And then James there are all the birds maimed and left to die slow painful deaths by this “sport” as shooting results in high rates of wounding and crippling.
I take some of these maimed birds from bird rescue and rehome them on my pond and wetlands but most don’t survive.
We currently have 5 swans, 3 with a wing missing and two with a leg missing as well as 7 maimed ducks that will never fly again.
It is heart breaking to watch a swan or duck flapping one wing, not being able to fly .
So ask yourself is the harm caused worth it.
Hope you enjoyed winding Ed up this morning.
Indeed some will be wounded. It the majority are killed and eaten.
It is nice to have people like you looking after those that you can.
Regardless it is something that a lot of people enjoy – it gets the duck numbers down (they are a real pain around here) and it puts delicious meat in the freezer.
Some people will always find any kind of killing of animals unacceptable – others don’t have an issue with it (and always try to ensure little to no suffering- I have posed before the lengths we go to with our homekill to look after it).
For the record – whilst I have no issue with duck shooting. I don’t partake – simply because there are too many people out there who shoot once a year and don’t take adequate safety precautions and end up shooting someone.
Luckily I have friends who are kind enough to drop a few around – and duck freezes well so you don’t have waste.
Absolutely sickening that this barbaric activity is considered sport! Worse still, it’s acceptable! I was out walking this morning and heard gunshots. Vile!
We live on an inlet from a lake and this morning, lots of ducks of various species have gathered, obviously for their own protection.
The bad news is communism hasn’t quite taken off like you hoped it would; the good news is the capitalist running dogs are still busily booking their inevitable appointments with the firing squad!
The problem was is that power hungry maniacs got too impatient and wanted to impose it at the point of a gun. Lenin knew that it would take several decades to implement, which is why the New Economic Plan was developed. Moderates in China, such as Deng Xiaoping and Chao En-Lai also favoured a gradual approach, but we’re overruled by Mao.
The problem was that a dictatorship is a dictatorship irrespective of its supposed class base. The concept of the Dictatorship of the Proletarian was in fact Marx’ great brain fart.
Here in Auckland’s west we have been told for decades about how the Trusts make us special, and that this monopoly is in the end worth it for all the benefits that it brings.
Now we see the reality of their commitment to the Living Wage despite it being Chaired by Ross Clow, who is a Labour Councillor on Auckland Council as well.
Between the Trusts management and their politicians, they have a lot to answer for when their governors are Labour-dominated, and those same people are elected to Council as well.
Would be very keen to her of any E Tu members who are aware of the activities mentioned in the article.
Has been an absolute gravy train for the old boy network out west for decades.Even running a virtual monopoly, they struggle to make a good R.O.I.
Spend millions telling ratepayers how they benefit the community,without highlighting the fact that most funds for charities come via poker machines.
Quite surprised that Clow’s salary has been revealed.
Remuneration to management has always been a closely guarded secret.
I live out west, and as a bit of a counter-point I have to say that general public order is noticeably better here than where I previously lived in Sandringham, something I put down largely to the much greater control on the supply of liquor out West that the trust has.
When I lived out that way 10 years ago,no expense was spared on their charm offensive.
Free fire extinguishers,free smoke alarms ,God knows how much they spent on advertising to protect their sinecures.
That cash could be used to fund programs that can make a real difference to West Aucklanders, it all seems to go on stuff like this, or subsidising professional sports.
My point is that for people to make up their own minds, rather than parroting somebody else’s opinion, they need to be properly informed. Your and Millsy’s comments seem to be based on misconceptions as to what the Trusts do with the funds and who the recipients are.
Whether you change your thinking and judgement about the Trusts based on the link I provided is up to you; other people reading this here on TS can at least form an informed opinion.
A petition signed by at least 15 per cent of people who lived in West Auckland would be needed to force a new referendum, according to Auckland Council.
Interesting perspective and unfortunately probably typical of how hospitality staff.
Anyone who thinks you are going to get reliable workers in Auckland and increasingly many parts of NZ on close to minimum wages is dreaming because it would be near impossible to survive on it.
I’d say the standard of hospitality has been going down in NZ over the last decade, that is because they have refused to upgrade to a higher service level, mostly based on the Kiwi ‘low wage’ cut cost at worker levels and the reliance of exploiting migrant workers to keep staff at unliveable wages. The sooner they put minimum wages up to $20p/h the better. For a start it would lower the WFF and other top ups and emergency food parcels, people need to survive as increasingly employers such as these with $14m in the bank are only going to raise wages if they have to. Yep no doubt we will be inundated with crocodile tears, wah, wah, when they have to pay that extra, but the majority can afford it.
I think the idea of the trust to run liquor is a good one, but it sounds like the usual – it’s turned into a little cash cow that has become about maximising profits to themselves and not sharing it to all workers and the community. It’s conditions of the trusts operations that should change, not the concept.
savenz
+1
solkta
Raising to a living wage would be a wake-up call to the moneyed, a first step for the government to enable people to receive a living wage.
It would not solve problems straight away but there is a journey of a thousand steps to traverse here. And uphill all the way because of the long-term latitude to business and the disgraceful way that NZ has been turned into a poverty- ridden copy-cat third-world economy.
Hey, I’m all in favour of raising the minimum wage. What i was objecting to was savenz suggesting that this was a way to effectively cutting WFF. Children are a public as well as a private good. From a left wing perspective, those who choose not to have children or have high incomes should help pay for the costs of raising the next generation.
I notice that during the murder and slaughter of living creatures known as Ducks Season – that no protection is provided for these animals. An animal being roughly 99% human.
The dirty murderers are equipped with all manner of sissy protection but not the other living animals.
Ducks being Living Creatures and 99% human, have as much right to life as any sissy coward with a gun.
I therefore propose that armed drones equipped with Russian Fire Arms (NZ guns are not reliable) fire down on the humans who are doing the slaughtering. The drones equipped with infrared will operate from 32,000 ft.
Having been slaughtered by the drones, – the humans should then be skinned and sent home to their families and with a tag on their cowardly ears. The tag would say “Eat this!” Sissy.
Do you have other suggestions about how the duck population could be controlled? Should we introduce a predator? If we did, would this predator kill them in a more humane way?
Avian botulism has actually reduced by a little the numbers on Hamilton Lake compared the 1970s, but by and large ducks breed too quickly. And a serious predator would probably enjoy (just for a change in menu) a few of our endangered species as well.
So maybe it is a good thing that we have a number of humans stupid enough to see as ‘Man against Nature’ a contest between one of the less intelligent bird species and themselves – less intelligent humans using weapons they themselves did not invent, to prove something to their tender egos.
Observer
I think you are being satirical, ironic, and amusing yourself today. I have the feeling that if not a duck hunter, some of your best friends are. Quack, quack. You have just decided to shoot off your mouth at home and let the others sit in their mai mai in the wet and by the way they can dress, or undress rather, the duck they give to you.
With modern technology, there is no need for people to take a single animal’s life for sport. Having a laser gun that would use a computer to register a ‘hit’ would enable hunters to enjoy their hobby in a human manner.
It was National that kicked off these proposals. Anyway, a bit silly to have charities running these helicopters anyway. Rescue helicopters should really be run as part of the Air Force or Navy.
You’re not talking one or two choppers that have stretchers instead of seats. They’re dedicated machines. To keep one 24/d operational you need two or three actual aircraft (ISTR Southern has three). And they can’t be transferred to other duties or deployed overseas, because we need them here.
So a national organisation might be a good idea, but it needs to be separate to other services, otherwise its resources would be leeched to other dutires under the next tory government.
It certainly will. My grandson was born in Thames a few years back. Unknown to the midwife at the time was the fact that he had transposed major arteries. ie his aorta and pulmonary were transposed. After a perfectly normal birth he began turning blue. He had to be flown to Waikato Base Hospital where the condition was diagonsed and then flown to Starship where a tube was run up into his heart and a small hole made between the two top ventricles so that his blood could become oxygenated. Four days later the surgeons were able to perform open heart surgery and correct the problem.* He is now a strong young lad and very active.
Had there been no air ambulance he would not have survived.
*I understand that this operation is carried out around 4 – 5 times per week at Starship. 30 years ago he would not be alive.
He also said the Coromandel Rescue Helicopter was important for places like Great Barrier Island.
“Whitianga is the closest base to Great Barrier.
“It’s all about time.”
Which it is. Auckland to Gt Barrier is 25 minutes. All I can find for Whitianga to Gt Barrier indicates that it’s about the same or perhaps longer. So, no time benefit there and thus not a selling point.
The permanent base for the Coromandel Rescue Helicopter was funded entirely by the community, he said.
So? Just because the community funds the heli base doesn’t mean that it’s the best option.
He said he could not figure out how removing the rescue helicopter from the area would give them a better service.
That’s actually quite easy to do. Choose your spot and compare flight times as I did above which indicates that Auckland based helicopter service is better for Gt Barrier than a Whitianga based service.
Petition creator Simon O’Neill said it was “necessary to get a bigger movement going that the ministry will have to pay attention to rather than fobbing off small attempts”.
This is something that needs to be done by logistics and not by movements and feelings.
One woman who had used the Coromandel Rescue Helicopter, Jo Burton, said for her, its use “was essential” for getting her to Waikato Hospital.
In January 2015, Burton put her hand through the glass of a window. She required repairs to five tendons and her superficial radial nerve.
“They knew to get me to Waikato Hospital as soon as possible because of the damage.”
She said she has full use of her hand now, but “if I’d been any longer I might not have full use”.
I told you to ignore me if you wanted, I need do no such thing.
But yeah – you don’t shit about the situation about from a brief news synopsis, you’re personal experience doesn’t mean shit either so you are in no position to say it would have been fine when the patient, who was actually there, and the hospital, who looked after injury, say different
What the interwebz says. What does it say about nerve damage? Was there maybe something else not mentioned in the report that cumulatively might have cause actual doctors to say something like that?
A bit like comparing fixed wing flight times from an aerodrome to a dedicated helipad, but whatevs
My bad. I should have looked at that. It seems that some new process has come out in the last few years that helps with the nerve regeneration speed reducing it from months to weeks that’s time dependent.
Here’s how stupid that is. I suffer pancreatitis and have required hospitalization 3 times (alcoholism is a bitch). My dad also suffers pancreatitis but has never been hospitalized.
We both have the same injury but have very different medical needs. Hope this helps
I see Farrar claims he banned some commentators over the PMs partner rumour but the journalist scanned his site and found alit left up. Farrar then said with 2 million comments he cant get to them all.
1 it is not 2 million comments a day
2 you decided to run a blog
3 after DP you committed to cleaning up your blog
So suspended some but not enough to stop the rumour getting good, long, airing.
Hard to avoid the notion that Farrar tried to tell a porky and a journo investigated rather than just take him at his word. Oops.
Farrar deleted the thread only after Stuff contacted him…not good enough….he really shouldn’t be allowed back on The Panel after this…Jim Mora take note.
Don’t hold your breath @BG. Jim is too busy rehearsing his lines for Monday to ensure he’s able to keep sitting on the fence and remain NZ’s nicest ‘radio bloke’ (going forward).
Of course it’s possible he’ll fuck up and need a locum to fill in – and there’s one or two who’re only too happy to oblige. And generally, they’re a fucking sight easier to listen to when you’re trapped in a lift or on one of the remotest places on Earth craving a bit of western MSM for a bit of a laugh and a Subway roll
Nice to see You. Your ancestors and mine ate according to need and season. Harvested accordingly.
We now have to rid ourselves of those ugly poisonous fungi, called capitalists; called wealthy; called abominable, money afflicted; ruthless; unredemptive and endlessly brutal. Poison is as poison does Ropata.
We will get helicopters when the capitalists are drowned and droned out.
“We now have to rid ourselves of those ugly poisonous fungi, called capitalists; called wealthy; called abominable, money afflicted; ruthless; unredemptive and endlessly brutal”
Which is why we have Representative Democracy actually. The rich were afraid that the rest of us would legislate them out of existence and it was the rich calling the shots at the time.
Thing is, we can now probably start to implement full Participatory Democracy which really wasn’t possible 400 years ago.
Marx taught that the revolution would only come when the oppression of the masses became unbearable. Guillotines worked OK in the past. But I prefer the way of peace. On an individual level we make the world a better place in our own way, Ardern suggests Kindness, and I’m happy to go along with that
I notice that a lot of mention is made of Palestinians directed at me, accusing me of not being interested in the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli Zionists.
But usually only in relation to my posts on the situation in Syria, and in my opinion only as a diversionary tactic.
Prove me wrong.
To all those people who make these accusations, I challenge you to front up today at the rally in Aotea Square at 2pm in support of the ‘March of Return’.
The ‘Right of Return’ is a right written into international law by UN, for all refugees. But it is a right that is steadfastly denied to the Palestinians by the Zionists, an illegal position in defiance of international law, which the Zionists enforce with state sanctioned racist violence and apartheid like segregation and pass laws.
Rally in support of The Great March of Return – Gaza
May 5 · 2pm · Aotea Square · Auckland, New Zealand
I notice that a lot of mention is made of Palestinians directed at me, accusing me of not being interested in the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli Zionists.
Really? On this blog? Because I’m pretty sure that would have jumped out at me, and I haven’t noticed anything along those lines. I just did a quick search too. And nothing.
Maybe you could link to the comments that have laid these accusations at your feet Jenny? I suspect this just yet another piece of vacuous nonsense on your part along the same lines as that previous ‘They’ve called me a head-chopper’ accusation that you threw out there.
Hope the rally’s well attended and productive by the way.
I notice that a lot of mention is made of Palestinians directed at me, accusing me of not being interested in the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli Zionists.
Jenny
Really? On this blog? Because I’m pretty sure that would have jumped out at me, and I haven’t noticed anything along those lines. I just did a quick search too. And nothing.
Bill
I think it was Fransesca or someone, But Bill, in the same vein, weren’t you the one giving support to Ed about me not caring about what is happening to the people of Yemen and Afrin and other such Whataboutery?
In my opinion, you and Ed are only feigning concern for these terrible crimes against humanity committed by the Saudis, Zionists, the US etc. to divert attention away from your support and covering for mass murder committed by the Assad regime.
Hope the rally’s well attended and productive by the way.
Bill
You would know if you had attended Bill. And no it was not well attended, Maybe you would like to show your concern by giving the next rally a headline post. The next rally in support of the ‘March of Return’ will be held on the 19th, same time, same place. Visiting Palestinian scholar and activist Ramzy Baroud will be addressing this rally, prior to the talk he will be giving at the Freeman’s Bay Community Centre the following day. Maybe you would like to give this event a headline post as well. Or maybe not. In which, case do not ever again accuse me of not being concerned about these other cases of injustice and persecution in the world, to divert attention away from your support and propagandising for Syrian fascism and genocide.
[The game a bogey Jenny. If in the future you submit comments that are baseless accusations that constitute attacks other contributors, bans will result] – Bill
I look forward to your post in support of Ramzy Baroud’s New Zealand speaking tour. Especially in light of your good wishes for the rally in support of the ‘March of Return’ last Saturday, because there is another one planned for the 19th same time same place at which Ramzy Baroud will be making an address.
We could be reaching the end of the relatively cheap oil era. Prices of Brent Crude, the global benchmark have been rising for the past seven months, and are tipped by most observers to continue to remain at high levels through 2019. Alarmists are talking of $80-100 a barrel.
Peak oil now again?
Bring back rail.
Rail uses only one fifth the fuel per tonne carried per KM of road transport.
Rail saves us all from climate change.
And road deaths.
Lower rapidly rising cost of road maintenance.
Less trucks in our cities will make public health and air quality better.
Just listened to the Northcote candidates on The Nation.
This bit was a wtf, loololollllz moment for me…..
The national party candidate says something like… “it’s not about national it’s about who is the best person to serve the electorate” crikey…. he’s a party faithful bahahahahahahahahaha. Back your organisation dude, or stand as an independent.
The nat candidate was also quick to shut down any mention of coleman.
I take it that it was just the National Party and Labour Party candidates, Cinny?
ACT and NZF have both announced they won’t be running a candidate.
The Green Party have said that they will be running a candidate but do not yet appear to have selected and announced their candidate although the by-election is only 5 weeks away.
Although this is intended to emphasize that the Greens and Labour are not joined at the hip rather than win the electorate, this is likely to split the left vote and destroy any change of the electorate changing colours.
And when you read through Chris’s collection of groupings behind the yellow-fellow one sees that there is a mighty mountain of unreason to surmount. Same here on a smaller scale.
…It doesn’t matter that Trump’s electoral base is composed of racists, homophobes, misogynists, fundamentalist Christians, Islamophobes and out-and-out fascists; as well as hard-line neoliberals, climate-change sceptics, union-busters, flat-taxers, economic nationalists and Ayn Rand libertarians; so long the dearest hopes and darkest fears of each component of this bizarre coalition continue to be encouraged by their President.
David Klein – Plant Man
From Saturday Morning, 9:43 am today
Listen duration 15′ :17″
David Klein is a science communicator based in Wellington. Last summer he cycled around the country presenting Tour de Science – a show that explained how all the big things in the universe are made of lots of little things. It was performed in more than 50 towns and cities to rave reviews.
More recently Klein has been thinking about what it would like to be a plant – making food from sunlight, dealing with all those bugs, the strong connection to the ground, and time passing really slowly. Plants, he says, aren’t brainy but they are clever and successful.
Klein combines his love of science with his love of storytelling in his new children’s show, Plant Man, which he is performing at the Hutt Stemm Festival – celebrating the multi-million dollar science and innovation industries in Lower Hutt – on May 6.
(Incidentally it is very difficult, impossible so far, for me to find out what STEMM stands for. The love of acronyms and hatred for actually being clear and fully explanatory for those not in the know is again, rife. However there are clever little icons with pictures that probably explain the meanings. We are drifting towards a pictogram-heavy and abbreviations, skeleton-thought basis of written language!)
Thanks Rosemary
My point: Science is definite, correct, informative. So it is unscientific to advertise and advance an educational program under the heading of an acronym without informing what it stands for.
We have enough problems from our economic system making up models which are not totally thorough, without defining them fully, testing them, proving them, spelling out exceptions etc. Having to guess what something means is not scientific. Many problems already are stemming from this tendency in tertiary studies of importance and from people falsely adopting the authority of tertiary studies relied on for excellence by others needing their skills.
I respectfully but also strongly disagree because Science is most definitely not “definitive”! Whether it is correct is a moot point and this appears to be based on a perception that Science can or does somehow unveil The Truth. Yes, Science is informative and useful 😉
Did anyone really believe that Labour would implement their election promises?
National promised and had in fact implemented a scheme that would have meant a $680 increase in the National Super.
Labour then promised to outdo this and would provide a $700/year “heating allowance”.
Except it isn’t, at least not this year. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/103554971/winter-energy-payment-now-looks-a-lot-less-enticing
Please raise your hand if you still believe the things that this Government said before the election. What, nobody will admit they were that stupid?
Shrug they will see the full amount in 2019 and 2020 – so unlikely to be a problem IMO. National weren’t going to anything for me except probably more demonization and harassment – this winter payment may be a new pair of glasses for me so 🙂
Perhaps they won’t notice.
On the other hand the National payment would have provided you with both a new pair of glasses AND a spare pair in case you broke them.
Keep the faith though comrade. The Party may lie to you but you will still follow them till the end. Marching to the strains of the Internationale will help keep you warm, even if you can’t keep your home warm.
Of the half a million or so that can’t afford to visit their GP, a number of them will also be struggling with their power bills. Hence, how many will fall ill and perhaps die from this shortfall and delay?
The price of Labour’s Budget Responsibility Rules?
Oh well, at least Labour managed to balance the books eh?
Labour, the party the left can count on to let them down.
Which National people are you referring to?
For the umpteenth time I am not now, never have been in the past, and never will be in the future a member of any political party.
I am a pure swinging voter who was quite happy to say that National should be replaced at the last election but was of the belief that there was nobody capable of taking over and providing a stable sensible Government. The last six months have demonstrated the my view was absolutely correct.
A tired National would be better than the current Ship of Fools.
So, my friend, who were you talking about when you posted this reply to me?
Why didn’t you answer my question?
“Which National people are you referring to?”.
I am curious who in National might be offering similar arguments to myself.
Alwyn
Does anyone believe that anything useful will ever result from your memos on this blog? I would put the likelihood of useful from you at 95% against.
Your estimate of 95% is probably about right. I would say that 5% of the questions I ask get an intelligent reply from people who have actually thought about the topic and are willing to provide some reasoned arguments for their views.
The rest are like you. You come out with comments without any justification at all for making them. When questioned on the reason for the statement you either ignore the question or complain that anyone who dares to question your views should be banned.
C’est la vie. At least I can try and make you see the error of your ways.
They interviewed two Kiwi workers and apart from their take home pay of $600 pw clearly rattling the interviewer they hypothesized that the growers were pleading shortage of staff to i gain an increase in the number of RSE workers…who it appears are cheaper.
The other segment looked at organic vegie growers….the brother gave up his work as a contractor on ‘conventional’ farms after a head injury but noted that some of his previous clients would not eat their own commercially grown carrots because of the agrichemicals used in the growing.
Ad; – “Labour could lose the election in 2020 with the tilt of just a few retired people.”
My response is;
‘Labour/NZF had better make all our oldies health better during this time’ as we need to be alive in 2020 to vote for them again otherwise this 74yr old and our senior comrades will perhaps not be around then to save the labour/NZF parties then, and give us subsided dental please..
And give us all old, terminally ill, or limited for life and wanting a demise option the benefit of chosen euthanasia from options properly drawn up with wide consultation with those having thought through its use, and after considering arguments against are dealt with.
I see the 104 year old eminent fully capable australian has to travel to Switzerland with his family to carry out his wish of a legal death of his own choice amongst loved ones.
We older NZs trying to be rational, good citizens doing the right thing for us and limiting our otherwise mounting health costs just to keep us alive and breathing, become targets for police raids as if we were under authoritarian rule. By the way we aren’t are we? Perhaps it has been quietly announced and I missed the death sentence to democratic respect and individual choice in the news that day.
Good to see a number of commentators (in the comments section following the article) telling him what’s what.
I’m with manifest: “Cutting out the corporate welfare projects like the film museum, convention centre and indoor arena unless they provide a realistic return would be sounder economic policy.”
Consider selling?
They shouldn’t need any time to do that. “Just do it”.
Wellington is cursed with Local Body politicians who are really only interested in their feel-good exercises. That and pretending that they are only in it for the public good.
Our current mayor announced that he didn’t need a Council supplied, and ratepayer paid for car for his use.
That’s fine if he believes in it and it should certainly save the ratepayer money. The problem is that he didn’t not spend the money. He gave it as a grant to his arty-crafty friends. Then to get around he uses another Council owned car which is no longer available for Council employees doing useful work. So he ends up costing us more than if he hadn’t gone in for his grandstanding and taken the car in the first place.
Meanwhile we still have no emergency water supply for the Hospital and if there is an earthquake the Hospital will be shut down completely within about 3 days. To supply a reservoir would be something useful you see and our Council doesn’t do useful things. Spending $40,000 painting a patch of Cuba Street in bright colours is much more their style.
The first thing they could do is stop borrowing.
At the moment they plan to increase borrowing by around $600 million over the next 10 years. That is about $3,500 per resident. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/102599229/wellington-city-council-set-to-double-debt-to-pay-for-big-projects
Then they could repay the existing debt. Then they could spend it on necessary infrastructure, which does not, in my opinion, include restoring the old town hall. Let’s face it. I was closed in 2013, will probably not reopen until 2023 and I don’t think anyone has missed the old barn.
How is that lot for a start.
The average rates bill in Wellington on a house is about $3,500/year.
National Super for a couple is about $35,500/year before tax or about $32,000 if taxed at the lowest rate. A lot of the elderly live on that pension and nothing else.
At the 2013 Census the median income for people over 65 was only about $20,900. At hat time the New Zealand Super for a person living alone was $21,300/year. It was about $16,100 each for a couple. Those were pre-tax numbers. About 90% of the people over 65 got National Super so you can see roughly how many have very little else
Figures from the latest Census are not available and accurate ones covering the whole population may never surface.
What do you think is a reasonable rates bill Mr Plutocrat? Would you think 20% of your pre-tax income would be about right?
The average rates bill in Wellington on a house is about $3,500/year.
National Super for a couple is about $35,500/year before tax or about $32,000 if taxed at the lowest rate. A lot of the elderly live on that pension and nothing else.
And a lot of them are free-hold and so the rates bill is all they’re paying.
Compared to, say, an unemployed person on 12000 (including accommodation) and who’s paying $6000/year in rent.
Which do you think I have more sympathy for?
What do you think is a reasonable rates bill Mr Plutocrat?
Somebody a few years ago calculated that the amount we pay in rates is, across all of us, was about 1.5%. So, maybe 3%?
But, of course, there would still need to be the lease charge of ‘owning’ the land which should be set at a square metre rate. $1/m^2 sounds about right.
No, a lot of the issues we have is because they’re not spending enough as they do stuff on the cheap which results in a shit job which, inevitably, results in costing more (see Leaky Buildings, Leaky Hospitals, Rena grounding, the list goes on).
Depends what they are borrowing for. Nice to haves can wait till we can afford them.
Additionally, borrowing can help spread costs out reducing the quarterly burden on ratepayers.
The return the airport generates can help to pay of debt or reduces the need for it. Thus, if they sold it to fully pay off their debt they’d lose that ongoing revenue stream going forward. As the airport is largely a monopoly, it’s a good investment to hold onto.
DTB
Don’t forget to put the /sarc in when you are being ironic. We have a number of deadheads here who would take your wry comment at face value.
It is amazing that in the 21st century with so many loose brains haring off into space or creating avatars AI algorithms etc., we still have the same sort of comments that would have been uttered when NZ was young. I am sure that The Chairman and Alwyn would have said similar when Vogel was going to raise money for the NZ railway project in colonial NZ.
We have the example of living dinosaurs coming on TS all puffed-up and pompous while we try to face a future that will become ever more problematic. I have been reading about Thomas Hobbes thinking in his book Leviathan that we will have to give up our individuality under the iron stamp of a despotic sovereign.
And here is an item from The Statesman showing some who illustrate how short and brutal life can be. https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/citizenship-tangle-1502631775.html
Are we on the way to that life with people being hounded to work where there is no work, forced to sleep in virtual caves (garages etc) while surrounded by houses, forbidden to ask for food from agencies whose work of providing food aid is limited and controlled by government. Is it Hobbes that has an answer, does Kafka’s view of twisted bureaucracy tell us anything?
The economist Hayek had a number of ideas: He used the term catallaxy to describe a “self-organizing system of voluntary co-operation”. Hayek’s research into this argument was specifically cited by the Nobel Committee in its press release awarding Hayek the Nobel prize. That seems a good word or bone for the busyheads to chew on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catallaxy
We are so clever, but can’t find a thoughtful, kind and practical way to handle old, basic problem, trying a method that looks at physical remedies that suit, and then forms a theory to explain the method. Perhaps we don’t want to find an answer, we enjoy the argumentation while the needy wait sadly. Would we rather spend our time doing puzzles? Kindness is limited in much of the discussion on politics it seems.
“The Northcote by-election is an opportunity for the Green Party to promote our early successes in Government while highlighting our points of difference,” Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said.
Did the Nation snub the Greens today?
Hard to promote successes and points of difference when one isn’t given (or fails to utilise) the air time.
Good God, I’ve just watched a Hudson Institute discussion on Chinese policy in Xinjiang!
We should not be doing business with China! The information given is bloody frightening,
A long watch, but disturbing, very disturbing! 1 hr 40 minutes.
For instance, blood testing of all Uyghurs for organ matching with countries along the road of the One Belt, One Road – feeding China’s organ harvesting industry.
The new Director of the CIA has form for torture in Thailand.
Giving head in Bangkok to get ahead in the company
Getting ahead by inducing confessions
Inducing confessions by puting people to sleep
Living the dream of rendition to the land of the Green Card
Will all future directors require this on their resume, will it be the new normal for promotion to this level of leadership?
Austerity is a failure, Keynes showed that governments ought to run deficits to keep the wider economy afloat. National wasted the opportunity to take advantage of very favourable conditions for borrowing instead cutting contributions to Kiwisaver and cutting services. Government surplus = social deficit.
(We won’t even need to run deficits if we implement positive money)
A short opinion piece – Friday 26th June 2020 Whilst our Government has treated many financial victims of the current Covid-19 virus with appropriate generosity, the same cannot be said for those of the two earlier “epidemics” in NZ. The “Covid-84” virus (also called “Rogernomics”) spread systemic greed, with the ...
Everyone deserves a a decent life. We know this is possible with a fairer approach to income support and tax Read the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Poverty Action Plan here ...
After a long break, the government is back inserting secrecy clauses in legislation. This time its the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (No 3), which in its clause allowing Ministers to exempt purchasers of farm land from the usual rules also allows them to exempt an exemption from the publication requirement: ...
Over the past two years the government has repeatedly delayed a scheme to put cameras on boats to monitor Mew Zealand's pervasively criminal fishing industry. But it turns out that the industry actually wants cameras: Three of the country's biggest seafood companies have broken ranks with the rest of the ...
Louise Delany (public health lawyer)Health and emergency laws have played a critical role in this country’s successful elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic. This blog details key aspects of the legislation and comments on issues around testing, payments by incoming travellers for quarantine costs, and mask use. ...
I like Andrew Curry’s succinct and insightful futures blog The Next Wave. His most recent post is about social change. In particular, the decadal-long periods usually required for changes in values. He highlights a 2016 paper by Inglehart and Norris, who examined whether economic insecurity or a “cultural backlash” ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Stop making sense: why it's time to get emotional about climate changeThe science has been settled to the highest degree, so now ...
MONDAY JULY 6Washington (History, Sky 073, 7.30pm). The brilliant Doris Kearns Goodwin is the executive producer of this six-part series about America's first president. It combines interviews with live action and is narrated by Jeff Daniels. It's engaging, said Salon.TUESDAY JULY 7The ABC Murders (Prime, 8.30pm). Sarah Phelps has done incredible things with ...
I think we can all agree that the mainstream media in New Zealand has a very different set of rules for the right wing compared to the left. While Labour and Green Party politicians don’t seem to be able to fart without it becoming a sackable offence, National and Act ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 28 through Sat, July 4, 2020Editor's Choice'2040': A funny, entertaining, upbeat climate documentaryA timely Australian documentary takes a 'solutions' approach, with the filmmaker inspired by visions of ...
Racist National MP Hamish WalkerEven before Todd Muller's coup ousted Simon Bridges by a single vote, it was patently obvious that the National Party promotes and stands for white privilege. In fact they’ve always worked to ensure the discriminatory status quo in New Zealand doesn’t change.So it’s no surprise that ...
Dave HeatleyZero community transmission. Just a handful of active cases, all in quarantine. New Zealand is in an attractive situation, at least compared to much of the world. The situation could be robust and enduring – or it might be fragile, just one border incursion away from a “second ...
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...
I wrote earlier in the week about the Scientology front organisations Drug Free World and Drug Free Ambassadors and their quite prominent role in anti-cannabis reform "coalition" assembled by Family First and a newloca branch of the American prohibitionist organisation SAM.It turns out Family First aren't the only ones helping ...
Nik GreenMuch of the public debate about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on the extent to which government regulations have restricted personal and business activity.Oxford University Blavatnik School of Government Here in New Zealand, the question of when to change Alert Levels dominated the ...
Raising The Bar: Would that the Prime Minister and her colleagues would listen as intently to what the people – as opposed to the power elites – are saying as the Greens. Were they so disposed, the popular clamour for a transformational post-Covid reset would be loud in their ears. ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzDo you think the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown will slow or ...
A bit like a letter home. I have now been full-time at the University of Melbourne since 2019. Before that, I was 20 years at the University of Otago, Wellington. Indeed, I set up this very Public Health Expert Blog with Nick Wilson ten years ago. Now I am your ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections House Democrats have released a comprehensive report showing how – if they control the White House and both the Senate and the House of Representatives – they might move forward on climate change. Their “Climate Crisis Action Plan,” released June 30 by the ...
Not Ready: Todd Muller’s lack-lustre and self-contradictory performances offer conclusive proof that a political leader cannot be managed into competence. National’s new boss has Janet Wilson handling his media and Matthew Hooton writing his speeches. Both are highly professional political and public relations specialists, and Muller is lucky to have ...
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...
It started as a family story, about a step-father who went out one night to break into an embassy in Wadestown, Wellington. John Daniell wanted to understand what his family had been part of when his mother and then step-father work for New Zealand’s Security Intelligence. He wanted to know ...
The Greens have shaken up the election campaign with the announcement of their radical poverty and action plan to reform welfare provision and introduce a new wealth tax for millionaires. It’s a big-thinking, controversial policy and has generated a lot of disagreement over how radical it is, whether it could ...
My house is currently supplied electricity by Meridian. As soon as I can change I will because Meridian spilled water to hike electricity prices. They got consumers to spend an extra $80 million on power unnecessarily. Clever them. The Electricity Authority has called their behaviour an “undesirable trading situation”, or ...
When Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly became the Labour Party leader shortly before the 2017 general election, she promised to lead a government of transformation. After nearly three years occupying the Treasury benches, health professionals working in public hospitals have been keenly waiting for transformational progress, including in the capacity and quality ...
Last night, One News ran a follow-up story to its Colmar Brunton poll results on the cannabis referendum, headed here as Government accuses big American anti-cannabis group of interfering in NZ politics.In truth it wasn't just the government: Justice minister Andrew Little, National's Shane Reti and the Greens' Chloe Swarbrick ...
When the government refused to put cameras on fishing boats to ensure fishers obeyed the law, Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash claimed that coalition partner NZ First (which has received large donations from the fishing industry) was not responsible for the decision. He has repeated that claim repeatedly since then. But ...
Heroic Evasions: Labour needs to be unequivocal in its communications with the electorate. Either it has a plan to prevent their fellow New Zealanders from falling off the economic cliff, or it doesn’t. Either it has a fiscal policy equal to the task of funding that plan, or it hasn’t. ...
Prof John Potter*Elimination has been an effective strategy for New Zealand in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic virus (SARS-CoV-2). Most other countries have not pursued this goal and are ignoring the opportunity even now. SARS-CoV-2 is not manageable by the influenza playbook; its longer incubation period makes tracing ...
This is a re-post from Weather Underground by Bob HensonAbove: This rainbow appears unusually low in the sky because it has formed early in the afternoon, rather than toward sunset. For a rainbow to form, water droplets must be present in the air in front of an observer ...
On Monday, Todd Muller gave an important speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, He spoke firmly about his belief in the need for foreign investment, for the public sector to partner with the private sector rather than boss it around and, crucially, demanded the government deliver a clear strategy ...
Todd Muller's first act on become party leader was to appoint an all-white front bench. This understandably raised eyebrows, so he is now apparently reconsidering caucus and list rankings. Which is obviously necessary, but there's still the underlying problem: National doesn't have a lot of Māori MP's. And the reason ...
Meridian energy has been caught manipulating the electricity market for fun and profit: Meridian Energy pushed up power prices by unnecessary spilling water from its south dams in December that could have been used for generation, the Electricity Authority has ruled in a preliminary decision. The authority said the ...
When the Christchurch murderer pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder and a number of other violent assault charges a few months ago, he effectively closed the door on what the public will know about the lead up to and commission of the event. His plea means that no evidence ...
Daphna Whitmore The Philippines is enduring one of the longest lockdowns in the world. For President Duterte the lockdown provides an opportunity to garner more powers and to push through a brazen assault on human rights. A new law called the Anti-Terror Bill has been passed under urgency and it ...
Hearing the Prime Minister castigate the Warehouse for laying off 1,000 workers after receiving $52 million in wage subsidies reminds me of the fabled frog who agreed to carry a scorpion across a river. The scorpion stings the frog halfway across, dooming both to drown. The frog cries “Why on ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, Prof Michael BakerCompared with other OECD countries NZ is a stand-out success story by ending community transmission of COVID-19. While there have been some well-publicised recent deficiencies (eg, quarantine organisation), there has still been no evidence of community transmission for many weeks. Nevertheless, ...
It’s June 30th, marked as Asteroid Day by many people of an astronomical bent around the globe. On this date in 1908, early in the morning in a remote part of central Siberia, the sky fell in. Well, not literally. What happened is a substantially-sized lump of cosmic detritus ...
There really is not much about Paula Bennett concerning her career trajectory, the policies she promoted, and most importantly, the socio-economic effect this had upon New Zealand (and particularly the most vulnerable in this, our oft-cited “egalitarian” society of this country) that can be said now that hasn’t already been ...
Don Franks Poverty, inequality – really – aren’t politicians paid to sort that stuff ? Why can’t they just get it together and come up with something fair and sensible? A cold rainy 2020 morning, a headline showed promise. “Green Party’s $8b plan would guarantee an income of $325 a ...
A guest repost by Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) staff attorney Augusta Wilson. Fundraising is not the objective of this article but readers may wish to know that CSLDF is currently conducting a summer fundraiser to support defense of research scientists and research integrity from anti-science interference by politicians and industrial interests. The COVID-19 pandemic ...
Helloy… My name is Todd Muller and I am the leader of the National Party of New Zealand. Many people come up to me on the street and ask me who I am. I’m often walking through Tauranga, or in a mall in suburban Auckland, or maybe even a farmers’ ...
The US state of Mississippi has finally voted to remove the Confederate emblem from its state flag. Good. Its appalling that it was put there in the first place, but even more appalling that it took so long to remove it. Its basicly as if a German Länder still had ...
No one could have predicted when David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill was passed by Parliament last November that the referendum required to bring the legislation into force would be held against the backdrop of a deadly global pandemic. Since then, the mounting tally of casualties around the world ...
Paul GoldsmithYou can often tell just how effective a progressive policy proposal will be by how much the right wing criticise it. The more socially beneficial, the more vitriolic and unhinged they seem to become.That was the case when the Green Party announced their Poverty Action Plan yesterday. The response ...
Back at the beginning of April, when we had much else on our minds, I wrote this post urging some caution in interpreting the results of the latest Horizon poll, conducted in February, on voting intentions in this year's cannabis referendum, which was paid for by Helius Therapeutics.I wrote that ...
Over the weekend the Greens made their first election policy announcement, and promised transformational change: a more progressive tax system, with new rates applying to incomes of $100,000 and $150,000; a new wealth tax on net wealth over $1 million; and a guaranteed minimum income to eliminate poverty. Its bold, ...
Story of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Global Warming Is Melting Our Sense of Time Satellite image of smoke from active fires burning near the ...
. . Plague town? There are two things right now in Aotearoa New Zealand that are guaranteed to piss people off. Firstly, it’s National playing silly-bugger politics with the covid-19 pandemic. This cost Simon Bridges his job as National’s Leader. Lately, Michael Woodhouse has been playing fast and loose with ...
Tertiary fees in New Zealand versus Australia: Fees Are Important, but not as Important as Financing In Australia, the Education Minister Dan Tehan has proposed an overhaul of the existing higher education funding system to offer 39,000 additional study places by 2023 and 100,000 by 2030. The proposal has been ...
The latest opinion poll forecasts a landslide win by Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party, but when taken alongside other polling, it illustrates New Zealand politics remains volatile and the contest is still very open. According to the Colmar Brunton poll published by TVNZ last night, Labour would easily romp back ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 21 through Sat, June 27, 2020Editor's ChoiceFacebook creates fact-checking exemption for climate deniers Facebook is "aiding and abetting the spread of climate misinformation,” said Robert Brulle, an ...
The images and reports delivered to us by the world’s media leave us in no doubt that the rest of the world is still in the grip of a coronavirus pandemic that shows no signs of slackening, but is actually uncontrolled and picking up pace in many countries; and even ...
Minister of Health - David ClarkIf you follow politics at all in New Zealand, David Clark is likely a name you’re a bit familiar with. The current Minister of Health is perhaps the most disliked Member of Parliament at the moment, which amongst very stiff competition is really saying something. ...
SUNDAY JUNE 28Beat the Chasers (TVNZ 1, 8.30pm). Judging by the tweets, which is probably a bad idea, over lockdown, all of New Zealand found itself in front of The Chase every night at 5pm. It is a brilliant fomat: hardly anyone wins any money ...
SATURDAY JUNE 27Banksy and the Rise of Outlaw Art (Sky Arts, Sky 017, 8.00pm). There was graffiti before Banksy, but perhaps his pungent political messages hit home a bit harder. Anyways, a doco about his influence on street art featuring a bunch of cool people.SUNDAY JUNE 28Beat the Chasers (TVNZ 1, ...
We have been assailed by Fox News-style headlines, lurid stories of “a breach!”. An almost nuclear level disaster on the horizon scream, “Fiasco!” here, “Hero to Zero!” there… Oh quick, panic everyone!This has fueled an unbelievably stupid environment of panic among some, and spurred useless, counterproductive political ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters A massive dust storm formed over the Sahara Desert last week and invaded the Caribbean over the June 20-21 weekend, bringing dangerous levels of air pollution and low visibility to the islands. The dust is accompanied by a large amount ...
Will the Covid Crisis lead to a dramatic redirection for New Zealand and the World? A hinge in history occurs where the past and present are connected but they point in different directions. Big hinges are rare but crucial in the development of humankind. Not in Narrow Seas identifies six. ...
RNZ reports that Refining NZ is considering shutting down Marsden Point and effectively turning itself into a fuel distribution service. The problem they're immediately trying to address is that running a refinery is expensive, and it is cheaper just to import processed fuel. But there's a longer-term problem too: climate ...
We all know that the COVID-19 virus is a terrible infectious disease that has already caused untold misery and numerous deaths around the world. Nearly half a million people have already died, and those are just the cases we know about.But how bad could things actually get exactly?Today, the NZ ...
This essay by Alex Hochuli examines the global phenomena of BLM protests . He is a freelance writer and research consultant based in São Paulo, Brazil. He is the co-host of the global politics podcast, Aufhebunga Bunga, and co-author of the forthcoming Politics at the End of the End of History (Zero ...
Are You Still Here? Just like his colleague, Phil Twyford – of KiwiBuild fame – David Clark juts out his chin and shamelessly apportions blame to everybody but himself. Even worse, he has turned viciously on Ashley Bloomfield, the nearest approximation to a competent, decent, humble and accountable public servant ...
. . 20 June The bad news: Aotearoa New Zealand has two new cases of covid-19. The good news: the two cases were picked up at an Auckland quarantine facility. The terrifying news: had the story of the two women leaving quarantine without testing not broken four days ...
Willing Victims: What would all those Americans in MAGA hats be left with if they abandoned Trump? Just the sick feeling of having been cheated. Just the knowledge that the man in the White House is nothing more than a shape-shifting New York grifter; and that they have always been ...
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jenny Marcroft as the party’s election 2020 candidate for the Auckland Central electorate. Jenny spent years working in Auckland Central, having spent a vast proportion of her broadcasting career there. She says she, "knows the place and knows the people." Ms Marcroft says ...
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
New Zealand First MP Fletcher Tabuteau is pleased to be confirmed today as the party’s candidate for the Rotorua electorate. Speaking at the Rotorua AGM for New Zealand First, Mr Tabuteau said this is an election that is incredibly important for the people of Rotorua. “The founding principles of New ...
The Human Rights Commission’s PRISM report on the issues impacting people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) provides an excellent programme of work for future governments to follow, say the Greens. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the trans-Tasman bubble had not been jeopardised after aborder botch-upresulted in New Zealand having two active cases of COVID-19. On Friday, Mr Peters told RNZ's Morning Report he had heard from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that borders for trans-Tasman travel would open by ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said today he was pleased the army was now running the quarantine and isolation process - up until now it has been the Ministry of Health. Peters told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that the army knew how to introduce and follow protocols and instil discipline. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First MP and Minister for Defence and Veteran’s Affairs Ron Mark has confirmed his bid for the Wairarapa seat.“The Coalition Government has done a lot of good work throughout the Wairarapa, but many constituents have told ...
New Zealand First is pleased to release the names of its next tranche of candidates for the 2020 election. We’re proud to announce these hardworking New Zealanders that have put their hand up to fight for a commonsense and resilient future.Jamie Arbuckle – Kaikoura Mark Arneil – Christchurch Central Jackie ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing more than $7.5 million in Northland ventures to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment is going to the Northern Adventure Experience and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced significant funding for Auckland’s Northcote College as part of the first wave of a new nationwide school redevelopment programme to upgrade schools over the next 10 years. The $48.5 million project brings the total investment in Northcote College to ...
The Government has opened an urgent response fund to support schools and early learning services to get children and young people back on track after the Covid-19 lockdown. “While we are seeing improvements in attendance under Alert Level 1 Ministry of Education data shows that attendance rates in our schools ...
The law to boost the economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19 by speeding up resource consenting on selected projects has passed its second and third readings in the House today. “Accelerating nationwide projects and activities by government, iwi and the private sector will help deliver faster economic recovery and ...
Five port-related projects in Whanganui will receive a $26.75 million Provincial Growth Fund investment to support local economic recovery and create new opportunities for growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This is a significant investment that will support the redevelopment of the Whanganui Port, a project governed ...
Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery will receive an investment of up to $12 million administered by the Provincial Growth Fund to support its redevelopment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The project is included in a $3 billion infrastructure pipeline announced by Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Shane Jones yesterday. ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing nearly $2.5 million into three Te Ara Mahi programmes to support Manawatū-Whanganui jobseekers and employees to quickly train and upskill, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Up to 154 local people will be supported into employment within the first year by these ...
This morning I have formally tendered my resignation as Minister of Health, which was accepted by the Prime Minister. Serving as Minister of Health has been an absolute privilege – particularly through these extraordinary last few months. It’s no secret that Health is a challenging portfolio. I have given ...
Scholarships for 57 early-career agricultural emissions scientists from 20 developing countries is another example of New Zealand’s international leadership in primary sector sustainability, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Mr O’Connor, announcing the scholarships today, says hundreds of applications were received for this fourth round of the CLIFF-GRADS programme (Climate, Food ...
A project to help rejuvenate the Horowhenua town of Foxton will receive a Provincial Growth Fund investment of $3.86 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This funding for the Foxton Regeneration project will be used to make the well-known holiday town even more attractive for visitors and ...
Moa bones and other sub-fossil remains of extinct species are set to have improved protection with proposals to prevent the trade in extinct species announced the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “We have lost too many of our native species, but these lost species, such as moa, remain an ...
The Government’s free and healthy school lunches programme moves south for the first time creating jobs for around 30 people in Otago and Southland. “Eighteen schools with 3000 students are joining the programme – 11 have already begun serving lunches, and seven are preparing to start during Term 3. This is ...
Thousands of Kiwi jobs and investment in New Zealand productions will be protected through a screen sector support package announced today by Associate Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford and Minister for Broadcasting Kris Faafoi. The package also includes investment in broadcasting ...
The Government has established a new $10 million fund for the domestic events sector to help save jobs and protect incomes as it recovers from the impacts of COVID-19, Minister of Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. This funding from Budget 2020 follows talks with the event sector designed to ...
The Government has taken another step in its commitment to making sure New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump with the introduction of legislation to improve competition in the retail fuel market, says Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods. “The fuel market study that this Government ordered ...
New Zealand has joined a global initiative that aims to enable all countries to access a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. The COVAX Facility was recently launched by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The Alliance includes the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank ...
From today new legislation takes effect to both restore the right to legal representation at the start of a Care of Children (CoCA) dispute in the Family Court, and allow parties to those proceedings to access legal aid where eligible. During a visit to the Family Court in Auckland today, ...
Home-based early childhood education (ECE) subsidised by the government will transition to a fully qualified workforce by 2025 to ensure better and more consistent quality, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. “Quality early learning helps provide children with a strong foundation for their future,” Chris Hipkins said. From 1 January ...
The new Criminal Cases Review Commission | Te Kāhui Tātari Ture (CCRC) has started work and can now independently investigate claimed miscarriages of justice. “Even though we have appeal rights and safeguards against unsafe convictions, from time to time our justice system does get things wrong. The design of the ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou Ki a koutou Te Āti Awa, Taranaki Whānui, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, ngā mana whenua o te rohe nei, tēnā koutou Ko Te Whare Wānanga o Aotearoa ki ngā take o te Ao (NZIIA), Ko te Rōpū Tohu Tono ...
The Government’s increase to paid parental leave kicks in today with another 4 weeks taking New Zealand up to a full 6 months (26 weeks, up from 22 weeks) leave for new parents, and the maximum weekly payment will increase by $20pw, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. ...
A new package of infrastructure investments will help kick-start the post-COVID rebuild by creating more than 20,000 jobs and unlocking more than $5 billion of projects up and down New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones today outlined how the $3 billion infrastructure fund in the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today expressed the New Zealand Government’s deep disappointment at the passage by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee of a national security law for Hong Kong. “New Zealand has consistently emphasised its serious concern about the imposition of this legislation on Hong Kong without inclusive ...
More jobs and more family time with newborns are the centrepiece of a suite of Government initiatives coming into effect today. July 1 is a milestone day for the Government as a host of key policies take effect, demonstrating the critical areas where progress has been made. “The Coalition Government ...
Environment Minister David Parker has today “called in” Auckland’s application to the Waikato Regional Council to take an extra 200 million litres of water a day from the lower reaches of the Waikato River for Auckland drinking water and other municipal uses. The call-in means the application has been referred ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker announced today that New Zealand’s hosting of APEC in 2021 will go ahead using virtual digital platforms. Mr Peters said the global disruption caused by COVID-19, including resultant border restrictions, had been the major factor in the ...
The start of construction on a new link road between Matakana Road and State Highway 1 will create jobs and support the significant population growth expected in the Warkworth area, Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Mayor Phil Goff announced today. Transport Minister Phil Twyford said construction of the Matakana Link ...
The Government is prioritising its latest investment in PPE for frontline health workers, including staff at managed isolation and quarantine facilities, Health Minister David Clark says. “With no community transmission of COVID-19 our response now has a firm focus on keeping our border safe and secure. “We must ensure that ...
The Parihaka Papakāinga Trust in Taranaki will receive up to $14 million for a new visitor centre and other improvements at the historic settlement that will boost the local economy and provide much-needed jobs, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little have ...
Protections for workers who are employees of one employer but working under the direction of another business or organisation have come into force, closing a gap in legislation that made the personal grievance process inaccessible for some workers, says Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “This Government is working hard to ...
A range of improvements are already underway to address issues identified in the rapid review of the Managed Isolation and Quarantine system released today, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. The review was commissioned just over a week ago to identify and understand current and emerging risks to ensure the end-to-end ...
The important brown kiwi habitat around Whakatāne will receive added protection through an Iwi-led predator free project announced by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. “The Government is investing nearly $5 million into Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa’s environmental projects with $2.5 ...
An extra 4,000 tonnes of offcuts and scraps of untreated wood per year will soon be able to be recycled into useful products such as horticultural and garden mulch, playground safety surfacing and animal bedding as a result of a $660,000 investment from the Waste Minimisation Fund, Associate Environment Minister ...
The Governor-General has referred Scott Watson’s convictions for murder back to the Court of Appeal, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Mr Watson was convicted in 1999 of the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope. His appeal to the Court of Appeal in 2000 was unsuccessful, as was his ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison has repeatedly and vociferously championed keeping state borders open. But on Monday, Morrison was forced to change course, agreeing, in a hook up with premiers Daniel Andrews and Gladys Berejiklian that the Victorian-NSW ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Papua New Guinea’s police and courts must work closely with media for transparency to inform the public on the daily investigation and court processes taken over the death of young mother Jenelyn Kennedy late last month, a men’s gender justice advocate says. Man Up group representative ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victoria recorded its largest daily increase of 127 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, 16 more than the previous peak of 111 cases on March 28. As I recently wrote, there’s no formal definition ...
After months of delays, the man responsible for murdering 51 people in a Christchurch mosque will finally be sentenced next month. Law professor Kris Gledhill explains how the sentencing will likely unfold. On the very day New Zealand entered Covid-19 lockdown, the man arrested for the Christchurch mosque terror attacks admitted ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Kettlewell, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Economics Discipline Group, University of Technology Sydney We live in a culture that values “experiences”. These are often promoted in the media, and by those selling them, as vital to enhancing our well-being. We all know ...
Hidden camera footage showing cows being beaten with a steel pipe was deemed unlawful in court partially on the grounds it would encourage undercover filming in the future A Northland contract milker caught on hidden camera beating cows with a steel pipe has had five charges against him dropped after a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Iredell, Professor, Medicine and Microbiology (conjoint), University of Sydney The NSW-Victorian border will be closed as of midnight Tuesday this week, the NSW and Victorian premiers have announced, in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19. The announcement comes amid ...
Keagan Carr Fransch reviews I May Destroy You, the acclaimed new show from British writer-director-actress Michaela Coel. The following includes discussion of rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, drug-facilitated sexual assault, and PTSD.Since the release of her comedy Chewing Gum in 2015, Michaela Coel has been a recurrent name on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Burridge, Lecturer in Human Geography, Macquarie University Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced the border between his state and NSW will close after 11:59pm on Tuesday to prevent the coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne from spreading further. It will be the first ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jim Salinger, Honorary Associate, Tasmanian Institute for Agriculture, University of Tasmania A major global update based on data from more than 36,000 weather stations around the world confirms that, as the planet continues to warm, extreme weather events such as heatwaves and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trevor Thornton, Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University The federal government today announced A$190 million in funding for new recycling infrastructure, as it seeks to divert more than ten million tonnes of waste from landfill and create 10,000 jobs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Dunk, PhD Candidate, Australian National University Amid fanfare last week at the start of the new financial year the government promised to invest A$270 billion over a decade to upgrade the defence force. It said a side benefit would be a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sonya Teich, Lecturer in Design, Visual Effects Projects, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington When Star Wars was awarded the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1978 it marked the first time the visual component of effects was differentiated ...
The Forest Owners Association says the MBIE announcement of ‘Building for Climate Change’ will mean more timber is used in New Zealand construction. FOA President Phil Taylor says he’s been waiting three years for the government to announce a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Kelly, Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University This week, the Victorian government unilaterally placed the residents of nine public housing towers in inner Melbourne under “hard lockdown” due to the “explosive potential” of increasing COVID-19 cases. The lockdown requires ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Thirty five years ago this week in another life Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie was an environmental journalist on board the original Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace flagship that was bombed by French secret agents on 10 July 1985. He was on board for almost ...
Head of the inquiry Michael Heron QC will have the power to require the production of documents, summon witnesses and question parties under oath if necessary. ...
State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes has today announced the details of an investigation into the breach of sensitive personal information last week. The Commissioner said the Minister of State Services, the Hon Chris Hipkins, had asked him to undertake ...
More than 3400 primary health care nurses and medical receptionists/administrators across more than 500 practices and accident and medical centres will stop work for two hours nationwide on Thursday 23 July after mediation to settle their multi-employer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology On the very day New Zealand entered COVID-19 lockdown (March 26), the man arrested for the Christchurch mosque terror attacks admitted he was a murderer and a terrorist. Despite the lockdown, Justice Mander ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union says Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford needs to front up about how much public money is being used to bail out struggling bus company InterCity. Union spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke says: “InterCity has ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is sceptical that 61% of taxpayer funding for waterway clean-up just happens to be focused on the Northland electorate. Union spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke says: “The Government has announced that $162 million of taxpayers' ...
Tai Tonga Candidate, Takuta Ferris, has signed up to the visionary thinking that has been produced by Tokona Te Raki (Māori futures collective). “The opening statement by Dr Eruera Tarena says it all” said Takuta Ferris. “The future is not just ...
The huge success of a pilot programme featuring rural mayors connecting youth in their regions with local small businesses has led to it being scaled up around the country, across 23 more councils. A collaboration between the Mayors Taskforce for ...
The associate editor of The Indian Times joins host Duncan Greive to discuss his belief that New Zealand’s media ignores the quarter of our population not born here – and why both parties lose as a result. I first met Gaurav Sharma in the aftermath of March 15. New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassandra Cross, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Law, Cybersecurity Cooperative Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology Last year, Australians reported more than A$634 million lost to fraud, a significant jump from $489.7 million the year before. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ...
Having already faced a devastating earthquake, Christchurch knows the value of community in times of crisis. Now in the wake of Covid-19, a popular creative hub is expanding its mission to bring more people together.Whether it’s a beautifully restored building or a brand new office block, the reminders of the ...
Parole hearings will return to New Zealand prison’s this week after face-face meetings were suspended as a result of the COVID-19 emergency. The New Zealand Parole Board completed all its scheduled hearings during the COVID-19 lockdown period, with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabrielle Appleby, Professor, UNSW Law School, UNSW In an open letter to Attorney-General Christian Porter, about 500 women working in the law from across Australia have sought changes to the way judges are disciplined and appointed. The letter comes after former High ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Genevieve Wilkinson, Lecturer in Intellectual Property and Human Rights, University of Technology Sydney After a decade of legal challenges by the tobacco lobby, Australia’s pioneering push to eliminate all tobacco advertising finally has clear air. Its longest stoush, over plain packaging laws ...
With the world in lockdown, and a new album set for release, The Beths decided to keep playing live – from their living rooms. As the band prepare for their first show in front of a crowd in months, they tell Josie Adams the stories behind Live From ‘House’. When ...
Latest from the Beehive – According to the blare from the Beehive, the Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme will be further extended to 31 December, a new $162 million package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs, and the PM has delivered ...
Vision New Zealand is delighted to be launching George Ngatai as its candidate for Takanini tonight, 6th July, at the Songbird Cafe, 9 Gosper Road, Waiata Shores, Conifer Grove Takanini. Party Leader Hannah Tamaki said “I am confident that George will ...
Honour the Maunga and Iramoko Marae have announced a unique partnership that gives life to Treaty principles in their joint efforts to save 345 trees from being felled on Ōwairaka / Mt Albert. Honour the Maunga has maintained an ongoing tree-saving ...
Festival for the Future Live will kick off its 10th annual event on Monday 13 July, in what is touted to be the most international digital summit ever hosted from New Zealand. With speakers from The United Nations Development Programme and The Obama ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk The Lokataru Legal and Human Rights Foundation says there are two problems with the Indonesian police which have developed during the era of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration. These two problems are “politicisation” and “police professionalism”. “Perhaps it’s still the same as the problem before, particularly ...
By RNZ Pacific A sit-in has been held outside the French High Commission in French Polynesia to commemorate the 54th anniversary of the first nuclear weapons test at Moruroa. The demonstration was organised by the anti-nuclear group Association 193 which again decried the recent law change tightening compensation criteria for ...
David Goldsmith, a 52-year-old dad from Christchurch, is starting his month-long hunger strike outside Parliament on Monday as a drastic call for climate change action AR: Hunger strikes are mostly known from prisons – that’s drastic. DG: Yes, it’s ...
The biggest news site in New Zealand, and the country’s fifth biggest site overall, Stuff has embarked on an experiment in dropping the use of Facebook and Instagram. It has been launched ‘in the context of the international Boycott Facebook movement’, according to a memo leaked to The Spinoff. A leaked ...
After the Labour's annual conference, pundits were quick to criticise Jacinda Ardern for taking a 'self-congratulatory tone' in her remarks, but the PM says that was not her intent at all. ...
A global study is under way to compare how information about Covid-19 is delivered by authorities and the media, and how it is understood and used by people in different countries. University of Canterbury (UC) population health expert Professor Philip ...
It’s time to get ready to vote in the 2020 General Election and referendums. “It’s less than three months now until the election on 19 September when you choose the people and parties that represent you in Parliament. There will also be two referendums ...
If you’re like most New Zealanders, you probably don’t know the name of the country’s most powerful judge. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of, writes University of Otago law lecturer Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere. Here’s a test for you: name New Zealand’s chief justice. Click on the link to find ...
If enough New Zealanders continued to work from home on a regular basis, the country could easily save the same amount of carbon emissions as taking 35,000 cars off the road, according to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. The analysis ...
There are many groups within NZ including the Green Party that are calling for the legalisation of marijuana for personal/medicinal use and my question for them is: - How can they reconcile that stand with the negative environmental effects from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Moore, Director of The Australian National University Institute for Space and the Advanced Instrumentation Technology Centre, Australian National University With all of the immense challenges we face on Earth this year, space can feel like an afterthought. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya Notley, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media, Western Sydney University Today we release the findings from our new research into how young Australians consume and think about news media. Following a summer of bushfires and during the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Thwaites, Chair, Monash Sustainable Development Institute & ClimateWorks Australia, Monash University The global Sustainable Development Report 2020, released this week in New York, ranks Australia third among OECD countries for the effectiveness of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, beaten by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Yue Zhang, Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University of Technology Only 40% of students in China who previously intended to study overseas still plan to, while just under 50% of those who had studied overseas plan to return to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neil Warren, Emeritus Professor of Taxation, UNSW A major report commissioned by the NSW government has proposed lifting and expanding the goods and services tax and replacing stamp duty with a broad-based land tax. Launched at the National Press Club on July ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Baker, Lecturer in Business Strategy, Auckland University of Technology Like the coronavirus itself, joblessness can act as a pestilence on a society. People who would have otherwise gone to their local restaurant, hairdresser, café or bar, taken a holiday in Queenstown ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Mailhammer, Associate Dean, Research, Western Sydney University Remember when Australians paid in shillings and pence? New research suggests the words for these coins and other culturally important items and concepts are the result of close contact between the early Germanic people ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Ian Cummings - Independent Candidate Ian Cummings is pleased to announce he will be campaigning as an independent candidate in the upcoming general election to provide voters with a credible alternative and more effective voice on issues that matter ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Stories raise themes of political accountability, investigation launched after active case details leaked, and frustrating infrastructure failures hurt Auckland water system.There have been several stories involving the theme of political accountability for mistakes in recent days. So for a lead today, ...
Labour's scaled-down party conference was still an opportunity for Jacinda Ardern to show how loved she is by her fans - and make the case for why her Government should keep on moving to a second term Looking around the packed room at Te Papa in Wellington, it was hard ...
Stacy Gregg and Nicky Pellegrino conclude their podcast series, and interview Tayi Tibble. Wellington poet Tayi Tibble was 23 years old when she won the Ockham for best first book of poetry for Poukahangatus. Of Te Whanau ā Apanui and Ngāti Porou descent, Tayi’s poems speak to beauty, activism, power ...
As New Zealand’s top artistic gymnast, Maia Fishwick, heads back to the US to join her college team, the Aggies, she tells Suzanne McFadden her rise has been an against-the-odds story. Maia Fishwick was told she was too old to be a good gymnast. She was seven. This was a kid who obviously had a ...
Oranga Tamariki's refusal to acknowledge systemic issues within the organisation is intolerable, writes social worker and social work researcher John Darroch Recently Newsroom published an article based on interviews with practising social workers who described systemic issues within Oranga Tamariki. As a social worker, and post-graduate student conducting research into statutory ...
As Serena Jones faces incurable cancer, she wants to add something personal to the end-of-life choice debate Seven years ago I was told I had a 25 percent chance of living five years without the cancer returning; two years ago I was given 12 months to live. Plainly the up-coming ...
Advocacy group Sea Shepherd steps up its moves to push for US ban on New Zealand seafood over Māui dolphin protection A US ban on New Zealand seafood could be three to four weeks away after Sea Shepherd filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. Earlier this year, the marine advocacy group ...
David Clark has become the oldest of ritual objects: a scapegoat, writes Dr Deane Galbraith and Dr Ben Schonthal The casting out of David Clark has been a spectacle of biblical proportions. We mean that quite literally. The Health Minister’s mistakes were serious and the media is right to hold our ...
A new petition calling for an end to religious instruction in primary schools is part of a renewed campaign to make state schooling truly secular, reports Emily Writes.Few people know about Section 54 of the Education and Training Bill, but Tanya Jacob does. That’s why she has authored a petition ...
Combatting climate change as a healthcare organisation involves more than simply reducing its carbon footprint, writes David Galler. It means seeing climate change and wellbeing as intertwined – and that what’s good for the environment is always good for health.This pandemic, as overwhelming as it is, will eventually pass. But ...
Changes to Covid-19 testing criteria may see fewer New Zealanders being tested - but there is some confusion about how the rules are being applied Health Minister Chris Hipkins has promised to put officials on notice about providing Covid-19 tests for those who want them, following confusion after changes to ...
A list of infrastructure projects handpicked for border exemptions is either a hasty cut and paste job or a sign we can't build anything without foreign labour. ...
A New Zealand-made ad featuring porn stars that encourages parents to talk to their children about what they're seeing online has gone viral - and sparked a world-wide conversation. The campaign that features two naked actors has reached more than 22 million viewers around the world and is being retold in ...
Open Mike 05/05/2018 
...2 hours ago
Today’s content Labour Party Thomas Manch (Stuff): It might be ‘team’ Labour, but there’s little doubt about who’s the skipper, and ‘saviour’ Audrey Young (Herald): No ordinary Labour speech by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (paywalled) Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Ardern asks NZ to move her towards a second term Richard Harman (Politik): Labour’s red glow Justin ...8 hours ago
After a long break, the government is back inserting secrecy clauses in legislation. This time its the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (No 3), which in its clause allowing Ministers to exempt purchasers of farm land from the usual rules also allows them to exempt an exemption from the publication requirement: ...11 hours ago
Louise Delany (public health lawyer) Health and emergency laws have played a critical role in this country’s successful elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic. This blog details key aspects of the legislation and comments on issues around testing, payments by incoming travellers for quarantine costs, and mask use. ...14 hours ago
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Stop making sense: why it's time to get emotional about climate change The science has been settled to the highest degree, so now ...17 hours ago
MONDAY JULY 6Washington (History, Sky 073, 7.30pm). The brilliant Doris Kearns Goodwin is the executive producer of this six-part series about America's first president. It combines interviews with live action and is narrated by Jeff Daniels. It's engaging, said Salon.TUESDAY JULY 7The ABC Murders (Prime, 8.30pm). Sarah Phelps has done incredible things with ...1 day ago
1 day ago
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...3 days ago
4 days ago
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...5 days ago
When the Christchurch murderer pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder and a number of other violent assault charges a few months ago, he effectively closed the door on what the public will know about the lead up to and commission of the event. His plea means that no evidence ...6 days ago
Daphna Whitmore The Philippines is enduring one of the longest lockdowns in the world. For President Duterte the lockdown provides an opportunity to garner more powers and to push through a brazen assault on human rights. A new law called the Anti-Terror Bill has been passed under urgency and it ...6 days ago
There really is not much about Paula Bennett concerning her career trajectory, the policies she promoted, and most importantly, the socio-economic effect this had upon New Zealand (and particularly the most vulnerable in this, our oft-cited “egalitarian” society of this country) that can be said now that hasn’t already been ...1 week ago
Helloy… My name is Todd Muller and I am the leader of the National Party of New Zealand. Many people come up to me on the street and ask me who I am. I’m often walking through Tauranga, or in a mall in suburban Auckland, or maybe even a farmers’ ...1 week ago
. . Plague town? There are two things right now in Aotearoa New Zealand that are guaranteed to piss people off. Firstly, it’s National playing silly-bugger politics with the covid-19 pandemic. This cost Simon Bridges his job as National’s Leader. Lately, Michael Woodhouse has been playing fast and loose with ...1 week ago
Tertiary fees in New Zealand versus Australia: Fees Are Important, but not as Important as Financing In Australia, the Education Minister Dan Tehan has proposed an overhaul of the existing higher education funding system to offer 39,000 additional study places by 2023 and 100,000 by 2030. The proposal has been ...1 week ago
The images and reports delivered to us by the world’s media leave us in no doubt that the rest of the world is still in the grip of a coronavirus pandemic that shows no signs of slackening, but is actually uncontrolled and picking up pace in many countries; and even ...1 week ago
We have been assailed by Fox News-style headlines, lurid stories of “a breach!”. An almost nuclear level disaster on the horizon scream, “Fiasco!” here, “Hero to Zero!” there… Oh quick, panic everyone! This has fueled an unbelievably stupid environment of panic among some, and spurred useless, counterproductive political ...1 week ago
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jenny Marcroft as the party’s election 2020 candidate for the Auckland Central electorate. Jenny spent years working in Auckland Central, having spent a vast proportion of her broadcasting career there. She says she, "knows the place and knows the people." Ms Marcroft says ...11 hours ago
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...1 day ago
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...4 days ago
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison has repeatedly and vociferously championed keeping state borders open. But on Monday, Morrison was forced to change course, agreeing, in a hook up with premiers Daniel Andrews and Gladys Berejiklian that the Victorian-NSW ...50 mins ago
After months of delays, the man responsible for murdering 51 people in a Christchurch mosque will finally be sentenced next month. Law professor Kris Gledhill explains how the sentencing will likely unfold. On the very day New Zealand entered Covid-19 lockdown, the man arrested for the Christchurch mosque terror attacks admitted ...5 hours ago
Hidden camera footage showing cows being beaten with a steel pipe was deemed unlawful in court partially on the grounds it would encourage undercover filming in the future A Northland contract milker caught on hidden camera beating cows with a steel pipe has had five charges against him dropped after a ...6 hours ago
The Forest Owners Association says the MBIE announcement of ‘Building for Climate Change’ will mean more timber is used in New Zealand construction. FOA President Phil Taylor says he’s been waiting three years for the government to announce a ...7 hours ago
Head of the inquiry Michael Heron QC will have the power to require the production of documents, summon witnesses and question parties under oath if necessary. ...8 hours ago
Latest from the Beehive – According to the blare from the Beehive, the Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme will be further extended to 31 December, a new $162 million package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs, and the PM has delivered ...11 hours ago
Pacific Edge shares double after US Medicare and Medicaid approval for bladder test opens up market for US elderly and poor with bladder cancer ...17 hours ago
Labour's scaled-down party conference was still an opportunity for Jacinda Ardern to show how loved she is by her fans - and make the case for why her Government should keep on moving to a second term Looking around the packed room at Te Papa in Wellington, it was hard ...18 hours ago
Stacy Gregg and Nicky Pellegrino conclude their podcast series, and interview Tayi Tibble. Wellington poet Tayi Tibble was 23 years old when she won the Ockham for best first book of poetry for Poukahangatus. Of Te Whanau ā Apanui and Ngāti Porou descent, Tayi’s poems speak to beauty, activism, power ...18 hours ago
As New Zealand’s top artistic gymnast, Maia Fishwick, heads back to the US to join her college team, the Aggies, she tells Suzanne McFadden her rise has been an against-the-odds story. Maia Fishwick was told she was too old to be a good gymnast. She was seven. This was a kid who obviously had a ...18 hours ago
Oranga Tamariki's refusal to acknowledge systemic issues within the organisation is intolerable, writes social worker and social work researcher John Darroch Recently Newsroom published an article based on interviews with practising social workers who described systemic issues within Oranga Tamariki. As a social worker, and post-graduate student conducting research into statutory ...18 hours ago
As Serena Jones faces incurable cancer, she wants to add something personal to the end-of-life choice debate Seven years ago I was told I had a 25 percent chance of living five years without the cancer returning; two years ago I was given 12 months to live. Plainly the up-coming ...18 hours ago
Advocacy group Sea Shepherd steps up its moves to push for US ban on New Zealand seafood over Māui dolphin protection A US ban on New Zealand seafood could be three to four weeks away after Sea Shepherd filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. Earlier this year, the marine advocacy group ...18 hours ago
David Clark has become the oldest of ritual objects: a scapegoat, writes Dr Deane Galbraith and Dr Ben Schonthal The casting out of David Clark has been a spectacle of biblical proportions. We mean that quite literally. The Health Minister’s mistakes were serious and the media is right to hold our ...18 hours ago
Changes to Covid-19 testing criteria may see fewer New Zealanders being tested - but there is some confusion about how the rules are being applied Health Minister Chris Hipkins has promised to put officials on notice about providing Covid-19 tests for those who want them, following confusion after changes to ...19 hours ago
A list of infrastructure projects handpicked for border exemptions is either a hasty cut and paste job or a sign we can't build anything without foreign labour. ...19 hours ago
A New Zealand-made ad featuring porn stars that encourages parents to talk to their children about what they're seeing online has gone viral - and sparked a world-wide conversation. The campaign that features two naked actors has reached more than 22 million viewers around the world and is being retold in ...19 hours ago
New Zealand wakes up to the noise of the wholesale slaughter of ducks.
You do know that it’s the best way to get free range duck for the table.
http://www.bite.co.nz/collections/2231/Duck-recipes/
And then James there are all the birds maimed and left to die slow painful deaths by this “sport” as shooting results in high rates of wounding and crippling.
I take some of these maimed birds from bird rescue and rehome them on my pond and wetlands but most don’t survive.
We currently have 5 swans, 3 with a wing missing and two with a leg missing as well as 7 maimed ducks that will never fly again.
It is heart breaking to watch a swan or duck flapping one wing, not being able to fly .
So ask yourself is the harm caused worth it.
Hope you enjoyed winding Ed up this morning.
http://safe.org.nz/duck-shooting-myths
Indeed some will be wounded. It the majority are killed and eaten.
It is nice to have people like you looking after those that you can.
Regardless it is something that a lot of people enjoy – it gets the duck numbers down (they are a real pain around here) and it puts delicious meat in the freezer.
Some people will always find any kind of killing of animals unacceptable – others don’t have an issue with it (and always try to ensure little to no suffering- I have posed before the lengths we go to with our homekill to look after it).
For the record – whilst I have no issue with duck shooting. I don’t partake – simply because there are too many people out there who shoot once a year and don’t take adequate safety precautions and end up shooting someone.
Luckily I have friends who are kind enough to drop a few around – and duck freezes well so you don’t have waste.
Yeah ducks can be a real pain there’s that extra chance of soiling one’s boat shoes on the way to the marina boardwalk.
there are a lot of wet lands fenced off mainly because of some peoples love of shooting ducks ,
Agree with you Ed (1).
Absolutely sickening that this barbaric activity is considered sport! Worse still, it’s acceptable! I was out walking this morning and heard gunshots. Vile!
We live on an inlet from a lake and this morning, lots of ducks of various species have gathered, obviously for their own protection.
Happy 200th birthday Karl Marx!
The bad news is communism hasn’t quite taken off like you hoped it would; the good news is the capitalist running dogs are still busily booking their inevitable appointments with the firing squad!
Was he a proponent on Communism?
The problem was is that power hungry maniacs got too impatient and wanted to impose it at the point of a gun. Lenin knew that it would take several decades to implement, which is why the New Economic Plan was developed. Moderates in China, such as Deng Xiaoping and Chao En-Lai also favoured a gradual approach, but we’re overruled by Mao.
The problem was that a dictatorship is a dictatorship irrespective of its supposed class base. The concept of the Dictatorship of the Proletarian was in fact Marx’ great brain fart.
The good news is that he remains till this day the greatest mind to have ever studied human society.
He nailed in minute detail exactly what was wrong with capitalism.
The use of the thesis/antithesis/synthesis as a way to figure out how the problems would be solved was a bit bonkers, though.
This is a really good longish article about how the west Auckland licensing Trusts treat their thousands of workers.
https://millennialposse.wordpress.com/2018/05/04/in-greed-we-trust-how-the-trusts-in-west-auckland-are-exploiting-their-workers-and-breaking-the-law/
Here in Auckland’s west we have been told for decades about how the Trusts make us special, and that this monopoly is in the end worth it for all the benefits that it brings.
Now we see the reality of their commitment to the Living Wage despite it being Chaired by Ross Clow, who is a Labour Councillor on Auckland Council as well.
Between the Trusts management and their politicians, they have a lot to answer for when their governors are Labour-dominated, and those same people are elected to Council as well.
Would be very keen to her of any E Tu members who are aware of the activities mentioned in the article.
Has been an absolute gravy train for the old boy network out west for decades.Even running a virtual monopoly, they struggle to make a good R.O.I.
Spend millions telling ratepayers how they benefit the community,without highlighting the fact that most funds for charities come via poker machines.
Quite surprised that Clow’s salary has been revealed.
Remuneration to management has always been a closely guarded secret.
I live out west, and as a bit of a counter-point I have to say that general public order is noticeably better here than where I previously lived in Sandringham, something I put down largely to the much greater control on the supply of liquor out West that the trust has.
It’s less troubled because places like Glen Eden and Te Atatu are not nightlife destinations. 🙂
It doesn’t look like the licencing trusts are doing a very good job of justifying their existence.
There is a referendum on whether they have the mandate to continue as a monopoly, held every few years.
I suspect they have a bit of work to do if they are to retain it.
When I lived out that way 10 years ago,no expense was spared on their charm offensive.
Free fire extinguishers,free smoke alarms ,God knows how much they spent on advertising to protect their sinecures.
That cash could be used to fund programs that can make a real difference to West Aucklanders, it all seems to go on stuff like this, or subsidising professional sports.
You may want to inform yourself on how the money is “given back” to the community: https://www.thetrusts.co.nz/giving-back/
What’s your point?
Drill down and you will find pokie profits ,not profits from a liqour monopoly fund all the charities.
My point is that for people to make up their own minds, rather than parroting somebody else’s opinion, they need to be properly informed. Your and Millsy’s comments seem to be based on misconceptions as to what the Trusts do with the funds and who the recipients are.
Whether you change your thinking and judgement about the Trusts based on the link I provided is up to you; other people reading this here on TS can at least form an informed opinion.
That’s my point, thank you.
Last referendum was in 2003.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/102287203/west-auckland-community-shows-support-for-referendum-on-the-trusts?rm=m
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/103388569/west-auckland-group-to-organise-petition-to-vote-on-the-trusts
Interesting perspective and unfortunately probably typical of how hospitality staff.
Anyone who thinks you are going to get reliable workers in Auckland and increasingly many parts of NZ on close to minimum wages is dreaming because it would be near impossible to survive on it.
I’d say the standard of hospitality has been going down in NZ over the last decade, that is because they have refused to upgrade to a higher service level, mostly based on the Kiwi ‘low wage’ cut cost at worker levels and the reliance of exploiting migrant workers to keep staff at unliveable wages. The sooner they put minimum wages up to $20p/h the better. For a start it would lower the WFF and other top ups and emergency food parcels, people need to survive as increasingly employers such as these with $14m in the bank are only going to raise wages if they have to. Yep no doubt we will be inundated with crocodile tears, wah, wah, when they have to pay that extra, but the majority can afford it.
I think the idea of the trust to run liquor is a good one, but it sounds like the usual – it’s turned into a little cash cow that has become about maximising profits to themselves and not sharing it to all workers and the community. It’s conditions of the trusts operations that should change, not the concept.
But if the minimum wage was raised that much without WFF being adjusted then a lot of families would be no better off.
savenz
+1
solkta
Raising to a living wage would be a wake-up call to the moneyed, a first step for the government to enable people to receive a living wage.
It would not solve problems straight away but there is a journey of a thousand steps to traverse here. And uphill all the way because of the long-term latitude to business and the disgraceful way that NZ has been turned into a poverty- ridden copy-cat third-world economy.
Hey, I’m all in favour of raising the minimum wage. What i was objecting to was savenz suggesting that this was a way to effectively cutting WFF. Children are a public as well as a private good. From a left wing perspective, those who choose not to have children or have high incomes should help pay for the costs of raising the next generation.
Great to see Chloe Ann-King’s writing promoted here. She’s an absolute champion as far as advocacy for hospitality workers, the precariously employed and beneficiaries is concerned, and her activism spreads into other areas also. This piece of hers from 2016 is timely:
https://millennialposse.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/why-dont-you-just-get-a-better-job-and-other-dumb-shit-people-say-to-low-income-earners-stuck-in-precarious-work/
Who ya gunna call?….
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/04/breast-cancer-screening-hotline-staffed-by-people-with-only-an-hours-training
The tories are working on it..
http://eveningharold.com/2018/05/02/iain-duncan-smith-270-breast-screening-early-deaths-chicken-feed/
Ducking for cover
I notice that during the murder and slaughter of living creatures known as Ducks Season – that no protection is provided for these animals. An animal being roughly 99% human.
The dirty murderers are equipped with all manner of sissy protection but not the other living animals.
Ducks being Living Creatures and 99% human, have as much right to life as any sissy coward with a gun.
I therefore propose that armed drones equipped with Russian Fire Arms (NZ guns are not reliable) fire down on the humans who are doing the slaughtering. The drones equipped with infrared will operate from 32,000 ft.
Having been slaughtered by the drones, – the humans should then be skinned and sent home to their families and with a tag on their cowardly ears. The tag would say “Eat this!” Sissy.
I would say that’s one of your more rational post.
Ducks might be 99% like you or people you know – but I think most people would agree there is quite a difference.
Yeah and I know that most creatures share a high %age of DNA.
My ancestors didn’t fight, scratch and claw their way to the top of the food chain just to eat veggies. We are apex predators
I live near a protected wetlands. In the last week the duck numbers have swelled. Enormously.
@OT
You are a traitor to your own species!
A.
@A
Let’s tar & feather the traitor!
I.
Do you have other suggestions about how the duck population could be controlled? Should we introduce a predator? If we did, would this predator kill them in a more humane way?
Does the duck population need to be controlled?
Avian botulism has actually reduced by a little the numbers on Hamilton Lake compared the 1970s, but by and large ducks breed too quickly. And a serious predator would probably enjoy (just for a change in menu) a few of our endangered species as well.
So maybe it is a good thing that we have a number of humans stupid enough to see as ‘Man against Nature’ a contest between one of the less intelligent bird species and themselves – less intelligent humans using weapons they themselves did not invent, to prove something to their tender egos.
Ok. Now, is it actually the hunting that’s keeping the numbers down?
Observer
I think you are being satirical, ironic, and amusing yourself today. I have the feeling that if not a duck hunter, some of your best friends are. Quack, quack. You have just decided to shoot off your mouth at home and let the others sit in their mai mai in the wet and by the way they can dress, or undress rather, the duck they give to you.
With modern technology, there is no need for people to take a single animal’s life for sport. Having a laser gun that would use a computer to register a ‘hit’ would enable hunters to enjoy their hobby in a human manner.
Thanks for telling us how other people can enjoy themselves in a manner that suits you.
Co2 levels over 410mm.
And we prevaricate to close down the fossil fuel industry.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/05/coromandel-community-rallies-as-govt-tries-to-axe-rescue-helicopter.html
Way to stand up coromandel. Like Taupo they need a rescue helicopter. Not having one in these regions will cost lives (even if they are 99% duck)
It was National that kicked off these proposals. Anyway, a bit silly to have charities running these helicopters anyway. Rescue helicopters should really be run as part of the Air Force or Navy.
If it was National that started this – I would still be against it.
and I agree with the Air Force or Navy running them – same with coastguard.
Civil Defence would probably be the better option.
No – it is an ambulance service so it should be run by a Nation wide ambulance service.
But one with a fairly limited demand and Civil defence needs heli’s available for other emergencies.
Airforce and army should have dedicated medical heli’s as well so areas around those bases won’t need civilian craft for it.
It’s a case of getting the most use out of them while also having them available when needed.
I live in Thames and we have the Westpac chopper in almost on a daily basis. The local ambulance here is also in constant demand.
Which has nothing do to with who’s operating it.
It sort of does.
You’re not talking one or two choppers that have stretchers instead of seats. They’re dedicated machines. To keep one 24/d operational you need two or three actual aircraft (ISTR Southern has three). And they can’t be transferred to other duties or deployed overseas, because we need them here.
So a national organisation might be a good idea, but it needs to be separate to other services, otherwise its resources would be leeched to other dutires under the next tory government.
Probably part of the funding cuts that National did to health.
Hopefully, this government will do something about it. We most definitely should not have private company advertising on government services.
It certainly will. My grandson was born in Thames a few years back. Unknown to the midwife at the time was the fact that he had transposed major arteries. ie his aorta and pulmonary were transposed. After a perfectly normal birth he began turning blue. He had to be flown to Waikato Base Hospital where the condition was diagonsed and then flown to Starship where a tube was run up into his heart and a small hole made between the two top ventricles so that his blood could become oxygenated. Four days later the surgeons were able to perform open heart surgery and correct the problem.* He is now a strong young lad and very active.
Had there been no air ambulance he would not have survived.
*I understand that this operation is carried out around 4 – 5 times per week at Starship. 30 years ago he would not be alive.
this is interesting:
Which it is. Auckland to Gt Barrier is 25 minutes. All I can find for Whitianga to Gt Barrier indicates that it’s about the same or perhaps longer. So, no time benefit there and thus not a selling point.
So? Just because the community funds the heli base doesn’t mean that it’s the best option.
That’s actually quite easy to do. Choose your spot and compare flight times as I did above which indicates that Auckland based helicopter service is better for Gt Barrier than a Whitianga based service.
This is something that needs to be done by logistics and not by movements and feelings.
Actually, a couple of days would have been fine.
I’m sure webmd knows better about the woman’s injuries that she or the hospital does.
Next time I’m bleeding from an injury I’ll be sure to check with you before calling an ambulance.
(What I’m trying to say is you don’t know shit about what kind of care she needed)
Weren’t you doing me the favour of ignoring me? I’m certainly ignoring you.
And what the medics are saying is that tendon repair can be left for 24 to 48 hours so time wasn’t an issue.
BTW, I had the same injury.
I told you to ignore me if you wanted, I need do no such thing.
But yeah – you don’t shit about the situation about from a brief news synopsis, you’re personal experience doesn’t mean shit either so you are in no position to say it would have been fine when the patient, who was actually there, and the hospital, who looked after injury, say different
What the interwebz says. What does it say about nerve damage? Was there maybe something else not mentioned in the report that cumulatively might have cause actual doctors to say something like that?
A bit like comparing fixed wing flight times from an aerodrome to a dedicated helipad, but whatevs
My bad. I should have looked at that. It seems that some new process has come out in the last few years that helps with the nerve regeneration speed reducing it from months to weeks that’s time dependent.
“BTW – I had the same injury”
Here’s how stupid that is. I suffer pancreatitis and have required hospitalization 3 times (alcoholism is a bitch). My dad also suffers pancreatitis but has never been hospitalized.
We both have the same injury but have very different medical needs. Hope this helps
I see Farrar claims he banned some commentators over the PMs partner rumour but the journalist scanned his site and found alit left up. Farrar then said with 2 million comments he cant get to them all.
1 it is not 2 million comments a day
2 you decided to run a blog
3 after DP you committed to cleaning up your blog
So suspended some but not enough to stop the rumour getting good, long, airing.
Hard to avoid the notion that Farrar tried to tell a porky and a journo investigated rather than just take him at his word. Oops.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103559016/Where-did-the-false-Clarke-Gayford-rumours-came-from
Farrar deleted the thread only after Stuff contacted him…not good enough….he really shouldn’t be allowed back on The Panel after this…Jim Mora take note.
Don’t hold your breath @BG. Jim is too busy rehearsing his lines for Monday to ensure he’s able to keep sitting on the fence and remain NZ’s nicest ‘radio bloke’ (going forward).
Of course it’s possible he’ll fuck up and need a locum to fill in – and there’s one or two who’re only too happy to oblige. And generally, they’re a fucking sight easier to listen to when you’re trapped in a lift or on one of the remotest places on Earth craving a bit of western MSM for a bit of a laugh and a Subway roll
@ Ropata
Nice to see You. Your ancestors and mine ate according to need and season. Harvested accordingly.
We now have to rid ourselves of those ugly poisonous fungi, called capitalists; called wealthy; called abominable, money afflicted; ruthless; unredemptive and endlessly brutal. Poison is as poison does Ropata.
We will get helicopters when the capitalists are drowned and droned out.
“We now have to rid ourselves of those ugly poisonous fungi, called capitalists; called wealthy; called abominable, money afflicted; ruthless; unredemptive and endlessly brutal”
And how do you intend to do that ?
Democratically.
Which is why we have Representative Democracy actually. The rich were afraid that the rest of us would legislate them out of existence and it was the rich calling the shots at the time.
Thing is, we can now probably start to implement full Participatory Democracy which really wasn’t possible 400 years ago.
Marx taught that the revolution would only come when the oppression of the masses became unbearable. Guillotines worked OK in the past. But I prefer the way of peace. On an individual level we make the world a better place in our own way, Ardern suggests Kindness, and I’m happy to go along with that
I notice that a lot of mention is made of Palestinians directed at me, accusing me of not being interested in the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli Zionists.
But usually only in relation to my posts on the situation in Syria, and in my opinion only as a diversionary tactic.
Prove me wrong.
To all those people who make these accusations, I challenge you to front up today at the rally in Aotea Square at 2pm in support of the ‘March of Return’.
The ‘Right of Return’ is a right written into international law by UN, for all refugees. But it is a right that is steadfastly denied to the Palestinians by the Zionists, an illegal position in defiance of international law, which the Zionists enforce with state sanctioned racist violence and apartheid like segregation and pass laws.
Teleport please.
Thinking of all who are able to go and show their support, with you in spirit.
Plus 1
I notice that a lot of mention is made of Palestinians directed at me, accusing me of not being interested in the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli Zionists.
Really? On this blog? Because I’m pretty sure that would have jumped out at me, and I haven’t noticed anything along those lines. I just did a quick search too. And nothing.
Maybe you could link to the comments that have laid these accusations at your feet Jenny? I suspect this just yet another piece of vacuous nonsense on your part along the same lines as that previous ‘They’ve called me a head-chopper’ accusation that you threw out there.
Hope the rally’s well attended and productive by the way.
I think it was Fransesca or someone, But Bill, in the same vein, weren’t you the one giving support to Ed about me not caring about what is happening to the people of Yemen and Afrin and other such Whataboutery?
In my opinion, you and Ed are only feigning concern for these terrible crimes against humanity committed by the Saudis, Zionists, the US etc. to divert attention away from your support and covering for mass murder committed by the Assad regime.
https://forward.com/opinion/400384/the-left-only-cares-about-palestinians-when-it-can-blame-israel/
You would know if you had attended Bill. And no it was not well attended, Maybe you would like to show your concern by giving the next rally a headline post. The next rally in support of the ‘March of Return’ will be held on the 19th, same time, same place. Visiting Palestinian scholar and activist Ramzy Baroud will be addressing this rally, prior to the talk he will be giving at the Freeman’s Bay Community Centre the following day. Maybe you would like to give this event a headline post as well. Or maybe not. In which, case do not ever again accuse me of not being concerned about these other cases of injustice and persecution in the world, to divert attention away from your support and propagandising for Syrian fascism and genocide.
https://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2018/05/01/ramzy-barouds-new-zealand-speaking-tour/
[The game a bogey Jenny. If in the future you submit comments that are baseless accusations that constitute attacks other contributors, bans will result] – Bill
For the sake of drawing your attention to the above Jenny.
Hi Bill,
I look forward to your post in support of Ramzy Baroud’s New Zealand speaking tour. Especially in light of your good wishes for the rally in support of the ‘March of Return’ last Saturday, because there is another one planned for the 19th same time same place at which Ramzy Baroud will be making an address.
https://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2018/05/01/ramzy-barouds-new-zealand-speaking-tour/
Cheers Jenny
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1805/S00031/gordon-campbell-on-petrol-pricing-and-the-midwives-march.htm
We could be reaching the end of the relatively cheap oil era. Prices of Brent Crude, the global benchmark have been rising for the past seven months, and are tipped by most observers to continue to remain at high levels through 2019. Alarmists are talking of $80-100 a barrel.
Peak oil now again?
Bring back rail.
Rail uses only one fifth the fuel per tonne carried per KM of road transport.
Rail saves us all from climate change.
And road deaths.
Lower rapidly rising cost of road maintenance.
Less trucks in our cities will make public health and air quality better.
Whats not to like about that?
And, if electrified, doesn’t even use that.
Getting all the traffic off our roads will do wonders for us. More cycling and walking will (apparently) make us all younger.
Just listened to the Northcote candidates on The Nation.
This bit was a wtf, loololollllz moment for me…..
The national party candidate says something like… “it’s not about national it’s about who is the best person to serve the electorate” crikey…. he’s a party faithful bahahahahahahahahaha. Back your organisation dude, or stand as an independent.
The nat candidate was also quick to shut down any mention of coleman.
My thoughts…. Northcote will change colours.
A potential waka-jumper?
I take it that it was just the National Party and Labour Party candidates, Cinny?
ACT and NZF have both announced they won’t be running a candidate.
The Green Party have said that they will be running a candidate but do not yet appear to have selected and announced their candidate although the by-election is only 5 weeks away.
Although this is intended to emphasize that the Greens and Labour are not joined at the hip rather than win the electorate, this is likely to split the left vote and destroy any change of the electorate changing colours.
Chris Trotter in The Daily Blog on Friday on Trump. He gains oxygen from all the hullabaloo is I think Chris’s point.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/05/04/giving-trump-enough-rope/
And when you read through Chris’s collection of groupings behind the yellow-fellow one sees that there is a mighty mountain of unreason to surmount. Same here on a smaller scale.
…It doesn’t matter that Trump’s electoral base is composed of racists, homophobes, misogynists, fundamentalist Christians, Islamophobes and out-and-out fascists; as well as hard-line neoliberals, climate-change sceptics, union-busters, flat-taxers, economic nationalists and Ayn Rand libertarians; so long the dearest hopes and darkest fears of each component of this bizarre coalition continue to be encouraged by their President.
Interesting idea – a breath of fresh air from an entrepreneur educationalist.
science education
9:43 am today
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018643593/david-klein-plant-man
David Klein – Plant Man
From Saturday Morning, 9:43 am today
Listen duration 15′ :17″
David Klein is a science communicator based in Wellington. Last summer he cycled around the country presenting Tour de Science – a show that explained how all the big things in the universe are made of lots of little things. It was performed in more than 50 towns and cities to rave reviews.
More recently Klein has been thinking about what it would like to be a plant – making food from sunlight, dealing with all those bugs, the strong connection to the ground, and time passing really slowly. Plants, he says, aren’t brainy but they are clever and successful.
Klein combines his love of science with his love of storytelling in his new children’s show, Plant Man, which he is performing at the Hutt Stemm Festival – celebrating the multi-million dollar science and innovation industries in Lower Hutt – on May 6.
(Incidentally it is very difficult, impossible so far, for me to find out what STEMM stands for. The love of acronyms and hatred for actually being clear and fully explanatory for those not in the know is again, rife. However there are clever little icons with pictures that probably explain the meanings. We are drifting towards a pictogram-heavy and abbreviations, skeleton-thought basis of written language!)
STEMM
Science Technology Engineering Mathematics …trying to find out what the other “M” stands for.
There you go…http://www.huttstemm.nz/
Manufacturing.
Resident scientist tells me this is about ‘hard’ as opposed to ‘soft’ subjects and encouraging students towards the same.
Thanks Rosemary
My point: Science is definite, correct, informative. So it is unscientific to advertise and advance an educational program under the heading of an acronym without informing what it stands for.
We have enough problems from our economic system making up models which are not totally thorough, without defining them fully, testing them, proving them, spelling out exceptions etc. Having to guess what something means is not scientific. Many problems already are stemming from this tendency in tertiary studies of importance and from people falsely adopting the authority of tertiary studies relied on for excellence by others needing their skills.
I respectfully but also strongly disagree because Science is most definitely not “definitive”! Whether it is correct is a moot point and this appears to be based on a perception that Science can or does somehow unveil The Truth. Yes, Science is informative and useful 😉
Did anyone really believe that Labour would implement their election promises?
National promised and had in fact implemented a scheme that would have meant a $680 increase in the National Super.
Labour then promised to outdo this and would provide a $700/year “heating allowance”.
Except it isn’t, at least not this year.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/103554971/winter-energy-payment-now-looks-a-lot-less-enticing
Please raise your hand if you still believe the things that this Government said before the election. What, nobody will admit they were that stupid?
That’s a good hit from Janine Starks.
Labour could lose the election in 2020 with the tilt of just a few retired people.
Very interested in the budget commentary from the Minister of Finance on that one.
Shrug they will see the full amount in 2019 and 2020 – so unlikely to be a problem IMO. National weren’t going to anything for me except probably more demonization and harassment – this winter payment may be a new pair of glasses for me so 🙂
Perhaps they won’t notice.
On the other hand the National payment would have provided you with both a new pair of glasses AND a spare pair in case you broke them.
Keep the faith though comrade. The Party may lie to you but you will still follow them till the end. Marching to the strains of the Internationale will help keep you warm, even if you can’t keep your home warm.
Of the half a million or so that can’t afford to visit their GP, a number of them will also be struggling with their power bills. Hence, how many will fall ill and perhaps die from this shortfall and delay?
The price of Labour’s Budget Responsibility Rules?
Oh well, at least Labour managed to balance the books eh?
Labour, the party the left can count on to let them down.
Not fair is it wynny. Next thing you know, someone might notice that people who are still working don’t need handouts.
Funny how National are running two attack lines at the same time.
The winter payment was not means tested/the amount is less than National’s tax cuts in the first year.
Which National people are you referring to?
For the umpteenth time I am not now, never have been in the past, and never will be in the future a member of any political party.
I am a pure swinging voter who was quite happy to say that National should be replaced at the last election but was of the belief that there was nobody capable of taking over and providing a stable sensible Government. The last six months have demonstrated the my view was absolutely correct.
A tired National would be better than the current Ship of Fools.
So, my friend, who were you talking about when you posted this reply to me?
ha ha, a third term government is tired, but there is/was no one better to take over is what someone part of stream b would say on a pro left blog.
Why didn’t you answer my question?
“Which National people are you referring to?”.
I am curious who in National might be offering similar arguments to myself.
Alwyn
Does anyone believe that anything useful will ever result from your memos on this blog? I would put the likelihood of useful from you at 95% against.
Your estimate of 95% is probably about right. I would say that 5% of the questions I ask get an intelligent reply from people who have actually thought about the topic and are willing to provide some reasoned arguments for their views.
The rest are like you. You come out with comments without any justification at all for making them. When questioned on the reason for the statement you either ignore the question or complain that anyone who dares to question your views should be banned.
C’est la vie. At least I can try and make you see the error of your ways.
Natrad’s Country Life outdid itself this morning with a follow up of the ‘growers unable to find enough pickers’ item from an earlier program.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/2018643490/the-apple-gang-and-apple-grower
They interviewed two Kiwi workers and apart from their take home pay of $600 pw clearly rattling the interviewer they hypothesized that the growers were pleading shortage of staff to i gain an increase in the number of RSE workers…who it appears are cheaper.
The other segment looked at organic vegie growers….the brother gave up his work as a contractor on ‘conventional’ farms after a head injury but noted that some of his previous clients would not eat their own commercially grown carrots because of the agrichemicals used in the growing.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/2018643491/the-farmer-and-the-filmmaker
Ad; – “Labour could lose the election in 2020 with the tilt of just a few retired people.”
My response is;
‘Labour/NZF had better make all our oldies health better during this time’ as we need to be alive in 2020 to vote for them again otherwise this 74yr old and our senior comrades will perhaps not be around then to save the labour/NZF parties then, and give us subsided dental please..
And give us all old, terminally ill, or limited for life and wanting a demise option the benefit of chosen euthanasia from options properly drawn up with wide consultation with those having thought through its use, and after considering arguments against are dealt with.
I see the 104 year old eminent fully capable australian has to travel to Switzerland with his family to carry out his wish of a legal death of his own choice amongst loved ones.
We older NZs trying to be rational, good citizens doing the right thing for us and limiting our otherwise mounting health costs just to keep us alive and breathing, become targets for police raids as if we were under authoritarian rule. By the way we aren’t are we? Perhaps it has been quietly announced and I missed the death sentence to democratic respect and individual choice in the news that day.
John Milford, Chief Exec Wellington Chamber of Commerce is advocating for Wellington to consider selling its stake in the city’s airport.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/103598008/john-milford-wellington-should-consider-selling-its-stake-in-the-airport
Good to see a number of commentators (in the comments section following the article) telling him what’s what.
I’m with manifest: “Cutting out the corporate welfare projects like the film museum, convention centre and indoor arena unless they provide a realistic return would be sounder economic policy.”
Consider selling?
They shouldn’t need any time to do that. “Just do it”.
Wellington is cursed with Local Body politicians who are really only interested in their feel-good exercises. That and pretending that they are only in it for the public good.
Our current mayor announced that he didn’t need a Council supplied, and ratepayer paid for car for his use.
That’s fine if he believes in it and it should certainly save the ratepayer money. The problem is that he didn’t not spend the money. He gave it as a grant to his arty-crafty friends. Then to get around he uses another Council owned car which is no longer available for Council employees doing useful work. So he ends up costing us more than if he hadn’t gone in for his grandstanding and taken the car in the first place.
Meanwhile we still have no emergency water supply for the Hospital and if there is an earthquake the Hospital will be shut down completely within about 3 days. To supply a reservoir would be something useful you see and our Council doesn’t do useful things. Spending $40,000 painting a patch of Cuba Street in bright colours is much more their style.
Why do you think they should just do it, alwyn?
Where do you think the money would be better invested?
The first thing they could do is stop borrowing.
At the moment they plan to increase borrowing by around $600 million over the next 10 years. That is about $3,500 per resident.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/102599229/wellington-city-council-set-to-double-debt-to-pay-for-big-projects
Then they could repay the existing debt. Then they could spend it on necessary infrastructure, which does not, in my opinion, include restoring the old town hall. Let’s face it. I was closed in 2013, will probably not reopen until 2023 and I don’t think anyone has missed the old barn.
How is that lot for a start.
Selling their shares in the airport would immediately increase the councils borrowing. It’s the nature of removing an income stream.
Which tells us that they’re not charging enough in rates.
The average rates bill in Wellington on a house is about $3,500/year.
National Super for a couple is about $35,500/year before tax or about $32,000 if taxed at the lowest rate. A lot of the elderly live on that pension and nothing else.
At the 2013 Census the median income for people over 65 was only about $20,900. At hat time the New Zealand Super for a person living alone was $21,300/year. It was about $16,100 each for a couple. Those were pre-tax numbers. About 90% of the people over 65 got National Super so you can see roughly how many have very little else
Figures from the latest Census are not available and accurate ones covering the whole population may never surface.
What do you think is a reasonable rates bill Mr Plutocrat? Would you think 20% of your pre-tax income would be about right?
And a lot of them are free-hold and so the rates bill is all they’re paying.
Compared to, say, an unemployed person on 12000 (including accommodation) and who’s paying $6000/year in rent.
Which do you think I have more sympathy for?
Somebody a few years ago calculated that the amount we pay in rates is, across all of us, was about 1.5%. So, maybe 3%?
But, of course, there would still need to be the lease charge of ‘owning’ the land which should be set at a square metre rate. $1/m^2 sounds about right.
“Which tells us that they’re not charging enough in rates.”
Or they are spending far too much.
No, a lot of the issues we have is because they’re not spending enough as they do stuff on the cheap which results in a shit job which, inevitably, results in costing more (see Leaky Buildings, Leaky Hospitals, Rena grounding, the list goes on).
“The first thing they could do is stop borrowing”
Depends what they are borrowing for. Nice to haves can wait till we can afford them.
Additionally, borrowing can help spread costs out reducing the quarterly burden on ratepayers.
The return the airport generates can help to pay of debt or reduces the need for it. Thus, if they sold it to fully pay off their debt they’d lose that ongoing revenue stream going forward. As the airport is largely a monopoly, it’s a good investment to hold onto.
Yes, because making the city worse off so that some rich bludgers can be richer is such a Good Thing™ to do.
DTB
Don’t forget to put the /sarc in when you are being ironic. We have a number of deadheads here who would take your wry comment at face value.
It is amazing that in the 21st century with so many loose brains haring off into space or creating avatars AI algorithms etc., we still have the same sort of comments that would have been uttered when NZ was young. I am sure that The Chairman and Alwyn would have said similar when Vogel was going to raise money for the NZ railway project in colonial NZ.
We have the example of living dinosaurs coming on TS all puffed-up and pompous while we try to face a future that will become ever more problematic. I have been reading about Thomas Hobbes thinking in his book Leviathan that we will have to give up our individuality under the iron stamp of a despotic sovereign.
And here is an item from The Statesman showing some who illustrate how short and brutal life can be. https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/citizenship-tangle-1502631775.html
Are we on the way to that life with people being hounded to work where there is no work, forced to sleep in virtual caves (garages etc) while surrounded by houses, forbidden to ask for food from agencies whose work of providing food aid is limited and controlled by government. Is it Hobbes that has an answer, does Kafka’s view of twisted bureaucracy tell us anything?
The economist Hayek had a number of ideas: He used the term catallaxy to describe a “self-organizing system of voluntary co-operation”. Hayek’s research into this argument was specifically cited by the Nobel Committee in its press release awarding Hayek the Nobel prize. That seems a good word or bone for the busyheads to chew on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catallaxy
We are so clever, but can’t find a thoughtful, kind and practical way to handle old, basic problem, trying a method that looks at physical remedies that suit, and then forms a theory to explain the method. Perhaps we don’t want to find an answer, we enjoy the argumentation while the needy wait sadly. Would we rather spend our time doing puzzles? Kindness is limited in much of the discussion on politics it seems.
Well, here was a problem that was exercising the brains of the intelligent throughout the 1700s and didn’t finish until 1882.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squaring_the_circle
Our globe-totting media darling of a prime minister should go there too.
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2018/05/03/will-bernie-go-to-gaza/
“The Northcote by-election is an opportunity for the Green Party to promote our early successes in Government while highlighting our points of difference,” Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said.
Did the Nation snub the Greens today?
Hard to promote successes and points of difference when one isn’t given (or fails to utilise) the air time.
You do realise that the Greens have not yet nominated their candidate, yes?
Good God, I’ve just watched a Hudson Institute discussion on Chinese policy in Xinjiang!
We should not be doing business with China! The information given is bloody frightening,
A long watch, but disturbing, very disturbing! 1 hr 40 minutes.
For instance, blood testing of all Uyghurs for organ matching with countries along the road of the One Belt, One Road – feeding China’s organ harvesting industry.
We should be BLOODY SCARED OF CHINA!
Well, I guess it’s a bit scary to take splab from the Hudson Institute seriously 🙂
Well, I didn’t know all that about the Hudson Institute and I agree, funding from the Koch Brothers is a big red flag.
However, much of what is talked about is corroborated by Radio Free Asia and other sources.
With a Chinese spy inside the Nats and in our parliament, we should be scared of China!
Not a great recovery your last paragraph probably did more damage to your arguement than Bill questioning your source
Likewise leave the light on if your scared of China 😊
Are you not scared because you are the Chinese spy Bewildered?
The new Director of the CIA has form for torture in Thailand.
Giving head in Bangkok to get ahead in the company
Getting ahead by inducing confessions
Inducing confessions by puting people to sleep
Living the dream of rendition to the land of the Green Card
Will all future directors require this on their resume, will it be the new normal for promotion to this level of leadership?
Austerity is a failure, Keynes showed that governments ought to run deficits to keep the wider economy afloat. National wasted the opportunity to take advantage of very favourable conditions for borrowing instead cutting contributions to Kiwisaver and cutting services. Government surplus = social deficit.
(We won’t even need to run deficits if we implement positive money)