How will we know a covid vaccine is safe and effective? That has become quite an interesting question since Don of the Deadbrains and his maladministration have trashed many of the organisations and structures for ensuring and monitoring vaccine safety.
It's ironic, the way the convergence of conspiracy theorist support for the dayglo swampzilla, and his trashing protective bureaucracies and boosting of the worst aspects of pharmaceutical dodgy business practices, has actually brought about a significant risk of what used to be irrational fears around vaccines.
Personally, I'll be paying close attention to the opinions of Dr Petoussis-Harris locally, Dr Paul Offit and Dr David Gorski in the US, as well as checking the reports and papers behind CDC reports. Fortunately, Medsafe here seem to be reliable, but I'll be looking at whether Pharmac appear to be paying full attention to Medsafe reports.
Right wing columnist and property investment lobbyist, Susan Edmunds, goes in to bat for Damien Grant, who thought it would be a good idea to have a picture done with him smoking…
Possibly because RITANZ might not have cited any instances of more recent character defects, because of thinking the older convictions were enough to reject him? And that in reconsidering his application, we can expect more recent instances of defective character to be looked for and explored?
"Notwithstanding the potential challenges ahead, morale is high, and the business is well-positioned for the future."
The annual report showed Bruyn (managing director Cos Bruyn) was paid $1.6m in 2020 up from $1.5m in 2019, despite the reduced salary during lockdown."
Downers, FH and Fletchers do very well out of the taxpayer funded works and maintenance.
Ad's right about the wage subsidy, should've had hooks in it and I took Fletcher handing it back as a sign of how ‘badly’ run they've become. None of the others did.
Cos does the rounds being a club member, FH to Downers back to FH. Over $1.5m p.a. to head up a duopoly/oligopoly business quite frankly’s a joke.
To keep draging up this minor infringement is shallow.
The deal that John Key put together that bankrupted Fletcher construction over the Sky City casino is worth dragging up as it's going to cost the tax payer $400 million.
Headed by Robertson, the economic recovery key team is Woods, Parker, O'Connor and Nash. That Robertson-Woods relationship looks incredibly important:
"As Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Infrastructure Minister Grant has been given the seniority and portfolio mix required to drive our economic recovery. I am excited by the opportunities we have here, it will be hard, but the legacy that we can leave the next generation in the way we choose to rebuild, is immense.
That’s where our next minister, Megan Woods comes in. She remains the Minister of Housing, overseeing our extensive build programme, as well as Energy and Resources, and Research, Science and Innovation, as well as picking up Associate Minister of Finance. She will be a key part of the team looking at ensuring a renewable energy future is part of our rebuild, and I expect will work closely with our Minister of Climate Change."
It doesn't make a whole bunch of sense until we see them lay out their economic recovery plan at the speech on Thursday – and we will also get the new unemployment figures out then as well.
With the economic waves about to crest real high next year, the PM needs to do everything she can to strengthen this little sovereign vessel.
Good to hear rnz covering the fact that all the epidemics come from our exploitation/eating of animals…(and our deveastation of the environment in service to those ends…)….so..y'know..!
Bernard Hickey kicks bank managers square in the gonads.
The aggressive push-back last year from the banks, led by ANZ chair John Key, against Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr’s drive for them to increase capital levels and therefore generate lower profitability, showed where the banks’ interests truly laid: with their Australian shareholders.
….. each person in the USA has their own story to tell.
They love larger than life characters though, who make headlines. Like Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage (Joe Exotic). And Trump. Capone. …. the list is endless.
I demand ( 🙂 ) an immediate review of the actions of the media and the opposition during the Covid response. specifically I want to know exactly what editorial discussion was had regarding the degree to which the successful response depended on public support for the measures . What editorial guidelines were being applied to ensure stories undermining public confidence were fact checked!. What editorial oversight was brought to bear on columns by hoskins etc.
To what extent was the need "to hold to account" used to justify undermining public confidence.
What discussion was had in the Covid response committee on balancing the need to hold the govt to account against the need to preserve public confidence and participation in the response?
Dr Raby also said that for all the security concerns around China's rise, he does not believe the country actually poses an existential threat to Australia.
He describes China as being a "constrained superpower" — the country's history, geography and dependence on international markets for resources and energy all place limits on its ability to project power.
The nation neighbours 14 other countries, forcing it to defend a more than 22,000-kilometre-long border; it's also "an empire with unresolved territorial issues", Dr Raby said, referring to tensions over Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
It's also hugely reliant on both importing and exporting goods through the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea, which the US could easily take control of in the event of a conflict.
Geography determines all. In this Raby is absolutely correct, there is little chance China will ever present an existential threat to Australia. The chain of events necessary for this to happen are highly problematic.
Yet for both Australia and NZ, the problem of how to calibrate our response to an increasingly assertive and expansionist power that clearly does not share our values, is not going away. And even if China never mounts a mass invasion in this part of the world, they have plenty of opportunities to make life miserable for us if they choose.
China wants dominance of its western and eastern flanks – Xinjiang, Tibet (cultural supremacy and assimilation) and Hong Kong, Taiwan incorporated and to then to assert security of its resource supply by being dominant through Malacca across the Indian Ocean to East Africa. Essentially subordinate SE Asia, India and ally to Iran in the Gulf.
It is ally to Russia in ending NATO and isolating the USA to its continent (eastern Pacific and western Atlantic). Post NATO Russia seeks an equal relationshiip with the EU. Brexit and Trump aided that. As for us, so long as we support the regional hegemony of China across Asia to Africa and the minimalist continental role for the USA (Trump has aided that) we can continue to trade as we do now.
Much of this is inevitable, the key determinant to how it occurs is in who leads it. If the US and EU lead the break-up of NATO, and form a relationship with Russia, then China can be contained. Otherwise, China is not contained and our 5 Eyes relationship is our vulnerability.
China wants dominance of its western and eastern flanks – Xinjiang, Tibet (cultural supremacy and assimilation) and Hong Kong, Taiwan incorporated and to then to assert security of its resource supply by being dominant through Malacca across the Indian Ocean to East Africa. Essentially subordinate SE Asia, India and ally to Iran in the Gulf.
Totally agree; I think I've hit on each of these points prior, and I suspect Raby's book would likely explore them in more detail. The key point is that the projection of power necessary for this Han imperialism to happen is not going to happen easily.
Geography alone ensures this.
But imagine if say half a dozen PLAN warships turned up in Wellington harbour and bluntly proclaimed 'all your base are belong to us'. What exactly would NZ be able to do about this? An extreme scenario perhaps, but no longer an unthinkable one. And of course the CCP has many other ways to make our lives miserable, well short of such a provocative action.
Without partners NZ is helpless, let's not pretend otherwise.
dependence on international markets for resources and energy
Something tells me that that isn't something that will last. There are, after all, reason why China is trying to grab all of the South China Sea and China itself is fairly large with significant resources on it.
In this Raby is absolutely correct, there is little chance China will ever present an existential threat to Australia.
Actually, he's wrong. There are numerous ways through global free-trade that China could disrupt Australia. Trade itself is a weapon as the US has shown time and again as it throws sanctions on countries that upset it.
Disrupt the country enough through the tools of trade, break the nation as a whole, and then invade. Would take longer but would make any invasion easier. Especially if China has cut off the necessity of imports which, if I'm reading it right, is what they're doing.
Invasion's probably not their end goal but the possibility shouldn't be ignored either.
Someone designed a system whereby drugs for illness/sickness were funded by Pharmac, and otherwise treatment was funded by the HB's.
Thus Pharmac saved money by buying a cheap diabetes drug for Maori, so it could afford cancer drugs for middle class Pakeha. This resulted in Maori having kidney failure and thus the Pharmac saving cost the taxpayer a lot of extra money overall.
With ACC, if they faced years of payments to an incapacitated worker which could be resolved by paying for an operation – they make sure to arrange this to save money (even in private hospitals) over the longer term.
After claiming that 90% of property investors only own their own and one other property, we are told the other 10% doesn't matter as that isn't many people.
I get a tad suspicious of euphemistic titles, maybe they are avoiding the stigma of Landlord.
Yes the archaic terms 'landlord' and 'tenant' probably don't help the stupid hatefest much. I'd be quite happy for some less freighted words arose in their place.
I notice there are a lot of complaints on TradeMe about NZ Post's Courier Post having big outs for its on-line services. It apparently happens often. They are losing business I should think. Are the managers at NZ Post determined to run the government-owned business into the ground from a lack of innovation, efficiency and effectiveness – those business buzz-words?
Oct.28/20 https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429289/housing-boom-could-get-worse-economist-warns – The answer, help first home buyers. Step in government get your boots dirty from doing the mahi that is needed. Government used to do it, before wealthy people and Treasury told them to get the hell out of here and let us do all the running. Now we know they are just hot air with a sort of gambler's russian roulette mentality this Labour Government is on notice that you mucked up once before, and we aren't putting up with it any more. You have used up your Get Out of Jail Free cards.
We are dependent on the market for solutions and the market is putting us in solution – a citric acid bath, mild, defoliating but how much skin can we afford to lose. Less lemons, please more lemonade, or else.
But we know there are genuine difficulties for landlords because of the way that government chooses to handle tenancy problems, for each side, that are made worse when either side is misbehaving or too often, an extremely bad person. That needs the ability to take quick action.
One tenant stuck in China was $6500 behind in rent. "I now have to spend money going to Tenancy Tribunal to request their bond monies back but tribunals hearings are about to be suspended or there is a queue of two to four weeks for hearings. I have to store all the tenants' personal belongings at a cost until the Tenancy Tribunals allow me to dispose of their belongings and recoup those costs.
"Meanwhile I have to keep paying the bank loan and rates and insurance and body corporate fees and ground lease rent and property management fees and operating expenses of the apartment…Worst-case scenario, I will have to sell the property in a falling market or declare bankruptcy and allow the property to sell in a mortgagee sale."
.
The government or its agencies can't go onto a property and fix a health hazard? This is peculiar when orders can be issued forcing you off your property if the authorities really want it for something. If they have to pass laws that enable this they had better get onto it, carefully worded so that it's not up to one minister, it would have to be signed off by Court?
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
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Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
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Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
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Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
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Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
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Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
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Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
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The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
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More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
How will we know a covid vaccine is safe and effective? That has become quite an interesting question since Don of the Deadbrains and his maladministration have trashed many of the organisations and structures for ensuring and monitoring vaccine safety.
It's ironic, the way the convergence of conspiracy theorist support for the dayglo swampzilla, and his trashing protective bureaucracies and boosting of the worst aspects of pharmaceutical dodgy business practices, has actually brought about a significant risk of what used to be irrational fears around vaccines.
https://respectfulinsolence.com/2020/11/02/covid-19-vaccine-safety/
Personally, I'll be paying close attention to the opinions of Dr Petoussis-Harris locally, Dr Paul Offit and Dr David Gorski in the US, as well as checking the reports and papers behind CDC reports. Fortunately, Medsafe here seem to be reliable, but I'll be looking at whether Pharmac appear to be paying full attention to Medsafe reports.
🙂
Right wing columnist and property investment lobbyist, Susan Edmunds, goes in to bat for Damien Grant, who thought it would be a good idea to have a picture done with him smoking…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300149216/highprofile-liquidator-damien-grant-offered-chance-to-make-case-for-his-career
Grant is still making false claims in his stuff column.
ie that the Tax payers union is an independent organization ,it's just a super pac closely connected to ACT and Jordan William's Dirty Politics.
He has had a custodial sentence for serious offending.
Why is nobody asking if his defective character could be from more recent actions than his criminal offences?
Possibly because RITANZ might not have cited any instances of more recent character defects, because of thinking the older convictions were enough to reject him? And that in reconsidering his application, we can expect more recent instances of defective character to be looked for and explored?
Exactly. His supporters all claim he has been rejected by RITANZ for historical crimes only. I'm not sure how they know this to be true.
The way things work. The Taxpayers' Union will be in boots and all today with press releases about this Herald story..
'Fulton Hogan to keep $33m wage subsidy despite bumper profit, shareholder dividends.'
"Notwithstanding the potential challenges ahead, morale is high, and the business is well-positioned for the future."
The annual report showed Bruyn (managing director Cos Bruyn) was paid $1.6m in 2020 up from $1.5m in 2019, despite the reduced salary during lockdown."
If the government is stupid enough not to require it back, business will keep it.
More profit means more tax back to the govt.
So not all bad
As the businesses ability to employ more people with the massive infrastructure build.
If the business followed the rules no problem with me.
Its chicken feed compared to the $14 billion wage subsidy plus the ,$60 billion given to the Banks
Downers, FH and Fletchers do very well out of the taxpayer funded works and maintenance.
Ad's right about the wage subsidy, should've had hooks in it and I took Fletcher handing it back as a sign of how ‘badly’ run they've become. None of the others did.
Cos does the rounds being a club member, FH to Downers back to FH. Over $1.5m p.a. to head up a duopoly/oligopoly business quite frankly’s a joke.
This has been the case since 1936.
Fletcher built their business to this size off the back of the massive state house build.
Govts are good at getting businesses up and running many of our largest companies got a start.Downers was the Ministry of Works.
We were a young country with no large companies .
Many private companies were rescued in 1935 by a Labour govt nationalizing refinancing then later selling on when financially viable.
This is the reality of the socold free market it needs propping up every now and then or its needs govt's to stop monopolies.
The whole family takes the opportunity to shit all over the country whenever it can.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/polluting-cattle-belong-to-top-judge-dame-sian-elias/NLHR6VCNU2QPIX3XBZDSO4EU4U/
To keep draging up this minor infringement is shallow.
The deal that John Key put together that bankrupted Fletcher construction over the Sky City casino is worth dragging up as it's going to cost the tax payer $400 million.
It's the arrogance and sense of entitlement those pricks have which is the point.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/300156558/fletcher-building-wont-repay-wage-subsidy-from-strong-earnings
tc this the reality of socold free markets
Look at Boeing and Airbus mega Duopolies.
Both have had massive problems before Covid19 with corporate corruption bribing customers to gain orders requiring huge govt bailouts and investment.
It happens in small countries as well.
That's what happens in mature economies the old boys network look after themselves to big to fail.
Here the Prime Minister lays out the rationale for the Cabinet position allocations:
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2011/S00003/cabinet-announcement-speech-monday-2-november.htm
Headed by Robertson, the economic recovery key team is Woods, Parker, O'Connor and Nash. That Robertson-Woods relationship looks incredibly important:
"As Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Infrastructure Minister Grant has been given the seniority and portfolio mix required to drive our economic recovery. I am excited by the opportunities we have here, it will be hard, but the legacy that we can leave the next generation in the way we choose to rebuild, is immense.
That’s where our next minister, Megan Woods comes in. She remains the Minister of Housing, overseeing our extensive build programme, as well as Energy and Resources, and Research, Science and Innovation, as well as picking up Associate Minister of Finance. She will be a key part of the team looking at ensuring a renewable energy future is part of our rebuild, and I expect will work closely with our Minister of Climate Change."
It doesn't make a whole bunch of sense until we see them lay out their economic recovery plan at the speech on Thursday – and we will also get the new unemployment figures out then as well.
With the economic waves about to crest real high next year, the PM needs to do everything she can to strengthen this little sovereign vessel.
Our little sovereign vessel may be safe in the harbour, but that's not what ships are for.
A somewhat gloomier view than some, but realistic all the same.
If the US election goes badly, and the covid winter runs out of control we are in for a bad time in this part of the world.
The next 100 days are going to be a narrow pass.
Good to hear rnz covering the fact that all the epidemics come from our exploitation/eating of animals…(and our deveastation of the environment in service to those ends…)….so..y'know..!
Phillip, surely you know that RNZ covering that fact will butter very few turnips for even fewer people?
Bernard Hickey kicks bank managers square in the gonads.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300149584/bank-boss-doesnt-like-housing-boom-so-why-not-do-something-about-it
Key's whining to a media the banks have in their pockets and use as a PR device.
New Zealand writer Anna Rankin writes from Winnsboro, Texas
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/trumpland-anna-rankin-in-texas
That is a good read…
Her other stuff is equally good. Especially the 'Los Angeles is burning'
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/los-angeles-is-burning-part-1
Yes. Good writing that reminds us that in behind all the noisy, angry ideologies that each person in the USA has their own story to tell.
They love larger than life characters though, who make headlines. Like Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage (Joe Exotic). And Trump. Capone. …. the list is endless.
I demand ( 🙂 ) an immediate review of the actions of the media and the opposition during the Covid response. specifically I want to know exactly what editorial discussion was had regarding the degree to which the successful response depended on public support for the measures . What editorial guidelines were being applied to ensure stories undermining public confidence were fact checked!. What editorial oversight was brought to bear on columns by hoskins etc.
To what extent was the need "to hold to account" used to justify undermining public confidence.
+1
What discussion was had in the Covid response committee on balancing the need to hold the govt to account against the need to preserve public confidence and participation in the response?
An exceptionally frank read on the Australian Sino relationship from former Ambassador Geoff Raby. I'm intrigued to note this aspect:
Geography determines all. In this Raby is absolutely correct, there is little chance China will ever present an existential threat to Australia. The chain of events necessary for this to happen are highly problematic.
Yet for both Australia and NZ, the problem of how to calibrate our response to an increasingly assertive and expansionist power that clearly does not share our values, is not going away. And even if China never mounts a mass invasion in this part of the world, they have plenty of opportunities to make life miserable for us if they choose.
C+ at best.
China wants dominance of its western and eastern flanks – Xinjiang, Tibet (cultural supremacy and assimilation) and Hong Kong, Taiwan incorporated and to then to assert security of its resource supply by being dominant through Malacca across the Indian Ocean to East Africa. Essentially subordinate SE Asia, India and ally to Iran in the Gulf.
It is ally to Russia in ending NATO and isolating the USA to its continent (eastern Pacific and western Atlantic). Post NATO Russia seeks an equal relationshiip with the EU. Brexit and Trump aided that. As for us, so long as we support the regional hegemony of China across Asia to Africa and the minimalist continental role for the USA (Trump has aided that) we can continue to trade as we do now.
Much of this is inevitable, the key determinant to how it occurs is in who leads it. If the US and EU lead the break-up of NATO, and form a relationship with Russia, then China can be contained. Otherwise, China is not contained and our 5 Eyes relationship is our vulnerability.
China wants dominance of its western and eastern flanks – Xinjiang, Tibet (cultural supremacy and assimilation) and Hong Kong, Taiwan incorporated and to then to assert security of its resource supply by being dominant through Malacca across the Indian Ocean to East Africa. Essentially subordinate SE Asia, India and ally to Iran in the Gulf.
Totally agree; I think I've hit on each of these points prior, and I suspect Raby's book would likely explore them in more detail. The key point is that the projection of power necessary for this Han imperialism to happen is not going to happen easily.
Geography alone ensures this.
But imagine if say half a dozen PLAN warships turned up in Wellington harbour and bluntly proclaimed 'all your base are belong to us'. What exactly would NZ be able to do about this? An extreme scenario perhaps, but no longer an unthinkable one. And of course the CCP has many other ways to make our lives miserable, well short of such a provocative action.
Without partners NZ is helpless, let's not pretend otherwise.
Funnily enough, I am so concerned about the threat that China poses to us that I had to look up who the PLAN were, to have warships……
PS China is currently engaged in confronting Japan in islands beyond Taiwan which have mineral resources.
Something tells me that that isn't something that will last. There are, after all, reason why China is trying to grab all of the South China Sea and China itself is fairly large with significant resources on it.
Actually, he's wrong. There are numerous ways through global free-trade that China could disrupt Australia. Trade itself is a weapon as the US has shown time and again as it throws sanctions on countries that upset it.
A weapon China's been wielding over Oz recently in Beef, Cotton, Iron, Coal.
LNG will likely be next as one of their biggest customers in commodities angles for better deals.
Massive infrastructure that still has to be paid for so they know they've the whip hand.
In this context 'existential' means military invasion.
The trade sanctions are well underway.
Disrupt the country enough through the tools of trade, break the nation as a whole, and then invade. Would take longer but would make any invasion easier. Especially if China has cut off the necessity of imports which, if I'm reading it right, is what they're doing.
Invasion's probably not their end goal but the possibility shouldn't be ignored either.
Consider this, if the CCP decided to go after Australia, then grabbing NZ first would be a very likely tactic.
This is why containing them inside the first island chain is strategically important to us.
The song that says it all – You've Gotta Serve Somebody Bob Dylan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC10VWDTzmU
Hi, Rosemary there is a cartoon by Sharon Murdoch on stuff news today. I know you will find it sums up ACC and the ministry of health.
Someone designed a system whereby drugs for illness/sickness were funded by Pharmac, and otherwise treatment was funded by the HB's.
Thus Pharmac saved money by buying a cheap diabetes drug for Maori, so it could afford cancer drugs for middle class Pakeha. This resulted in Maori having kidney failure and thus the Pharmac saving cost the taxpayer a lot of extra money overall.
With ACC, if they faced years of payments to an incapacitated worker which could be resolved by paying for an operation – they make sure to arrange this to save money (even in private hospitals) over the longer term.
Hiya Treetop…yep, Murdoch most certainly can save a thousand words. That 'toon accurately sums up the difference.
Pleased you saw it.
Hi Treetop – can you post the Sharon Murdoch cartoon ?
To be in charge of Property Investors Federation, you don't need to be too logical, just greedy enough.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018771233
After claiming that 90% of property investors only own their own and one other property, we are told the other 10% doesn't matter as that isn't many people.
I get a tad suspicious of euphemistic titles, maybe they are avoiding the stigma of Landlord.
Yes the archaic terms 'landlord' and 'tenant' probably don't help the stupid hatefest much. I'd be quite happy for some less freighted words arose in their place.
Time for something like Key's Mom and Pop investors again?
I notice there are a lot of complaints on TradeMe about NZ Post's Courier Post having big outs for its on-line services. It apparently happens often. They are losing business I should think. Are the managers at NZ Post determined to run the government-owned business into the ground from a lack of innovation, efficiency and effectiveness – those business buzz-words?
Journalism lives.
https://twitter.com/snozzberry/status/1323782191776555008
omg, is that real?
Back again. No shame. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429819/property-investors-federation-doubles-down-on-claim-first-home-buyers-contributing-to-housing-crisis
Oct.28/20 https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429289/housing-boom-could-get-worse-economist-warns – The answer, help first home buyers. Step in government get your boots dirty from doing the mahi that is needed. Government used to do it, before wealthy people and Treasury told them to get the hell out of here and let us do all the running. Now we know they are just hot air with a sort of gambler's russian roulette mentality this Labour Government is on notice that you mucked up once before, and we aren't putting up with it any more. You have used up your Get Out of Jail Free cards.
We are dependent on the market for solutions and the market is putting us in solution – a citric acid bath, mild, defoliating but how much skin can we afford to lose. Less lemons, please more lemonade, or else.
But we know there are genuine difficulties for landlords because of the way that government chooses to handle tenancy problems, for each side, that are made worse when either side is misbehaving or too often, an extremely bad person. That needs the ability to take quick action.
Mar.20 https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/120610224/property-investor-claims-human-rights-breach-as-govt-clamps-down
One landlord who is having difficulties.
One tenant stuck in China was $6500 behind in rent.
"I now have to spend money going to Tenancy Tribunal to request their bond monies back but tribunals hearings are about to be suspended or there is a queue of two to four weeks for hearings. I have to store all the tenants' personal belongings at a cost until the Tenancy Tribunals allow me to dispose of their belongings and recoup those costs.
"Meanwhile I have to keep paying the bank loan and rates and insurance and body corporate fees and ground lease rent and property management fees and operating expenses of the apartment…Worst-case scenario, I will have to sell the property in a falling market or declare bankruptcy and allow the property to sell in a mortgagee sale."
.
This from the Property Investors Federation 'industry':
https://www.nzpif.org.nz/news/view/59247
The government or its agencies can't go onto a property and fix a health hazard? This is peculiar when orders can be issued forcing you off your property if the authorities really want it for something. If they have to pass laws that enable this they had better get onto it, carefully worded so that it's not up to one minister, it would have to be signed off by Court?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429845/waikato-dump-fire-burning-since-august-locals-report-health-problems
More on Robert Fisk from interview with Kim earlier this year I think.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018747665/robert-fisk-reporting-from-the-frontline
Clip of This is not a Movie Robert Fisk doc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdwJwT30adM