Of course you fail to mention that any Left Wing project that gets fairly elected in Latin America will be instantly made to suffer terribly through all kinds of nefarious mean and ways by the neo liberal imperilaists and their cronies, so neither you nor I can ever know how any Left Wing project would either sink or swim on their own merits or lack of such…but the same cannot be said of failures of the extreme and brutal Right wing Governments from those same regions, whom your liberal governments supports….
"Participation of the United States in regime change in Latin America involved US-backed coups d'état aimed at replacing left-wing leaders with right-wing leaders, military juntas, or other authoritarian regimes"
Seriously? The Northern Pathway for a cyclists' harbour crossing? It's an eyesore totally destroying what is an iconic Auckland view of the existing Harbour Bridge.
A bridge for cyclists and walkers could have benefits. Reduce traffic on the already struggling Auckland Harbour Bridge. Reduce carbon emissions. Joggers and walkers would keep fit. A tourist attraction with a few cafes along the way. The Green Party would be a more likely coalition party as the government would be seen as delivering on reducing emissions. Employ people in the building. The cost means the project could be started sooner than later.
Some sort of two way vehicle lane would need to be constructed in the project as a back up for essential vehicles were a major closure of the existing Auckland Harbour Bridge to occur.
I have no argument with that. Totally agree. My point is, however, that this design in this place totally destroys what has become an iconic Auckland landmark. An absolute cockup.
edit
Sounds sensible to the core Treetop. I recommend that it go up for government tick and then be costed. Where would it start and finish Treetop? If close enough to the present but further enough to diminish traffic from just near the present bridge, it could use present motorway for approach.
Could the approach be up Curran Street, turn into Sarsfield Streeet and then from a point there across to Chelsea by the Sugar Refining and through the Chelsea Heritage Park which sounds nice.
It could have a pillar near with ladder-path down to Watchmans Island which could have some hardy bushes planted there and be a stopping off spot for picnics etc which would probably please the locals as it has deteriorated over the years.
Then over to Chelsea and join up with Colonial Road. Or alternatively it might go to Hinemoa Park and up to Birkenhead.
Or could it go off Tamaki Drive at the end of Mechanics Bay (not owned by Ports of Auckland) and go across to Bayswater and up Bayswater Avenue or up Norwood Road, perhaps with an exit that goes off at Stanley Point to the naval base at Devonport, which would be good quick access for them.
Let’s stop worrying about the aesthetics. Let us have a serviceable bridge that doesn’t cost too much, and we will love it. And perhaps we can paint it a different colour every five years or so, while we are giving it a regular maintenance check. Think safety, longevity and if you don’t like the aesthetics make little models of what you would like, or paintings, and make a feature of that to sell to people. The difference of opinion can be taken to extreme and people could design one made of live willow branches or something. But keep practical – it is people who wanted Mediterranean aesthetics who got the leaky buildings thing going. Let’s be wary of looks, and go to the foundations and materials and wind resistance etc etc.
That was an example of how citizens have to put their minds to visioning practical things they want. We can't just set up wishlists and hope government will do the right thing. We must take part in government, go forward with government not just be supplicants being handed things by the 'kindly and wise' PTB.
What is it we want. where, and who and what will it serve? How much, is there an easier cheaper way? Who will be disadvantaged and how much? How can that be mitigated? We can get through the decision barrier that those with power are in. Make a mistake and they can be out of a job, or no further contracts; decision might be to put if off for further study and information, and keep getting the largesse of the moment.
Yeah, I look at this picture and just think, instead of building a biking bridge alongside, just build a whole new, spectacular bridge alongside with biking lanes on it. Then demolish the crappy old one.
Yes the Chelsea refinery…couple of ships a month maybe?
I'm no bridge expert but my guess is that flatter bridges are cheaper to build, more stable, and are probably much better on fuel consumption for users.
Oh weelll sounds okay. I am just exercised at the moment about all the things that those in power are going to build – it seems cost is no worry, and of course they will be interesting things, not like tiny houses or affordable homes for people to rent/buy. Sorry to bite as it is probably a secret wish of mine and for many of us that we could for once make something happen that needs to. Has anyone thought of a stadium that converts to bed sitting rooms after 10 pm for instance. Hah hah.
Good point about the real urgency being ignored on affordable housing and other even less glamourous stuff than that, water infrastructure, etc, seemingly in favour of big, visible projects like this.
However, if we are determined as a nation to dramatically increase or population then transport infrastructure planning is also vital. It is something we have always done very, very poorly.
I don't even mind about cost, I just want it done once and done right. Maybe some of these hotshot Covid refugees who have returned home in their tens of thousands can set us straight!
What about cyclists crossing by ferry as part of the transport structure so you are not left to the profitable constraints of ferry owners as the Waiheke Islanders have suffered? I fondly remember the ferries from Bayswater chugging across the water. They did so in a regular pattern and could be relied on for time for those working on the other side – the City or North Shore.
There could even be uber-boaters but they would have to be watched for seaworthiness. Or they could be boat owners who ran themselves to work and took regular passengers with them on a season ticket arrangement. They would be given the sort of tax allowances that the rentier landlords and house owners get now.
And what do other people in cities by the sea do? We seem to look at dysfunctional USA for models of how to mistreat people. Can we look away to other countries, probably European or perhaps Singapore and Hong Kong, for the clued-up cities on how they run things effectively at reasonable cost?
I'm not sure why a couple of light composite tubes can't be slung underneath for cycle traffic – one for each direction. Must be cheaper than new crossings, and not disruptive to existing use.
Funny how confirmation bias works. I thought for you suggest compost-able tubes for cyclists. Probably cheaper and more user friendly than other solutions.
Ad I think you want to use semaphore signals to wake people up to what is coming and needed for the future. But you are apparently prepared to do that by demolishing systems and structures while they are still needed. Bad as Roger Douglas you are. That comment yesterday about Marsden Point close-down did not convince me of the practicality and far-seeing nature of whatever committee you are on.
Like most motorways the Auckland Harbour Bridge doesn't lend itself to being retrofitted for bikes and pedestrian traffic, The traditional answer has been to construct separate cycleways to the side. And this is being done on the Southern and Western motorways. But the Harbour Bridge presents a unique problem.
There was a plan to build a sky-path for cyclists and pedestrians under or beside the main carriageway. But it proved to be a hugely complicated and expensive engineering project.
The engineering nightmare that was the sky-path has been ditched.
Taking a lane for a bikeway is not practical.
The new plan is for a new and separate bike and pedestrian bridge to be built beside the existing bridge.
When he was Prime Minister John Key announced the construction of $7 billion road tunnel under the harbour.
This plan did not survive the change in government
With a price tag of $250 million and a delivery date of 5 years, I doubt whether this latest plan for a pedestrian and cycle bridge would survive a change of government either.
A fare free busway with an option for bicycle stowage is a far cheaper solution and can be implemented immediately. All of the infrastructure is already there
"He also revealed that Waka Kotahi has considered getting bikes across the bridge using gondolas and a dedicated ferry or bus service. However, all those options were rejected."
He is Michael Wood, Minister of Transport.
It was your big suggestion here on Sunday, I suggest you make an OIA request.
On Sunday you also said "There will not be a three month bike lane trial. There will not even be a one week bike lane trial."
And yet that Herald story also quotes the Minister as saying
"With the new bridge five years away, Wood also said he had asked Waka Kotahi to present him with options for a cycling and walking lane on the current bridge now. This would involve a trial conversion of an existing vehicle lane or lanes."
and
"Waka Kotahi will continue to work on how to provide safe temporary trials of using lanes on the existing harbour bridge for cyclists and pedestrians," Wood said.
This latest proposal has succeeded in uniting cyclists and truckers, (and possibly everyone in between) in opposing the proposed bike pedestrian bridge.
Because when you try to please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody.
At least now we know what we all don't like, and we all don't like this.
Auckland harbour cycle and pedestrian bridge facing criticism from both sides
A cycling advocate says building an entire bridge from the ground up – at a cost of at least $780 million – is totally unnecessary when cyclists and walkers could just have a lane on the existing Auckland harbour bridge.
And a trucking leader says the priorities are backwards – a new harbour crossing for vehicles should be first, not a few cyclists.
Of course there is, (as there always is), ideologues that can be counted on to endorse something like this. The good thing is that at least the spokesperson for this minority are honest in admitting that the proposed bike pedestrian bridge is nothing to do with relieving or even addressing Auckland's traffic woes.
Auckland harbour cycle and pedestrian bridge facing criticism from both sides
"I think we're underestimating the fact that people will use it just for the joy of being able to walk over the water, to stop in the middle of the bridge, take photos, to go over on a jog in the morning, walk their dog, take their kids over… I think people are underestimating how popular a bridge like that would be."
National Party candidate makes world news headlines for his revenge porn scandal .
Collins looks like a goner.She looked 10 years older last night on TV desperately avoiding any responsibility when questioned last night
Collins big talking at the recent queenstown conference where Bazant was one of the headline acts a rising star the new young face of the National Party .Has turned into a complete disaster.
[putting you on the ban list. Really happy to let you out when you reply to this mod note. I need to have a conversation with you, so you will need to check replies to your comments before I will end the ban. I will keep an eye out for your comments in the Trash.
Former or ex-National Party candidate, to be more precise.
Collins’s responsibility lies with the future of the Party, not so much the past, which cannot be undone. She has the top-secret review reports; she knows what needs to be done. A real Leader has what it takes to do what needs to be done. Crickets.
Nicola Willis, please step forward and up, and save the Party from more self-inflicted embarrassment and pain.
These scandals are useful as an opportunity for an outsider to snatch a glimpse into the fetid mind of the National party politician…..confirming what we already know is their primary thought pattern, just nasty shit.
Thanks Ghost and Grey for your messages about the Vaccine Stab number yesterday. I got a call in but no reply as yet. In no hurry anyway would rather it went to someone younger who may be more vulnerable.
Depending upon what group you are in you might not want to get too excited about getting any reply at all before summer arrives.
If you are in the most at risk group, the immediate frontline workers, it appears that only about 60% of them have had even a first dose. In the next category, the household members of the most at risk people, less than 50% have had a first dose.
Group 2, which is the frontline health workers, people living or working in long-term residential care, older Maori and Pacific people and those over 65 living in Counties Manakau has only had about 40% who have received a first dose.
For those of us who are over 65 but aren't Maori or Pacific people only about 4% have had a first dose. These were the ones who were supposedly going to be able to get vaccinated starting at the beginning of last month remember. That date of course then slipped back and appears to be slipping further.
The Government Health Ministers seem to be quite happy. ""Our plan to vaccinate New Zealanders is on track," Dr Ayesha Verrall". Well I suppose she would say that. She has been vaccinated.
Ashley Bloomfield is also quite happy about the situation it would seem.
"Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said on Thursday he's happy with the progress.
"I think what we're seeing is ongoing increased uptake amongst our priority groups."
Meanwhile, while the vast majority of us haven't been vaccinated, our Government is going to allow people in from Melbourne next week without any form of quarantine. The people involved chose to go there. Either stay there or go into quarantine when you get back should be their options. When the elderly, like me, have had a chance to get vaccinated they can open up the borders. Until then to hell with it.
In the meantime you probably shouldn't get too excited about getting anything. My local DHB said early this week that they had no idea when vaccination might be available. My Medical Centre also say they haven't been told anything and they have no idea what is going on.
my BiL and his wife – both in their forties and in no group of anything – had their vaccination last week in Whangarai as walk ins.
His mother and father, both in their seventies, she is Pakeha and he is Maori, have yet to get a notification of being even on some list, they are in Whakatane.
Here in Rotorua, who knows.
i agree that the border should be closed again until a few more people here have had their jab.
As for those that don't want the jab, who cares, leave them be, and vaccinated those that want to be vaccinated.
No sign of vaccination for my 90 year old Parents (one with hypertension & diabetes).
In most Anglosphere Countries, the elderly were placed in the second group to be vaccinated rather than thrown in with over 65s in general in Group 3 … with the really high-risk over 80s (those with comorbidities) right at the front of the Group 2 queue … we apparently do things differently here …
Meanwhile, widespread complacency around the threat posed by the new dangerous Covid variants continues unabated.
Auckland resident Andrew Johnson aired his concerns after he arrived at the city's CBD vaccination centre for his first jab at the Atrium on Elliott shopping centre on Monday.
Entering from Albert St as opposed to the Elliott St entrance, the 41-year-old was shocked when he realised he was walking past potentially infectious MIQ residents in the exercise area at the Crowne Plaza hotel, which was in the same building complex as the shopping mall.
His comment is a rubbish reckon from a guy exercising his white privilege to have a whine and get it reported in the Herald, the home of the relentless middle class whinge about everything.
So what if it is next to an MIQ facility? Journalists in their stampede to get the next alarmist reckon from a know nothing have forgotten to ask the most basic of questions – like has anyone, anywhere in NZ in the past year, ever caught covid by walking past a MIQ hotel? The answer of course is NO.
It is interesting they’ve removed from earlier stories his complaint that no one was being scanned, something in my experience of getting vaccinated (twice now) is simply an outright untruth.
You could criticise that it is hard to get to if you are disabled and poorly signposted/a bit hard to find from the advertised Elliot street entrance, but no some wally get to have a free bitch about… nothing really.
Sanctuary I don't know how your comment sits in with the recent media release about the aerosol effect of people just passing by with the more infection strain.
And has everyone noted how there isn't a new super infectious strain in Victoria. It seems to have been a fib by the pollie in charge feeling the heat of failure. It is such a hot country, Australia.
swordfish Sorry to hear about your parents waiting. I hope they have better neighbours now.
As for the way that Covid 19 treatment has slid back it probably means that it is back with the backsliders down in the bowels of the MoH. When the leaders were appearing before cameras they would have been on their toes. Now the MoH has taken to printing an enormous number of leaflets and full page adverts in the papers and probably on tv?
Trouble is that people don't know what to think, don't read the papers, or have time – it is a very passive approach that is so efficient for man/womanpower but not for the actual outcome of message received by those who need it the most. What do generic managers do when there is a human mass outbreak of sickness? Sit at their computers and work out the odds for people dying for each possible method used, and then work out the 'mean' figure showing the least financial cost?
Well I can't remember which media I read that there was not a new strain in Victoria but it was wrong. So should I start wearing my mask all the time when mixing? Seriously I should I suppose. And the epidemiologist Baker says that all the border workers and others involved haven't been vaccinated – still thousands to go. And what about GPs, we heard that they have been neglected. Really, if you take your eye off government they wander off into the woods and get lost!
No, the nightmare continues unfortunately. We thought it was all over right at the start of November last year when their violent intensely anti-social neighbour moved out, swapping houses with what we believe was his grandmother … massive relief for everyone (including other neighbours) … he was now living more than an hour away & the older lady was extremely quiet (so my Parents feeling safe, no enforced chronic sleep deprivation, no intense stress … & peace of mind for the first time in 3 years) … but only lasted 6 weeks … gave everyone a real shock when he suddenly turned up in the early hours of Boxing Day nonchalantly inflicting his usual anti-social behaviour / noise / aggression as if nothing had changed.
My 90 year old Mother has had to be hospitalised twice since Oct 2020 for very high blood pressure & low oxygen saturation levels (bordering on mini-stoke territory) from extreme stress & sleep deprivation (both his violent explosions/noise & his kids (increasingly dropped there) running wild at all hours … really raucous relentless in-your-face noise levels right through to late at night, Parents can't escape it even in rooms away from dividing-wall with doors closed) …
… She almost died in Wellington Hospital the day after the 2020 Election … but on Election Day was more concerned about casting her vote for the Labour Party she'd spent her life both supporting & being active within rather than worrying about her own health.
This'd be the Labour Party with its tacit No Eviction policy & its affluent, Woke New Middle Class activist base romanticising people like the intensely anti-social Underclass Neighbour while systematically demonizing & scapegoating elderly poorer Pakeha, including lifelong Labour voters. Unfortunately, being white they're members of the ID Politics 'out-groups' currently being quietly but rapidly transformed (largely by Pakeha from financially-privileged backgrounds) into 2nd class citizens.
Or, to put it another way, those Pakeha who have disproportionately inherited the wealth from Colonisation forcing those Pakeha (& other non-Maori) who haven't to do all the Penance, all the sacrificing, all the suffering … as they go about establishing this Brave New Woke World, bereft of universal human rights, equal citizenship & other core principles of liberal democracy.
Ironic given my Parents history of marching against Springbok Tours (1960 / 76 / 81) & my Mother being one of the first Pakeha to learn Te Reo in a formal educational setting (as a teenager at a Wellington Educational Institute's night classes in 1948). At the age of 90 she now gets to enjoy relentless stress from an extremely violent Maori man (who never has to suffer any consequences = because Colonisation) & his clearly deeply dysfunctional family while the ex-boarding school Woke Cadre get to ostentatiously posture & pose as heroic "anti-racists" (according to deeply warped Critical Race Theory dogma) while continuing to enjoy all the inherited fruits of Colonisation (while also bravely ensuring they're living at least 20 miles away from the mayhem they've helped to create through crude social housing policies in previously peaceful, community-minded & for the most part Labour-voting neighbourhoods).
I am bitter about this too swordfish. See it all the time, where people are trying to transform the world that has been mostly good but they want to trash it and start again on a different set of tracks. We are to be derailed and left in a siding to stew in our own juice.
They don't try to clean the bad up, keep the good and change habits to improve society, they just want to trash the lot and start again FGS. It took centuries and many people worked all their lives to get civilisation to the present era, at a level that decent people could be happy about.
Now this type of activist person likely meditate when they get distressed and remove themselves from the everyday, and come back with fantastical ideas that they have absorbed in overwhelming belief. Their drive is similar to that of economists to change humans' behaviour to fit their models. I don't think they really like people though they profess to be 'caring and concerned'; again like economists they are in love with their models and designs, people's and the planet's actual needs are often at opposite positions.
"Or, to put it another way, those Pakeha who have disproportionately inherited the wealth from Colonisation forcing those Pakeha (& other non-Maori) who haven't to do all the Penance, all the sacrificing, all the suffering … as they go about establishing this Brave New Woke World, bereft of universal human rights, equal citizenship & other core principles of liberal democracy."
Or as one person I read recently put it, this wokeist cult looks more and more like rich white people, lacking a moral narrative and purpose for their wealth, assuaging their guilt by punching down on poor whites.
This woke idea that everything is oppression, starting with marxist oppression of all workers, the patriarchal oppression of all women, the white supremacist oppression of all people of colour – and now god help us the biological oppression of gender – has consistently taken what starts out as a good idea and degenerates it into corrosive, toxic soup, undermining social cohesion and trust.
Which you have to think, is well understood, by those who create and promote them, to be the purpose of these ideologies .
"…all the Penance, all the sacrificing, all the suffering" – awful. As for "punching down on poor whites" – words fail me.
Can't help wondering if overall long-term social cohesion and resilience might be strengthened by sharing the fruits of society just a little bit more equitably – is that idea too 'woke'; too PC?
The Root Causes of Health Inequity Health inequity, categories and examples of which were discussed in the previous chapter, arises from social, economic, environmental, and structural disparities that contribute to intergroup differences in health outcomes both within and between societies. The report identifies two main clusters of root causes of health inequity. The first is the intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, and systemic mechanisms that organize the distribution of power and resources differentially across lines of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, gender expression, and other dimensions of individual and group identity (see the following section on such structural inequities for examples). The second, and more fundamental root cause of health inequity, is the unequal allocation of power and resources—including goods, services, and societal attention—which manifest in unequal social, economic, and environmental conditions, also called the social determinants of health.
“System Conditions”, System Failure, Structural Racism and Anti-Racism in the United Kingdom: Evidence from Education and Beyond Racism in any society is fuelled by a number of factors, often acting independently of each other, or, at times, in concert with each other. On the one hand, anti-racism efforts rely on the alignment of four “system conditions” to stand a chance of successfully engaging and tackling racism. On the other hand, where these “system conditions” are not present, or where they are not in sync, this leads to “system failure”—a situation where racism is writ large in society and in the institutions therein, and where anti-racism efforts are severely hampered. Drawing on evidence from within the education sector and elsewhere in UK society, this paper examines how a lack of alignment between “system conditions” hampers anti-racism efforts, and simultaneously reinforces racism in society and in institutions—leading to gridlock or “system failure” around anti-racism.
Maybe just knowing one's place makes for a happier life, not to mention a good night's sleep which (we can all agree) has value beyond measure.
Why do I get the impression you're not too keen on "sharing the fruits of society just a little bit more equitably" with low income / poorer Pakeha ? (who comprise more than half of the bottom income quartile).
Ever stopped to wonder about health stats for poorer Pakeha & Asians ? You know, the kind of people who, unlike the Woke & their affluent older relatives, can't afford private health insurance (and quite possibly oppose it on principle) & are destined to be the sacrificial lambs forced by the Woke to the back of the surgery queue with CRT's Health "Equity" dogma. How do you think their stats compare to affluent Pakeha, to middle class Maori, to Poor Maori ? No you've never wondered about that, have you, sweetheart … no orgy of self-congratulatory virtue-signalling, no social media prestige enhancement amongst your little clique to be derived from that sort of non-Woke Social Justice.
As always, socio-economic privilege is vastly more consequential than any putative "white privilege" … but that's of no use to old frauds like you, is it. By aggressively promoting the existence of the latter to the exclusion of all else, affluent Woke phoneys get to have their cake & eat it … ostentatiously playing the role of morally good progressives while scapegoating poorer whites & quietly consolidating their own power & privilege.
Really quite Reactionary … in so many ways the antithesis of the genuine Left.
So spare me your fake morality, spare me your bullshit.
Why do I get the impression you're not too keen on "sharing the fruits of society just a little bit more equitably" with low income / poorer Pakeha ? (who comprise more than half of the bottom income quartile).
Honestly swordfish, don't know why you get that impression – imho the 'sharing' should be based on need ("From each accordingto his ability, to each according to their need" – Marx), but selfishness and greed ensure that disadvantaged groups are pitted against each other.
No you've never wondered about that, have you, sweetheart … no orgy of self-congratulatory virtue-signalling, no social media prestige enhancement amongst your little clique to be derived from that sort of non-Woke Social Justice.
You appear to be a bit of a mindreader – explains your "old frauds", "affluent Woke phoneys", "fake morality" and "bullshit" jibes. Fwiw I’m not naturally aggressive, and there’s no need for me or anyone else to promote “white privilege“, aggressively or otherwise. I don't have any health insurance, and yes, I was lucky enough to have a privileged start – both parents were teachers in the NZ public education system, and I did relatively well out of that system myself.
Wishing you and your parents all the best for the rest of your evening.
Funny you should ask… the 70 year old, physically disabled Better Half has visited the local hospital twice in the past month. Once through A&E and once for a specialist appointment. We expected to be asked about and/or offered Te Jab both times, but alas, no.
Despite the hospital being slap bang in the middle of 'jab any one who'll stand still long enough' central…not one medical professional seem to think it was an issue.
We didn't see a single sign promoting Te Jab either.
Looks like the world has been misled about the effectiveness of hydroxychloriquine in the early stages of Covid19 treatment. Perhaps those who instantly rejected its use because Trump may be feeling a bit embarrassed which is probably nothing compared to the feelings of the hundreds if thousands of Covid19 victims who could well have been helped and probably survived.https://c19hcq.com/
Still, these things need to be properly researched, investigated, and trialled before jumping to conclusions. What applies to the large general population may not apply to smaller sub-groups of patients, which complicates trials. Common sense is not a scientific-clinical argument and there’s usually a little more to it to justify the effort, expense, and ethics for undertaking (large) trials with sometimes very ill people.
With a link address like that, it's obviously a thoroughly unbiased collection of the latest peer-reviewed research on the topic and no conflicts of interest /sarc
That is not how you approach a pandemic though, there isn't time to do comprehensive research on treatments, you use whatever works. Off-label drug treatments are a key part of rolling out rapid medical counter measures in a pandemic. The safety research has already been done as many of these medications have been in use in the general population for decades. So all you really need to do is run trials.
"…Logistics convoys and retreating HAF were subsequently hunted down and remotely engaged by the unmanned combat aerial vehicles or the lethal autonomous weapons systems such as the STM Kargu-2 (see annex 30) and other loitering munitions. The lethal autonomous weapons systems were programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the munitions…"
Possibly the first recorded case of an autonomous Robot deliberately killing humans.
BTW a Kargu-2 is a quadcopter armed with a powerful anti-personnel fragmentation device (i.e. a very large hand grenade) that uses machine learning and algorythms to autonomously select and attack targets.
Who cares about Asimov's Laws of Robotics, or indeed, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) principles of robotics?
And who will use it ?There are only a few who live within 5km of the bridge, and of those who commute daily. I also note that the areas within 5km are some of the most expensive housing in Auckland, great for those who live in Manukau, Albany out west etc. who have to battle with very limited public transport. Nice to see our government have policies for the few – the same few who are benefitting from the housing situation pocketing over $432k from June 19 to June 20.
I also noticed that last weeks demonstration was less diverse than the PGA Championship held in Kiawah Is just out from Charleston North Carolina- Even Efeso Collins noted this.
So Existing bridge for vehicles, tunnel for trains and buses, small briddge for cycling and walking? Wow, NZTA really have protected the harbour bridge for cars only…
Defends of the bridge it could have less carlanes more space for dedicated pt lanes etc.
The very short term trick is to keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible given shorter travel times equate to lower emissions. Tbf if govt were serious they would make public transport free, increase frequency and perhaps dedicate a bridge lane to the busway… that and really push hybrid or full electric cars. They are immediate things that will be of some benefit while infrastructure work is completed.
Its going to be a good 5-10 years before meaningful infrastructure is completed
At certain times but I'd suggest it would be insignificant… sure some will convert but between weather and distance to even get to the bridge on cycle would preclude most…
Would get plenty of use on weekends holidays etc but its not a solution for commute based congestion. That needs rail or bus more hubs more park n rides increased frequency etc
Bridge structure is at capacity and I suspect putting an additional lane on one side would present problems around balance, weight perhaps not not biggest issue more likely wind pressure etc… its amazing how much those outer lanes flex and move…
oh well, parole for "public toilet rapist Daniel Peter Moore's'
i wonder what the victim got? Some counselling sessions?
Moore's former partner, Nicola Allen, only had confirmation of the sex offender's release when contacted by the Otago Daily Times.
"I'm actually utterly appalled he's been let out," she said.
The board described Moore's sex attack as "opportunistic", but Allen said she had always believed it had been premeditated.
The man was sitting in his vehicle in the car park drinking RTDs and smoking before the rape took place……………..
On April 20, 2018, Moore followed his victim to the toilets and grabbed her around the throat as he forced her inside the cubicle.
He then subjected her to a half-hour ordeal during which he told her it was the first time he had raped anyone.
The woman later told police she was convinced Moore was going to kill her once he had finished.
In a statement read in court at sentencing, she said she had transformed from a cheerful and optimistic person to paranoid and fearful.
but fear not, while in prison he 'bettered himself',
While jailed, Moore had worked in the construction yard, prompting "very positive reports" about his attitude.
He had also undertaken tertiary study and had an ambition to become a civil engineer, Judge Ellis said.
Seriously? And the women? Just some 'collateral damage' being done by someone opportunitistic? I wonder if she got any taxpayer funded job skills and tertiary study?
maybe that is what needs to be done, these guys get fuck all in prison, no work, no study, nothing, and the funds saved will go towards the victim and her trauma counselling, her work rehabilitation and some tertiary studies.
Ian Powell on TDB has some interesting points on what goes in the health system here. And I don't have to go far in before I get goosebumps about what we will have if the Grand Leap Forward goes forward to a centralised hospital system with a Grand Computer System that Rules Over All.
Broadly speaking the prevailing leadership culture in New Zealand’s health system is managerialism which involves decision-making through a very narrow lens that is management rather than clinically and patient-centred driven. Within district health boards (DHBs) this can be alleviated by the closer proximity between senior managers and health professionals and largely overcome where there is sufficient oxygen to enable genuine engagement between them. The more distributed the engagement at all levels the more clinically and fiscally effective it is.
But with the Ministry of Health it is different. There is no equivalent proximity and the managerialism takes the form of a top-down, more distant, bureaucratic centralism leadership culture. When it comes into conflict over specific issues with a DHB that has progressed strongly in the direction of genuine engagement then it is a recipe for, at best, negative tension.
The dirty bureaucratic politics was a smear campaign falsely claiming that CDHB’s increasing operational financial deficit was due to financial mismanagement by its senior management team. To succeed it was necessary to destroy the consensus reached between CDHB and the Health Ministry in 2018.
From California to Ireland to Spain, when the housing bubble burst – to keep the prices up and reduce the supply the bulldozers were brought in to level new unsold houses. Sometimes even whole new sub-divisions to artificially limit supply.
We need urgent legislation to prevent that obscenity being repeated here.
There needs to be a law that no new home be allowed to be demolished while there is still homelessness in this country.
Half finished apartment blocks and new housing estates that were never occupied litter the landscape in Europe and North America just waiting to be bulldozed. No doubt this is how the housing bubble will burst here as well.
Before we reach that place. legislation needs to be enacted that no new dwelling will be allowed to be demolished and sent to a landfill on pain of confiscation by the state.
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. 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 ...
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 ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
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 ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
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 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 ...
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COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
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Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
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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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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Peru votes for its fifth president in five years.
Marxist Castillo v hard right Fujimori.
Neck and neck.
Not a recipe for stable government.
Covid would not have helped with stability.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/443817/peru-tops-covid-19-deaths-per-capita-stats-after-revision
…Aaahh…good ol' Ad, you are like The Standards ghost of Thatcher for Free market Liberlisim…No turning back!!
Pedro Castillo Can Help End Neoliberalism in Peru
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/06/pedro-castillo-peru-libre-keiko-fujimori-runoff-election-june-6-neoliberalism
Neither Peruvian candidate result will last a year.
Bolivian hard left looks now identical to the right locking up opponents and weaponising the judiciary.
Both states heading for failure.
Of course you fail to mention that any Left Wing project that gets fairly elected in Latin America will be instantly made to suffer terribly through all kinds of nefarious mean and ways by the neo liberal imperilaists and their cronies, so neither you nor I can ever know how any Left Wing project would either sink or swim on their own merits or lack of such…but the same cannot be said of failures of the extreme and brutal Right wing Governments from those same regions, whom your liberal governments supports….
even Wikipedia has a serious list…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change_in_Latin_America
"Participation of the United States in regime change in Latin America involved US-backed coups d'état aimed at replacing left-wing leaders with right-wing leaders, military juntas, or other authoritarian regimes"
Contents1.1Argentina
"The "soft line" was, in Nixon’s words, to "make the economy scream." The "hard line" was simply to aim for a military coup."
https://chomsky.info/secrets04/
Seriously? The Northern Pathway for a cyclists' harbour crossing? It's an eyesore totally destroying what is an iconic Auckland view of the existing Harbour Bridge.
This is complete dumbfuckery of the highest order.
It's clear a new bridge is needed, but lets sort and build a proper replacement for the existing bridge which is multi use and fit for purpose.
A bridge for cyclists and walkers could have benefits. Reduce traffic on the already struggling Auckland Harbour Bridge. Reduce carbon emissions. Joggers and walkers would keep fit. A tourist attraction with a few cafes along the way. The Green Party would be a more likely coalition party as the government would be seen as delivering on reducing emissions. Employ people in the building. The cost means the project could be started sooner than later.
Some sort of two way vehicle lane would need to be constructed in the project as a back up for essential vehicles were a major closure of the existing Auckland Harbour Bridge to occur.
I have no argument with that. Totally agree. My point is, however, that this design in this place totally destroys what has become an iconic Auckland landmark. An absolute cockup.
Aesthetically it can go horribly wrong. Just like the initial lane capacity of the bridge.
edit
Sounds sensible to the core Treetop. I recommend that it go up for government tick and then be costed. Where would it start and finish Treetop? If close enough to the present but further enough to diminish traffic from just near the present bridge, it could use present motorway for approach.
Could the approach be up Curran Street, turn into Sarsfield Streeet and then from a point there across to Chelsea by the Sugar Refining and through the Chelsea Heritage Park which sounds nice.
It could have a pillar near with ladder-path down to Watchmans Island which could have some hardy bushes planted there and be a stopping off spot for picnics etc which would probably please the locals as it has deteriorated over the years.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/aucklander/news/who-watches-the-watchman/J3GJ4L5ROPNKCJ6N72E7WPQWZ4/
Then over to Chelsea and join up with Colonial Road. Or alternatively it might go to Hinemoa Park and up to Birkenhead.
Or could it go off Tamaki Drive at the end of Mechanics Bay (not owned by Ports of Auckland) and go across to Bayswater and up Bayswater Avenue or up Norwood Road, perhaps with an exit that goes off at Stanley Point to the naval base at Devonport, which would be good quick access for them.
Let’s stop worrying about the aesthetics. Let us have a serviceable bridge that doesn’t cost too much, and we will love it. And perhaps we can paint it a different colour every five years or so, while we are giving it a regular maintenance check. Think safety, longevity and if you don’t like the aesthetics make little models of what you would like, or paintings, and make a feature of that to sell to people. The difference of opinion can be taken to extreme and people could design one made of live willow branches or something. But keep practical – it is people who wanted Mediterranean aesthetics who got the leaky buildings thing going. Let’s be wary of looks, and go to the foundations and materials and wind resistance etc etc.
Gee you are asking the wrong person about the position of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. I have only had one return trip on it to Brown's Bay in 1978.
That was an example of how citizens have to put their minds to visioning practical things they want. We can't just set up wishlists and hope government will do the right thing. We must take part in government, go forward with government not just be supplicants being handed things by the 'kindly and wise' PTB.
What is it we want. where, and who and what will it serve? How much, is there an easier cheaper way? Who will be disadvantaged and how much? How can that be mitigated? We can get through the decision barrier that those with power are in. Make a mistake and they can be out of a job, or no further contracts; decision might be to put if off for further study and information, and keep getting the largesse of the moment.
Yeah, I look at this picture and just think, instead of building a biking bridge alongside, just build a whole new, spectacular bridge alongside with biking lanes on it. Then demolish the crappy old one.
this looks like a very expensive band aid.
Never understood why the clearance is so high. The upper Waitemata has a few yachts and the Chelsea sugar works up there and that's it.
Spirit of adventure ?visiting replica sailing tall ships super yachts etc and if you,re the daring type you can fly youre plane through there !!
We need to be able to sail our AC75 under it
To allow access to the deep water wharf at Birkenhead and the Chelsea sugar refinery.
Yes the Chelsea refinery…couple of ships a month maybe?
I'm no bridge expert but my guess is that flatter bridges are cheaper to build, more stable, and are probably much better on fuel consumption for users.
Muttonbird Should there be an opening end, where water is deep enough for large vessels?
yes.
My thoughts exactly
Oh King Muttonbird waving his hand expressively – I don't like that bridge take it away – scrap it. Build me another better one. Pfffttt.
Weeelll. I'd be interested to know what the tunnel costs are. It seems a given we are going to build one.
Am assuming the idea there is existing bridge takes northbound traffic and tunnel taels southbound + rail.
If that were the case there'd be room for bike/pedestrian on the existing bridge so no need for the stand alone???
Also the existing bridge isn't going to last forever, unlike a lot of bridges in the world.
My idea was to abandon the tunnel and just build a bridge fit for road/rail/cycle/ pedestrian which will last 200 years.
Oh weelll sounds okay. I am just exercised at the moment about all the things that those in power are going to build – it seems cost is no worry, and of course they will be interesting things, not like tiny houses or affordable homes for people to rent/buy. Sorry to bite as it is probably a secret wish of mine and for many of us that we could for once make something happen that needs to. Has anyone thought of a stadium that converts to bed sitting rooms after 10 pm for instance. Hah hah.
Good point about the real urgency being ignored on affordable housing and other even less glamourous stuff than that, water infrastructure, etc, seemingly in favour of big, visible projects like this.
However, if we are determined as a nation to dramatically increase or population then transport infrastructure planning is also vital. It is something we have always done very, very poorly.
I don't even mind about cost, I just want it done once and done right. Maybe some of these hotshot Covid refugees who have returned home in their tens of thousands can set us straight!
What about cyclists crossing by ferry as part of the transport structure so you are not left to the profitable constraints of ferry owners as the Waiheke Islanders have suffered? I fondly remember the ferries from Bayswater chugging across the water. They did so in a regular pattern and could be relied on for time for those working on the other side – the City or North Shore.
There could even be uber-boaters but they would have to be watched for seaworthiness. Or they could be boat owners who ran themselves to work and took regular passengers with them on a season ticket arrangement. They would be given the sort of tax allowances that the rentier landlords and house owners get now.
And what do other people in cities by the sea do? We seem to look at dysfunctional USA for models of how to mistreat people. Can we look away to other countries, probably European or perhaps Singapore and Hong Kong, for the clued-up cities on how they run things effectively at reasonable cost?
I'm not sure why a couple of light composite tubes can't be slung underneath for cycle traffic – one for each direction. Must be cheaper than new crossings, and not disruptive to existing use.
Funny how confirmation bias works. I thought for you suggest compost-able tubes for cyclists. Probably cheaper and more user friendly than other solutions.
But could you get your yacht under the tubes Margaritte 1.43pm?
We need to be able to sail our AC75 under it. What is it by the way?
Separating the structures means NZTA can replace main bridge with tunnel, providing for all modes.
Makes good sense.
And of course it's a powerful anti combustion engine signal just days from Climate Commission plan.
Good operationally and excellent politically.
Maybe the govt can put Phil Twyford in charge..
And have that skinny little thing the only surface crossing?
All other commuters banished to the underground like Wells' Morlocks?
Nope. Build a huge state of the art 10 (or 8) lane bridge reflecting 21st Century New Zealand, with rail and cycle capacity.
Ad I think you want to use semaphore signals to wake people up to what is coming and needed for the future. But you are apparently prepared to do that by demolishing systems and structures while they are still needed. Bad as Roger Douglas you are. That comment yesterday about Marsden Point close-down did not convince me of the practicality and far-seeing nature of whatever committee you are on.
Don't worry about it, it is only an announcement
Like most motorways the Auckland Harbour Bridge doesn't lend itself to being retrofitted for bikes and pedestrian traffic, The traditional answer has been to construct separate cycleways to the side. And this is being done on the Southern and Western motorways. But the Harbour Bridge presents a unique problem.
There was a plan to build a sky-path for cyclists and pedestrians under or beside the main carriageway. But it proved to be a hugely complicated and expensive engineering project.
The engineering nightmare that was the sky-path has been ditched.
Taking a lane for a bikeway is not practical.
The new plan is for a new and separate bike and pedestrian bridge to be built beside the existing bridge.
When he was Prime Minister John Key announced the construction of $7 billion road tunnel under the harbour.
This plan did not survive the change in government
With a price tag of $250 million and a delivery date of 5 years, I doubt whether this latest plan for a pedestrian and cycle bridge would survive a change of government either.
A fare free busway with an option for bicycle stowage is a far cheaper solution and can be implemented immediately. All of the infrastructure is already there
Why don't we do this?.
Today's Herald story briefly mentions this;
"He also revealed that Waka Kotahi has considered getting bikes across the bridge using gondolas and a dedicated ferry or bus service. However, all those options were rejected."
He is Michael Wood, Minister of Transport.
It was your big suggestion here on Sunday, I suggest you make an OIA request.
On Sunday you also said "There will not be a three month bike lane trial. There will not even be a one week bike lane trial."
And yet that Herald story also quotes the Minister as saying
"With the new bridge five years away, Wood also said he had asked Waka Kotahi to present him with options for a cycling and walking lane on the current bridge now. This would involve a trial conversion of an existing vehicle lane or lanes."
and
"Waka Kotahi will continue to work on how to provide safe temporary trials of using lanes on the existing harbour bridge for cyclists and pedestrians," Wood said.
I personally have a lot of time for Michael Wood.
If Michael Wood can get 20 thousand commuters to give up one lane of the motorway for a bikeway he has my support.
Anything but this eyesore.
A camel is a horse designed by a committee
This latest proposal has succeeded in uniting cyclists and truckers, (and possibly everyone in between) in opposing the proposed bike pedestrian bridge.
Because when you try to please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody.
At least now we know what we all don't like, and we all don't like this.
Of course there is, (as there always is), ideologues that can be counted on to endorse something like this. The good thing is that at least the spokesperson for this minority are honest in admitting that the proposed bike pedestrian bridge is nothing to do with relieving or even addressing Auckland's traffic woes.
If anyone deserves a new bridge in their town, it is the people of Ashburton.
'Why should Auckland get everything?': Residents of flood-ravaged Ashburton frustrated by city's second bridge (msn.com)
National Party candidate makes world news headlines for his revenge porn scandal .
Collins looks like a goner.She looked 10 years older last night on TV desperately avoiding any responsibility when questioned last night
Collins big talking at the recent queenstown conference where Bazant was one of the headline acts a rising star the new young face of the National Party .Has turned into a complete disaster.
[putting you on the ban list. Really happy to let you out when you reply to this mod note. I need to have a conversation with you, so you will need to check replies to your comments before I will end the ban. I will keep an eye out for your comments in the Trash.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03-06-2021/#comment-1796295
Former or ex-National Party candidate, to be more precise.
Collins’s responsibility lies with the future of the Party, not so much the past, which cannot be undone. She has the top-secret review reports; she knows what needs to be done. A real Leader has what it takes to do what needs to be done. Crickets.
Nicola Willis, please step forward and up, and save the Party from more self-inflicted embarrassment and pain.
These scandals are useful as an opportunity for an outsider to snatch a glimpse into the fetid mind of the National party politician…..confirming what we already know is their primary thought pattern, just nasty shit.
Did Collins say in the last month or two that there were no more scandals and that the party was united?
Keeping a straight face while holding a dud poker hand once again.
Mod note above.
Treetop and Tricledrown – different.
Thanks Ghost and Grey for your messages about the Vaccine Stab number yesterday. I got a call in but no reply as yet. In no hurry anyway would rather it went to someone younger who may be more vulnerable.
Depending upon what group you are in you might not want to get too excited about getting any reply at all before summer arrives.
If you are in the most at risk group, the immediate frontline workers, it appears that only about 60% of them have had even a first dose. In the next category, the household members of the most at risk people, less than 50% have had a first dose.
Group 2, which is the frontline health workers, people living or working in long-term residential care, older Maori and Pacific people and those over 65 living in Counties Manakau has only had about 40% who have received a first dose.
For those of us who are over 65 but aren't Maori or Pacific people only about 4% have had a first dose. These were the ones who were supposedly going to be able to get vaccinated starting at the beginning of last month remember. That date of course then slipped back and appears to be slipping further.
The Government Health Ministers seem to be quite happy. ""Our plan to vaccinate New Zealanders is on track," Dr Ayesha Verrall". Well I suppose she would say that. She has been vaccinated.
Ashley Bloomfield is also quite happy about the situation it would seem.
"Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said on Thursday he's happy with the progress.
"I think what we're seeing is ongoing increased uptake amongst our priority groups."
Meanwhile, while the vast majority of us haven't been vaccinated, our Government is going to allow people in from Melbourne next week without any form of quarantine. The people involved chose to go there. Either stay there or go into quarantine when you get back should be their options. When the elderly, like me, have had a chance to get vaccinated they can open up the borders. Until then to hell with it.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/06/coronavirus-60-percent-of-group-labelled-high-risk-still-yet-to-get-first-covid-19-vaccine-dose.html
In the meantime you probably shouldn't get too excited about getting anything. My local DHB said early this week that they had no idea when vaccination might be available. My Medical Centre also say they haven't been told anything and they have no idea what is going on.
my BiL and his wife – both in their forties and in no group of anything – had their vaccination last week in Whangarai as walk ins.
His mother and father, both in their seventies, she is Pakeha and he is Maori, have yet to get a notification of being even on some list, they are in Whakatane.
Here in Rotorua, who knows.
i agree that the border should be closed again until a few more people here have had their jab.
As for those that don't want the jab, who cares, leave them be, and vaccinated those that want to be vaccinated.
Agree on all points.
No sign of vaccination for my 90 year old Parents (one with hypertension & diabetes).
In most Anglosphere Countries, the elderly were placed in the second group to be vaccinated rather than thrown in with over 65s in general in Group 3 … with the really high-risk over 80s (those with comorbidities) right at the front of the Group 2 queue … we apparently do things differently here …
Meanwhile, widespread complacency around the threat posed by the new dangerous Covid variants continues unabated.
it seems that there really is no co-ordination or anything really. Again, have all old people in Auckland be vaccinated?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-auckland-vaccination-centre-metres-away-from-miq-facility/KJFR5UM5YGLDN65B4WA3P2P6PI/
#8 wire….
His comment is a rubbish reckon from a guy exercising his white privilege to have a whine and get it reported in the Herald, the home of the relentless middle class whinge about everything.
So what if it is next to an MIQ facility? Journalists in their stampede to get the next alarmist reckon from a know nothing have forgotten to ask the most basic of questions – like has anyone, anywhere in NZ in the past year, ever caught covid by walking past a MIQ hotel? The answer of course is NO.
It is interesting they’ve removed from earlier stories his complaint that no one was being scanned, something in my experience of getting vaccinated (twice now) is simply an outright untruth.
You could criticise that it is hard to get to if you are disabled and poorly signposted/a bit hard to find from the advertised Elliot street entrance, but no some wally get to have a free bitch about… nothing really.
did actually not care much about his whinge but his age.
the conversation up top is in regards to age groups and vaccination groups and the reigning confusion about it.
Sanctuary I don't know how your comment sits in with the recent media release about the aerosol effect of people just passing by with the more infection strain.
And has everyone noted how there isn't a new super infectious strain in Victoria. It seems to have been a fib by the pollie in charge feeling the heat of failure. It is such a hot country, Australia.
swordfish Sorry to hear about your parents waiting. I hope they have better neighbours now.
As for the way that Covid 19 treatment has slid back it probably means that it is back with the backsliders down in the bowels of the MoH. When the leaders were appearing before cameras they would have been on their toes. Now the MoH has taken to printing an enormous number of leaflets and full page adverts in the papers and probably on tv?
Trouble is that people don't know what to think, don't read the papers, or have time – it is a very passive approach that is so efficient for man/womanpower but not for the actual outcome of message received by those who need it the most. What do generic managers do when there is a human mass outbreak of sickness? Sit at their computers and work out the odds for people dying for each possible method used, and then work out the 'mean' figure showing the least financial cost?
Well I can't remember which media I read that there was not a new strain in Victoria but it was wrong. So should I start wearing my mask all the time when mixing? Seriously I should I suppose. And the epidemiologist Baker says that all the border workers and others involved haven't been vaccinated – still thousands to go. And what about GPs, we heard that they have been neglected. Really, if you take your eye off government they wander off into the woods and get lost!
Cheers, Grey.
No, the nightmare continues unfortunately. We thought it was all over right at the start of November last year when their violent intensely anti-social neighbour moved out, swapping houses with what we believe was his grandmother … massive relief for everyone (including other neighbours) … he was now living more than an hour away & the older lady was extremely quiet (so my Parents feeling safe, no enforced chronic sleep deprivation, no intense stress … & peace of mind for the first time in 3 years) … but only lasted 6 weeks … gave everyone a real shock when he suddenly turned up in the early hours of Boxing Day nonchalantly inflicting his usual anti-social behaviour / noise / aggression as if nothing had changed.
My 90 year old Mother has had to be hospitalised twice since Oct 2020 for very high blood pressure & low oxygen saturation levels (bordering on mini-stoke territory) from extreme stress & sleep deprivation (both his violent explosions/noise & his kids (increasingly dropped there) running wild at all hours … really raucous relentless in-your-face noise levels right through to late at night, Parents can't escape it even in rooms away from dividing-wall with doors closed) …
… She almost died in Wellington Hospital the day after the 2020 Election … but on Election Day was more concerned about casting her vote for the Labour Party she'd spent her life both supporting & being active within rather than worrying about her own health.
This'd be the Labour Party with its tacit No Eviction policy & its affluent, Woke New Middle Class activist base romanticising people like the intensely anti-social Underclass Neighbour while systematically demonizing & scapegoating elderly poorer Pakeha, including lifelong Labour voters. Unfortunately, being white they're members of the ID Politics 'out-groups' currently being quietly but rapidly transformed (largely by Pakeha from financially-privileged backgrounds) into 2nd class citizens.
Or, to put it another way, those Pakeha who have disproportionately inherited the wealth from Colonisation forcing those Pakeha (& other non-Maori) who haven't to do all the Penance, all the sacrificing, all the suffering … as they go about establishing this Brave New Woke World, bereft of universal human rights, equal citizenship & other core principles of liberal democracy.
Ironic given my Parents history of marching against Springbok Tours (1960 / 76 / 81) & my Mother being one of the first Pakeha to learn Te Reo in a formal educational setting (as a teenager at a Wellington Educational Institute's night classes in 1948). At the age of 90 she now gets to enjoy relentless stress from an extremely violent Maori man (who never has to suffer any consequences = because Colonisation) & his clearly deeply dysfunctional family while the ex-boarding school Woke Cadre get to ostentatiously posture & pose as heroic "anti-racists" (according to deeply warped Critical Race Theory dogma) while continuing to enjoy all the inherited fruits of Colonisation (while also bravely ensuring they're living at least 20 miles away from the mayhem they've helped to create through crude social housing policies in previously peaceful, community-minded & for the most part Labour-voting neighbourhoods).
Glad I got that off my chest … longtime coming … thanks for providing me with the opportunity, Grey
I am bitter about this too swordfish. See it all the time, where people are trying to transform the world that has been mostly good but they want to trash it and start again on a different set of tracks. We are to be derailed and left in a siding to stew in our own juice.
They don't try to clean the bad up, keep the good and change habits to improve society, they just want to trash the lot and start again FGS. It took centuries and many people worked all their lives to get civilisation to the present era, at a level that decent people could be happy about.
Now this type of activist person likely meditate when they get distressed and remove themselves from the everyday, and come back with fantastical ideas that they have absorbed in overwhelming belief. Their drive is similar to that of economists to change humans' behaviour to fit their models. I don't think they really like people though they profess to be 'caring and concerned'; again like economists they are in love with their models and designs, people's and the planet's actual needs are often at opposite positions.
I have a few things to say about my feelings on https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-05-06-2021/#comment-1796469
"Or, to put it another way, those Pakeha who have disproportionately inherited the wealth from Colonisation forcing those Pakeha (& other non-Maori) who haven't to do all the Penance, all the sacrificing, all the suffering … as they go about establishing this Brave New Woke World, bereft of universal human rights, equal citizenship & other core principles of liberal democracy."
Or as one person I read recently put it, this wokeist cult looks more and more like rich white people, lacking a moral narrative and purpose for their wealth, assuaging their guilt by punching down on poor whites.
This woke idea that everything is oppression, starting with marxist oppression of all workers, the patriarchal oppression of all women, the white supremacist oppression of all people of colour – and now god help us the biological oppression of gender – has consistently taken what starts out as a good idea and degenerates it into corrosive, toxic soup, undermining social cohesion and trust.
Which you have to think, is well understood, by those who create and promote them, to be the purpose of these ideologies .
"…all the Penance, all the sacrificing, all the suffering" – awful. As for "punching down on poor whites" – words fail me.
Can't help wondering if overall long-term social cohesion and resilience might be strengthened by sharing the fruits of society just a little bit more equitably – is that idea too 'woke'; too PC?
Maybe just knowing one's place makes for a happier life, not to mention a good night's sleep which (we can all agree) has value beyond measure.
Why do I get the impression you're not too keen on "sharing the fruits of society just a little bit more equitably" with low income / poorer Pakeha ? (who comprise more than half of the bottom income quartile).
Ever stopped to wonder about health stats for poorer Pakeha & Asians ? You know, the kind of people who, unlike the Woke & their affluent older relatives, can't afford private health insurance (and quite possibly oppose it on principle) & are destined to be the sacrificial lambs forced by the Woke to the back of the surgery queue with CRT's Health "Equity" dogma. How do you think their stats compare to affluent Pakeha, to middle class Maori, to Poor Maori ? No you've never wondered about that, have you, sweetheart … no orgy of self-congratulatory virtue-signalling, no social media prestige enhancement amongst your little clique to be derived from that sort of non-Woke Social Justice.
As always, socio-economic privilege is vastly more consequential than any putative "white privilege" … but that's of no use to old frauds like you, is it. By aggressively promoting the existence of the latter to the exclusion of all else, affluent Woke phoneys get to have their cake & eat it … ostentatiously playing the role of morally good progressives while scapegoating poorer whites & quietly consolidating their own power & privilege.
Really quite Reactionary … in so many ways the antithesis of the genuine Left.
So spare me your fake morality, spare me your bullshit.
Honestly swordfish, don't know why you get that impression – imho the 'sharing' should be based on need ("From each according to his ability, to each according to their need" – Marx), but selfishness and greed ensure that disadvantaged groups are pitted against each other.
You appear to be a bit of a mindreader – explains your "old frauds", "affluent Woke phoneys", "fake morality" and "bullshit" jibes. Fwiw I’m not naturally aggressive, and there’s no need for me or anyone else to promote “white privilege“, aggressively or otherwise. I don't have any health insurance, and yes, I was lucky enough to have a privileged start – both parents were teachers in the NZ public education system, and I did relatively well out of that system myself.
Wishing you and your parents all the best for the rest of your evening.
Is anyone finding when they go to a screening or specialist appointment if they are asked if they have had a Covid vaccination?
Funny you should ask… the 70 year old, physically disabled Better Half has visited the local hospital twice in the past month. Once through A&E and once for a specialist appointment. We expected to be asked about and/or offered Te Jab both times, but alas, no.
Despite the hospital being slap bang in the middle of 'jab any one who'll stand still long enough' central…not one medical professional seem to think it was an issue.
We didn't see a single sign promoting Te Jab either.
Looks like the world has been misled about the effectiveness of hydroxychloriquine in the early stages of Covid19 treatment. Perhaps those who instantly rejected its use because Trump may be feeling a bit embarrassed which is probably nothing compared to the feelings of the hundreds if thousands of Covid19 victims who could well have been helped and probably survived.https://c19hcq.com/
Still, these things need to be properly researched, investigated, and trialled before jumping to conclusions. What applies to the large general population may not apply to smaller sub-groups of patients, which complicates trials. Common sense is not a scientific-clinical argument and there’s usually a little more to it to justify the effort, expense, and ethics for undertaking (large) trials with sometimes very ill people.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2021/06/coronavirus-vitamin-d-supplements-likely-useless-against-covid-19-for-most-study.html
did you look at my link?
With a link address like that, it's obviously a thoroughly unbiased collection of the latest peer-reviewed research on the topic and no conflicts of interest /sarc
That is not how you approach a pandemic though, there isn't time to do comprehensive research on treatments, you use whatever works. Off-label drug treatments are a key part of rolling out rapid medical counter measures in a pandemic. The safety research has already been done as many of these medications have been in use in the general population for decades. So all you really need to do is run trials.
Why would the site owners use a dodgy registrar?
https://fraud-reports.wikia.org/wiki/Tucows
https://who.is/whois/c19hcq.com
Here is something to cheer everyone up on a Friday –
https://undocs.org/S/2021/229
Page 77:
"…Logistics convoys and retreating HAF were subsequently hunted down and remotely engaged by the unmanned combat aerial vehicles or the lethal autonomous weapons systems such as the STM Kargu-2 (see annex 30) and other loitering munitions. The lethal autonomous weapons systems were programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the munitions…"
Possibly the first recorded case of an autonomous Robot deliberately killing humans.
BTW a Kargu-2 is a quadcopter armed with a powerful anti-personnel fragmentation device (i.e. a very large hand grenade) that uses machine learning and algorythms to autonomously select and attack targets.
Who cares about Asimov's Laws of Robotics, or indeed, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) principles of robotics?
@weka – apologies for lack of response on Twitter, am now completely locked out. Will provide screenshot once I have access again.
Damn. Will catch up when you’re out.
If they build a bigger Auckland harbour bridge won’t the traffic increase?
Well if we are all to drive electric vehicles in the future – and grow our population – then yes we will need a bigger bridges and roads.
Build a bridge that takes bikes, feet, skateboards, scooters, trains, maybe buses, maybe taxis, and increase ferries 😈
I don't disagree with you, but i don't see it happen really.
And who will use it ?There are only a few who live within 5km of the bridge, and of those who commute daily. I also note that the areas within 5km are some of the most expensive housing in Auckland, great for those who live in Manukau, Albany out west etc. who have to battle with very limited public transport. Nice to see our government have policies for the few – the same few who are benefitting from the housing situation pocketing over $432k from June 19 to June 20.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/auckland-house-prices-defy-covid-herne-bay-homes-make-almost-seven-times-more-money-in-one-year-than-average-city-worker/Q5KFBQBTTWIBLIFJPLUBKZJOTM/
I also noticed that last weeks demonstration was less diverse than the PGA Championship held in Kiawah Is just out from Charleston North Carolina- Even Efeso Collins noted this.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-auckland-harbour-bridge-second-standalone-bridge-for-cyclists-pedestrians-confirmed/CM4653SLAHKBUFBNWD5XPGN3N4/
Good pint about the lack of diversity.
I am surprised at the traction this story has gathered since the protest. Incredible the power of enraged lycra.
NZTA are in advanced planning for a tunnel, not a new traffic bridge.
So Existing bridge for vehicles, tunnel for trains and buses, small briddge for cycling and walking? Wow, NZTA really have protected the harbour bridge for cars only…
Defends of the bridge it could have less carlanes more space for dedicated pt lanes etc.
The very short term trick is to keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible given shorter travel times equate to lower emissions. Tbf if govt were serious they would make public transport free, increase frequency and perhaps dedicate a bridge lane to the busway… that and really push hybrid or full electric cars. They are immediate things that will be of some benefit while infrastructure work is completed.
Its going to be a good 5-10 years before meaningful infrastructure is completed
If they build a cycle /pedestrian only bridge will that reduce the vehicle traffic on the existing bridge?
At certain times but I'd suggest it would be insignificant… sure some will convert but between weather and distance to even get to the bridge on cycle would preclude most…
Would get plenty of use on weekends holidays etc but its not a solution for commute based congestion. That needs rail or bus more hubs more park n rides increased frequency etc
Why can't they just put a cycleway clip on on the existing bridge? Light weight. Doesn't have to be a major drama.
Bridge structure is at capacity and I suspect putting an additional lane on one side would present problems around balance, weight perhaps not not biggest issue more likely wind pressure etc… its amazing how much those outer lanes flex and move…
oh well, parole for "public toilet rapist Daniel Peter Moore's'
i wonder what the victim got? Some counselling sessions?
but fear not, while in prison he 'bettered himself',
Seriously? And the women? Just some 'collateral damage' being done by someone opportunitistic? I wonder if she got any taxpayer funded job skills and tertiary study?
maybe that is what needs to be done, these guys get fuck all in prison, no work, no study, nothing, and the funds saved will go towards the victim and her trauma counselling, her work rehabilitation and some tertiary studies.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/tokyo-olympics-kiwi-medallist-lorraine-moller-says-inclusion-of-transgender-athletes-at-games-derails-womens-sport/UJZMLCP56LQILO7JX2SANUEIVE/
t
this headline is misleading. Not banned, just banned from competiting with women
BSA complaints material I think. Pretty bad article too. Like they can’t say trans woman and trans man.
Didn't see that.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125332758/pike-river-families-launch-court-action-against-sealing-of-the-mine
Ian Powell on TDB has some interesting points on what goes in the health system here. And I don't have to go far in before I get goosebumps about what we will have if the Grand Leap Forward goes forward to a centralised hospital system with a Grand Computer System that Rules Over All.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/06/04/guest-blog-ian-powell-dirty-politics-in-action-smear-campaign-in-new-zealands-health-system/
Broadly speaking the prevailing leadership culture in New Zealand’s health system is managerialism which involves decision-making through a very narrow lens that is management rather than clinically and patient-centred driven. Within district health boards (DHBs) this can be alleviated by the closer proximity between senior managers and health professionals and largely overcome where there is sufficient oxygen to enable genuine engagement between them. The more distributed the engagement at all levels the more clinically and fiscally effective it is.
But with the Ministry of Health it is different. There is no equivalent proximity and the managerialism takes the form of a top-down, more distant, bureaucratic centralism leadership culture. When it comes into conflict over specific issues with a DHB that has progressed strongly in the direction of genuine engagement then it is a recipe for, at best, negative tension.
At worst it can degenerate into dirty bureaucratic politics as was experienced by Canterbury DHB (CDHB) in its escalating conflict with the Health Ministry over the recovery response to the devastation of the Christchurch earthquakes in 2010-11. This is discussed in detail in my two online articles published by the Democracy Project: https://democracyproject.nz/2021/04/15/ian-powell-a-very-bureaucratic-coup-part-one/ and https://democracyproject.nz/2021/05/19/ian-powell-a-very-bureaucratic-coup-part-two/.
The dirty bureaucratic politics was a smear campaign falsely claiming that CDHB’s increasing operational financial deficit was due to financial mismanagement by its senior management team. To succeed it was necessary to destroy the consensus reached between CDHB and the Health Ministry in 2018.
And here it comes.
Housing market: Risk of sharp correction rising – BNZ economists (msn.com)
From California to Ireland to Spain, when the housing bubble burst – to keep the prices up and reduce the supply the bulldozers were brought in to level new unsold houses. Sometimes even whole new sub-divisions to artificially limit supply.
We need urgent legislation to prevent that obscenity being repeated here.
There needs to be a law that no new home be allowed to be demolished while there is still homelessness in this country.
Half finished apartment blocks and new housing estates that were never occupied litter the landscape in Europe and North America just waiting to be bulldozed. No doubt this is how the housing bubble will burst here as well.
Before we reach that place. legislation needs to be enacted that no new dwelling will be allowed to be demolished and sent to a landfill on pain of confiscation by the state.
London:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/12/buyer-led-development-what-the-schemes-look-like-now
Ireland:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531852/Exorcising-Irelands-ghost-estates-Demolition-begins-housing-projects-built-economic-boom-left-country-300-000-homes.html
Spain:
http://www.30y3.com/markel-redondo-tu-casa-es-mi-casa-2/
US:
http://business.time.com/2011/08/01/bulldoze-the-new-way-to-foreclose/