Vague threats of legal action are being made by the oil industry against the government, over the ending of new block offers.
On Friday industry publication Upstream reported that companies which had conducted seismic testing on a speculative basis were planning a legal challenge to the Government’s decision, probably led by the Texas-based International Association of Geophysical Contractors.
Ardern said that the issue was not raised during her recent trip to New Plymouth, a trip which came more than a month after the decision was announced.
“The Government has yet to be notified of any proposed legal challenge from the industry body. I met with the industry recently and no one raised this with me.”
Upstream, extensively quoting unnamed sources, described a subsidiary of US oil services giant Schlumberger among a group of companies “most affected” by the decision, warning of “significant” losses in revenue. Approached for comment the day the ban was announced, no one from Schlumberger has yet responded.
If the CPTPP was enacted, which would give overseas corporations the right to sue and for foreign tribunals to over-rule government decisions, such vaguely muttered threats might have some real currency.
The oil industry’s losses from shale are endless. Not surprising they would want to mine our seabed, especially when NZ asks for a fraction of the royalties other nations charge.
Yep, paltry royalties and they can’t even make Mobil clean up the tank farm.
Still giving away free water too. Anyone would think everyone in this country is already a millionaire with a stash of cash to burn, the way our government gives away public resources to private offshore and onshore businesses…
When the court is stacked with the mates of the business and there is no higher court to appeal to they could still likely lose even though the case might seem rock solid.
It will be a rigged court that is far from independent.
What haste are you actually talking about?
No Right Turn, who is usually pretty accurate on his facts says that no ban has been introduced and all that has happened is that they had a Press Conference. He is definitely not impressed by the Government behaviour. http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2018/06/government-by-press-conference.html
But isn’t NRT arguing that a Block Offer isn’t the only way that the firms can get permits.
They ca, if I am reading him correctly arguing that they can simply request a permit for an area and it has to be assessed under the existing rules.
Is his second half of his post wrong in your opinion?
Petroleum Prospecting Permit
Operator SCHLUMBERGER NEW ZEALAND LIMITED
Owner(s) SCHLUMBERGER NEW ZEALAND LIMITED
Location Taranaki Basin
Operation
Status Active
Grant on 28/11/2017
Commence on 28/11/2017
Duration 2 years 0 months
Expiry on 27/11/2019
Area 18705.065 SQKM
Mineral(s) Conventional Petroleum (excluding coal seam gas and gas hydrates)
Remember this is prospecting via seismic survey, yes the ships that trial air guns, not drilling.
Just because NRT quotes the Crown Minerals Act- – he thinks that makes him an expert .
he’s totally ignorant of the regulations that go with the Minerals Act which regulate the detail of the applications
(5) As provided for in clause 7.2(1), all petroleum exploration permits (PEPs) will be granted by way of Petroleum Exploration Permit Rounds. Accordingly, until an area is offered in a Permit Round, that area is only available for permitting for petroleum prospecting permits (PPPs;)
PEP . Petroleum Exploration Permit 7.2 Competitive allocation
(1) All PEPs will be allocated competitively by way of Petroleum Exploration Permit Rounds.
Two methods of competitive allocation may be used:
(a) staged work programme bidding
(b) cash bonus bidding
Its important to distinguish ‘prospecting’ and ‘exploration’
For oil, prospecting usually means seismic surveys often done speculatively with the data on sold to majors which bid for ‘exploration’ or what would be normally called ‘drilling’
A bit of info back in 2016 when oil prices dropped and oil ‘prospecting’ was less attractive to the speculators
Greenpeace says Houston-based prospecting company ION Geophysical has relinquished its oil surveying permits, which covered almost half of New Zealand’s water and another Houston-based company, TGS, has also withdrawn its application for a major offshore prospecting permit off the West Coast of the North Island.
Existing exploration rights arent affected. Cant sue if you havent lost anything.
All that has happened is no new areas were offered up for bids at auction.!
The normal process is to offer selected areas , not all areas, for oil companies to bid for , as usual highest or any bid not necessarily accepted.
Non meat meat, oil. Both industries under serious threat from destroyed demand. The more they asked for their products, the more they risk demand disappearing to alternatives. The only way they now maintain their markets is to monopolize and delay new inevitable entrances. Of course geared up managers and investors move to the new industries, leaving the lazy to squeeze existing demand to maintain profits. Note the rush of old meat into our supermarkets, tasteless stomach cramping. Atleast the oil sector can increase biofuels to our daily fuel. Farming animals for meat, so twentieth century.
PR piece about bridges path to becoming PM on stuff today. How they can write this with a straight face is beyond me. Continuing the meme that the greens will drop under 5%
It seems to me they are all following the mantra:
never say you are or have been CLOSELY associated with the national party.
Farrar
Hehir
Hooten
…..
Was listening to radio on weekened, they had Mike Williams , decribed as former labour party president, which is true enough, but the ‘other side’ was Vernon Tava who was just called a ‘business broker’, when he should be described as national party activist as he tried to get Northcote nomination.
Seeing as the Greens have announced their coalition wins (thus have nothing foreseeable to pull out of their hat going forward) coupled with their downwards trend in the polls and the fact they tend to poll higher than what they secure on election day, there is a very real chance they may not make the threshold come next election.
I happened to catch Garner’s so-called interview with Bridges on the AM Show this morning via Facebook (I don’t really watch telly). If that’s been the level of rigorous questioning by Garner to date I’m surprised Bridges isn’t on about 80% preferred PM rating.
DHBs are still keen to progress work on the funding of community pharmacies with the aim of having some pharmacies that no longer dispense medicines, and even of having medication delivered directly to patients.
What does this mean? Would there be my visit to the doctor but no pharmacy to pick up my prescription?
There are a number of pharmacy providers now that utilise robots to dispense for rest homes and seem new companies that are setting up similar services to supply direct to the general public as per below.
Thanks Stunned Mullet. At the moment I leave the doctor with my prescription and the nearby pharmacy fills it. Surely that would be cheaper than paying a courier to do so?
(Must admit my concern with the pharmacy is the huge number of questionable health remedies on sale. Unproven. Quack.)
At the moment I leave the doctor with my prescription and the nearby pharmacy fills it. Surely that would be cheaper than paying a courier to do so?
Much better if the doctor came to you because:
1. It would actually cut down on resources (Time, fuel, car parking) used
2. It would decrease the spread of disease
But, of course, the doctor wouldn’t be carrying a huge stock of drugs. Then the same two reasons for delivering the drugs to you work as well.
Home-visits work in some regards (e.g. rest homes), but your time/fuel/parking issues get flipped onto the doctor.
Not to mention the commute time between patients, when the doctor could actually be treating the next patient in the doctor’s office.
Not to mention some meds held on site in controlled conditions (e.g. vaccines), the capability to accommodate casual but semi-urgent walk-ins, and being assured of clinically-appropriate conditions and facilities (privacy, warmth, good hygiene facilities).
But back to the original subject, pharmacist advice for me has been most useful not so much to second-guess the doctor’s advice (although part of the pharma’s role is to catch contra-indicated meds), but to provide additional information and clarification while picking up the meds. I don’t see how that would work with drone delivery of drugs to my door, or why I would go to a pharmacist without picking up more drugs.
“(although part of the pharma’s role is to catch contra-indicated meds)”
That is the bit I would really hate to lose. I was once prescribed a drug that wasn’t meant to be given with another I had been taking.
They weren’t prescribed at the same time but the pharmacist picked it up (I always go to the same one) and he called the Doctor immediately.
The prescription was changed.
Only once and quite a long time ago but I really like that second check from someone.
Absolutely agreed on that one Alwyn. Have had a similar experience. The final check by someone with good training and knowledge is, to me at least, very important. Contra-indications can be killers. As people age they take more meds, and their bodies become less tolerant and more susceptible to drug use conflicts. This is one area where robotics (or AI really) are not appropriate.
As many if not most lists to primary care are for non infectious ailments your rationale for number 2 doesn’t hold.
Also as the vast amount of primary care in NZ is chock-a-block I don’t see how the poor old GPs would be able to schedule in travel to the patient in their schedule as well.
Yes I’d think you’re correct about cheaper for you xian – where I suspect it’s leading is to a cheaper contact between certain providers of these services and DHBs as there are quite specific fee structures in place at the moment between pharmacy and the various DHBs to do with markups, dispensing fees part charges etc.
There sis also the issue that many patients don’t pick up their scripts and when they do their compliance can still be poor.
ianmac: you’re not talking about paracetamol are you? “questionable health remedies on sale. Unproven. Quack” Or are you recalling the wonders of thalidomide?
Those pharmaceutical companies can be real scalliwags at flicking dubious remedies into the public arena in the hope of making a quick buck…
Dhbs direct to patients. IRD direct to taxpayers. All part of the scheme to technologise our world and turn us into individual, separate and anomic beings.
Heil Thatcher and her repetition of ‘There is no such thing as society.’ They are all bitches coming along on that line, male and female, it is a gender-free scathing term these days.
No doubt accountants and lawyers will become extinct. In effect just Google it or feed the data into your computer and by-pass those experts. Carried to extremes and we will become so self sufficient, shops will become extinct also and we all will be hermits. Not very sociable. Even sheep enjoy their society.
Where will we be without having to deal with each others’ foibles? It’s a fable that DTB has below. We need to have a reason to get and about, meet and greet each other, some job that takes us out of ourselves.
Looks like someone has been lobbying hard, another big Aussie company trying to elbow their way into the NZ market?
I can’t see pharmacies surviving without prescriptions, they’d lose too much of their revenue. A lot of their retail sales are to people calling in for scripts and buying something else while they’re there.
Well now, I think there is. Decent socially conscious policy, proper funding of educational programs, support for communities, tenancy reform to help stabilise communities, warm and dry homes, properly funded and maintained social housing stock, etc, etc…..
> Decent socially conscious policy, proper funding of educational programs, support for communities, tenancy reform to help stabilise communities, warm and dry homes, properly funded and maintained social housing stock, etc, etc…..
This all sounds great, and we should do it, but right now we have a bunch of bad guys committing crimes, and we need to do something separate about that too. Because ‘proper funding of educational programs’ is not going to change people who have already gone off the rails.
I know business doesn’t get much sympathy on this site but I thought maybe it would offend our sense of justice and fairness. There is so much wrong with that story. When did our justice system turn so vindictive and nasty?
Ahem, they sold a product that was allegedly, or potentially, dangerous to small children. There’s no fact in that, no children were harmed.
The fine is out of proportion to the crime. They’re bankrupting people for what are really just errors in judgement that anyone can make. They haven’t shown any malice, negligence or intent by the sellers, it’s simply a highly subjective determination followed by a whopping great big fine.
The real message from this, and other similar recent cases, is that anyone contemplating starting up a small business is only a mistep away from being hauled in front of a judge and bankrupted. Seems like business is only for the rich who can afford the expensive lawyers to check every item they sell for compliance.
Yeah, I don’t have any issues with the process it’s the punishment that’s wrong. By all means prosecute and fine but be reasonable about it.
Some other similar cases, keep in mind that in each one the business owner was of limited means and either bankrupted or at least almost certainly left in desperate financial straits;
You need to get that chip off your shoulder Draco. I work for myself and I make no apologies for it, nor do I need to justify it to the likes of you.
Most people in business are the same, we do our best to trade honestly, safely and fairly while still being mindful of the fact we’re capable of making mistakes the same as anyone else. Genuine criminals don’t get fines that high, where’s the justice in it?
And as usual you ignore the substance of my argument which is that the punishment should fit the crime. But then no punishment for being in business is harsh enough for you is it Draco. Should we all be lined up & shot, would that satisfy you?
The punishment does fit the crime. This is literally a life and death issue, with crimes being committed in the cold light of reason and business sense. The sentence needs to be a deterrent to all.
The worst thing we could do is have a token fine that simply becomes a cost of doing business when you’re finally caught, or a trivial cost that nobody takes note of.
The best example was when a local business was sued for $60k-70k because somebody slipped and broke their arm – the upteenth person to do so, and the business had been slow to respond.
Within days of the judgement, every pedestrian grate and ramped walkway around town was getting rails and slapped with non-slip paint. It was pretty funny, but it showed the punitive approach worked in that situation.
People with comprehension and impulse-control issues don’t really think ahead of much in the way of deterrents. But business managers are always making a cost/benefit analysis.
Most people in business are the same, we do our best to trade honestly, safely and fairly while still being mindful of the fact we’re capable of making mistakes the same as anyone else.
All of the people I’ve met in business have been less than honest, try to cheat taxes and safety regulations and their mistakes have always been the result of that cheating.
In other words, they’ve all been genuine criminals.
Yep apologies there Draco, and to McFlock I was seeing something that wasn’t there…. thought me and Draco were headed for a good argument…
The point of the last one McFlock was the discrepancy. The victim was awarded $18k and the court pocketed $90k for itself.
The rest had no victims, only potential ones and the judgement on that was highly subjective. We’re all placing people at risk, we do that every time we jump in the car.
The court didn’t pocket $90k, any more than the officer issuing a speeding infringement pockets the cash.
“Potential” victims including the employee or neighbours who might get asbestosis in twenty years, or a child who might choke to death on pieces from one of the 4,000 unrecovered toys.
And more importantly, the potential victims of every cut-rate importer who sees the penalty and double-checks the safey of their containerload of shite.
So you’d be happy with an $80k fine every time you’re caught speeding would you McFlock?
I mean, you’d be risking people lives and an $80k fine would deter others from speeding so that would all be good, right? Who cares about justice, lets make an example of those nasty speeders.
“The prospect of an 80k fine would certainly ensure I’m always consciously under the limit, not just assuming that I’m probably under it.”
No it wouldn’t. Every now and then you’d have a lapse in concentration and nudge that speedo over the limit. It’s human frailty, we’re all subject to it.
But any lapses would certainly be less frequent and less serious.
The old “human frailty” argument to allow negligent behaviour is bullshit. It’s an excuse to let people keep dying. And not a single instance you raised is approaching the complexity of driving a car: everything occurred in a timeframe set by the guilty people, the preventive measures did not require immediate reflexes to resolve, and all hazards were known well in advance.
FFS, isolating the fall area for things you are working at height with is the first basic step in every situation. Signage to make people aware of the hazard is the second.
Sure the tree guy had manuals, but he obviously hadn’t made it clear to staff they should be followed. He never visited a site to find that staff member breaking the rules before? The first time a safety-conscious staff member makes an elementary mistake, someone gets hospitalised for 6 days (and they don’t do that for fun)? Bullshit. The odds are miniscule. If he didn’t set a bad example himself, the owner must have seen his employees at worksites without adequate signage and isolation before, and done next to nothing.
Spending money or time on paperwork isn’t a substitute for making sure that people stick to it. WTF was one employee felling a tree alone for, anyway? Who was going to call for help if it landed on his own stupid head?
I’m not knocking the system McFlock, only the size of the fines. They are beyond punitive, they admit the fines are intended for deterrence and IMHO they’re too high even for that. Look at what the Commerce Commission demanded on that first one, they wanted fines of over $200k. That’s pretty spiteful.
I mentioned the tree case because the victim was the one harmed and the system has taken the lions share of the cash. It suggests a high degree of vindictiveness on the part of lawmakers, they appear to care more about punishment than they do about the victim(s).
Which is simply another way of saying that the system recognises the current victims, but also cares about deterring people from creating victims in the future.
“Which is simply another way of saying that the system recognises the current victims, but also cares about deterring people from creating victims in the future.”
The court cases tend to suggest otherwise do they not? If the fines really did deter we wouldn’t be seeing any court cases.
At the heart of it to me is the basic tenets of justice and fairness and this is way out of balance IMO. We’re not in the nineteenth century, putting people in stocks should be a thing of the past.
I’ll leave it here where we look to agree to disagree, I’ve run my course on it. Cheers.
Men. I’m just glad that people are being fined for toys that might become choking hazards, rather than issuing recalls after a dozen injuries or deaths.
“All of the people I’ve met in business have been less than honest, try to cheat taxes and safety regulations and their mistakes have always been the result of that cheating.”
You’re mixing with the wrong crowd I think Draco. Certainly business has more than its share of rogues but it’s not that bad. I’d opine the worst offenders are the salaried executives who sacrifice ethics for career.
I’ve worked for many businesses across many industries.
Cash jobs so they don’t have to put it through the books and pay tax.
Miss a safety precaution here or there so as to save money. Hey, nobody’s going to know right?
All business people are the same – they’re all crooked.
Missing from this delightful rally is any information about whether said child toy was labelled as being unsuitable for kids under a certain age.
If it was – that’s a parent responsibility issue. That toy should not have been acquired in any household with kids under the safe age. Or for any older kids still known to be at that sucky stage.
A dozen kids a year go to hospital having ingested foreign items – and so many of those items are NOT ‘toys’: lids/caps, batteries, buttons, beads, pebbles. And those are the usual items.
Some dopey person BOUGHT that item. No one menaced them into buying it. If it was a gift – is there no responsible parent around to say, ‘That’s lovely! Thank you! When child is older we’ll let them have it.’?
If the thing was imported – is there no one locally, with a brain, who actually knows the rules of the game and slaps on a safety sticker?
Or is it easier to kvetch and go to court to ‘make an example to discourage others’?
On asbestos: wasn’t there, myself, but do we actually have enough tradies backed with safe disposal places for this naturally occuring element? If we do – that’s truly amazing in this over-regulated and under-resourced nation.
> Missing from this delightful rally is any information about whether said child toy was labelled as being unsuitable for kids under a certain age.
It’s right there in the article: “On the back of the package was a warning that the toy was not suitable for children 3 years old due to it presenting a choking hazard.”
Nevertheless, the toy is clearly intended for small children.
Antoine there needs to be some realism injected into this, people can take too much for granted. The verdict is fact, guilt is not.
This was a case brought under the Fair Trading Act. It’s not a criminal case, the company was charged not the person. The penalty was a fine. While the Commerce Commission might crow about their victory the reality is that the defendant likely pled guilty because it was the only practical option for them. No-one was personally facing a criminal conviction, it’s effectively a civil case and those are nearly always about the money.
When small/med businesses face prosecution by the Commerce Commission they’re on a hiding to nothing. You can’t fight them, they’ve got deeper pockets that you. They’re the ultimate bully. An $80k fine is harsh but still the least expensive option, why spend half a $million defending the charges when it gains you nothing? You’d just end up $500k poorer instead of $80k.
I’ll bet the legal advise small/med business people receive in these cases is to plead guilty, mitigate the fine down as much as possible and get on with their life.
So, while people might get all judgemental over what they read in the ‘paper keep in mind it’s only one side of the story.
KJT
I think that the correct way to deal with this is that the government should bring in some sensible regulations, which would be policed. The problem is that now government punishes as a control, it doesn’t proactively sort out the crap so that it doesn’t reach us at all. These regulations would also come with inspectors who would actively make sure that dross didn’t get into NZ, eg electrical fittings would be to our specifications, goods would be fit for purpose.
At present it is virtually open slather, people are exposed to shoddy goods and their injurious effects. Then if we are lucky, the government steps in and makes a big thing of hammering the dealer, but gummint has encouraged or enabled the shonky system themselves.
We see this with this toy, we see this with the biological infiltration of nasties we pay large to deal with, with overseas students being rorted by agents that government refuses to regulate and certify as reputable protecting students that trust our country’s good name! They have brought about the collapse of the CTV building and the farce of dealing with an engineer’s falsification, with the collapse of the Pike mine and falsities and lies connected with that, with the steel that is munted, the houses that are munted through leaky whatever, shoddy stuff encouraged by government not having reasonable standards, regulation, inspections.
The toy is just another part of a shonky system that was being run by virtual criminals and con-men and Labour has to act decisively to separate themselves from it, or themselves be considered part of the despicable gang. Has there ever been a class action by a large group of people in a small country against the deliberate destruction of a brand built up over a century as NZ’s has? Would Coca cola sit quietly while its brand worth so much, was skewed and besmirched like this?
No, it’s an example of the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff type regulation that lets the dangerous shit through. We need to catch this sort of product before it hits the shelves.
“I think this scenario is unlikely, but it points to something else. As the coming debt crisis matures, national leaders and central bankers will find their choices narrowing. I’m constantly amazed at their creativity, but it has limits. They can’t kick the can down the road forever. At some point, the road ends and then they have to choose. When your only choices are “impossible” and “terrible,” then you pick the latter. We are going to see previously unthinkable ideas be seriously considered, and sometimes chosen, because all other options are even worse.”
Pat
That is interesting and good reading. Like one of the crime novels I like so much (I tend to like the golden age ones though). You have to follow the story closely, look for clues, be aware of inconsistencies, wonder about people’s cover stories.
I will read it all and go back to the other three.
I found this piece about parallel currency for Italy quite riveting. Necessity is the mother of invention they say. It might work to pull them (us?) out of the power of world currency exigencies. (I can’t remember just what that means, but when talking about world finances one can’t be too precise anyway.)
The BOT is Italy’s Treasury bill, and as in the US, it serves as a kind of cash equivalent in electronic trading. The mini-BOT would be a government debt instrument, in paper form, that pays zero interest and never matures. The government would use it to pay social benefits and accept it for tax payments. Private businesses would not be required to accept it, but they could.
Private businesses and individuals would also, in theory, buy the mini-BOT as a way to pay their taxes. But they would buy them at a discount. So, traders would immediately set up an arbitrage where the person getting the social benefits payment could sell them for euros for, call it, a 5% or 10% haircut.
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is still a force in Italy, insists this would be legal. The Northern League sees a way to ease the transition out of the euro and the Five-Star Movement sees a way to increase spending without having to take on euro debt. And since the new coalition government wants to increase the deficit an additional $180 billion euros or so through a combination of tax cuts and increased spending, this is being seriously proposed.
Fancy Berlusconi still being around. Is that equivalent to Bill Clinton popping up here and there. Latest goss is that he has written a book which is a thriller based on cyber attack on the White House.
Whose responsibility is it to clear the logs away that have come down on people’s
homes, farms. livelihoods? What has the Regional Council come forward with?
What responsibility have they accepted for allowing logging to go ahead with little or no final clearing, cleaning up work, remedial work such as terracing, replanting?
Gisborne is in East Coast electorate held by National and Anne Tolley is MP.
(Votes: National Party 44.03% -4.39 Electorate Votes National 46.18% -5.74
Labour Party 36.62% +13.98 Electorate Votes Labour 33.51% +4.38)
The Greens got a very low party and electorate vote. It looks as if they were the very people prepared to look at and do the things that needed to be done for the electorate. So the voters there have not been prepared to do politics for what they needed, but have played the political football game, voting for their favourite personality and to gain personal advantage.
Gisborne is in the Maori electorate of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti held by Meka Whaitiri MP.
properties and houses and vehicles?
What is Anne Tolley saying that Gisborne should be getting? What did her National Party cohorts do to see that the area was doing to be prepared for climate change and its effects? Is the regional council saying anything:
Just what help and remedial work is available from the Gisborne authorities who should be accepting responsibility for enabling this situation to arise?
If I have flotsam layered on my property and heavy rain flushes it onto the road and against neighbouring houses would I be excused or would I face penalties??
“What bothers me is that I get linked in with them,” Allen said. “People who have been accused by 20 women, 50 women, 100 women of abuse, and abuse, and abuse, and I, who was only accused by one woman, in a child custody case, which was looked at, and proven to be untrue, I get lumped in with these people.”
Another rort shows up in the Private Training Establishments (PTEs) market for international students. Staff taking English language exams for students, when they fail to keep up with course requirements another provider is found by an “Agent”. There needs to be an inquiry into the whole rotten PTE sector.
There needs to be an inquiry into the whole rotten PTE sector.
True but I think the entire PTE sector needs to be shut down. It’s causing far more problems than it’s worth. In fact, from what I’m seeing, the whole thing is a rort.
The work is shit, even the photo to illustrate the story shows a worker crouching to pick kiwis under the trellis while carrying up to 20 kgs in the front basket. Ask any body who has done this work and the result is of severe back pain and ongoing problems for months. . Where is Workplace Safety?
What the stupid industry doesn’t realise is that the quest workers all have social media networks warning about how bad the job is.
I was particularly interested in these comments from the article
Government welfarism is very corrosive. The kiwifruit industry received over $25 million of taxpayer money to combat the PSA virus several years ago.
The radio interviewer asked the kiwifruit spokesman why they don’t just pay higher wages to attract more local workers. He replied that this would reduce the number of workers available to other kiwifruit growers in the area. They would end up competing with each other for workers. They would all end up having to pay higher wages.
That sounds like a ‘carousel’ cartel. What goes around, comes around though.
I remember hearing about a fixed price mentality by farmers in one country or state.in a certain area, to screw the landless workers down. There it would be a death or injury retaliation by neighbouring farmers who would react to someone changing the ‘traditional’ payment rates. Very nasty, very cold-blooded.
Modern day form is by using ‘labour hire contractors’, who end up a few companies controlling the unskilled labour for hundreds of different companies in an area, whether is rural or urban. You cant go down the road for more money as its the same or similar labour hire company offering the same wage rates.
Mmmm. There is always some new way to make an IED that will destroy the unions and workers’ hopes, if they don’t do that themselves by injudicious actions not in their own best interests.
All Kiwifruit growers should double the wages they pay labour during good times and like Henry Ford did in 1914, reap the benefits.
“On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, introduced a minimum wage scale of $5 per day, more than doubling the wages for most employees. He also offered profit sharing to employees who lived a clean lifestyle, reduced the daily worker’s shift to eight hours from nine and declared that no employee would “be discharged except for proved unfaithfulness or irremediable inefficiency.”
The New York Times described Ford’s decision as “one of the most remarkable business moves of his entire remarkable career,” which included the development of the Model T and using a moving assembly line in his factories.
James Couzens, the Ford treasurer, said: “It is our belief that social justice begins at home. We want those who have helped us to produce this great institution and are helping to maintain it to share our prosperity. We want them to have present profits and future prospects. … Believing as we do, that a division of our earnings between capital and labor is unequal, we have sought a plan of relief suitable for our business.”
The wage increase, which became national news, fostered good will for Ford, who was generally praised in nonbusiness circles for his generosity toward his workers. His primary motivation for the wage increase, however, was economic. Ford hoped to reduce the company’s high turnover rate and retain its best employees. The increased cost of wages was offset by increased production and decreased training programs and other costs associated with hiring new employees. Furthermore, the wage increase provided Ford employees with enough money to purchase Ford automobiles, which further increased the company’s sales.
However, some business leaders and journalists criticized Ford for what they perceived as social welfare policies; The Wall Street Journal wrote that he brought “biblical or spiritual principles into a field where they do not belong.” In the end, Ford’s business goals were realized and his wage increase had its intended effect: turnover declined sharply, and profits doubled to $60 million from $30 million from 1914 to 1916.”
Reliable kiwifruit workers climbing over each other to get a spot in a gang come harvest time has got to be a huge load off growers’ minds. They can get on with growing rather than being Human Relations depts.
Someone needs to tell Bridges, Collins, Bennett et al that if they play their cards right they too can be asked by a Labour government to lead an inquiry into labour relations:
Goods and Services would be categorized, and all participating firms would have the options of joining associations/guilds for these – this would carry benefits. Firstly this would involve branding. 40% volume, 60% number of firms, would have democratic say in forming inspector services that operate industry wide in establishing the range of standards that apply to the significant chain factors involved in that good or service (much like is already done today). These seals would then be sold as part of the brands, to the local population – part of this would of course be the various labour condition standards of local employment that make up the respective brand to the local consumer. Forms of unions, except being specialised labour supply firms/businesses, could be part of this. Intra-association disputes that arise in this area would have mechanism for resolution and mediation via parliament. These bodies would vote among themselves also for representation of their association.
Modern Jubilee Economics.
The populace wold be issued complimentary currency, calibrated to some ratio of economic indices of the economy (some would be better than others but within reason, all would do approx. the same job). This currency would only be legal tender for goods and services of participating NZ associations of the above. The Govt. would redeem the firms with national currency to the value of the goods and services paid for. This govt. debt would be met (& written off) by the value of goods and services created and consumed the following year by the complimentary currency. This is the jubilee function.
Parliamentary representation.
Over the 3 year election period, the proportions of complimentary currency that go to the participating business associations as described above, would determine what share of parliamentary seats is automatically allocated to that association, out of the third of parliamentary seats total that they automatically receive.
Finally all referendums would be binding, with every govt, required to undertake a small number every year, preferably by or developing the digital & secure low cost approach know how to do so in the process with their citizenry. The terms of these referendums would always be supplied by the govt. of the day and could be used however it chooses.
And that friends, would sort out the majority of the confused & dum stuff in a practical self-governing way capable of greater co-operation and equilibrium in sustainable outcomes across the board, for a varied, complicated and technological societal construct that has exceeded the ability of just political democracy to rationally manage alone.
No Right Turn has the most comprehensive intelligent column on the Government’s decision to ban future oil explanation. Well worth a read. The Opposition clamour about the lack of Cabinet Paper but NRT says:
“The documents on the government’s supposed ban on new offshore oil exploration have been released. A few thoughts:
-The issue of the decision bypassing Cabinet (which prompted this from me this morning) may have been oversold a little. The initial briefing on the issue notes that “officials have previously recommended that prior to any decision, an oral item is tabled with Cabinet”. …”
The AM Show good morning I say there should be equality for te Papatuanukue ladies sports stars.
Ruaumoko is going off in Guatemala see we are like skin cells on a blue whale compared to Papatuanukue we need to show her more respect what’s so wrong with haveing a culture that puts the environment and the mokos future first.
Many thanks to Te business that are going to follow the Green party lead to lower there plastic use and use bio degradable plastic .
Home many times did shonky call the moves of national when he was in parliament we need to save te maui dolphins an all animals and stop drilling for oil
. I still say that the biggest why for Aotearoa to lower our carbon footprint is to subsidiseing secondhand elictric cars this will help the poor people as well.
See this is how a intelligent assertive humane government runs housing Corp ask the right question make the right calls
Duncan you know I can see right through you. Ka kite ano P.S
The AM Show I know that they are pressing you to use these topics just like they force the Rock radio station to play crappie sounds all part of there obsession intimidation on ECO MAORI . Ka kite ano
House Corp Pukekohe is not liserning to my Daughter and just putting fence and gates in the wrong place logicaly one would put a fence and gate so that both doors to the house are behind the safety gates one in the right place but the one by the alleyway is in the wrong place and they won’t listen to my Daughter advice WTF. KA KITE ANO
This opinion smells of the carbon industry $$$$$$$$$ putting there hip pocket before the future small minded men who cannot see thurther than there own lives muppets. Link below
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
ByKoroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes.Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Professor in Modern History, University of New England Bunker.Image courtesy of Michael Leunig, CC BY-NC-SA Michael Leunig – who died in the early hours of Thursday December 19, surrounded by “his children, loved ones, and sunflowers” – was the ...
The House - On Parliament's last day of the year, there was the rare occurrence of a personal (conscience) vote on selling booze over the Easter weekend. While it didn't have the numbers to pass, it was a chance to get a rare glimpse of the fact ...
A new poem by Holly Fletcher. bejeweled log i was dreaming about wasps / wee darlings that followed me / ducking under objects / that i was fated to pickup / my fingers seeking / and meeting with tiny proboscis’s / but instead / i wake up / roll sideways ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Versta/Shutterstock Australians are exposed to some of the highest levels of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the world. While we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Terry, Professor of Business Regulation, University of Sydney Michael von Aichberger/Shutterstock Even if you’ve no idea how the business model underpinning franchises works, there’s a good chance you’ve spent money at one. Franchising is essentially a strategy for cloning ...
If something big is going to happen in Ferndale, it’s going to happen at Christmas. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If there’s one episode of Shortland Street you should watch each year, it’s the annual Christmas cliffhanger. The final episode of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William A. Stoltz, Lecturer and expert Associate, National Security College, Australian National University US President-elect Donald Trump has named most of the members of his proposed cabinet. However, he’s yet to reveal key appointees to America’s powerful cyber warfare and intelligence institutions. ...
Announcing the top 10 books of the the year at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $37) The phenomenal Irish writer is the unsurprising chart topper for 2024 with her fourth novel that, much like her first ...
And pigs will fly.
Vague threats of legal action are being made by the oil industry against the government, over the ending of new block offers.
This pig of course will never get off the ground
However….,
If the CPTPP was enacted, which would give overseas corporations the right to sue and for foreign tribunals to over-rule government decisions, such vaguely muttered threats might have some real currency.
The oil industry’s losses from shale are endless. Not surprising they would want to mine our seabed, especially when NZ asks for a fraction of the royalties other nations charge.
https://youtu.be/E_He0650klE
Yep, paltry royalties and they can’t even make Mobil clean up the tank farm.
Still giving away free water too. Anyone would think everyone in this country is already a millionaire with a stash of cash to burn, the way our government gives away public resources to private offshore and onshore businesses…
Perhaps that explains the haste to put through the ban before they make the CPTPP official??
Think they can still sue after it is through. God help us.
Do you think they could sue successfully, though?
Where in the text does it say that the ISDS applies retrospectively?
When the court is stacked with the mates of the business and there is no higher court to appeal to they could still likely lose even though the case might seem rock solid.
It will be a rigged court that is far from independent.
Ok.
How is the ISDS panel “stacked with the mates of the business”, according to the treaty?
Re: stacked. I recall reading something couple of years ago to that affect.
Something about appointed panels?
The text is online.
Fell free to find something more substantive than “I recall reading something”.
What haste are you actually talking about?
No Right Turn, who is usually pretty accurate on his facts says that no ban has been introduced and all that has happened is that they had a Press Conference. He is definitely not impressed by the Government behaviour.
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2018/06/government-by-press-conference.html
NRT is an idiot.
https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/permits/petroleum/block-offer/
They dont ‘have to do anything’ thats because cancelling the block offering ( except onshore Taranaki) this year is all they have to do.
https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/permits/petroleum/block-offer/2018/
But isn’t NRT arguing that a Block Offer isn’t the only way that the firms can get permits.
They ca, if I am reading him correctly arguing that they can simply request a permit for an area and it has to be assessed under the existing rules.
Is his second half of his post wrong in your opinion?
Difference between prospecting and exploration!
Exploration or drilling can only occur in areas where you have won a block offer tender ( which includes your exploration program)
Seismic surveys are prospecting but just give geologic data.
Example is this ‘prospecting permit’ application by Sclumberger last year for offshore Taranaki
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11702338
details of ‘ prospecting’ blocks here
http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/permitwebmaps?commodity=petroleum
The permit number was 60409.01:
Petroleum Prospecting Permit
Operator SCHLUMBERGER NEW ZEALAND LIMITED
Owner(s) SCHLUMBERGER NEW ZEALAND LIMITED
Location Taranaki Basin
Operation
Status Active
Grant on 28/11/2017
Commence on 28/11/2017
Duration 2 years 0 months
Expiry on 27/11/2019
Area 18705.065 SQKM
Mineral(s) Conventional Petroleum (excluding coal seam gas and gas hydrates)
Remember this is prospecting via seismic survey, yes the ships that trial air guns, not drilling.
Thank you for your comments.
I shall endeavour to digest it.
Just because NRT quotes the Crown Minerals Act- – he thinks that makes him an expert .
he’s totally ignorant of the regulations that go with the Minerals Act which regulate the detail of the applications
http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/our-industry/rules-regulations/petroleum-programme-2013.pdf
(5) As provided for in clause 7.2(1), all petroleum exploration permits (PEPs) will be granted by way of Petroleum Exploration Permit Rounds. Accordingly, until an area is offered in a Permit Round, that area is only available for permitting for petroleum prospecting permits (PPPs;)
PEP . Petroleum Exploration Permit
7.2 Competitive allocation
(1) All PEPs will be allocated competitively by way of Petroleum Exploration Permit Rounds.
Two methods of competitive allocation may be used:
(a) staged work programme bidding
(b) cash bonus bidding
Its important to distinguish ‘prospecting’ and ‘exploration’
For oil, prospecting usually means seismic surveys often done speculatively with the data on sold to majors which bid for ‘exploration’ or what would be normally called ‘drilling’
A bit of info back in 2016 when oil prices dropped and oil ‘prospecting’ was less attractive to the speculators
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11702338
Let’s brush off that CPTPP Investor-State Dispute Service and see how it feels in practice!
Existing exploration rights arent affected. Cant sue if you havent lost anything.
All that has happened is no new areas were offered up for bids at auction.!
The normal process is to offer selected areas , not all areas, for oil companies to bid for , as usual highest or any bid not necessarily accepted.
> Cant sue if you havent lost anything.
Well, you can have a go, just that you might not win…
A.
“…Vague threats of legal action are being made by the oil industry…”
Well, it works for Talley’s.
Non meat meat, oil. Both industries under serious threat from destroyed demand. The more they asked for their products, the more they risk demand disappearing to alternatives. The only way they now maintain their markets is to monopolize and delay new inevitable entrances. Of course geared up managers and investors move to the new industries, leaving the lazy to squeeze existing demand to maintain profits. Note the rush of old meat into our supermarkets, tasteless stomach cramping. Atleast the oil sector can increase biofuels to our daily fuel. Farming animals for meat, so twentieth century.
Worked for an Arab sheik too ,compliments of McCully.
Saudi businessmen do well
PR piece about bridges path to becoming PM on stuff today. How they can write this with a straight face is beyond me. Continuing the meme that the greens will drop under 5%
It’s by Liam Hehir. Stuff has stopped bothering to remind their readers he’s aligned with the National Party.
It seems to me they are all following the mantra:
never say you are or have been CLOSELY associated with the national party.
Farrar
Hehir
Hooten
…..
Was listening to radio on weekened, they had Mike Williams , decribed as former labour party president, which is true enough, but the ‘other side’ was Vernon Tava who was just called a ‘business broker’, when he should be described as national party activist as he tried to get Northcote nomination.
Seeing as the Greens have announced their coalition wins (thus have nothing foreseeable to pull out of their hat going forward) coupled with their downwards trend in the polls and the fact they tend to poll higher than what they secure on election day, there is a very real chance they may not make the threshold come next election.
I happened to catch Garner’s so-called interview with Bridges on the AM Show this morning via Facebook (I don’t really watch telly). If that’s been the level of rigorous questioning by Garner to date I’m surprised Bridges isn’t on about 80% preferred PM rating.
But Scott Garner would rather have Bridges skip all that fuss and go straight to Sir Simon.
DHBs are still keen to progress work on the funding of community pharmacies with the aim of having some pharmacies that no longer dispense medicines, and even of having medication delivered directly to patients.
What does this mean? Would there be my visit to the doctor but no pharmacy to pick up my prescription?
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/06/04/112759/some-pharmacies-may-stop-dispensing-drugs?preview=1
There are a number of pharmacy providers now that utilise robots to dispense for rest homes and seem new companies that are setting up similar services to supply direct to the general public as per below.
https://www.zoomhealth.co.nz
Not sure how well it’ll go in NZ.
Thanks Stunned Mullet. At the moment I leave the doctor with my prescription and the nearby pharmacy fills it. Surely that would be cheaper than paying a courier to do so?
(Must admit my concern with the pharmacy is the huge number of questionable health remedies on sale. Unproven. Quack.)
Much better if the doctor came to you because:
1. It would actually cut down on resources (Time, fuel, car parking) used
2. It would decrease the spread of disease
But, of course, the doctor wouldn’t be carrying a huge stock of drugs. Then the same two reasons for delivering the drugs to you work as well.
Home-visits work in some regards (e.g. rest homes), but your time/fuel/parking issues get flipped onto the doctor.
Not to mention the commute time between patients, when the doctor could actually be treating the next patient in the doctor’s office.
Not to mention some meds held on site in controlled conditions (e.g. vaccines), the capability to accommodate casual but semi-urgent walk-ins, and being assured of clinically-appropriate conditions and facilities (privacy, warmth, good hygiene facilities).
But back to the original subject, pharmacist advice for me has been most useful not so much to second-guess the doctor’s advice (although part of the pharma’s role is to catch contra-indicated meds), but to provide additional information and clarification while picking up the meds. I don’t see how that would work with drone delivery of drugs to my door, or why I would go to a pharmacist without picking up more drugs.
“(although part of the pharma’s role is to catch contra-indicated meds)”
That is the bit I would really hate to lose. I was once prescribed a drug that wasn’t meant to be given with another I had been taking.
They weren’t prescribed at the same time but the pharmacist picked it up (I always go to the same one) and he called the Doctor immediately.
The prescription was changed.
Only once and quite a long time ago but I really like that second check from someone.
Absolutely agreed on that one Alwyn. Have had a similar experience. The final check by someone with good training and knowledge is, to me at least, very important. Contra-indications can be killers. As people age they take more meds, and their bodies become less tolerant and more susceptible to drug use conflicts. This is one area where robotics (or AI really) are not appropriate.
As many if not most lists to primary care are for non infectious ailments your rationale for number 2 doesn’t hold.
Also as the vast amount of primary care in NZ is chock-a-block I don’t see how the poor old GPs would be able to schedule in travel to the patient in their schedule as well.
Yes I’d think you’re correct about cheaper for you xian – where I suspect it’s leading is to a cheaper contact between certain providers of these services and DHBs as there are quite specific fee structures in place at the moment between pharmacy and the various DHBs to do with markups, dispensing fees part charges etc.
There sis also the issue that many patients don’t pick up their scripts and when they do their compliance can still be poor.
ianmac: you’re not talking about paracetamol are you? “questionable health remedies on sale. Unproven. Quack” Or are you recalling the wonders of thalidomide?
Those pharmaceutical companies can be real scalliwags at flicking dubious remedies into the public arena in the hope of making a quick buck…
Dhbs direct to patients. IRD direct to taxpayers. All part of the scheme to technologise our world and turn us into individual, separate and anomic beings.
Heil Thatcher and her repetition of ‘There is no such thing as society.’ They are all bitches coming along on that line, male and female, it is a gender-free scathing term these days.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/83167317/anne-salmond-the-idea-theres-no-such-thing-as-society-is-extremely-damaging
No doubt accountants and lawyers will become extinct. In effect just Google it or feed the data into your computer and by-pass those experts. Carried to extremes and we will become so self sufficient, shops will become extinct also and we all will be hermits. Not very sociable. Even sheep enjoy their society.
When I’m calling ewe-oooo-oooo!
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87bUBB-rwFc
Or
from Bagdad Cafe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCLpLWcX2cg
Where will we be without having to deal with each others’ foibles? It’s a fable that DTB has below. We need to have a reason to get and about, meet and greet each other, some job that takes us out of ourselves.
Actually, I think we could use it to be a better community. To get rid of jobs and decrease overwork so that people have more time to socialise.
The problem is that the government are still trying to maintain capitalism.
I think you might be overthinking it.
Looks like someone has been lobbying hard, another big Aussie company trying to elbow their way into the NZ market?
I can’t see pharmacies surviving without prescriptions, they’d lose too much of their revenue. A lot of their retail sales are to people calling in for scripts and buying something else while they’re there.
Oh dear, how sad, never mind.
We really shouldn’t be keeping things around for nostalgia.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/104439499/dozens-of-auckland-prison-guards-call-in-sick-after-organised-violence-from-gang-member-inmates
Wheres Kelvin Davis when you need him…actually where is Kelvin Davis?
I guess that’s the downside of putting so many gang members in prison. They start to organise themselves.
I know right, if only there was someway to ensure less gang member went to prison
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2018/06/the_danger_for_the_government_with_repealing_three_strikes.html
Well now, I think there is. Decent socially conscious policy, proper funding of educational programs, support for communities, tenancy reform to help stabilise communities, warm and dry homes, properly funded and maintained social housing stock, etc, etc…..
Its a nice dream
Not a dream PR. It’s made problematic only by your refusal to pay up.
“It’s made problematic only by your refusal to pay up”
Meaning?
The things Muttonbird mentions cost money. Cheaper to throw the poor end of town under the bus.
I don’t know how much money you think I make but I assure you I can’t pay for it all by myself
> Decent socially conscious policy, proper funding of educational programs, support for communities, tenancy reform to help stabilise communities, warm and dry homes, properly funded and maintained social housing stock, etc, etc…..
This all sounds great, and we should do it, but right now we have a bunch of bad guys committing crimes, and we need to do something separate about that too. Because ‘proper funding of educational programs’ is not going to change people who have already gone off the rails.
The prison system is going to need to find ways of dealing with gang members. We don’t want to end up like http://www.dw.com/en/several-killed-in-brazil-prison-gang-battle-dozens-escape/a-41993148
A.
It’s not a Serco prison. Davis won’t be interested.
Oh come now Kelvin Davis cares a lot about prison officers I’m sure he’ll be onto this quick smart 🙂
These stories are becoming a regular occurence…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/104443483/business-fined-81000-for-selling-dangerous-baby-bath-toy
I know business doesn’t get much sympathy on this site but I thought maybe it would offend our sense of justice and fairness. There is so much wrong with that story. When did our justice system turn so vindictive and nasty?
I see no problem. The fine should stand. They sold a small kids’ toy that was dangerous to small children.
A.
Ahem, they sold a product that was allegedly, or potentially, dangerous to small children. There’s no fact in that, no children were harmed.
The fine is out of proportion to the crime. They’re bankrupting people for what are really just errors in judgement that anyone can make. They haven’t shown any malice, negligence or intent by the sellers, it’s simply a highly subjective determination followed by a whopping great big fine.
The real message from this, and other similar recent cases, is that anyone contemplating starting up a small business is only a mistep away from being hauled in front of a judge and bankrupted. Seems like business is only for the rich who can afford the expensive lawyers to check every item they sell for compliance.
They do pick and choose what businesses are targeted.
Fine does seem nuts.
Yeah, I don’t have any issues with the process it’s the punishment that’s wrong. By all means prosecute and fine but be reasonable about it.
Some other similar cases, keep in mind that in each one the business owner was of limited means and either bankrupted or at least almost certainly left in desperate financial straits;
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/103878275/botched-asbestos-removal-job-results-in-35k-fine-for-retired-tradie
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/103868117/south-auckland-company-fined-35000-for-selling-unsafe-toy-set
“WorkSafe fine ‘will put company under’ says owner ”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11979174
Why should a business which is operating below standard be allowed to continue?
The law isn’t there to protect the business but to protect the general populace from the poor actions of business.
You need to get that chip off your shoulder Draco. I work for myself and I make no apologies for it, nor do I need to justify it to the likes of you.
Most people in business are the same, we do our best to trade honestly, safely and fairly while still being mindful of the fact we’re capable of making mistakes the same as anyone else. Genuine criminals don’t get fines that high, where’s the justice in it?
Negligence kills.
That asbestos job put the tradie, his employee, and everyone in the area at risk.
The tree-trimmer almost killed a woman through negligence.
And choking on foreign objects other than food sends a dozen kids to hospital every year, and sometimes they die.
The reason there’s not more is because we have regulations that have teeth. The teeth you’re complaining about.
And as usual you ignore the substance of my argument which is that the punishment should fit the crime. But then no punishment for being in business is harsh enough for you is it Draco. Should we all be lined up & shot, would that satisfy you?
Why are you calling McFlock Draco?
I’m not Draco.
The punishment does fit the crime. This is literally a life and death issue, with crimes being committed in the cold light of reason and business sense. The sentence needs to be a deterrent to all.
The worst thing we could do is have a token fine that simply becomes a cost of doing business when you’re finally caught, or a trivial cost that nobody takes note of.
The best example was when a local business was sued for $60k-70k because somebody slipped and broke their arm – the upteenth person to do so, and the business had been slow to respond.
Within days of the judgement, every pedestrian grate and ramped walkway around town was getting rails and slapped with non-slip paint. It was pretty funny, but it showed the punitive approach worked in that situation.
People with comprehension and impulse-control issues don’t really think ahead of much in the way of deterrents. But business managers are always making a cost/benefit analysis.
Except that you do.
All of the people I’ve met in business have been less than honest, try to cheat taxes and safety regulations and their mistakes have always been the result of that cheating.
In other words, they’ve all been genuine criminals.
Yep apologies there Draco, and to McFlock I was seeing something that wasn’t there…. thought me and Draco were headed for a good argument…
The point of the last one McFlock was the discrepancy. The victim was awarded $18k and the court pocketed $90k for itself.
The rest had no victims, only potential ones and the judgement on that was highly subjective. We’re all placing people at risk, we do that every time we jump in the car.
The court didn’t pocket $90k, any more than the officer issuing a speeding infringement pockets the cash.
“Potential” victims including the employee or neighbours who might get asbestosis in twenty years, or a child who might choke to death on pieces from one of the 4,000 unrecovered toys.
And more importantly, the potential victims of every cut-rate importer who sees the penalty and double-checks the safey of their containerload of shite.
So you’d be happy with an $80k fine every time you’re caught speeding would you McFlock?
I mean, you’d be risking people lives and an $80k fine would deter others from speeding so that would all be good, right? Who cares about justice, lets make an example of those nasty speeders.
The prospect of an 80k fine would certainly ensure I’m always consciously under the limit, not just assuming that I’m probably under it.
“The prospect of an 80k fine would certainly ensure I’m always consciously under the limit, not just assuming that I’m probably under it.”
No it wouldn’t. Every now and then you’d have a lapse in concentration and nudge that speedo over the limit. It’s human frailty, we’re all subject to it.
But any lapses would certainly be less frequent and less serious.
The old “human frailty” argument to allow negligent behaviour is bullshit. It’s an excuse to let people keep dying. And not a single instance you raised is approaching the complexity of driving a car: everything occurred in a timeframe set by the guilty people, the preventive measures did not require immediate reflexes to resolve, and all hazards were known well in advance.
FFS, isolating the fall area for things you are working at height with is the first basic step in every situation. Signage to make people aware of the hazard is the second.
Sure the tree guy had manuals, but he obviously hadn’t made it clear to staff they should be followed. He never visited a site to find that staff member breaking the rules before? The first time a safety-conscious staff member makes an elementary mistake, someone gets hospitalised for 6 days (and they don’t do that for fun)? Bullshit. The odds are miniscule. If he didn’t set a bad example himself, the owner must have seen his employees at worksites without adequate signage and isolation before, and done next to nothing.
Spending money or time on paperwork isn’t a substitute for making sure that people stick to it. WTF was one employee felling a tree alone for, anyway? Who was going to call for help if it landed on his own stupid head?
I’m not knocking the system McFlock, only the size of the fines. They are beyond punitive, they admit the fines are intended for deterrence and IMHO they’re too high even for that. Look at what the Commerce Commission demanded on that first one, they wanted fines of over $200k. That’s pretty spiteful.
I mentioned the tree case because the victim was the one harmed and the system has taken the lions share of the cash. It suggests a high degree of vindictiveness on the part of lawmakers, they appear to care more about punishment than they do about the victim(s).
Which is simply another way of saying that the system recognises the current victims, but also cares about deterring people from creating victims in the future.
“Which is simply another way of saying that the system recognises the current victims, but also cares about deterring people from creating victims in the future.”
The court cases tend to suggest otherwise do they not? If the fines really did deter we wouldn’t be seeing any court cases.
At the heart of it to me is the basic tenets of justice and fairness and this is way out of balance IMO. We’re not in the nineteenth century, putting people in stocks should be a thing of the past.
I’ll leave it here where we look to agree to disagree, I’ve run my course on it. Cheers.
Men. I’m just glad that people are being fined for toys that might become choking hazards, rather than issuing recalls after a dozen injuries or deaths.
“All of the people I’ve met in business have been less than honest, try to cheat taxes and safety regulations and their mistakes have always been the result of that cheating.”
You’re mixing with the wrong crowd I think Draco. Certainly business has more than its share of rogues but it’s not that bad. I’d opine the worst offenders are the salaried executives who sacrifice ethics for career.
I’ve worked for many businesses across many industries.
Cash jobs so they don’t have to put it through the books and pay tax.
Miss a safety precaution here or there so as to save money. Hey, nobody’s going to know right?
All business people are the same – they’re all crooked.
with a comment like that Draco, you are a fuckwit of the highest order.
“All of the people I’ve met in business have been less than honest”
So every person you have ever met ‘in business’ have been dishonest about their business?
That is so broad as to be completely meaningless.
Company pleaded guilty. Judgement with reasoning is here: https://www.comcom.govt.nz/dmsdocument/16243
Missing from this delightful rally is any information about whether said child toy was labelled as being unsuitable for kids under a certain age.
If it was – that’s a parent responsibility issue. That toy should not have been acquired in any household with kids under the safe age. Or for any older kids still known to be at that sucky stage.
A dozen kids a year go to hospital having ingested foreign items – and so many of those items are NOT ‘toys’: lids/caps, batteries, buttons, beads, pebbles. And those are the usual items.
Some dopey person BOUGHT that item. No one menaced them into buying it. If it was a gift – is there no responsible parent around to say, ‘That’s lovely! Thank you! When child is older we’ll let them have it.’?
If the thing was imported – is there no one locally, with a brain, who actually knows the rules of the game and slaps on a safety sticker?
Or is it easier to kvetch and go to court to ‘make an example to discourage others’?
On asbestos: wasn’t there, myself, but do we actually have enough tradies backed with safe disposal places for this naturally occuring element? If we do – that’s truly amazing in this over-regulated and under-resourced nation.
> Missing from this delightful rally is any information about whether said child toy was labelled as being unsuitable for kids under a certain age.
It’s right there in the article: “On the back of the package was a warning that the toy was not suitable for children 3 years old due to it presenting a choking hazard.”
Nevertheless, the toy is clearly intended for small children.
A.
Antoine there needs to be some realism injected into this, people can take too much for granted. The verdict is fact, guilt is not.
This was a case brought under the Fair Trading Act. It’s not a criminal case, the company was charged not the person. The penalty was a fine. While the Commerce Commission might crow about their victory the reality is that the defendant likely pled guilty because it was the only practical option for them. No-one was personally facing a criminal conviction, it’s effectively a civil case and those are nearly always about the money.
When small/med businesses face prosecution by the Commerce Commission they’re on a hiding to nothing. You can’t fight them, they’ve got deeper pockets that you. They’re the ultimate bully. An $80k fine is harsh but still the least expensive option, why spend half a $million defending the charges when it gains you nothing? You’d just end up $500k poorer instead of $80k.
I’ll bet the legal advise small/med business people receive in these cases is to plead guilty, mitigate the fine down as much as possible and get on with their life.
So, while people might get all judgemental over what they read in the ‘paper keep in mind it’s only one side of the story.
Of course one never knows the true facts when a story appears in the media, I can only judge on what I read.
If the toy was in fact a choking hazard then I don’t have much sympathy for the vendor.
A.
Making sure that your products dont harm people should be a basic rule of business.
They get no sympathy from me.
KJT
I think that the correct way to deal with this is that the government should bring in some sensible regulations, which would be policed. The problem is that now government punishes as a control, it doesn’t proactively sort out the crap so that it doesn’t reach us at all. These regulations would also come with inspectors who would actively make sure that dross didn’t get into NZ, eg electrical fittings would be to our specifications, goods would be fit for purpose.
At present it is virtually open slather, people are exposed to shoddy goods and their injurious effects. Then if we are lucky, the government steps in and makes a big thing of hammering the dealer, but gummint has encouraged or enabled the shonky system themselves.
We see this with this toy, we see this with the biological infiltration of nasties we pay large to deal with, with overseas students being rorted by agents that government refuses to regulate and certify as reputable protecting students that trust our country’s good name! They have brought about the collapse of the CTV building and the farce of dealing with an engineer’s falsification, with the collapse of the Pike mine and falsities and lies connected with that, with the steel that is munted, the houses that are munted through leaky whatever, shoddy stuff encouraged by government not having reasonable standards, regulation, inspections.
The toy is just another part of a shonky system that was being run by virtual criminals and con-men and Labour has to act decisively to separate themselves from it, or themselves be considered part of the despicable gang. Has there ever been a class action by a large group of people in a small country against the deliberate destruction of a brand built up over a century as NZ’s has? Would Coca cola sit quietly while its brand worth so much, was skewed and besmirched like this?
This comes back to my idea that nothing be introduced to the market until such time as it has been thoroughly tested and regulated.
That’s the way business likes it and how we ended up with the ‘legal highs’ fiasco.
“the government should bring in some sensible regulations, which would be policed”
Which this conviction is already an example of.
No, it’s an example of the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff type regulation that lets the dangerous shit through. We need to catch this sort of product before it hits the shelves.
Break the law and you face the consequences or at least should
The latest in John Maudlin’s series….
“I think this scenario is unlikely, but it points to something else. As the coming debt crisis matures, national leaders and central bankers will find their choices narrowing. I’m constantly amazed at their creativity, but it has limits. They can’t kick the can down the road forever. At some point, the road ends and then they have to choose. When your only choices are “impossible” and “terrible,” then you pick the latter. We are going to see previously unthinkable ideas be seriously considered, and sometimes chosen, because all other options are even worse.”
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/94116/john-mauldin-continues-his-train-crash-series-examining-his-thesis-we-are-heading
roads of national significance
Pat
That is interesting and good reading. Like one of the crime novels I like so much (I tend to like the golden age ones though). You have to follow the story closely, look for clues, be aware of inconsistencies, wonder about people’s cover stories.
I will read it all and go back to the other three.
I found this piece about parallel currency for Italy quite riveting. Necessity is the mother of invention they say. It might work to pull them (us?) out of the power of world currency exigencies. (I can’t remember just what that means, but when talking about world finances one can’t be too precise anyway.)
The BOT is Italy’s Treasury bill, and as in the US, it serves as a kind of cash equivalent in electronic trading. The mini-BOT would be a government debt instrument, in paper form, that pays zero interest and never matures. The government would use it to pay social benefits and accept it for tax payments. Private businesses would not be required to accept it, but they could.
Private businesses and individuals would also, in theory, buy the mini-BOT as a way to pay their taxes. But they would buy them at a discount. So, traders would immediately set up an arbitrage where the person getting the social benefits payment could sell them for euros for, call it, a 5% or 10% haircut.
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is still a force in Italy, insists this would be legal. The Northern League sees a way to ease the transition out of the euro and the Five-Star Movement sees a way to increase spending without having to take on euro debt. And since the new coalition government wants to increase the deficit an additional $180 billion euros or so through a combination of tax cuts and increased spending, this is being seriously proposed.
Fancy Berlusconi still being around. Is that equivalent to Bill Clinton popping up here and there. Latest goss is that he has written a book which is a thriller based on cyber attack on the White House.
By the way Mauldin. Though maudlin is funny.
Lol…Freudian slip….genuinely read it as Maudlin
Tractor hacking (farmers respond to John Deer monopolising diagnostic software in their tractors to extort thousands more out of the farmers).
https://youtu.be/F8JCh0owT4w
I see David Farrar is in a full scaremonger assault today with some questionable statistics
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2018/06/the_danger_for_the_government_with_repealing_three_strikes.html
What did he say that was wrong?
A.
Whose responsibility is it to clear the logs away that have come down on people’s
homes, farms. livelihoods? What has the Regional Council come forward with?
What responsibility have they accepted for allowing logging to go ahead with little or no final clearing, cleaning up work, remedial work such as terracing, replanting?
Gisborne is in East Coast electorate held by National and Anne Tolley is MP.
(Votes: National Party 44.03% -4.39 Electorate Votes National 46.18% -5.74
Labour Party 36.62% +13.98 Electorate Votes Labour 33.51% +4.38)
The Greens got a very low party and electorate vote. It looks as if they were the very people prepared to look at and do the things that needed to be done for the electorate. So the voters there have not been prepared to do politics for what they needed, but have played the political football game, voting for their favourite personality and to gain personal advantage.
Gisborne is in the Maori electorate of Ikaroa-Rāwhiti held by Meka Whaitiri MP.
properties and houses and vehicles?
What is Anne Tolley saying that Gisborne should be getting? What did her National Party cohorts do to see that the area was doing to be prepared for climate change and its effects? Is the regional council saying anything:
News from Gisborne:
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/nightmare-morning-for-gisborne-after-heavy-flooding/ar-AAydZxH (about civil defence)
https://www.indiannewslink.co.nz/torrential-rain-lashes-new-zealand-more-on-the-way/ (Has interest information involving Indians)
https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/tolaga-bay-whanau-airlifted-roof-after-flooding (roads closed)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/358888/more-rain-on-the-way-for-tolaga-bay
(Excellent aerial image showing large logging waste are an obvious cause for much of the damage, and the muddy water indicates bare land left vulnerable to erosion)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/104442700/flooding-turned-a-tolaga-bay-bridge-to-logs-more-heavy-rain-gales-and-even-snow-is-coming
(Lots of videos – but note – they start running before being clicked and I couldn’t find where to turn off).
This is a link to a report from MPI I put up yesterday that forms part of the base information that permissions for logging have been based on.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04-06-2018/#comment-1490386
Just what help and remedial work is available from the Gisborne authorities who should be accepting responsibility for enabling this situation to arise?
If I have flotsam layered on my property and heavy rain flushes it onto the road and against neighbouring houses would I be excused or would I face penalties??
The sheer…chutzpah on this guy is impressive
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12064447
‘Former US President Bill Clinton says the #MeToo movement is overdue. Just don’t ask him about Monica Lewinsky.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_sexual_misconduct_allegations
Well could be trumped by this guy i suppose
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/104470095/woody-allen-i-should-be-the-poster-boy-for-metoo-movement
“What bothers me is that I get linked in with them,” Allen said. “People who have been accused by 20 women, 50 women, 100 women of abuse, and abuse, and abuse, and I, who was only accused by one woman, in a child custody case, which was looked at, and proven to be untrue, I get lumped in with these people.”
I could think of a couple of reasons why
Another rort shows up in the Private Training Establishments (PTEs) market for international students. Staff taking English language exams for students, when they fail to keep up with course requirements another provider is found by an “Agent”. There needs to be an inquiry into the whole rotten PTE sector.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018647872
True but I think the entire PTE sector needs to be shut down. It’s causing far more problems than it’s worth. In fact, from what I’m seeing, the whole thing is a rort.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12064199
Shit the bosses won’t like this story
The work is shit, even the photo to illustrate the story shows a worker crouching to pick kiwis under the trellis while carrying up to 20 kgs in the front basket. Ask any body who has done this work and the result is of severe back pain and ongoing problems for months. . Where is Workplace Safety?
What the stupid industry doesn’t realise is that the quest workers all have social media networks warning about how bad the job is.
I was particularly interested in these comments from the article
That sounds like a ‘carousel’ cartel. What goes around, comes around though.
I remember hearing about a fixed price mentality by farmers in one country or state.in a certain area, to screw the landless workers down. There it would be a death or injury retaliation by neighbouring farmers who would react to someone changing the ‘traditional’ payment rates. Very nasty, very cold-blooded.
Modern day form is by using ‘labour hire contractors’, who end up a few companies controlling the unskilled labour for hundreds of different companies in an area, whether is rural or urban. You cant go down the road for more money as its the same or similar labour hire company offering the same wage rates.
Mmmm. There is always some new way to make an IED that will destroy the unions and workers’ hopes, if they don’t do that themselves by injudicious actions not in their own best interests.
All Kiwifruit growers should double the wages they pay labour during good times and like Henry Ford did in 1914, reap the benefits.
“On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, introduced a minimum wage scale of $5 per day, more than doubling the wages for most employees. He also offered profit sharing to employees who lived a clean lifestyle, reduced the daily worker’s shift to eight hours from nine and declared that no employee would “be discharged except for proved unfaithfulness or irremediable inefficiency.”
The New York Times described Ford’s decision as “one of the most remarkable business moves of his entire remarkable career,” which included the development of the Model T and using a moving assembly line in his factories.
James Couzens, the Ford treasurer, said: “It is our belief that social justice begins at home. We want those who have helped us to produce this great institution and are helping to maintain it to share our prosperity. We want them to have present profits and future prospects. … Believing as we do, that a division of our earnings between capital and labor is unequal, we have sought a plan of relief suitable for our business.”
The wage increase, which became national news, fostered good will for Ford, who was generally praised in nonbusiness circles for his generosity toward his workers. His primary motivation for the wage increase, however, was economic. Ford hoped to reduce the company’s high turnover rate and retain its best employees. The increased cost of wages was offset by increased production and decreased training programs and other costs associated with hiring new employees. Furthermore, the wage increase provided Ford employees with enough money to purchase Ford automobiles, which further increased the company’s sales.
However, some business leaders and journalists criticized Ford for what they perceived as social welfare policies; The Wall Street Journal wrote that he brought “biblical or spiritual principles into a field where they do not belong.” In the end, Ford’s business goals were realized and his wage increase had its intended effect: turnover declined sharply, and profits doubled to $60 million from $30 million from 1914 to 1916.”
Reliable kiwifruit workers climbing over each other to get a spot in a gang come harvest time has got to be a huge load off growers’ minds. They can get on with growing rather than being Human Relations depts.
> All Kiwifruit growers should double the wages they pay labour during good times and like Henry Ford did in 1914, reap the benefits.
I doubt the industry is financially viable at that wage rate, given the competition from other producing countries who pay less.
Feel free to prove me wrong though – start growing kiwifruit and pay twice what everyone else does and see how you get on…
A.
50K per hectare. They sound very hard done by Antoine. Maybe they could offer the workers a free sandwich and dispense with nasty money altogether.
Someone needs to tell Bridges, Collins, Bennett et al that if they play their cards right they too can be asked by a Labour government to lead an inquiry into labour relations:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104466802/workplace-shake-up-in-governments-sights–jim-bolger-to-lead-pay-working-group
If i was King post:
Producer/Industry Associations.
Goods and Services would be categorized, and all participating firms would have the options of joining associations/guilds for these – this would carry benefits. Firstly this would involve branding. 40% volume, 60% number of firms, would have democratic say in forming inspector services that operate industry wide in establishing the range of standards that apply to the significant chain factors involved in that good or service (much like is already done today). These seals would then be sold as part of the brands, to the local population – part of this would of course be the various labour condition standards of local employment that make up the respective brand to the local consumer. Forms of unions, except being specialised labour supply firms/businesses, could be part of this. Intra-association disputes that arise in this area would have mechanism for resolution and mediation via parliament. These bodies would vote among themselves also for representation of their association.
Modern Jubilee Economics.
The populace wold be issued complimentary currency, calibrated to some ratio of economic indices of the economy (some would be better than others but within reason, all would do approx. the same job). This currency would only be legal tender for goods and services of participating NZ associations of the above. The Govt. would redeem the firms with national currency to the value of the goods and services paid for. This govt. debt would be met (& written off) by the value of goods and services created and consumed the following year by the complimentary currency. This is the jubilee function.
Parliamentary representation.
Over the 3 year election period, the proportions of complimentary currency that go to the participating business associations as described above, would determine what share of parliamentary seats is automatically allocated to that association, out of the third of parliamentary seats total that they automatically receive.
Finally all referendums would be binding, with every govt, required to undertake a small number every year, preferably by or developing the digital & secure low cost approach know how to do so in the process with their citizenry. The terms of these referendums would always be supplied by the govt. of the day and could be used however it chooses.
And that friends, would sort out the majority of the confused & dum stuff in a practical self-governing way capable of greater co-operation and equilibrium in sustainable outcomes across the board, for a varied, complicated and technological societal construct that has exceeded the ability of just political democracy to rationally manage alone.
!
No Right Turn has the most comprehensive intelligent column on the Government’s decision to ban future oil explanation. Well worth a read. The Opposition clamour about the lack of Cabinet Paper but NRT says:
“The documents on the government’s supposed ban on new offshore oil exploration have been released. A few thoughts:
-The issue of the decision bypassing Cabinet (which prompted this from me this morning) may have been oversold a little. The initial briefing on the issue notes that “officials have previously recommended that prior to any decision, an oral item is tabled with Cabinet”. …”
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-offshore-exploration-ban-advice.html
Bernie is still alive and well and will be a force for progressive politics in the mid terms later this year.
https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2018/06/04/bernie-sanders-goes-on-tv-and-nails-what-america-needs-to-defeat-trump/
The AM Show good morning I say there should be equality for te Papatuanukue ladies sports stars.
Ruaumoko is going off in Guatemala see we are like skin cells on a blue whale compared to Papatuanukue we need to show her more respect what’s so wrong with haveing a culture that puts the environment and the mokos future first.
Many thanks to Te business that are going to follow the Green party lead to lower there plastic use and use bio degradable plastic .
Home many times did shonky call the moves of national when he was in parliament we need to save te maui dolphins an all animals and stop drilling for oil
. I still say that the biggest why for Aotearoa to lower our carbon footprint is to subsidiseing secondhand elictric cars this will help the poor people as well.
See this is how a intelligent assertive humane government runs housing Corp ask the right question make the right calls
Duncan you know I can see right through you. Ka kite ano P.S
The AM Show I know that they are pressing you to use these topics just like they force the Rock radio station to play crappie sounds all part of there obsession intimidation on ECO MAORI . Ka kite ano
House Corp Pukekohe is not liserning to my Daughter and just putting fence and gates in the wrong place logicaly one would put a fence and gate so that both doors to the house are behind the safety gates one in the right place but the one by the alleyway is in the wrong place and they won’t listen to my Daughter advice WTF. KA KITE ANO
This opinion smells of the carbon industry $$$$$$$$$ putting there hip pocket before the future small minded men who cannot see thurther than there own lives muppets. Link below
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/104474838/arderns-rush-to-announce-oil-exploration-ban-risks-her-moral-high-ground Ka kite ano