Open Mike 05/06/2018
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6:00 am, June 5th, 2018 - 127 comments
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- No Russia in Papua: Indonesia’s quiet diplomacy speaks loudly
Indonesia’s low-key rejection of reported Russian interest in military basing in Papua says more than it appears to. While Jakarta’s response was measured, it was deliberate—a calculated expression of Indonesia’s foreign policy doctrine of non-alignment, ...1 hour ago - Australia (still) needs a dedicated and public-facing national security adviser
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI released Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report developed for the next government and to promote public debate and understanding ...3 hours ago
- Vietnamese reunification 50 years later: ‘let bygones be bygones’
On 27 January 1973, the conflict in Vietnam was brought to an end with the formal signing in Paris of the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring the Peace in Vietnam by four parties: ...6 hours ago
- A “secret” that wasn’t
Back in 2018, Aotearoa was in the midst of the Operation Burnham inquiry. During this, it emerged that key evidence was subject to a US veto under an obscure and secret treaty. Part of the Five Eyes arrangement, this treaty was referred to by a number of different names in ...6 hours ago - Nicola Willis’ Austerity Threatens New Zealand’s Future
I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...6 hours ago - Nicola Willis’ Austerity Threatens New Zealand’s Future
I hate to sound the alarm, but New Zealand’s economy is teetering on the edge, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis is wielding her austerity axe with a reckless abandon that could plunge us into a prolonged recession. The 2025 Budget, with its brutal $1.1 billion reduction in baseline spending, is ...6 hours ago
- Punish That Criminal !
Crime Pays for the PoliticiansThis morning, Paul Goldsmith, the Minister who wants Te Reo Maori scrubbed, announced that prisoners who are serving terms of less than 3 years be barred from voting. From left, Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith & Mental Health Minister Matt DooceyNZ’s Electoral Review ...7 hours ago - Four Walls
Well, I can't see and I can't hearThey've burnt out all the feelingsAnd I never been so crazy, and it's just my second yearFour walls, wash basinFour walls, wash basinFour walls, wash basin, prison bedSongwriter: Don Walker.The coalition parties are mulling the austerity budget they will soon put to the ...7 hours ago - The Left Must Rally Behind Andrew Little
First, hats off to Tory Whanau. Her decision to bow out and run for the Māori ward instead, putting the city’s future above her personal ambition, is commendable. Facing a torrent of personal abuse and a council mired in chaos, she still delivered on water investment, cycleways, and housing reforms. ...8 hours ago
- Progressive Resurgence
Trump Kills A Sure-Thing In Canada, the Conservatives fell from a 21 point lead a few months ago to a decisive loss yesterday. The Canadian Liberals are ~ 2 to 3 seats short of a majority, which means PM Mark Carney but will still need to work through opposition parties ...8 hours ago - Defence and Trump shape Australia’s election
Australia’s cost-of-living election has a khaki tinge and an uneasy international tone. You know defence is having an impact when a political party promises to raise taxes to buy more military kit, and makes defence ...8 hours ago
- Waitākere Ranges Ruckus: Unpacking the Anti-Māori Hysteria
The Waitākere Ranges, a stunning natural taonga west of Auckland, are at the heart of a brewing controversy that’s exposing the ugly underbelly of New Zealand’s political discourse. A proposed deed of acknowledgement, grounded in the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008, aims to establish a joint decision-making committee with ...9 hours ago
- National says “fuck the BORA”
That's the only way to describe their plans to reinstate the prisoner voting ban. In case anyone has forgotten, this is a law that was explicitly found to be inconsistent with the BORA by the Supreme Court, in Aotearoa's first ever declaration of inconsistency. The solution that was eventually hashed ...9 hours ago
- Interview: Shamubeel Eaqub on an even tighter Budget for 2025/26
I spoke last night with Simplicity Chief Economist and Head of Policy about the Government's latest budget policy tightening, the risks for infrastructure investment and a potential dampening of GDP growth.He points out that the Government has cut capital expenditure so far in the current financial year, rather than ...10 hours ago - Ukraine’s air force has survived. Taiwan’s almost certainly couldn’t
The Ukrainian air force went to war against invading Russian forces in February 2022 with just 125 combat aircraft concentrated at around a dozen large bases. Given Russia’s overwhelming deep-strike advantage—hundreds of deployed warplanes and ...11 hours ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes on Wednesday, April 30
Briefly this morning: Nicola Willis rules out charities tax or any tax hike to reduce budget deficit. She’s focused instead on spending cuts. There are 1,000 at-risk kids without a social worker, NZ Herald reports.Housing shortages are a factor in high-risk sex offenders being put out early into uncontrolled community ...11 hours ago - Gordon Campbell On Our Austerity Fixation And Canada Staying Centre-left
Truly, these are tough times for our nation’s leaders. In future, how on earth are they going to find the sort of money they’ve been happy to throw at landlords, tobacco companies, and wealthier New Zealanders ever since they got elected? On Defence, how are they going to find those ...18 hours ago - Bad advice on public sector discount rates
A couple of months ago now I wrote a post about the new set of discount rates government agencies are supposed to use in undertaking cost-benefit analysis, whether for new spending projects or for regulatory initiatives. The new, radically altered, framework had come into effect from 1 October last year, ...1 day ago - Indonesia is hooked on Huawei
Huawei dominates Indonesia’s telecommunication network infrastructure. It won over Indonesia mainly through cost competitiveness and by generating favour through capacity-building programs and strategic relationships with the government, and telecommunication operators. But Huawei’s dominance poses risks. ...1 day ago
- Bookshelf: The myth of American liberalism
Democracy and the liberal tradition have long been seen as among the most basic tenets of the American way of life. They are also the main reason the West has for the past 80 years ...1 day ago
- Cutting even deeper against the grain
Nicola Willis continues to compare the economy to a household needing to tighten its belt to survive. Photo: Getty Images The key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, April 29 are: Nicola Willis today announced a cut in the Government’s new spending ...1 day ago - Gas is dead
The Herald had another announcement today about a new solar farm being officially opened - this time the 63MW Lauriston solar farm in Canterbury. It is of course briefly "NZ’s biggest solar farm", but it will soon be overtaken by Kōwhai park at Christchurch airport (168MW) and Tauhei (202MW), both ...1 day ago
- Shoving the future aside
I woke this morning to the shock news that Tory Whanau was no longer contesting the Wellington mayoralty, having stepped aside to leave the field clear for Andrew Little. Its like a perverse reversal of Little's 2017 decision to step aside for Jacinda - the stale, pale past rudely shoving ...1 day ago
- A pre-Budget speech
In a pre-Budget speech this morning the Minister of Finance announced that this year’s operating allowance – the net amount available for new initiatives – was being reduced from $2.4 billion to $1.3 billion (speech here, RNZ story here). Operating allowance numbers in isolation don’t mean a great deal (what ...1 day ago
- Weak tax revenue is a national security issue
Of the two things in life that are certain, defence and national security concern themselves with death but need to pay more attention to taxes. Australia’s national security, defence and domestic policy obligations all need ...1 day ago
- Chris Penk’s Leaky Homes 2.0
The Coalition of Chaos is at it again with another half-baked underwhelming scheme that smells suspiciously like a rerun of New Zealand’s infamous leaky homes disaster. Their latest brainwave? Letting tradies self-certify their own work on so-called low-risk residential builds. Sounds like a great way to cut red tape to ...1 day ago
- Assumed Competence
Perfect by natureIcons of self indulgenceJust what we all needMore lies about a world thatNever was and never will beHave you no shame don't you see meYou know you've got everybody fooledSongwriters: Amy Lee / Ben Moody / David Hodges.“Vote National”, they said. The economic managers par excellence who will ...1 day ago - The ADF isn’t nearly fast enough. It must rush into the cheap-drone revolution
The Australian Defence Force isn’t doing enough to adopt cheap drones. It needs to be training with these tools today, at every echelon, which it cannot do if it continues to drag its feet. Cheap drones ...1 day ago
- “You and me need to hang out. As in, just us 2!”
Hi,Just over a year ago — in March of 2024 — I got an email from Jake. He had a story he wanted to tell, and he wanted to find a way to tell it that could help others. A warning, of sorts. And so over the last year, as ...1 day ago
- National Has Mismanaged The Economy
Back in the dark days of the pandemic, when the world was locked down and businesses were gasping for air, Labour’s quick thinking and economic management kept New Zealand afloat. Under Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson, the Wage Subsidy Scheme saved 1.7 million jobs, pumping billions into businesses to stop ...2 days ago
- Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes at 6am on Tuesday, April 29
The Big Six at 6am on Tuesday, April 29Politics news by NZ Herald: Tory Whanau exits Wellington mayoral race, reveals why she's not running again & RNZ: Tory Whanau quits Wellington mayoral raceHealth news scoop by Marc Daalder for Newsroom Pro-$: Weekly data reveals scale of Govt’s waiting list crisis.’ ...2 days ago - No going back
When I was fifteen I discovered the joy of a free bar. All you had to do was say Bacardi and Coke, thanks to the guy in the white shirt and bow tie. I watched my cousin, all private school confidence, get the drinks in, and followed his lead. Another, ...2 days ago - Beijing finally slices off Sandy Cay
The Financial Times reported last week that China’s coast guard has declared China’s sovereignty over Sandy Cay, posting pictures of personnel holding a Chinese flag on a strip of sand. The landing apparently took place ...2 days ago
- National’s Stalling New Zealand’s Electric Future
You might not know this, but New Zealand’s at the bottom of the global league table for electric vehicle (EV) chargers, and the National government’s policies are ensuring we stay there, choking the life out of our clean energy transition.According to the International Energy Agency’s 2024 Global EV Outlook, we’ve ...2 days ago
- EGU2025 – Presentation about our collaborations
As mentioned in the recently published prolog to EGU2025 article, I submitted an abstract to talk about some of the collaborations we've had with other groups and websites over the years. This blog post is a "companion article" to that presentation in session EOS1.1 Science and Society: Science Communication Practice, Research, and ...2 days ago - Rudd and Shearer aren’t enough. Washington needs to see more Australian heavy hitters
We need more than two Australians who are well-known in Washington. We do have two who are remarkably well-known, but they alone aren’t enough in a political scene that’s increasingly influenced by personal connections and ...2 days ago
- “Protecting frontline services”
When National embarked on slash and burn cuts to the public service, Prime Minister Chris Luxon was clear that he expected frontline services to be protected. He lied: The government has scrapped part of a work programme designed to prevent people ending up in emergency housing because the social ...2 days ago
- Climate Change: National supports pollution subsidies
When the Emissions Trading Scheme was originally introduced, way back in 2008, it included a generous transitional subsidy scheme, which saw "trade exposed" polluters given free carbon credits while they supposedly stopped polluting. That scheme was made more generous and effectively permanent under the Key National government, and while Labour ...2 days ago
- Atlas Network Makes Australian Mainstream
Australia Shows The WayAustralian media and their investigative journalists have published two articles on the Atlas Network’s modus operandi in recent weeks:‘Copied the MAGA model’: The ‘grassroots’ lobby group funded by some of Australia’s richestHow Atlas Network amassed a global network of free market think tanks and reached into Australia ...2 days ago - Australia’s defence readiness—a critical assessment
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...2 days ago
- The Suspicious Death of Virginia Giuffre
The news of Virginia Giuffre’s untimely death has been a shock, especially for those still seeking justice for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. Giuffre, a key figure in exposing Epstein’s depraved network and its ties to powerful figures like Prince Andrew, was reportedly struck by a bus in Australia. She then apparently ...2 days ago
- Bernard’s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Monday, April 28
An official briefing to the Health Minister warns “demand for acute services has outstripped hospital capacity”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThe key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, April 28 are: There’s a nationwide shortage of 500 hospital beds and 200,000 ...2 days ago - Deep sea mining is the new front in Pacific competition
We should have been thinking about the seabed, not so much the cables. When a Chinese research vessel was spotted near Australia’s southern coast in late March, opposition leader Peter Dutton warned the ship was ...2 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On A Neglected, Enduring Aspect Of The Francis Era
Now that the formalities of saying goodbye to Pope Francis are over, the process of selecting his successor can begin in earnest. Framing the choice in terms of “liberal v conservative” is somewhat misleading, given that all members of the College of Cardinals uphold the core Catholic doctrines – which ...3 days ago
- 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
A listing of 30 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 20, 2025 thru Sat, April 26, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...3 days ago
- Governments Are Letting Big Tech Trash Our Planet
Let’s rip the shiny plastic wrapping off a festering truth: planned obsolescence is a deliberate scam, and governments worldwide, including New Zealand’s, are complicit in letting tech giants churn out disposable junk. From flimsy smartphones that croak after two years to laptops with glued-in batteries, the tech industry’s business model ...3 days ago
- In Loving Memory Of Kyle Whorrall
When I first saw press photos of Mr Whorrall, an America PhD entomology student & researcher who had been living out a dream to finish out his studies in Auckland, my first impression, besides sadness, was how gentle he appeared.Press released the middle photo from Mr Whorrall’s Facebook pageBy all ...3 days ago - National’s Betrayal of Renters and First-Time Buyers
It's definitely not a renters market in New Zealand, as reported by 1 News last night. In fact the housing crisis has metastasised into a full-blown catastrophe in 2025, and the National Party Government’s policies are pouring petrol on the flames. Renters are being crushed under skyrocketing costs, first-time buyers ...3 days ago
- Would I Lie to You?
Would I lie to you? (oh yeah)Would I lie to you honey? (oh, no, no no)Now would I say something that wasn't true?I'm asking you sugar, would I lie to you?Writer(s): David Allan Stewart, Annie Lennox.Opinions issue forth from car radios or the daily news…They demand a bluer National, with ...3 days ago - Fact brief – Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific c...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific consensus on climate change? Climatologists made up only 0.1% of signatories ...4 days ago
- A culture of cruelty.
In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...4 days ago - Northern Australia: fortress, gateway and resource powerhouse
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...4 days ago
- Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to April 26
Chris Bishop has unveiled plans for new roads in Tauranga, Auckland and Northland that will cost up to a combined $10 billion. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from Aotearoa political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Saturday, April 26:Chris Bishop ploughed ahead this week with spending ...4 days ago - Debt Is A Form Of Government Control
Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that New Zealand’s government, under the guise of economic stewardship, is tightening the screws on its citizens, and using debt as a tool of control. This isn’t just a conspiracy theory whispered in pub corners...it’s backed by hard data ...5 days ago
- The 2025 Budget in a World of Trade Warfare
The budget runup is far from easy.Budget 2025 day is Thursday 22 May. About a month earlier in a normal year, the macroeconomic forecasts would be completed (the fiscal ones would still be tidying up) and the main policy decisions would have been made (but there would still be a ...5 days ago - EGU2025 – Presentation about our translation activities
As mentioned in the recently published prolog to EGU2025 article, I submitted an abstract to talk about some of our translation activities and the challenges we have been facing with those. This blog post is a "companion article" to that presentation in session EOS4.3 Geoethics and Global Anthropogenic Change: Geoscience for Policy, ...5 days ago
- The drums of war revisited
On 25 April 2021, I published an internal all-staff Anzac Day message. I did so as the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for Australia’s civil defence, and its resilience in ...5 days ago
- Cameron Slater’s New Website: Same Old Defamation
You’ve likely noticed that the disgraced blogger of Whale Oil Beef Hooked infamy, Cameron Slater, is still slithering around the internet, peddling his bile on a shiny new blogsite calling itself The Good Oil. If you thought bankruptcy, defamation rulings, and a near-fatal health scare would teach this idiot a ...5 days ago
- David Seymour’s Atlas Network Receiving Unwanted Attention
The Atlas Network, a sprawling web of libertarian think tanks funded by fossil fuel barons and corporate elites, has sunk its claws into New Zealand’s political landscape. At the forefront of this insidious influence is David Seymour, the ACT Party leader, whose ties to Atlas run deep.With the National Party’s ...5 days ago
- Nicola Willis To Blame For Family Boost Debacle
Nicola Willis, National’s supposed Finance Minister, has delivered another policy failure with the Family Boost scheme, a childcare rebate that was big on promises but has been very small on delivery. Only 56,000 families have signed up, a far cry from the 130,000 Willis personally championed in National’s campaign. This ...5 days ago
- Editors’ pick: ‘On the value of military service’
This article was first published on 7 February 2025. In January, I crossed the milestone of 24 years of service in two militaries—the British and Australian armies. It is fair to say that I am ...5 days ago
- Rest easy, my friend.
He shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningI will remember him.My mate Keith died yesterday, peacefully in the early hours. My dear friend in Rotorua, whom I’ve been ...5 days ago - The Hoon around the week to April 25
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on news New Zealand abstained from a vote on a global shipping levy on climate emissions and downgraded the importance ...6 days ago
- The Men Commenting on Lorde
Hi,In case you missed it, New Zealand icon Lorde has a new single out. It’s called “What Was That”, and has a very low key music video that was filmed around her impromptu performance in New York’s Washington Square Park. When police shut down the initial popup, one of my ...6 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2025
Open access notables Internal variability effect doped by climate change drove the 2023 marine heat extreme in the North Atlantic, Guinaldo et al., Communications Earth & Environment The year 2023 shattered numerous heat records both globally and regionally. We here focus on the drivers of the unprecedented warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies which started in ...6 days ago
- Military denial: the basis of deterrence, and of response if deterrence fails
A strategy of denial is now the cornerstone concept for Australia’s National Defence Strategy. The term’s use as an overarching guide to defence policy, however, has led to some confusion on what it actually means ...6 days ago
- Join us at 5pm for this week’s Hoon
Photo by Beth Macdonald 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 with myself, and regular guests climate correspondent and on climate ...6 days ago - Fiscal failure
The IMF’s twice-yearly World Economic Outlook and Fiscal Monitor publications have come out in the last couple of days. If there is gloom in the GDP numbers (eg this chart for the advanced countries, and we don’t score a lot better on the comparable one for the 2019 to ...6 days ago
- Climate Change: Fucking the ETS again
For a while, it looked like the government had unfucked the ETS, at least insofar as unit settings were concerned. They had to be forced into it by a court case, but at least it got done, and when National came to power, it learned the lesson (and then fucked ...6 days ago
- What’s secret? When is it secret? Well, that’s complicated
The argument over US officials’ misuse of secure but non-governmental messaging platform Signal falls into two camps. Either it is a gross error that undermines national security, or it is a bit of a blunder ...6 days ago
- Today’s Headlines: David Seymour’s ECE Risks & Coalition Government Lies
Cost of living ~1/3 of Kiwis needed help with food as cost of living pressures continue to increase - turning to friends, family, food banks or Work and Income in the past year, to find food. 40% of Kiwis also said they felt schemes offered little or no benefit, according ...6 days ago - Is The NZ Media Awards Sponsored By a Conspiracy Theorist?
Hi,Perhaps in 2025 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CEO and owner of Voyager Internet — the major sponsor of the New Zealand Media Awards — has taken to sharing a variety of Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories to his 1.2 million followers.This included sharing a post from ...6 days ago - Australia-India defence cooperation should be about more than navies
In the sprint to deepen Australia-India defence cooperation, navy links have shot ahead of ties between the two countries’ air forces and armies. That’s largely a good thing: maritime security is at the heart of ...6 days ago
- When in Rome
'Cause you and me, were meant to be,Walking free, in harmony,One fine day, we'll fly away,Don't you know that Rome wasn't built in a day?Songwriters: Paul David Godfrey / Ross Godfrey / Skye Edwards.I was half expecting to see photos this morning of National Party supporters with wads of cotton ...6 days ago - Thursday 24 April
The PSA says a settlement with Health New Zealand over the agency’s proposed restructure of its Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams has saved around 200 roles from being cut. A third of New Zealanders have needed help accessing food in the past year, according to Consumer NZ, and ...6 days ago
- Twice the Impact, Half the Budget: Budget 25 Must Invest in Whakaata Māori
Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Broadcasting, Tākuta Ferris, and MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, are demanding the Government significantly increase its investment in Whakaata Māori in Budget 2025. The call comes following the release of the network’s 2025 Social Value Report at an event today, attended by MP ...2 hours ago
- Te Pāti Māori: Denying the Right to Vote is a Breach of Te Tiriti and Human Rights
The National Party’s announcement to reinstate a total ban on prisoner voting is a shameful step backwards. Denying the right to vote does not strengthen society — it weakens our democracy and breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi. “Voting is not a privilege to be taken away — it is a ...8 hours ago
- Release: Closure of North Shore Women’s Centre a huge loss
Today’s confirmed closure of the North Shore Women’s Centre after losing government funding is a huge loss for women in Auckland. ...1 day ago - Release: Simeon Brown hid Dunedin Hospital downgrade
Simeon Brown needs to come clean to the people of Dunedin about why he hid plans to downgrade their new hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. ...1 day ago
- Release: Govt cuts will cost jobs, health, and homes
Nicola Willis announced that funding for almost every Government department will be frozen in this year’s budget, costing jobs, making access to public services harder, and fuelling an exodus of nurses, teachers, and other public servants. ...1 day ago
- Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities
The Government’s Budget looks set to usher in a new age of austerity. This morning, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said new spending would be limited to $1.4 billion, cut back from the original intended $2.4 billion, which itself was already $100 million below what Treasury said was needed to ...1 day ago - Right-Wing Government Strips Māori Health Safeguards and Pretends Colonisation Never Happened
Right‑wing ministers are waging a campaign to erase Māori health equity by tearing out its very foundations. ACT’s Todd Stephenson dismisses Treaty‑based nursing standards as “off‑track distractions” and insists nurses only need “skill and a kind heart,” despite clear evidence that cultural competence saves lives. Health Minister Simeon Brown’s funding cuts, hiring ...1 day ago
- Ban on engineered stone essential to protect workers
The Green Party has renewed its call for the Government to ban the use, supply, and manufacture of engineered stone products, as the CTU launches a petition for the implementation of a full ban. ...2 days ago
- Release: Anzac Day a time to recommit to veterans
This Anzac Day, Labour recognises veterans and the service they have given to our country. ...5 days ago
- Education Should be Led by Experts-Not Economists
Te Pāti Māori are appalled by Cabinet's decision to agree to 15 recommendations to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector following the regulatory review by the Ministry of Regulation. We emphasise the need to prioritise tamariki Māori in Early Childhood Education, conducted by education experts- not economists. “Our mokopuna deserve ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt’s flagship cost of living policy a failure
After promising $250 a fortnight to many families, the Government has been forced to admit just a couple hundred families are receiving it. ...6 days ago
- Release: Transparency needed on changes to early childhood education
The Government is putting children at risk in early childhood education (ECE) by proposing to loosen the requirement for qualified teachers. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt funding needed to combat invasive seaweed
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...1 week ago
- New Zealand First Introduces Bill Defining ‘Woman’ and ‘Man’ in Law
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...1 week ago - Release: Labour marks the passing of Pope Francis
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins joins those mourning the passing of Pope Francis. ...1 week ago
- Release: Boot camps blog post fails to provide clarity
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Inflation rises and families feel the squeeze
Inflation is rising again and it’s landing hardest on families already stretched thin. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt doesn’t know how to fund new hospitals
The Government’s health infrastructure plan is big on promises but coy on where the money is coming from. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: $10 million for only 215 students in charter schools
David Seymour is pouring $10 million into charter schools that only have 215 students enrolled. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Food prices further stretching the family budget
Families already stretched by rising costs will struggle with the news food prices are going up again. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Mental health staff and patients at risk without plan
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Driver licensing proposal doesn’t put safety first
The Government’s proposal to change driver licensing rules is a mixed bag of sensible and careless. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Students struggling as Govt sits on hands
The Government is continuing to sit on its hands as students struggle to pay rent due to delays with StudyLink. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: More must be done to stop children going hungry
More children are going hungry and statistics showing children in material hardship continue to get worse. ...3 weeks ago
- Greens continue to call for Pacific Visa Waiver
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...3 weeks ago
- More children going hungry under Coalition govt
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Longer wait for treatment under National
New Zealanders have waited longer to get an appointment with a specialist and to get elective surgery under the National Government. ...3 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire- Ka ora te mana o Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te iwi Māori
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...3 weeks ago
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- Minister ‘trying to have it both ways’ in ordering police to take swim test – Labo...
The 149 officers who graduated without being assessed on swimming ability will go through the test over the next four months. ...1 hour ago - Older Australians are also hurting from the housing crisis. Where are the election policies to help ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Cornell, Research Fellow, Flinders University shutterstock beeboys/Shutterstock It would be impossible at this stage in the election campaign to be unaware that housing is a critical, potentially vote-changing, issue. But the suite of policies being proposed by the major parties largely ...2 hours ago - May Day Workers’ Hui On Tomorrow
Unless your workplace is already utopia – and we haven’t come across one yet – there is a good reason for all union members to come to this hui. Union members and delegates from many different unions and workplaces have told us why they and ...2 hours ago - Health NZ confirms a third of all IT roles will be cut
Final cuts were announced today following a consultation period. ...2 hours ago
- Inflation is easing, boosting the case for another interest rate cut in May
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Daria Nipot/Shutterstock Australia’s headline inflation rate held steady at a four-year low of 2.4% in the March quarter, according to official data, adding to the case for ...2 hours ago
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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