I see that Nick Smith thinks housing affordability is ‘in the eye of the beholder’
I am sure most Zealanders will like being told this by a rich political trougher.
These people claim to represent us.
They don’t.
They represent the few, not the many.
Actually – I dont watch him. I only use Netflix and haven’t watched normal TV for years.
Simply put – I believe anyone is entitled to their views – and to be held accountable for them if they are stupid. Which is normally a matter of perspective.
Why do you think his views should be censored from TV – apart from you not liking his opinions?
Because the same broadcaster does not offer a differing opinion.
As he is on NZ’s public broadcaster there is an obligation to give both sides of a political argument. They are not there to be a mouthpiece for the government of the day.
James, you don’t watch him either? Funny. I’m hearing you re censorship.
However I strongly agree with Kevin.
But then again globally many government run media outlets have their own version of Hosking. Or a country’s leader broadcasts their own propaganda show.
Interesting audio examination from 2015 when Hosking had his head up Keys arse. Even more interesting because his opinions of the future are now in our past.
Censoring Mike Hostking is a terrible reason to suggest his removal. However, I must admit, there is a certain humorous undertone to the notion of removing him from state broadcasting on philosophical grounds –his philosophical grounds.
Since he hates leftism and statism so much and thinks so highly of the market and an expanded role for the market in roles traditionally ascribed to the state in commonwealth systems, it would only be right to make sure he never compromises himself by pocketing a salary out of public money, etc.
Hyperbole for sure, but then that’s his stock in trade, right?
And to prove all of this, here are some numbers that expose the lie around public transport. The Transport Outlook: Current State report, yes that’s called, as released by the government tells us the following, 53% of us drive a car, 26% of us are passengers in a car, 17% walk, 1% cycle – so that shows you what a waste of time cycleways are, 1% are on motorbikes. Now add up all those numbers and how many do you have left for public transport, 2%. So, we are wrecking roads, hijacking the majority for what, 2%, it’s a scandal.
The report he refers to is the one we highlighted yesterday and the first thing to note is that the report actually says PT is at 3%. This adds up to 101% due to the rounding on some of the other modes. Regardless, when it comes to talking about this subject, he couldn’t have picked a more irrelevant number.
The 3% based on PT use across the entire country, that’s as irrelevant to the discussion of PT in Auckland as arguing that New York doesn’t need its subway because of how many people use PT in Wyoming.
Note that: the 2% Hosking quotes to back up his inconveniences in his city, is a measure drawn from use across the country, it is irrelevant to his argument.
The raving loonie is merely saying what all the RWs are thinking, which of course is nothing at all. Thought costs in time and money so they don’t waste time on anything unprofitable to them.
I made a joke yesterday about Blinglish stating the new social policy as being data-driven. Bwahahahahahah – where would it be driven to I ask? When you don’t want to know things, do they get lured up an alley and garrotted or taken for a midnight ride and dumped on the roadside. Poor dead-duck-data, RWs want to believe what their Mega-phone tells them, their Hosking Bullhorn.
At the very least Hosking’s salary should be included in National’s election advertising total allowance.
It should also include GST as it is obviously a service to them.
Are you really sure you want a policy like that?
You would have to include the whole RNZ news budget in the Labour Party costs.
They would already be over the limit for expenditure allowed in the last 3 months wouldn’t they, with only a couple of weeks gone?
I fully agree with you, Alwyn. National Radio are totally biased, and support the Labour party by having them shown as light National by such right-leaning commentators as Josie Pagani, whom they misrepresent as ‘Left’. Utterly disgusting. Then every so often they reveal an unpleasant truth – this is obviously an anti-National campaign. National Radio should be annihilated by renaming! I know – RNZ!
Someone knocked on the door not so long ago, wanting to know if we would take part in TV ratings, many questions were asked, even household income etc.
They said they would be in touch if we were deemed the type of household that they could give a ratings monitor device to. Almost felt like they screened anyone whom they wanted to generating ratings information from, it didn’t appear random at all. They were even sent to selected houses, nah it wasn’t a scam, was the real deal. I was rather surprised ratings were gathered in that manner.
James do you know if ratings are collected in any other way please?
That’s the issue for me – he’s an out-and-out propagandist. He lies, he rants, he is completely unchallenged, and he is always pro-nact. If the state broadcaster must pay for a pro-government propagandist, what about an opposition one of similar shameless insanity, too?
Oh – might be too difficult to find. May as well just fire the fucker, then.
“an out-and-out propagandist” – in a nut-shell, McFlock. How best to counter an unfettered propagandist, that’s the question. Railing against him, calling for his head, seem reactions designed to feed the pyre, rather than quench the fire. Let’s get smarter. The problem isn’t hard to describe; yours’s perfect, the effective response though, that’s the challenge.
We can rejoice in his naked greed and prejudice, measuring our own behaviour against his worst-practice behaviour. We can use his popularity as a measure of how much has to change in our society before it’s as we wish it to be. We can use reactions to him by people we talk to as a measure of their position and degree of discernment. We can use his continued existence in a public role as a measure of our ruling party’s methods and ethical levels. There is so much his performing offers us, aside from the obvious opportunities to lampoon and mock, both him and his sycophants. All in all, a useful chap, ol’ whatshisname.
*confession time; I’ve never seen the guy perform as I have no television.
It would be alright if the opposing views got the same prominence but the small snippet I unavoidably watch last week had his offsider simpering all over him. Gross.
Further to my rant on Nick Smith housing handling…
We, of the left, seem to be captured by the shenanagins of the Tories.
Rather than debating a direction for our future.
For example water, labour has talked about a levy charged per litre.
Rather than a ‘Hell No’.
Perhaps there is a middle ground.
Housing, as I eluded to in the Nick Smith post, the opposition is failing to get traction with their tactics. Don’t want to upset landlords?
Inequality? A bit hard to deal with. Unless we have a ftt and a ubi…
Tad radical, think of the horses.
Health funding, especially mental health and youth mental health. Where to start?
Paula Bennett is alleged to behaved abhorrently, (I don’t doubt the accusations) and we are lining up to add our two cents.
C’m on standardistas we can lift our game.
Right, that’s better.
I am off to work to have my promised 90 day performance review, albeit after 110 days.
I am aiming to get a living wage for working in a busy kitchen after having practiced the craft for 30 years.
What chance the youngsters in the industry, most of whom are grateful to be just above minimum wage.
(I won’t be back at my phone till later as I am not allowed it at work)
“the Herald”?
Does that fish and chip wrapper still exist?
I am just back from doing a little bit of work in France. We (the people doing the work) were provided with all the major UK newspapers.
God it is wonderful to be able to read well written papers like The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and The Financial Times. It is about the only English language country left with decent papers. Even in the US they are rubbish including the old staples like The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Here we have the Herald and the DomPost for crying out loud.
The only decent paper in Australasia in The Australian. You don’t have to like Rupert Murdoch but he is just about the last of the great Press Barons who believed in printing the news properly that we have left.
Here endeth the rant for the day.
As for RNZ being biased? Yes I do. We will simply have to agree to differ.
Alwyn, I agree with you about the range of quality reading available in the UK compared to here, but I would also have mentioned the Spectator, (and Punch, which, unfortunately, no longer exists). And Rupert Murdoch is the enemy of literacy, not its friend. He presided in the downward slide you lament, and you should know that, unless you are too young.
The headline on RNZ news this morning was “Auckland house price growth at 5 year low”. Let me show how it should have been reported:
“Auckland house prices growing at $70,000 a year; average price is now over $1 million. Prices continue to grow at three times rate of inflation.”
Someone at Radio NZ has been told how to report this issue so the government looks good.
The government’s weakest issue in the upcoming election is housing affordability (not just in Auckland) so it is trying to portray this problem as solved, which is rubbish. Nick Smith was at it yet again in his RNZ interview yesterday. Lies and more spin.
The Labour/Green bloc needs to get some clear stats out on housing affordability in its manifesto (and pledge card?) telling it as it is. In particular the fall in first time buyers and the rise in investors/multiple home owners needs to be highlighted.
The expert they interviewed on this said “first time buyers are at their lowest ever”. That should have been the headline.
And following on from the above, in the Herald today:
“House sales have made a mint in the first quarter of 2017, with $3.8 billion in profits.
But it’s not all good news, with $24 million in losses recorded by those who made a bad bet on the property market.”
Incredible numbers-profits of $3.8 billion in just 3 months, almost all non-taxable.
As with the RNZ headline above, the article contains lots of spin, concentrating on the losses made by very few people, losses which are miniscule compared with the profits-$24m versus $3800m.
The article does not comment on the profit split between home owners and between investors.
And nobody (except me it seems) thinks ALL housing stock should be taxed upon sale.
Gee, the Nats dont want to tax property gains, and Labour seem to think that the “personal residence” should be exempt. But where is the financial responsibility or tax fairness in that?
Why should a person who lives in say Dunedin, have little to no capital gains – probably under $100,000 in this decade, and thats tax free, when an Auckland home owner may have a $500,000 tax free profit.
And lets not discuss the poor buggers who dont own a house so have no chance to make a tax free gain.
You are going to have a real problem on about the 5th of September.
They will be reporting, absolutely accurately, that the rate of house price increases in Auckland for the 12 months ending August 2017 was ZERO.
True, that is what they will be reporting. The Labour Party are going to have trouble with that don’t you think?
Your numbers, like theirs, are simply out of date. They don’t reflect the reality of today. Sorry about that.
@Alwyn One wonders why you don’t leave out the snide comments like “sorry about that” and simply argue your case. Maybe it is because you know you are on the wrong side of the argument given that the Gnats have failed catastrophically on housing policy.
But you are right that, unless the Labour/Green bloc can win the debate in the media on this issue, it will not be the definitive issue it should be at the election. The fact that houses in Akl are now more than a million a pop and first-time buyers are at an all time low is the issue. If the Labour/Green bloc is smart they will highlight the latter especially.
Under this government over the last 9 years it has become impossible for young people to afford to buy a house; there must be votes in this.
Prices staying where they are is no solution, Alwyn. Too late for that – a significant drop is needed. Not something you will find palatable I suspect, and I can almost hear you screaming already about whether I want to destroy innocent people’s wealth by collapsing property values.
How about having “busless, trainless days” in Auckland a la the old carless days, just for an experiment? It would be fun to see what happens. Do it for a week even.
Thing is, Hosking would make sure that on those he won’t go to work or the week he’ll go to Hawaii on holiday.
“We don’t like public transport, we like cars and cars need roads,” he says. We didn’t need this latest rant to have us think he’s a self-centred, short-sighted, up-himself cretin. Having him say that though is a nice little reminder.
In other words, a currency-issuing government can always absorb any outstanding liabilities (public debt) if it chooses, and, effectively, never have to repay the obligation.
It can do that by purchasing these liabilities in secondary bond markets, and then just ignoring the maturity obligations, and with the stroke of a computer keyboard set the value to 0.
Alternatively, it is obvious that such a government is never in danger of defaulting on any outstanding liabilities which remain in the non-government sector until maturity and presentation for repayment.
Alternatively, what this clearly demonstrates, is that such a government never has to issue debt in the first place.
Say it again out aloud – “central banks are ultimately owned by governments”.
Say it again out aloud – any public bonds on central bank balance sheets amount to the government owning its own debt. One computer keystroke turns the positive accounting balance for that debt into a zero balance with no consequences of importance whatsoever.
Which is basically what I and many other have been saying for quite some time.
A government that issues it’s own money never has to go into debt even when running a deficit. Done properly it could even get rid of the so-called Business Cycle and fully develop the economy while eliminating the need for exports and imports.
Definitely contributed. Leaving Labour happened just after he lost the nomination for Papaura to an excellent young candidate of Indian ethnicity and received either a low list placing or no list placing.
So for a second election campaign in a row, National are buying the loyalties of disaffected self-appointed ‘leaders’ of ‘communities’ to turn them from Labour and we’re supposed to take that as a sign of a shift in attitudes within that ‘community’?
I mean, call me cynical, but my general impression of these people is that they usually aren’t ‘leaders’ at all – except in the eyes of gullible white people trying to buy the votes of said ‘community’ from above instead of winning them from below with good policy and solid face-to-face connections. Are we all really so racist that we think everyone with dark skin is part of a ‘community’ which has ‘leaders’ who are able to tell them how to vote? That doesn’t bode well for democracy if true!
I guess given that us white folks tend not to have ‘communities’ with ‘leaders’ who can influence their votes, maybe we’re gullible or racist enough to think that everyone else is a sheep with a shepherd, and if you win over that shepherd he’ll deliver you his flock at the polling booth. But me, I have my doubts.
Ah well, let National spend their money being rainmade by wannabe mandarins. It says all you need about them and their attitude to democratic tradition.
“So for a second election campaign in a row, National are buying the loyalties of disaffected self-appointed ‘leaders’ of ‘communities’ to turn them from Labour and we’re supposed to take that as a sign of a shift in attitudes within that ‘community’?”
Or it could be that people are giving up on Labour – as would be evidenced by their very low poll ratings (and Littles as preferred PM).
“I mean, call me cynical, but my general impression of these people is that they usually aren’t ‘leaders’ at all – except in the eyes of gullible white people trying to buy the votes of said ‘community’ ”
Yet Labour were happy to have him stand for them…. twice. Perhaps he actually is a leader in that community?
“Are we all really so racist that we think everyone with dark skin is part of a ‘community’ which has ‘leaders’ who are able to tell them how to vote?”
Its not racist – there are may leaders in the the community that indicate to their community about where they see the most benefit to their community. Ratana Church for example.
Where did he stand for Labour? The seat where he stood or the placing he had on their list will tell all.
Ratana Church isn’t comparable to individuals, it’s an institution with a unique place in NZ culture. I doubt there’s much at all you could compare it to.
Pakaranga, just once, in 2011, it’s Maurice Williamson seat
The following election he decided to only opt for the list, and the candidate that Labour stood in same electorate received around 700 more votes than the prior year when Kaushal stood….
Then bums out when he gets a low list ranking for this election llolz, throws a wobbly and jumps ship.
So he was upset at Labour’s inaction re Law and Order. Those pesky Labour fellows should have set up a team of special police to bounce the thieves the instant a complaint came in.
What’s that? You mean the National Party is the Government with the power to do something to appease the shop owners. And this candidate has joined the National Party to get action???
That is ridiculous! Have they promised him a high ranking then?
If Labour are losing the central Auckland Indian vote they are in very serious trouble. Indian subcontinent voters have been incredibly loyal to this point.
Sunny will take a lot of votes out of Mt Roskill, New Windsor, Avondale, Sandringham, and New Lynn.
Really? Shail Kaushal is a hardworking Labour member of the Puketapapa Local board and is on Michael Wood’s campaign team. Michael Wood and Jacinda Aden did really well in recent by-elections. I certainly don’t belive Sunny played a significant role in their wins. Sunny missed out on the Papaura selection to Jesse Pabla a young New Zealand born candidate of Indian ethnicity. Baljit Kauri is standing for Hunua. Priyanca Radhakrishnan is standing for Maungakieie and has a high place on the list. All these candidates of Indian ethnicity have strong Labour values.I think Labour is renewing itself with good strong Labour values. It must have been galling for Sunny to realise their is really no place in the party for an old right wing careerist like himself. He is an excellent fit for National.
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Nick Matzke writes – Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
Buzz from the Beehive The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today and in your busy lives turning up to this meeting. Forty five years ago, in Howick, often described as racist, and where few Maori lived because it had been a ‘Fencible’ settlement at the time of the Anglo-Maori ...
The Green Party has marked the National Party’s new education policy and given it a fail, especially for its failure to address the underlying drivers of school performance. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
Attorney-General David Parker has announced the appointment of Christopher John Dellabarca of Wellington, Dr Katie Jane Elkin of Wellington, Caroline Mary Hickman of Napier, Ngaroma Tahana of Rotorua, Tania Rose Williams Blyth of Hamilton and Nicola Jan Wills of Wellington as District Court Judges. Chris Dellabarca Mr Dellabarca commenced his ...
A new Government-backed project will help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region to accelerate their growth and boost jobs. “The Nelson Tasman region is home to more than 400 blue economy businesses, accounting for more than 30 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing,” ...
After three years of COVID-19 disruptions schools are finally settling down and National want to throw that all in the air with major disruption to learning and underinvestment. “National’s education policy lacks the very thing teachers, parents and students need after a tough couple of years, certainty and stability,” Education ...
People aged over 50 with innovative business ideas will now be able to receive support to advance their ideas to the next stage of development, Minister for Seniors Ginny Andersen said today. “Seniors have some great entrepreneurial ideas, and this programme will give them the support to take that next ...
A cross government target for relevant government procurement contracts for goods and services to be awarded to Māori businesses annually will increase to 8%, after the initial 5% target was exceeded. The progressive procurement policy was introduced in 2020 to increase supplier diversity, starting with Māori businesses, for the estimated ...
77,000 fewer children living in low income households on the after-housing-costs primary measure since Labour took office Eight of the nine child poverty measures have seen a statistically significant reduction since 2018. All nine have reduced 28,700 fewer children experiencing material hardship since 2018 Measures taken by the Government during ...
Deputy Prime Minister Kamikamica; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tēnā koutou katoa, ni sa bula vinaka saka, namaste. Deputy Prime Minister, a very warm welcome to Aotearoa. I trust you have been enjoying your time here and thank you for joining us here today. To all delegates who have travelled to be ...
$2.9 million convertible loan for Scapegrace Distillery to meet growing national and international demand $4.5m underwrite to support Silverlight Studios’ project to establish a film studio in Wanaka Gore’s James Cumming Community Centre and Library to be official opened tomorrow with support of $3m from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood has today launched the first national EV (electric vehicle) charging strategy, Charging Our Future, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. “Our vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, ...
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupō received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support to those seriously affected by last month’s deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “The 6 February earthquakes have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more ...
Migrant communities across New Zealand are represented in the new Migrant Community Reference Group that will help shape immigration policy going forward, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced today. “Since becoming Minister, a reoccurring message I have heard from migrants is the feeling their voice has often been missing around policy ...
Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
"He imagines the rattling windows of his bach": a sad seaside saga by Majella Cullinane Màiri watches him as he walks down the hill next to her house. The man appears gradually – first his head covered in a tweed cap and earphones, then the unkempt hair and beard, ...
"He imagines the rattling windows of his bach": a sad seaside saga by Majella Cullinane Màiri watches him as he walks down the hill next to her house. The man appears gradually – first his head covered in a tweed cap and earphones, then the unkempt hair and beard, ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we looked at how our top authors make a living writing books, the sky-high fares coming from independent taxi drivers, how the people of Muriwai are putting their lives back together post-Cyclone Gabrielle, why a Levin chocolate maker is ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we looked at how our top authors make a living writing books, the sky-high fares coming from independent taxi drivers, how the people of Muriwai are putting their lives back together post-Cyclone Gabrielle, why a Levin chocolate maker is ...
The popularity of stories about unhappy rich people says more about our need to view them that way than it does about how they experience their livesOpinion:Succession is returning to Aotearoa’s television screens. It joins other portrayals of the emotional traumas that come from having far, far too ...
The popularity of stories about unhappy rich people says more about our need to view them that way than it does about how they experience their livesOpinion:Succession is returning to Aotearoa’s television screens. It joins other portrayals of the emotional traumas that come from having far, far too ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend This week, it's What's Up With ADHD?, written by Mirjam Guesgen and published in North & South's April 2023 issue. You can find the full article, with illustrations by Rachel Salazar, in this month’s issue of North & South. Once a condition ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend This week, it's What's Up With ADHD?, written by Mirjam Guesgen and published in North & South's April 2023 issue. You can find the full article, with illustrations by Rachel Salazar, in this month’s issue of North & South. Once a condition ...
Not content with transforming KiwiSaver, Simplicity is now planning to out-build Kāinga Ora. Duncan Greive meets a pair of of unlikely revolutionaries trying to fix housing – a task which seems impossible, even for the state itself.In September of 2020, a builder named Shane Brealey sat down and typed ...
The Auckland Writers Festival has just launched its 23rd programme, the first since Covid to include its signature line-up of visiting international writers. With 160 events to choose from, here’s books editor Claire Mabey’s top 10 to help you navigate your way through the lit fest universe.Straight Up: Ruby ...
Taking her her young family around the world as she rows is a key factor in Emma Twigg's decision to defend her Olympic single sculls title at next year's Paris Olympics. And, Andy Hay writes, the next Emma Twigg could be waiting in the wings at the Maadi Cup next week. ...
The Fijian Drua will need to start and finish well, while Moana Pasifika’s coach wants to see a full 80-minute performance this weekend as the two regional teams continue their Super Rugby Pacific campaigns. The Drua tackle the Highlanders in Dunedin today and Pasifika face the Hurricanes at Mt Smart ...
By Todagia Kelola in Port Moresby A number of small contractors in Papua New Guinea are still waiting for positive feedback for money owed to them by government agencies after 12 years. A 2015 Post-Courier front page picture showed a man, David Goli, who chained himself at the then headquarters ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Beryl Exley, Professor, Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Griffith University Shutterstock Last August, the federal government set up an expert panel to look at the continuous improvement agenda in teacher education in Australia. The panel, led by ...
The New Zealand First leader took to the altar of an East Auckland church today to set out his 2023 election agenda. It was, as Stewart Sowman-Lund found out, pretty much what you’d expect. Winston Peters rolled into Howick today with a state of the nation speech that, he claimed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Wardle, Professor of Public Health, Southern Cross University Shutterstock Earlier this week, Australian retail giant Woolworths announced a move into health-care delivery via development of its subsidiary HealthyLife’s online portal. Through this portal, Australians can book a same-day ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters - eyeing a political comeback - has used a scene-setting speech in Auckland warning against a "conceited, conniving, cultural cabal". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Peterson, Adjunct Associate Professor, Auckland University of Technology The Sheep Song.Tim Standing/Daylight Breaks/Adelaide Festival Few Adelaideans remember a time before the Adelaide Festival. Formed in 1960 as a civic enterprise and financed against loss by prominent Adelaide businessmen, the ...
Analysis - The Greens lay down a challenge as the minor parties approach an election in which both National and Labour are going to need coalition partners to form a government, writes Peter Wilson. ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva Communications Fiji Ltd (CFL) chair William Parkinson has called for a repeal of Fiji’s Media Industry Development Act 2010 and more discussion on the proposed Media Ownership and Registration Bill 2023. He said this during a public consultation on the review of MIDA Act 2010 ...
High Court Justice David Gendall regretfully allows anti-trans activist to enter New Zealand, but warns the expression of her views may be harmful to our vulnerable rainbow community. Jonathan Milne does his best to be civil.Opinion: Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull calls herself Posie Parker. And that's what I'm going to call her. Because she is ...
It’s about time somebody made a wacky TV show about how bonkers spelling is. Enter comedian Guy Montgomery and his Guy Mont Spelling Bee. The three years since Covid-19 began have been pretty rocky, but one of the best things to come out of the chaos was Guy Montgomery’s Guy ...
Te Rōpū Mātai Hinengaro o Aotearoa, The New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPsS) stands beside LGBTQIA+ and Takatāpui communities rallying against anti-trans rhetoric in light of the impending visit of Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (Posie Parker). We are ...
Earlier this month, everybody’s favourite Monster of the Week series Married at First Sight Australia toppled 1News to become the highest rating television show for New Zealand viewers aged 25-54. The controversial reality series garnered an average audience of 137,000, or 6.7% audience share from March 5 until March 11. ...
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for feijoa lovers – here’s how to make the most of it.Fragrant and sweet, with a delicate jelly centre surrounded by gritty, tangy flesh, all encased in a green sour skin. My parents’ feijoa tree has just dropped its first fruit, ...
A new poem by poet and novelist Maggie Rainey-Smith. Bang a Drum We’ve hit Gentle Annie passed the pub at Okaramio and on the left, at Wakapuaka there’s Sunnybank where parents left their children An oddly named orphanage manned (ha) by Nuns childless women in black habits, scapula, cowls and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cathy Buntting, Director, Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, University of Waikato Getty Images Less than a fortnight after teachers staged a national strike, education was back in the headlines with the National Party’s release of its curriculum policy – ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38)Number one in both ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision of the High Court to reject the application to overrule the decision of the Minister of Immigration to allow Kellie-Jay entry into New Zealand. This was the only right result for a nation that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fan Yang, Research Associate at RMIT and Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University Baidu’s ERNIE Bot was launched to considerable disappointment.Ng Han Guan / AP On March 16, Baidu unveiled China’s latest rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT – ERNIE Bot (short for “Enhanced ...
By Meri Radinibaravi in Suva Former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has told The Fiji Times to ask the Republic of Fiji Military Forces about claims that his bodyguards were allowed to take guns on to Fiji Link flights without proper authorisation. “I understand that there’s some enquiries going on regarding that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University Installation view of Troy Emery’s work Mountain climber 2022 on display as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne from 24 March – 20 August ...
National’s education policy reinforces an old-fashioned and hierarchical curriculum that does lasting harm to many students, writes educational specialist Dr Sarah Aiono. Announcing the National Party’s new education policy this week, leader Christopher Luxon cited a recent NCEA pilot in which two-thirds of students were unable to meet the minimum ...
Attempts by rainbow groups to stop an anti-trans campaigner entering the country have failed. The High Court has dismissed a judicial review application from Gender Minorities Aotearoa, InsideOUT Kōara and Auckland Pride, aimed at the immigration minister for allowing Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull into New Zealand. As part of the application, the ...
The High Court is this morning considering an interim order that would prevent an anti-trans campaigner from making it into New Zealand. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is expected to arrive on our shores today ahead of two planned rallies in Auckland and Wellington over the weekend. After immigration officials deemed her safe ...
I was disappointed to see yesterday afternoon’s announcement that Auckland has chosen to leave Local Government NZ (LGNZ). Hamilton’s membership of LGNZ is one of collaboration and sharing. Being a member gives us important views from other ...
It’s the most talked about local opera production in years – but does it live up to the chatter?The lowdownYou’ve probably heard of the “unruly tourists”, the British family who created a media firestorm as they toured around the country leaving trash and turmoil in their wake. You’ve ...
As reported by Newsroom’s Marc Daalder this morning, correspondence released under the Official Information Act shows advice about puberty blockers was removed from the Ministry of Health website “in the hopes it creates fewer queries” from anti-trans campaigners. The line that was removed from the site said puberty blockers “are ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: NZ needs to distance itself from Australia’s anti-China nuclear submarines The New Zealand Government has been silent about Australia’s decision to commit up to $400bn acquiring nuclear submarines, even though this is a significant threat to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. The ...
Secondary teachers will strike again next week after an agreement on improved pay and working conditions was not reached. The strike will take place on Wednesday, less than two weeks after thousands of educators took to the streets across the country. “PPTA Te Wehengarua members have shown they are serious ...
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission is encouraging organisations and individuals to share their views on human rights in Aotearoa New Zealand for the government’s upcoming report to the United Nations. The report informs a process ...
Secondary and area school teachers around the country have voted overwhelmingly in favour of more industrial action, including a one day national strike next Wednesday, in support of their collective agreement negotiations. “PPTA Te Wehengarua members ...
At a time when our need for collective action is stronger than ever, Auckland Council has opted out to save each of its residents just 25c a year, writes former Dunedin mayor Aaron Hawkins.I grew up in rural Southland, in the shadows of the Cut The Cable movement. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Jakoboski, Oceanographic Data Scientist, Moana Project’s Te Tiro Moana Team Lead, MetService — Te Ratonga Tirorangi Moana project, CC BY-ND The world’s oceans are buffering us from the worst climate impacts by taking up more than 90% of the ...
Morning Report - RNZ and Newsroom's political editors consider National's education pitch, and the political responses to lobbying revelations and Posie Parker. ...
The Free Speech Union will be an intervener this morning as the High Court considers whether Immigration New Zealand's decision to allow Posie Parker (Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull) entry into New Zealand was legal, says Jonathan Ayling, Chief Executive of the Free ...
For over a decade, Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club has come under fire for denying entry to people wearing religious headwear. Despite the Human Rights Commission getting involved, it seems the rule remains unchanged.One of the definitions given by the Oxford dictionary for the word cosmopolitan is: “including people from many ...
Chris Hipkins’ dump of Ardern-era policy has potentially jeopardised a major part of the government’s climate change response. In this week’s episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks to climate policy expert Christina Hood from Climate Compass to find out why this month’s Emissions Trading Scheme auction failed and ...
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I see that Nick Smith thinks housing affordability is ‘in the eye of the beholder’
I am sure most Zealanders will like being told this by a rich political trougher.
These people claim to represent us.
They don’t.
They represent the few, not the many.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/334454/housing-affordability-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-minister
An exposure of their transactions over GI/point England in akl would show that if anyone in opposition can be bothered.
How many affordable extra homes V profits and housing stock given away to mates.
Found this gem yesterday:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-17/home-price-to-income-ratio-across-selected-nations/8280534
What it’s telling us is that NZ now has the MOST unaffordable housing in the world; by some margin.
I have a very nasty feeling about Auckland real estate – I think we are getting ready for a much sharper correction than we saw in Perth.
Question:
Should Mike Hoskings be pulled from Seven Sharp until after the election?
No.
Why not please James? What is it that you like about him, apart from his opinions?
Actually – I dont watch him. I only use Netflix and haven’t watched normal TV for years.
Simply put – I believe anyone is entitled to their views – and to be held accountable for them if they are stupid. Which is normally a matter of perspective.
Why do you think his views should be censored from TV – apart from you not liking his opinions?
Because the same broadcaster does not offer a differing opinion.
As he is on NZ’s public broadcaster there is an obligation to give both sides of a political argument. They are not there to be a mouthpiece for the government of the day.
James, you don’t watch him either? Funny. I’m hearing you re censorship.
However I strongly agree with Kevin.
But then again globally many government run media outlets have their own version of Hosking. Or a country’s leader broadcasts their own propaganda show.
Interesting audio examination from 2015 when Hosking had his head up Keys arse. Even more interesting because his opinions of the future are now in our past.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201767468
Off topic James, any series you can recommend on the Netflix please? Am looking for something new to watch. Thanks 😀
He should be permanently pulled from all public exposure full stop.
Must stop opposing views – stifling free speech – removing a guy’s income all because you don’t like what he says.
The caring and fair left you are not.
“caring and fair” – a fan-boy’s view of Hoskings.
Not a fan boy – dont actually watch him (see above).
But dont believe that he should be pulled from TV because some dont like his views.
Censoring Mike Hostking is a terrible reason to suggest his removal. However, I must admit, there is a certain humorous undertone to the notion of removing him from state broadcasting on philosophical grounds –his philosophical grounds.
Since he hates leftism and statism so much and thinks so highly of the market and an expanded role for the market in roles traditionally ascribed to the state in commonwealth systems, it would only be right to make sure he never compromises himself by pocketing a salary out of public money, etc.
Hyperbole for sure, but then that’s his stock in trade, right?
A self-made man would start his own radio station.
I’d settle for a station disclaimer after every time he opens his gob.
Pulled, like chewed gum from the sole of your shoe.
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2017/07/05/hoskings-idiotic-bus-lane-rant/
These paras are from Robert G’s link.
And to prove all of this, here are some numbers that expose the lie around public transport. The Transport Outlook: Current State report, yes that’s called, as released by the government tells us the following, 53% of us drive a car, 26% of us are passengers in a car, 17% walk, 1% cycle – so that shows you what a waste of time cycleways are, 1% are on motorbikes. Now add up all those numbers and how many do you have left for public transport, 2%. So, we are wrecking roads, hijacking the majority for what, 2%, it’s a scandal.
The report he refers to is the one we highlighted yesterday and the first thing to note is that the report actually says PT is at 3%. This adds up to 101% due to the rounding on some of the other modes. Regardless, when it comes to talking about this subject, he couldn’t have picked a more irrelevant number.
The 3% based on PT use across the entire country, that’s as irrelevant to the discussion of PT in Auckland as arguing that New York doesn’t need its subway because of how many people use PT in Wyoming.
Note that: the 2% Hosking quotes to back up his inconveniences in his city, is a measure drawn from use across the country, it is irrelevant to his argument.
The raving loonie is merely saying what all the RWs are thinking, which of course is nothing at all. Thought costs in time and money so they don’t waste time on anything unprofitable to them.
I made a joke yesterday about Blinglish stating the new social policy as being data-driven. Bwahahahahahah – where would it be driven to I ask? When you don’t want to know things, do they get lured up an alley and garrotted or taken for a midnight ride and dumped on the roadside. Poor dead-duck-data, RWs want to believe what their Mega-phone tells them, their Hosking Bullhorn.
At the very least Hosking’s salary should be included in National’s election advertising total allowance.
It should also include GST as it is obviously a service to them.
Are you really sure you want a policy like that?
You would have to include the whole RNZ news budget in the Labour Party costs.
They would already be over the limit for expenditure allowed in the last 3 months wouldn’t they, with only a couple of weeks gone?
I fully agree with you, Alwyn. National Radio are totally biased, and support the Labour party by having them shown as light National by such right-leaning commentators as Josie Pagani, whom they misrepresent as ‘Left’. Utterly disgusting. Then every so often they reveal an unpleasant truth – this is obviously an anti-National campaign. National Radio should be annihilated by renaming! I know – RNZ!
Get rid of him now I say, how many kiwis can relate to him… not many, if any.
His ratings are pretty good – which would indicate you are wrong.
Just shows how many idiots watch TV…. both left and right wing twits.
Thank goodness for Netflix.
Someone knocked on the door not so long ago, wanting to know if we would take part in TV ratings, many questions were asked, even household income etc.
They said they would be in touch if we were deemed the type of household that they could give a ratings monitor device to. Almost felt like they screened anyone whom they wanted to generating ratings information from, it didn’t appear random at all. They were even sent to selected houses, nah it wasn’t a scam, was the real deal. I was rather surprised ratings were gathered in that manner.
James do you know if ratings are collected in any other way please?
No idea. If you wanted I guess you could look it up.
Me neither lolz,
Did discover that ratings are only taken from a demographic of around 1500 households, ratings data collection is contracted to Nielson
http://www.thinktv.co.nz/about-tv/the-business-of-tv/understanding-tv-data/
And could you trust that person to be genuine?
The person who came to my door was genuine yes, I checked up on her.
As for Nielsons, they appear to be a global company, haven’t looked into them yet.
So it seems that our ratings info depends on 1500 people with ratings boxes. Interesting.
Absolutely not.
You don’t defeat bigots like Hosking by silencing them. You defeat them by debating them and offering an alternative view point.
What kind of society do we want where people with opposing views are not permitted to speak them?
^ Comment of the day and agree 100%
Well said, despised and annoying troll.
“despised and annoying troll”
Who forgot their polite tablets this morning.
So where is the opposing view to Hosking on free to air TV ? … not provided by management.
Comment of the day Barfly. Hosking should not be on free to air TV.
Quite right. Opponents of his views should be allowed immediate right of reply. Never happens.
Absolutely
Umm Street opposed his demented view before he had even finished preaching it.
That’s the issue for me – he’s an out-and-out propagandist. He lies, he rants, he is completely unchallenged, and he is always pro-nact. If the state broadcaster must pay for a pro-government propagandist, what about an opposition one of similar shameless insanity, too?
Oh – might be too difficult to find. May as well just fire the fucker, then.
It is kind of interesting to consider who the left might put up that would be the Hosking equivalent though 😈
Bomber?
rabidly left wing
blinkered engagement with reality
inflated sense of self importance and IQ…
Still seems like an unfair comparison
For all Bomber’s failings I think he’s actually more reasonable than Hosking by quite some margin.
Well, yeah, but you and I would say that.
Maybe, but I’m not really a fan of Bomber, and there’s always what they say and do to compare to each other 😉
Exhibit A
“More like Mike” was pretty good, actually. Easier to cleverly take the piss than to try to counter with fair debate (punching at mist..)
“an out-and-out propagandist” – in a nut-shell, McFlock. How best to counter an unfettered propagandist, that’s the question. Railing against him, calling for his head, seem reactions designed to feed the pyre, rather than quench the fire. Let’s get smarter. The problem isn’t hard to describe; yours’s perfect, the effective response though, that’s the challenge.
Maybe there is no effective response.
Can’t call for his firing, can’t sink to his level, can’t out-yell him, reasoned rebuttal just legitimises his absurdities with recognition.
Just have to hope the self-inflated manchild eventually takes his sense of entitlement too far to warrant his continued presence, like Paul Henry did.
We can rejoice in his naked greed and prejudice, measuring our own behaviour against his worst-practice behaviour. We can use his popularity as a measure of how much has to change in our society before it’s as we wish it to be. We can use reactions to him by people we talk to as a measure of their position and degree of discernment. We can use his continued existence in a public role as a measure of our ruling party’s methods and ethical levels. There is so much his performing offers us, aside from the obvious opportunities to lampoon and mock, both him and his sycophants. All in all, a useful chap, ol’ whatshisname.
*confession time; I’ve never seen the guy perform as I have no television.
“takes his sense of entitlement too far to warrant his continued presence”…. this is what he specializes in.
It would be alright if the opposing views got the same prominence but the small snippet I unavoidably watch last week had his offsider simpering all over him. Gross.
For every Hoskings there is a John Campbell
Personally think everyone is entitled to their views, whether I agree or not.
Would be a pretty boring place otherwise
Nope leave him in place as an example of why tvnz need to be made a public broadcaster or scrapped as you would yesterdays technology.
Most people know hes a nat sycophant and his smarmy arrogance cuts both ways
Yes and keep him off forever.
Hosking is a useful window into RWing ‘thinking’
Further to my rant on Nick Smith housing handling…
We, of the left, seem to be captured by the shenanagins of the Tories.
Rather than debating a direction for our future.
For example water, labour has talked about a levy charged per litre.
Rather than a ‘Hell No’.
Perhaps there is a middle ground.
Housing, as I eluded to in the Nick Smith post, the opposition is failing to get traction with their tactics. Don’t want to upset landlords?
Inequality? A bit hard to deal with. Unless we have a ftt and a ubi…
Tad radical, think of the horses.
Health funding, especially mental health and youth mental health. Where to start?
Paula Bennett is alleged to behaved abhorrently, (I don’t doubt the accusations) and we are lining up to add our two cents.
C’m on standardistas we can lift our game.
Right, that’s better.
I am off to work to have my promised 90 day performance review, albeit after 110 days.
I am aiming to get a living wage for working in a busy kitchen after having practiced the craft for 30 years.
What chance the youngsters in the industry, most of whom are grateful to be just above minimum wage.
(I won’t be back at my phone till later as I am not allowed it at work)
@ alwyn I wasn’t suggesting serious policy. It was a small joke at Hosking’s expense, but you sound serious about RNZ.
RNZ as biased as Hosking? I think not.
Do you consider the Herald a leftie rag too?
“the Herald”?
Does that fish and chip wrapper still exist?
I am just back from doing a little bit of work in France. We (the people doing the work) were provided with all the major UK newspapers.
God it is wonderful to be able to read well written papers like The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and The Financial Times. It is about the only English language country left with decent papers. Even in the US they are rubbish including the old staples like The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Here we have the Herald and the DomPost for crying out loud.
The only decent paper in Australasia in The Australian. You don’t have to like Rupert Murdoch but he is just about the last of the great Press Barons who believed in printing the news properly that we have left.
Here endeth the rant for the day.
As for RNZ being biased? Yes I do. We will simply have to agree to differ.
Alwyn, I agree with you about the range of quality reading available in the UK compared to here, but I would also have mentioned the Spectator, (and Punch, which, unfortunately, no longer exists). And Rupert Murdoch is the enemy of literacy, not its friend. He presided in the downward slide you lament, and you should know that, unless you are too young.
The headline on RNZ news this morning was “Auckland house price growth at 5 year low”. Let me show how it should have been reported:
“Auckland house prices growing at $70,000 a year; average price is now over $1 million. Prices continue to grow at three times rate of inflation.”
Someone at Radio NZ has been told how to report this issue so the government looks good.
The government’s weakest issue in the upcoming election is housing affordability (not just in Auckland) so it is trying to portray this problem as solved, which is rubbish. Nick Smith was at it yet again in his RNZ interview yesterday. Lies and more spin.
The Labour/Green bloc needs to get some clear stats out on housing affordability in its manifesto (and pledge card?) telling it as it is. In particular the fall in first time buyers and the rise in investors/multiple home owners needs to be highlighted.
The expert they interviewed on this said “first time buyers are at their lowest ever”. That should have been the headline.
And following on from the above, in the Herald today:
“House sales have made a mint in the first quarter of 2017, with $3.8 billion in profits.
But it’s not all good news, with $24 million in losses recorded by those who made a bad bet on the property market.”
Incredible numbers-profits of $3.8 billion in just 3 months, almost all non-taxable.
As with the RNZ headline above, the article contains lots of spin, concentrating on the losses made by very few people, losses which are miniscule compared with the profits-$24m versus $3800m.
It’s here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11885935
The article does not comment on the profit split between home owners and between investors.
And nobody (except me it seems) thinks ALL housing stock should be taxed upon sale.
Gee, the Nats dont want to tax property gains, and Labour seem to think that the “personal residence” should be exempt. But where is the financial responsibility or tax fairness in that?
Why should a person who lives in say Dunedin, have little to no capital gains – probably under $100,000 in this decade, and thats tax free, when an Auckland home owner may have a $500,000 tax free profit.
And lets not discuss the poor buggers who dont own a house so have no chance to make a tax free gain.
You are going to have a real problem on about the 5th of September.
They will be reporting, absolutely accurately, that the rate of house price increases in Auckland for the 12 months ending August 2017 was ZERO.
True, that is what they will be reporting. The Labour Party are going to have trouble with that don’t you think?
Your numbers, like theirs, are simply out of date. They don’t reflect the reality of today. Sorry about that.
@Alwyn One wonders why you don’t leave out the snide comments like “sorry about that” and simply argue your case. Maybe it is because you know you are on the wrong side of the argument given that the Gnats have failed catastrophically on housing policy.
But you are right that, unless the Labour/Green bloc can win the debate in the media on this issue, it will not be the definitive issue it should be at the election. The fact that houses in Akl are now more than a million a pop and first-time buyers are at an all time low is the issue. If the Labour/Green bloc is smart they will highlight the latter especially.
Under this government over the last 9 years it has become impossible for young people to afford to buy a house; there must be votes in this.
Prices staying where they are is no solution, Alwyn. Too late for that – a significant drop is needed. Not something you will find palatable I suspect, and I can almost hear you screaming already about whether I want to destroy innocent people’s wealth by collapsing property values.
Something’s wrong with this picture
Mad Butcher fundraising $15,000 for unpaid staff
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/07/mad-butcher-fundraising-15-000-for-unpaid-staff.html
We also had Mondelez announcing earlier this year it would stop manufacturing Cadbury products in Dunedin in March 2018, with the loss of 350 jobs.
Apropos the article about Mike Hosking and bus lanes.
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2017/07/05/hoskings-idiotic-bus-lane-rant/
How about having “busless, trainless days” in Auckland a la the old carless days, just for an experiment? It would be fun to see what happens. Do it for a week even.
Thing is, Hosking would make sure that on those he won’t go to work or the week he’ll go to Hawaii on holiday.
“We don’t like public transport, we like cars and cars need roads,” he says. We didn’t need this latest rant to have us think he’s a self-centred, short-sighted, up-himself cretin. Having him say that though is a nice little reminder.
“Self-centred, short sighted, up-himself cretin”. That describes most of the right wingers I know. The rest of them are women!
Are you suggesting that women cannot be cretins, or that the rest of women are?
I think a woman can’t be “up himself”. She’d have to be up herself.
Ugly ugly ugly ugly
https://thespinoff.co.nz/auckland/05-07-2017/when-rugby-brings-out-the-worst/
Currency-issuing governments can keystroke their outstanding debt into oblivion
Which is basically what I and many other have been saying for quite some time.
A government that issues it’s own money never has to go into debt even when running a deficit. Done properly it could even get rid of the so-called Business Cycle and fully develop the economy while eliminating the need for exports and imports.
Has anyone seen Win The Future?
https://winthefuture.com/set-agenda
They are seeking to change Democratic Party policy with crowdsourcing.
On the other hand the founders of the effort are Silicon Valley billionaires.
I would love to see The Standard evolve into something similar though.
Italian Police have just raided an apartment for drugs, so they get the perfect headline:
“Vatican Rocked: Police raid drug-fuelled gay orgy at cardinal’s apartment”.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11886097
Historic sex crimes have already got Cardinal Pell.
Hopefully the Police get to go through the whole of the Cardinals.
A further excellent opportunity for the current Pope to not merely sound good, but to clean house and act.
http://politik.co.nz/en/content/politics/1133/?ct=t(POLITIKToday_07_10_2016_10_6_2016)&mc_cid=2b2600b050&mc_eid=6dd3d7f03f
Two times labour candidate leave Labour and Joins National.
Apparently he is well respected in his local community and his move is indicative of a lot of feeling in the Kiwi Indian community.
Time will tell – but cannot see this as be bad for National in the slightest.
I wonder if Labours anti immigration campaign will come back to bite them?
Candidate swaps parties after low list ranking, justifies low list ranking. Gives law and order as reason.
James tries to blame immigration policy. [Slow clap]
So you are saying you believe he jumped to Nation just because of his low list ranking?
No, although his political affinity with the nats certainly justifies the low placing.
I wouldn’t be surprised if his placing contributed significantly to his decision, though.
Definitely contributed. Leaving Labour happened just after he lost the nomination for Papaura to an excellent young candidate of Indian ethnicity and received either a low list placing or no list placing.
So for a second election campaign in a row, National are buying the loyalties of disaffected self-appointed ‘leaders’ of ‘communities’ to turn them from Labour and we’re supposed to take that as a sign of a shift in attitudes within that ‘community’?
I mean, call me cynical, but my general impression of these people is that they usually aren’t ‘leaders’ at all – except in the eyes of gullible white people trying to buy the votes of said ‘community’ from above instead of winning them from below with good policy and solid face-to-face connections. Are we all really so racist that we think everyone with dark skin is part of a ‘community’ which has ‘leaders’ who are able to tell them how to vote? That doesn’t bode well for democracy if true!
I guess given that us white folks tend not to have ‘communities’ with ‘leaders’ who can influence their votes, maybe we’re gullible or racist enough to think that everyone else is a sheep with a shepherd, and if you win over that shepherd he’ll deliver you his flock at the polling booth. But me, I have my doubts.
Ah well, let National spend their money being rainmade by wannabe mandarins. It says all you need about them and their attitude to democratic tradition.
“So for a second election campaign in a row, National are buying the loyalties of disaffected self-appointed ‘leaders’ of ‘communities’ to turn them from Labour and we’re supposed to take that as a sign of a shift in attitudes within that ‘community’?”
Or it could be that people are giving up on Labour – as would be evidenced by their very low poll ratings (and Littles as preferred PM).
“I mean, call me cynical, but my general impression of these people is that they usually aren’t ‘leaders’ at all – except in the eyes of gullible white people trying to buy the votes of said ‘community’ ”
Yet Labour were happy to have him stand for them…. twice. Perhaps he actually is a leader in that community?
“Are we all really so racist that we think everyone with dark skin is part of a ‘community’ which has ‘leaders’ who are able to tell them how to vote?”
Its not racist – there are may leaders in the the community that indicate to their community about where they see the most benefit to their community. Ratana Church for example.
Where did he stand for Labour? The seat where he stood or the placing he had on their list will tell all.
Ratana Church isn’t comparable to individuals, it’s an institution with a unique place in NZ culture. I doubt there’s much at all you could compare it to.
Pakaranga, just once, in 2011, it’s Maurice Williamson seat
The following election he decided to only opt for the list, and the candidate that Labour stood in same electorate received around 700 more votes than the prior year when Kaushal stood….
Then bums out when he gets a low list ranking for this election llolz, throws a wobbly and jumps ship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakuranga_(New_Zealand_electorate)
Says the outgoing government are listening to his concerns re the massive number of dairy robberies. And it’s probably all they are doing.. listening.
Maybe he has forgotten how much the price of tobacco has increased since national took office, and the flow on effects re robberies etc etc.
Will he be standing for Pakuranga or just this list with national?
Why are National waiting so long to release their list? Are they short on players?
Hahah I had his number right off then. Thanks for confirming! Knew this didn’t pass the sniff test, especially when it broke via Politik.
So he was upset at Labour’s inaction re Law and Order. Those pesky Labour fellows should have set up a team of special police to bounce the thieves the instant a complaint came in.
What’s that? You mean the National Party is the Government with the power to do something to appease the shop owners. And this candidate has joined the National Party to get action???
That is ridiculous! Have they promised him a high ranking then?
If Labour are losing the central Auckland Indian vote they are in very serious trouble. Indian subcontinent voters have been incredibly loyal to this point.
Sunny will take a lot of votes out of Mt Roskill, New Windsor, Avondale, Sandringham, and New Lynn.
“they are in very serious trouble”
They poll in the mid to high 20%’s – they are already in serious trouble – anymore drops it could well be terminal.
Really? Shail Kaushal is a hardworking Labour member of the Puketapapa Local board and is on Michael Wood’s campaign team. Michael Wood and Jacinda Aden did really well in recent by-elections. I certainly don’t belive Sunny played a significant role in their wins. Sunny missed out on the Papaura selection to Jesse Pabla a young New Zealand born candidate of Indian ethnicity. Baljit Kauri is standing for Hunua. Priyanca Radhakrishnan is standing for Maungakieie and has a high place on the list. All these candidates of Indian ethnicity have strong Labour values.I think Labour is renewing itself with good strong Labour values. It must have been galling for Sunny to realise their is really no place in the party for an old right wing careerist like himself. He is an excellent fit for National.
They still won’t get to keep shotties under the counter jimbo.