … their PMs are always good nickname fodder 😂
More seriously, there are stumbling blocks that both nations need to face up to in order to normalise & strengthen relations. Citizenship, border security, foreign policy, the FIRE sector, workers rights
I don’t think it’s so much that we’ve let the relationship drift on our side. It’s more a case of Australia thinking they have bigger fish to fry as they reach for middle-power status. At any rate, if this is a reset it’s welcome.
I think Scomo wants to bask in the positive "halo" effect around Jacinda. She's had a lot of good publicity so he may be wanting some of it to rub off on him. Suspect he needs it. Next Mike Pence will be wanting a phone in!!?
Mike Pants would be more likely to institute a trade war.
"this suggests her stance on AUS/NZ relations has not been as damaging as some alarmists on the right would have us believe."
Too many hilariously bad takes to choose from, especially after Ardern's last trip across the Tasman, where (shock!) a NZ PM spoke up for NZ. Here's one of the classics …
"Should she be returned to power, a prospect that looks remote, Jacinda Ardern has almost zero likelihood of a rapprochement with our PM." (The Australian, March 5 2020 – emphasis added).
(it's subscription only, but you can copy/Google the quote)
That says it all really doesn’t it? They’ve spent the last 3 years convinced she was just some weird aberration and that normal service would resume. Frankly I’m happy if they continue to underestimate her.
TDB's got a good appraisal of the reeferendum: "under this model almost everyone wins. Access to cannabis will be legal yet controlled, medical access gets easier and cheaper, current providers aren’t locked out and can go legal, social equity provisions are built in, overseas corporates are blocked, micro cultivators have a place, sales taxes support increased health and education and don’t just disappear to a general government fund, our police get better things to do, and people will have legal options other than alcohol." https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/05/04/cannabis-referendum-bills-recipe-for-success/
"A Yes vote will take away money and influence from organised crime, and it will reduce the dominance of our alcohol industry, and the pharma trade won’t be part of this. There won’t be cannabis stores on every corner. There won’t be a Big Cannabis industry. and imports won’t be allowed. Vertical integration will be banned, and advertising prohibited, so those who banked on a big corporate approach may be ruing their bets. Instead, this model supports local growers, producers and small businesses."
"The parties that make up the current Government have pledged to make the result binding. They’ve put forward the Bill, so they’re obviously supportive of it. Notably, the final version of the Bill has not backtracked on any parts of the earlier draft."
I'm surprised & pleased by the constructive collaboration of NZF. Well done, all involved in the process!
I seem to recall that in the early days of debate about legalisation especially in regard to medicinal cannabis that Grey Power (or a significant part of them) were strongly in favour, so this may have something to do with NZF's attitude.
So they should be. They were all smoking it, back in the day.
not just back in the day. you would be surprised how much gets used in places like waikanae beach.
Not really surprised.
See the hypocrisy around me almost every day. Employers complaining about young employees doping and drinking. They would never have passed a drug test, back in their day.
Personally I think permitting one entity to control 20% (one-fifth) of the market is too much, This should be reduced to 10-15%.
It's also a shame about the gummy bears….
Yeah I'm with you on reducing the possibility of cartel formation like petrol retailers, but I assume the regulator will keep an eye on that tendency. Unlike the USA, we are small enough a democracy that regulator-capture isn't obviously happening.
Yet Mullah Bob al-McCroskie of the Christian Taliban is still not happy. If he had his way, people with a spliff in their pocket would be publicly flogged in Aotea Square.
Let those without a skin cast the first stone(er).
Take heed of the fate of Oedipus.😉
what is it with powermad christians and flogging ? isnt he the loving father who wants to relegalise giving your kids a love punch?
Remember RussiaGate?
A wee while back the case against the IRA was dropped, and now we find out that the outgoing administration, through the FBI, deliberately set up Flynn on minor crimes of process which they then used to puff up their whole Russia conspiracy crap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ppMzbmJQhY
Farrar watch:
David reduced to complaining about Hezbollah and their possible influence in New Zealand.
Dd you expect him to headline a certain poll?
With his 400 commenters a blog.
But the lack of those involved anymore in current events and their alienation from organised society in the Rogernomics era is just an open door to bullshit, and the Right has the copyright on that.
Simon's been quiet after today's announcements. Perhaps Crosby Textor have advised him not to jump on the soap-box so soon this time.
The craft industry has promise, based on a long tradition of quality and uniqueness and I'm hoping will continue the Covid 19 rebirth of knitting and other handcrafts. The luxury goods market will not die. A hand knitted item from locally grown, spun and dyed fibres posted to a status conscious consumer overseas with cash to spend and rellies and friends to impress or gift could be a nice little earner.
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/research/crafting-aotearoast
Blood test today, what a nightmare, queue in the rain, people pushing past to front, maybe texted because its their turn. No staff long wait. In and out same tiny entry. If it was a burger bar would be shut down, Privatisation, lowest tender wins, all for profit. I should have flagged it but its a time dependant test.
"In other words many businesses – whether S&P 500 companies or small and medium-sized enterprises – will be rendered insolvent by the pandemic. No amount of liquidity, however, cheap, will avert that fate.
There are estimates that about 16 per cent of US listed companies either couldn’t cover their interest costs or barely covered them even before the crisis has cost them months of lost cash flow.
With the likelihood that any recovery will be slow and halting rather than the "V-shaped" recovery US markets had been pricing in since March 23, it is probable that the pandemic will cut swathes through corporate and Main Street America, along with similar impacts, albeit to differing degrees, on the rest of the world’s economies."
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/bandaids-not-cures-the-economic-reality-of-the-pandemic-may-have-set-in-for-investors-20200504-p54pki.html
Hey, Chris Findlayson, remember that time you let Police exercise power over Nicky Hager without the legal authority to do so?
Right underneath Nicky Hager, who seemed to be the start and finish of the Prime Minister’s security concerns.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/05/coronavirus-troubling-arrests-during-lockdown-undermine-rule-of-law-in-new-zealand-former-attorney-general.html
People like Tinkerbell are really over reacting here. Making it sound like people are being snatched off the streets to be never seen again.
Starting to get other changes being made without full scrutiny – immigration, RMA
Bit of a worry
RIA
"In fact, nobody upheld the public-health interventions as long as they should have. San Francisco reduced mortality by at least 25% – the highest rate among US cities. But, rather than reinforcing its commitment to its interventions, this success led the city to cancel its restrictions in November; a second, much deadlier wave of infections followed in December and January. Had San Francisco sustained its social-distancing rules for longer, the National Academy of Sciences estimates, it could have cut the death toll by 95%."
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/04/how-to-avoid-a-w-shaped-global-coronavirus-recession
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” George Santayana famously quipped in 1905….. all those clamouring for level 2 and trans tasman travel might want to consider such.
Pat Science and truth is better than politicians and BS
Science and truth are also superior to business self interest and deception…the question is , where do those making the decisions stand?
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Global warming is still having big negative effects yet we still don't have efficient plans to minimise Global warming.
We are lucky to have the 21st century commutation devices to help businesses function during isolation there are many ways to make money using the Internet.?????.
That's is cool a company making a more cost effective ventilator in Aotearoa.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub.
That would be good tourists travel between Australia and Aotearoa.
I think our tamariki will be safe going back to school.
We had big thunder storm last night.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
It good seeing tangata moving back to their whenua.
Chur bro great mahi.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora The Am Show.
That's is cool that person gifting $100 dollar notes. The people that needed it would take the money.
That's correct climate change will make some countries very hostile to lives outside of air conditioned building.
That's a good video.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Newshub.
I would not gamble like Sweden is with people lives.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
I think that our government will help Maori through these hard times.
I quite like Troy's waita
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Its great to see grass roots sports getting a funding boost.
Regenerative Agriculture will be a great way to protect our environment for the many generation to come and create more mahi
Ka kite Ano