Open mike 05/03/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 5th, 2024 - 41 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

41 comments on “Open mike 05/03/2024 ”

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  1. joe90 1
    5 March 2024 at 8:38 am

    lol!

    Luxo's first big gig and he has to catch the bus.

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has flown to Melbourne commercially because of a fault with the Defence Force plane.

    Luxon headed across the Tasman to meet leaders of Southeast Asian nations, on the sidelines of a special Australia-ASEAN summit.

    He was due to fly out on a Defence Force Boeing 757 aircraft about 6am on Tuesday.

    After several delays, media were told the Defence Force had identified a "maintenance fault" with the plane and advised the Prime Minister to fly on a commercial service.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/510870/maintenance-fault-on-defence-force-plane-forces-luxon-to-fly-to-australia-commercially

    • georgecom 1.1
      5 March 2024 at 6:24 pm

      RumpleLuxon, the guy spins gold into straw, everything he touches at the monent breaks.

  2. Ad 2
    5 March 2024 at 9:54 am

    Anyone interested in why we are about to get:

    – 15 new Roads of National Significance,

    – massive cuts in cycleways and pedestrian protection,

    – big fuel tax increases next term, and

    – a true gutting of the ability of local government to consult with their citizens about their priorities,

    well this is all ably summarised by Matt Lowry over at Greater Auckland here:

    https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2024/03/05/the-governments-ideological-transport-policy/

    Mickey may well have thoughts on how this will alter the power imbalance between local government and central government and its agencies.

    Anyone with a non-RONS project to lock down with signed contracts better get it done fast.

    • georgecom 2.1
      5 March 2024 at 6:35 pm

      2017 estimated cost of the East-West route $327 per km, that's 2017 remember. Does simple simeon think construction costs have declined? the $2 billion figure I have seen quoted in the media is a joke, probably closer to $2.5 billion or more. there is something they can immediately put back on the scrap heap and save the tax payers a huge wedge of cash. Hopefully the next Labour-Green maybe TPM government will immediately cancel any work on that dud of a road

      Here is a video of Simeon giving a press conference

    • Marcus Morris 2.2
      5 March 2024 at 10:05 pm

      Heavy freight (trucking) companies are delighted of course. It's what their election donations bought. The minister claims the policy will open up vast areas for green fields development while informed opinion says that cities such as Auckland need to go up, not out. Developers will be delighted to of course. Amazing how the money can be found while Labour's brilliant plan to enhance the rail connection between the two islands has to be scrapped. Future generations will curse this government.

  3. joe90 3
    5 March 2024 at 9:59 am

    Taxpayers as a bottomless ATM.

    /

    The corporate tax cuts that President Donald J. Trump signed into law in 2017 have boosted investment in the U.S. economy and delivered a modest pay bump for workers, according to the most rigorous and detailed study yet of the law’s effects.

    Those benefits are less than Republicans promised, though, and they have come at a high cost to the federal budget. The corporate tax cuts came nowhere close to paying for themselves, as conservatives insisted they would. Instead, they are adding more than $100 billion a year to America’s $34 trillion-and-growing national debt, according to the quartet of researchers from Princeton University, the University of Chicago, Harvard University and the Treasury Department.

    The researchers found the cuts delivered wage gains that were “an order of magnitude below” what Trump officials predicted: about $750 per worker per year on average over the long run, compared to promises of $4,000 to $9,000 per worker.

    https://archive.li/ThnEa (nyt)

    • AB 3.1
      5 March 2024 at 12:20 pm

      If only we could compare this data to a different case where similar largesse is distributed exclusively to people at the bottom of the wealth-power pyramid. But we can't, because it never is distributed that way.
      It’s likely that most of the money dished out went into the speculative purchasing of assets, including housing, rather than any productive activity.

  4. Phillip ure 4
    5 March 2024 at 10:50 am

    A grumble about our 'print' media:

    I'm picking the number of staff at both stuff and nz herald…is quite high..

    And I am mildly astonished by the paucity of product they produce…each and every day..

    When you go to a website like the guardian…you get a website full of new.. intelligent news/analysis..each and every day..

    You go to stuff and herald…if you are lucky you might get 4-5 new stories..the rest of the websites you are scrolling through what you have already seen…with some stories there for weeks on end..

    (An example was a new police car submerged in lake…that was there seemingly forever..)

    So..if we go back to that large number of journos…and their paucity of actual output..

    Ya hafta ask: w.t.f. do they all do all day..?

    Are they unable to find any interesting stuff from scraping o/s sites..?

    Way back in the day when I was doing whoar..I would find about thirty stories a day worthy of lodging..

    W.t.f. is going on with stuff/herald..?

    All those journos..putting out about 10% of what they did when they were serious print offerings..?

    We deserve better…

  5. gsays 5
    5 March 2024 at 12:09 pm

    As far as I can tell, Stuff and Herald are there to serve their paymasters, ie the real estate industry.

    • tc 5.1
      5 March 2024 at 12:49 pm

      That applies to all media not under a public model.

      Look across the ditch where kerry stokes has created another outlet for 'economically conservative' views online in WA.

      It would appear his TV outlet isn't doing enough to further his interests.

  6. Muttonbird 6
    5 March 2024 at 1:08 pm

    NZ politics live: Christopher Luxon’s allowance saga shows an ‘entitlement mentality’, Labour MP says.

    Unlike Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, other MPs who receive the accommodation supplement for the places they stay at in Wellington have mortgages to pay, Labour MP Willie Jackson says.

    This is the important bit about the settings. Despite the fact that Jackson could have also included rent when he said MPs have mortgages to pay, the thing is loan and grant applications for everyone else are dependant on outgoings. I think they should also be dependant on assets because you can easily convert assets to outgoings to pay for stuff, but the is another story.

    I've been helping the kid apply for a student loan and the questions they must answer honestly and truthfully about their circumstances including and specifically, the outgoings the loan is intended to cover.

    Why must students taking on debt on the path to improve their contribution to themselves and society be bound by proof of outgoings, yet egg-head multimillionaires are exempt from that requirement?

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350194489/nz-politics-live-christopher-luxons-allowance-saga-shows-entitlement-mentality

    • Barfly 6.1
      5 March 2024 at 2:21 pm

      Because the country is run by and for rich sadists.

    • alwyn 6.2
      5 March 2024 at 3:24 pm

      Willie Jackson has been a List MP for all of his nearly 10 years in Parliament.

      Why doesn't he just face up to the truth that he has no reason to live anywhere outside of Wellington and he should do so. Move here Willie. This is where your job is.

      He, like all the other List members, shouldn't get any accommodation allowance at all and he should refund everything he has ever collected. Willie is far too greedy to do that of course.

      • DS 6.2.1
        5 March 2024 at 4:25 pm

        National's Michael Woodhouse was a Dunedin-based List MP for years. Katherine Rich before him. He'd never win the electorate, of course, but him being a list MP based out of Dunedin provided the city with extra representation that wasn't just Labour.

        List MPs aren't simply about making up the numbers in Wellington. They also provide an important service at the local level.

      • SPC 6.2.2
        5 March 2024 at 4:40 pm

        Desperate repeating of the same post over and over.

        Minor Party list MP's represent their members nationwide. They do not just work in Wellington.

        Major Party list MP's, are often Ministers – if they own a house they live in with their family in Wellington – like English they do not claim. If their family live elsewhere they can claim. If they claim they might try and own – use the money for mortgage payments and not rent.

        When someone owns property in Wellington – with no rent or mortgage cost, they have no need for the housing allowance.

        So does Mitchell own outright. Does Bayly own outright. Does Collins own outright. Does Kuriger own outright?

        Who are you protecting?

        • alwyn 6.2.2.1
          5 March 2024 at 6:56 pm

          Please tell me. Is Mitchell a List MP or an MP whose electorate is in the Wellington area?

          If the answer is Yes he shouldn't get an accommodation allowance. If the answer is No because he is an Electorate MP from outside the Wellington area he should get the allowance.

          The same evaluation should be done Bayly, Collins and Kuriger.

          Nothing further needs to be considered.

          • DS 6.2.2.1.1
            5 March 2024 at 7:04 pm

            A world where all List MPs live in Wellington is a world where half of Parliament is made up of Wellingtonians. That's not exactly a representative Parliament, is it?

            A List MP from outside Wellington ought to get the allowance too.

            • alwyn 6.2.2.1.1.1
              5 March 2024 at 9:04 pm

              They can choose where they live, if they are a List MP. Well let them choose Wellington and if they also want a place somewhere else let them pay for it themselves.

              I can't be sure of the numbers, and I really can't be bothered tracking them down but at one stage there were {I think) 3 List MPs who chose to live on Waiheke Island. There were also 4 or 5 who claimed to be an MP for Tauranga. Tauranga was a nice place to live of course.

              I once met an MP at a family do who told me he was the National MP for Otaki. I was a bit rude to him and told him the MP for Otaki was Darren Hughes and he was just a List MP who chose to live in Otaki. If and when he won the seat he could claim to be the MP

          • SPC 6.2.2.1.2
            5 March 2024 at 7:56 pm

            For what housing cost? Rent or mortgage only for mine.

            • alwyn 6.2.2.1.2.1
              5 March 2024 at 9:14 pm

              I can't see anything wrong with the current scale. Cabinet Ministers spend much mor time in Wellington and ought to be allowed to have their families with them so it should be more than a back bencher.

              The PM also has to entertain a bit so should get more. I don't care who owns it. Do you remember when Delahunty and Fitzsimmons shared a place and they both claimed the maximum allowance? It was actually owned by the Green Party Super fund. Now, at the time that was a rort. I wouldn't see anything wrong with it though if there was a fixed rate and no real way to rort the budget. Of course they wouldn't be eligible under my scheme as they were on the List.

              At the time they claimed it was all just an accident!

              https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/2930084/Greens-give-back-6000-in-housing-mistake

              • SPC …
                5 March 2024 at 10:08 pm

                English lived in Wellington with family and eventually stopped claiming the allowance.

                He also owned property back in his electorate.

                Greens should place all their MP's in Green Party owned housing.

    • Tipa 6.3
      5 March 2024 at 3:29 pm

      If eligibility were based on whether you had financial prudence or you had squandered everything, that would make it a benefit like the dole you moron. A point clearly lost on muppet Jackson too.

      • SPC 6.3.1
        5 March 2024 at 4:44 pm

        What housing cost do those who own property in Wellington – without rent or mortgage liability have, that requires $52,000 for a Minister and 36,400 for an MP?

      • alwyn 6.3.2
        5 March 2024 at 9:17 pm

        Don't you dare call Jackson a muppet? My kids when young loved the muppets.

        Q. Why do some of my comments go into moderation???

        • weka 6.3.2.1
          5 March 2024 at 9:53 pm

          it’s not your comment, it’s a keyword in the filter that is catching some extra things atm.

  7. Phillip ure 7
    5 March 2024 at 3:02 pm

    Rare moment of honesty/Freudian slip from seymour in q-time..

    'we're up to.it..'

  8. SPC 8
    5 March 2024 at 3:26 pm

    Not just lack of new investment in making Auckland a liveable city, but action to make it less liveable.

    It was fish mouth to fish butt, with each rainfall sewage is flowing into the harbour and onto beaches but now … its either blowing in the wind, or you're walking with it.

    Making Auckland a place for those with cars, windows shut.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/residents-up-in-arms-over-rubbish-bins-removal-by-auckland-council/UW6I3A7TZRBCJJE4QPP5H6LMU4/

  9. Visubversa 9
    5 March 2024 at 3:43 pm

    Medicine must be evidence based – not ideologically based. Especially when it comes to children and young people.

    "Newly leaked files from within the leading global transgender healthcare body have revealed that the clinicians who shape how “gender medicine” is regulated and practiced around the world consistently violate medical ethics and informed consent. The files, which were leaked from within the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), were published today by the US-based think tank Environmental Progress.

    WPATH is considered the leading global scientific and medical authority on “gender medicine,” and in recent decades, its Standards of Care have shaped the guidance, policies and practices of governments, medical associations, public health systems and private clinics across the world.

    However, the WPATH Files reveal that the organization does not meet the standards of evidence-based medicine, and members frequently discuss improvising treatments as they go along. Members are fully aware that children and adolescents cannot comprehend the lifelong consequences of “gender-affirming care,” and in some cases, due to poor health literacy, neither can their parents.

    “The WPATH Files show that what is called ‘gender medicine’ is neither science nor medicine,” said Michael Shellenberger, President and founder of Environmental Progress. “The experiments are not randomized, double-blind, or controlled. It’s not medicine since the first rule is to do no harm. And that requires informed consent.”

    https://environmentalprogress.org/big-news/wpath-files?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

    • weka 9.2
      5 March 2024 at 4:56 pm

      just reading the twitter thread, I will say that we live in a society that socialises us all to 'doctor know best'. It's a very strong socialisation and across the board. So when they talk about parents not understanding implications, I don't think that is unusual in medicine especially complex medicine. There are whole swathes of people that want to hand over their health care to the experts.

      That doesn't excuse what the WPATH people and doctors taking their advice do. I'm pointing out that the problem isn't limited to trans health care. The additional issues here are the age and vulnerability of the patients, and the strong No Debate/Affirmation Only environment which they are living in.

    • That_guy 9.3
      6 March 2024 at 9:58 am

      Yeah, I've repeatedly said this will end up as a massive medical scandal but I picked it being about 3-5 years away. But the wheels are falling off the clown cart so fast. I may need to revise my estimate.

      • weka 9.3.1
        6 March 2024 at 11:03 am

        I'm not so sure. The things those doctors are saying will sound normal to many genderists.

        Agree it's a massive medical scandal.

  10. SPC 10
    5 March 2024 at 4:22 pm

    Luxon travels public coach civilian.

    Making our lack of modern infrastructure – from PM housing to PM travel, world famous.

    There is nothing wrong with the plane.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_757

    It was made before Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas.

    Only a fool would look at anything they have made since.

    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=boeing+merger+mcdonnell+douglas+

  11. newsense 11
    5 March 2024 at 4:56 pm

    Has cutting 3 waters and the uncertainty in response to the floods cost us large scale Amazon investment?

    Concerns about waste water in West Auckland…

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/03/01/amazons-7-5b-nz-data-centre-plan-quietly-put-on-hold/

    • SPC 11.1
      5 March 2024 at 5:14 pm

      The centres need spare "power, water and waste water" capacity – resources they will not find in an infrastructure deficit zone – with storm water problems.

    • Ad 11.2
      5 March 2024 at 5:34 pm

      Amazon will use any excuse it can muster. They're the same guys that pulled out of a major Lord of the Rings deal three years ago with no excuse at all.

      Don't for a moment blame NZ. Amazon do not give a fuck.

  12. Mike the Lefty 12
    5 March 2024 at 6:16 pm

    Cheers to the Hurricanes Poua rugby team daring to publicly call out the redneck divisive NACTZ government for what they are.

    They can add one more to their fan list.

    • Michael P 12.1
      5 March 2024 at 7:42 pm

      I disagree. Surely they can comment on politics and take political sides all they want in a personal capacity, but here they are representing the Hurricanes and therefore shouldn't be doing politics. Maybe they should focus on their jobs instead because they got thrashed.

      Not to mention the fact that they receive taxpayer funding, talk about biting the hand(s) that feed them….

      I wouldn't be surprised at all if in the next few days the Hurricanes organization will end up having to apologize because I very much doubt the people in charge there would have approved this.

      Really amateur stuff from supposed professional athletes.

    • Michael P 12.2
      5 March 2024 at 7:53 pm

      Bingo

      "The Hurricanes will apologise to the government over a haka performed by its women's side…."

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/510919/hurricanes-to-apologise-over-redneck-haka

      • Mike the Lefty 12.2.1
        5 March 2024 at 8:20 pm

        Please give details of the taxpayer funding that they receive.

        I am interested to know.

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