kinda what i’ve been wondering.que mortgage sales and farms being offloaded by desperate farmers and “investors”, especially marginal farms. remember how china pushed up the price of coal, all the while stockpiling it and the subsequent crash in price when they stopped buying? now with dairy dejavu. the banks have not been particularly responsible with lending, pouring millions into dairy conversions (including in area totally unsuited like central otago) making hay while the sun shines. well the weather has turned and is about to shit all over those hapless farmers – and our economy. whose goin to buy all these farms? i wonder.
Wouldn’t surprise me to see such happen even if it hadn’t been purposeful. The rich will always find ways to take from everyone else during times of trouble.
Just look at the those who are now part of the Chinese banking system: Don Brash, Jenny Shipley, Ruth Richardson, Chris Tremain (this one would be absurdly funny if it was’t true).
I would not be surprised if Chinese financed corporate farming rises to prominence in the next couple of years.
Yes, the main problem with the world dairy market is nobody knows what is happening in China, zero visibility. Its utterly stupid to be relying on this country for our future, that is the mistake Fonterra has made.
I don’t know but China filled its warehouses chooker full buy all accounts and are know in a position of being able to sit it out for a while while farms potentially go broke.
I am aware there’s lots of other factors pushing dairy prices down as well but was just interested to see what other comenters here thought.
One flaw in his talk is the assertion that it will force every one onto a credit card when its easier now to be cashless and not have a credit card than it was 10 years ago.
Direct transaction from account to account and I believe my eftpos card can be set up as a debit card that works like a credit card but you use you’re own money.
Ok, so overnight online banking. In my experience there are still enough places that won’t do that and require a credit card. I also use my credit card over the phone. Is there is a substitute for that (not sure if debit cards can be used like that)?
Debit cards can be used exactly the same way as credit cards and in the same places. The only difference is that debit cards don’t usually have credit on them and so you can only use money that you have in the bank.
Weka their are several different versions of cash card now even one that you transfer only the amount of the purchase so you don’t get your bank account emptied by a scam.
Debit cards – they’re eftpos cards that are linked into the Visa or Mastercard network and can be used in the same fashion as a credit card except they draw directly from your account. So far as I can tell, they are offered by the major banks, Kiwibank, TSB, the Cooperative Bank and most credit unions.
Go on to your bank website and search using the term “debit card” you should get the info if you’re interested. I’ve been far better at managing my money since I switched from using credit to debit.
Are you saying that a debit card by default can’t go into overdraft?
That’s what I’m saying. Unless you have an overdraft facility on your account.
How does the bank and/or credit card company make money from it then? Is the retailer picking that up?
Mine is with ANZ – I don’t have an annual fee on it because it’s linked with my everyday account. If it was linked with another account – like my savings – it would be $10 p.a. There is a currency conversion fee of 2.5% when buying in foreign currency, but lots of overseas retailers – like Amazon – charge in $NZD, so that can be avoided.
I would guess the retailer is picking up the charges for being on the network.
Thanks Ovid. I think when my bank originally offered me something like this it was tied into them offering me credit, so I said no. I generally don’t take my credit card to town, so having a credit facility on my eftpost card was always going to be a bad idea. That was some years ago though, I should check it out.
AFAIK store owners and businesses get killed with these debit cards because the credit card company takes their 2.5% financial industry tax on every transaction.
Banks pushed customers to replace their eftpos cards with these credit card branded debit cards because they get a cut of this action.
AFAIK store owners and businesses get killed with these debit cards because the credit card company takes their 2.5% financial industry tax on every transaction.
Which happens to be another reason why we have to shift from private bank financial system to a government bank owned financial system.
We should not have to pay private companies to use our money.
thanks CV. Is that worse than what credit card companies/banks do with credit cards? I’ve noticed a few places that now add a charge if purchasing with a credit card.
How much will the banks be allowed to charge you/ me/us for transactions on our ‘deposit’ ‘credit’ ‘eftpos’ card?
When I pay cash, i pay cash, the bank gets nothing. So in fact, ‘the cashless’ society is going to increase the cost of living by way of ‘taxing’ transactions.
its just that you don’t physically have to pull out a note of your wallet.
this is an interesting read on the cashless society that are the US American Citizens that receive SNAP and or other benefits.
Exactly – but its small business owners who bare the brunt of this financial leachery, as they end up paying % merchant fees to the credit card companies. SMEs then feel pressure to take more from employees and customers.
I pay these fees every month, but i do count these fees as a ‘cost of doing business’ and i am able to write them off at the end of the year.
Bank Cards cost money, account fees, transaction fees, replacement fees for a lost card etc etc etc. This can actually eat up quite a bit of cash at the end of the year, that only benefits the card issuing bank, but add to no service to the businesses and/or community.
A cashless society run by the banks? No thank you, they are already milking us to no end, i also don’t like the idea that my every purchase is traceable via bank statements, nor do I like the idea that my data gets a. sold of to the highest bidder or to any business that the bank works with….shared data ….or that it might get stolen.
I can see the attraction aka the Startrek button that is the intercom, the bank account and we are all paid in credits. Alas, as our current government here, and various other government overseas show daily, we first have to have the total war before the Vulcan come to Earth to give us Warp Drive and a better more enlightened future.
one major goal of a cashless society is to be able to track your commercial activities in real time, wherever you are.
This is an extension of the surveillance state.
Also in a banking shutdown like Greece just had, it leaves people with no choice but to beg the controllers of the banking and transaction networks to throw the switch back on, at any cost.
CV, the previous finance minister Cullen,was very hot on a cashless society,just shows you where his community lies, (that’s for those out there pumping his credentials) .
I am as well but I hold that all the transactions need to be done on a government server/network and not on private bank servers so that the banks don’t get to prey on the people for using their money.
even if the government is as democratically elected as the one in Russia, China, Zimbabwe, or Saudi Arabia/Iran/Iraq etc to name just a few?
No the reason people like cash is that it is almost untracable, and that most of us are able to trace their purchases with simple book keeping methods.
I would not trust the banks, nor any government with the access to ‘my’ money.
the 00 on your bank account have no value, the little bit of paper cash in the shoebox under the hotwater cupboard on the other hand has.
Actually, if the little bit of paper has value then it’s broken as cash.
Governments can ban/make obsolete any means of exchange they want. Black markets can look for other means of exchange, including cigarettes or stable currencies like USD or RMB, but in general you might equally find that cash in the shoebox useless as a means of exchange. If banning doesn’t work, refusing to honour it as legal tender and no longer integrating it into the digital economy, or even printing gazillions of it to devalue it to a point approaching zero, would seriously damage it as a means of exchange. Weimar Republic, for example.
Scrip (sometimes called chit) is a term for any substitute for legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrips were created as company payment of employees under the truck system and also as a means of local commerce in times where regular currency is unavailable, such as remote coal towns, military bases, ships on long voyages, or occupied countries in war time. Besides company scrip, other forms of scrip include land scrip, vouchers, token coins such as subway tokens, IOUs, arcade tokens and tickets, and points on some credit cards.
Scrips have gained historical importance and become a subject of study in numismatics and exonumia due to their wide variety and recurring use. Scrip behaves similarly to a currency, and as such can be used to study monetary economics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrip
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I honestly would not want my finances at the whim of a government or a bank. In both cases we would be fucked and not in a good way. Greece, no amount of money in the bank without access is gonna pay yer rent or food.
The only way we are going cashless is if we abolish the system of money altogether and live in a Utoptia, where everyone is housed, clothed and fed the same. A Utopia where no one is rich nor poor, where all work to provide the things to live, i.e. housing, food and clothes. But thats not gonna work.
The main reasons government cash is the almost universal means of exchange within a country are the government guarantee (which historically has proved much more reliable than private enterprise guarantees) and the fact that only the government can require people by law to accept that currency as face-value means of exchange (“legal tender”).
The funny thing about scrip is that the issuer can stop honouring them, or change the value of them, and many are linked to the government currency anyway and as such are more a loan than a scrip (e.g. the balance on my bus card). The reason companies issue scrip or tokens is simply to lock the consumer into purchasing from that supplier – e.g. my coffee card.
No it wouldn’t.There was a reason why such were made illegal and national currency brought in – it’s because the private creators of money always create too much which they can’t actually back. Private creation of money inevitably leads to financial and economic collapse.
I honestly would not want my finances at the whim of a government or a bank.
And what else do you think will happen if the use of scrip would be allowed?
A Utopia where no one is rich nor poor, where all work to provide the things to live, i.e. housing, food and clothes. But thats not gonna work.
This is despite the fact that that is how the economy works anyway. The real problem is that we have rich people.
Answer me this: What good is your money (literally virtual money), if you can’t access it, if you can’t use your bank card, or if your access is blocked by a government?
I can see quite a few people barter, trade or institute on a community level something to replace all that virtual money if access is not guaranteed or made hard.
I think they call it the black economy, or the under the table economy etc.
If you can’t access your money it is no good.
The same as when banks locked their doors if there was a run on the bank in the pre-electronic days.
But the only intrinsic characteristic of money is that it is virtual, whether it’s numbers on a screen or numbers on a bit of paper.
I recall reading an article in the 1990s that described the job of an Eastern European factory manager – the economy was in the toilet, so this person’s job involved creating massive networks of barter deals in order to either pay the workers in food or useful goods rather than the toilet paper that was the national currency at the time.
A friend of mine recently brought out some family heirlooms – marks from the early 1920s. As the denominations accrued loads of zeros, the size got smaller and the quality rougher. The value of the currency wasn’t the digits, it was what you could exchange for those digits.
I think its inevitable so I would like think people in position s that could have some input into it are doing every thing possible to protect the public.
the finance sector kings and the surveillance industry kings are the ones who are making all the decisions on any such transition to a “cashless society.”
their concern for the “little person” is not notable; their concern for profit and for knowing everything about your life, while you know nothing about what they are doing, is however.
i would not be surprised if/when the ‘cashless’ society comes, that people will use script.
It has been done before, the best currency my Nana had in the after war years in Germany were cigarettes.
German ones had a bit of value, American ones like Lucky Strike could buy you heeps of stuff, Russian ciggies rolled in the pravda ….not so much buying power.
No, like the cash less office, i don’t think we are going to have a cash less society.
National’s dags being rattled by Parker on National Radio this morning.
Hope it wipes smirk off Key’s face, watching Key blatantly distract the country by accusing King And Goff of undermining Little was sickening.
Blinglish saying adjustments about Dairy industry job losses bankruptcies firesale prices for Dairy farms to be snapped up by cashed up countries with long-term agendas.
Thanks freedom. I wonder what will happen next. National Radio seems to take the lead so Mr English’s warning that National Radio is a dinosaur must send a warning.
Seems evident that the Government is happy and confident to lie with impunity regardless of contrary evidence.
Not that many years ago, an interview that held revelations involving Government Ministers’ auditioning for the role of TwoFace would have had the Ministers involved looking for new employment by the time their cars arrived to collect them from the studios. Because that’s where they were, in the studio, metaphorically at least. But Ministers barely front up for interviews anymore, unless they have a policy they want to sell, or know of a bus due any minute and who they think should be under it.
Yes, that’s an exaggeration but let’s be real here, nothing is going to happen. The MSM are showing how compliant they have become. They are lost to us. Thankfully much of the public have taken their voices on-line and are building their own fledging networks of contemporary news and analyses. Not a perfect system but imagine the MSM without the public discourse we have built amongst ourselves over the past decade or so. Having blogs & social media to parry through the melee might be a senseless struggle to some and a waste of resources to others but it does keep the battle going. Even pacifists like me understand to win a war you must stay in the fight.
Given the duplicity’s wide reaching implications for our democracy, there are plenty of unspoken questions about what else lies beneath the surface of this [and other] Government/s. But those questions are left to fade on the Editor’s to do list. Instead the Editors get their staff to scramble over each other, scratching and tearing at all the shiny things worn by all the shiny people.
At times like this there are few more rational responses than anger. The public anger that such facts should generate is so stage managed that many people are unsure what they are meant to be focusing their anger on, but they do know they are angry about something.
The Opposition, stymied by the media’s complicity, is left to struggle against a Speaker who was apparently instrumental in the co-ordination of the circumstances being discussed. Circumstances he has openly assisted the Government in avoiding as he sits as Speaker. When the opposition rise to their feet next week, and hopefully deliver carefully co-ordinated single part questions, they know full well what they will be facing. The Speaker will simply shut down any debate on the topic faster than he closed the door on ‘matters before the court’ that actually weren’t.
The PM could be asked directly about the blatantly two-faced actions taken by his Minister/s and if, by some miracle, he doesn’t launch into ‘Labour did it! Labour did it! Labour did it!’ we’ll get a shrug, a ‘you know’ then [the now tired] sneer followed by his latest version of ‘there’s always another person with a different interpretation of events’ before he wraps up by attacking another Party’s policies or making some lame joke whilst ignoring the lacklustre demands from the Speaker for him to be seated.
Yeah I guess you could say I’m less than thrilled about our prospects as a modern democratic state.
Homegrown (not in the NZ sense) is a promenade play about the radicalisation of young people living in Britain. The idea and the performance sounds great, but it will not be performed.
The National Youth Theatre (NYT) production was closed down last Thursday, with the creators saying they were given no prior warning. Director Nadia Latif and playwright Omar El-Khairy believe the production was cancelled due to external pressures, claiming both local authorities and police got involved during the development of the play.
This was about having an intelligent conversation around an issue with hysteria attached, and voices have been silenced
Nadia Latif, director
The play, which had a cast of 112 people aged between 15 and 25 – mostly from ethnic minorities – was originally due to take place in a school in Tower Hamlets, less than a mile from the Bethnal Green academy attended by Shamima Begum, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, the schoolgirls believed to have travelled to Syria in February.
Latif and El-Khairy had developed the play through workshops with the young actors, looking at the emotive issues of jihadi brides and attitudes towards Islam in the UK. Instead of being performed on stage to an audience, it was to be an immersive, promenade production, where the audiences could walk through the school corridors, witnessing conversations and different dramatic moments between the cast.
Theatre is a great way to get people discussing and talking, and they are missing an opportunity here.
Not to mention the involvement of 112 local young people, who discover (once again) that their voices are silent.
How heartening would it be if we could threaten companies such as Miller Argent with the “costs” of their externalities, instead of reading again about their threats to local peoples and governments to act as they see fit.
In June, councillors on Caerphilly county borough council’s planning committee unanimously rejected a recommendation by their planning officers to allow Miller Argent to exploit 6m tonnes of coal at Nant Llesg, near Rhymney, but deferred a final decision until Wednesday.
The company’s application has prompted rallies and a petition by 7,000 people against the mine.
Miller Argent has written to councillors warning them that it intends to recover all the costs it has incurred so far in its application, as well as the costs of any appeal it might make should councillors refuse its application. It is understood that these costs could amount to more than £100,000.
“We reiterate that in the event of a refusal and appeal, the substantial costs would be in no one’s interest,” the letter says. “Your officers have highlighted the potential for a substantial award of costs against the council. Miller Argent would seek to recover costs from the council.”
The Guardian’s expert on obfuscation by bureaucratese and acronym, Steven Poole, recently argued that TTIP could be a conspiracy to pull some very thick wool over our eyes. We live in an age when we’re so accustomed to being entertained that we haven’t the temperament to do the difficult work of penetrating the wool of boring. So we’re going to take that wool, roll it into a ball and leave it for the cat to play with. No, don’t look at the cat. Look at me. Focus.
And how come he can be part of it when we are not privy to the TPP?
“Fonterra chairman John Wilson’s verbal sharp-shooting skills were put to good effect at the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) ministerial negotiations in Maui.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11491984 (Fran O’Sullivan.)
Anybody hearing about the Turks bombing Kurdish anti-ISIS positions and the US bombing Syria to create an ISIS free safe zone? Neh, I didn’t think so! I mean why keep us posted on an area where NZ soldiers are involved in another war crime of apocalyptic proportions?
This excerpt from the Leaked TPP IP chapter would appear to be affecting Māori sovereignty.
Article QQ.E.23[95]: {Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic
Resources}
[PE/NZ/VN/BN/MX/SG/CL/MY propose[96]: 1. The parties recognise the importance and contribution
of traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and biological diversity to cultural, economic
and social development.]
[[97]PE/MY/MXBN propose; NZ/AU/SG/CL oppose: 2. Each Party exercises sovereignty over their
biological [MY/BN oppose: diversity] [MY/BN propose: resources] and shall determine the access
conditions to their genetic resources and their derivatives in accordance to their domestic legislation.] http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/Section-E-PatentsUndisclosed-Data-TK-TTP-IP-Text-11May2015.pdf
Don’t forget to PROTEST AGAINST TPPA – our government is very keen to sign our sovereignty away. Just because they didn’t do it last week – they seem confident that they will next time so show the government the people mean business!
Here are the details
Hokianga
15 August protest, 11am at Kohukohu Village Green.
Whangarei
15 August protest, 11am at the Town Basin.
Auckland
15 August protest, 1pm at Aotea Square to march down Queen Street, featuring speakers and music.
Hamilton
15 August protest, Meet @ 1pm outside Cock and Bull carpark on corner of Church and Maui.
Tauranga
8 August, 10 am @ Red Square (Downtown Tauranga) for ‘Chalk n talk’.
9 August, Johns Key’s birthday bash with live music and Cake Signing the giant card.
10 August at lunch time, Banner making in Red Square.
12 August, Nag banner from cambridge rd over bridge.
13 August, signs on the road side
14th August – public meeting
15 August protest at 1pm, Red Square.
Gisborne
15 August protest, details to come.
Napier/Hastings
15 August protest, 1pm, location to be announced.
Wanganui
8 August protest, 1pm, march from Silver Ball in the market to Majestic Square.
New Plymouth
Protest planned, details to come
Palmerston North
(Before Action Week) – At 7pm on July 29th Palmerston North City Library is hosting a panel discussion on the TPPA, featuring Assoc Prof Jeff Sluka, Dr Deborak Russell and Dr Shamin Shukur (compere: Assoc Prof Bill Fish).
Art and photo exhibition planned with accompanying information, concert and talks
8 August Rally and concert, 1pm – 3:30pm in the Square in the quadrant opposite The Plaza. Keynote speech from Barry Coates, including Dr Romauld Rudzki, Dr Deborah Russell, Dr Jeff Sluka and Cr Lew Findlay, and local musicians.
14 August will be a concert in the library at 5pm, then documentary maker and investigative journalist Bryan Bruce will speak at 6pm on Poverty, Inequality & the TPPA.
Many committed P North activists will also be heading to Wellington on 15 August.
Wellington
7-13 August – The People Speak #STOPTPPA. NZ Photo exhibition (10am-5pm)
12 August – Lunchtime rally outside Parliament with politicians and speakers.
15 August – TPPA Walk Away! Protest action to stop the TPPA. Assemble at Midland Park and march to Parliament for speakers and music. More details to come.
Nelson
15 August protest at 11:00am, top of Trafalgar St – 1903 Square.
Christchurch
10 August political debate at 6pm, Canterbury Horticultural Society (57 Riccarton Avenue), featuring David Parker, Russell Norman, Fletcher Tabuteau and Marama Fox.
12 August film screening of ‘Inequality for All” by economist Robert Reich, 6pm at The Auricle (35 New Regent Street).
14 August New Economics Seminar and Expo, 7pm at Horticultural Hall.
15 August protest at 12:30pm. Location: South Hagley Park (corner Deans Ave and Riccarton Rd) marching down Riccarton Rd.
Timaru
15 August protest planned, details to come.
Dunedin
15 August protest at 1pm, marching from the Dental School to the Octagon.
Draco T Bastard:
So, you have no answer to the point that your preferred option has been tried before and failed.
Gotcha.
————————————————————————————————————————-
your answer to my question here
Answer me this: What good is your money (literally virtual money), if you can’t access it, if you can’t use your bank card, or if your access is blocked by a government?
I can see quite a few people barter, trade or institute on a community level something to replace all that virtual money if access is not guaranteed or made hard.
I think they call it the black economy, or the under the table economy etc.
————————————————————————————————————————
ok, so I have linked to a Wiki Page that explains the use of scrip / chits throught the history of banking.
I have mentioned bartering, trading, or exchanging goods at an agreed value,
I have raised my reasons as to why i am not deluded into thinking that a benevolent government would run our cashless society that you advocate (i still would love the Start Trek years, but alas i will only live the years of the war leading up to the Vulcan arriving and providing humanity with Warp Speed).
I have mentioned cigarettes as currency as used in the after war years of Germany, my mother has good memories of picking up buds, taking them home, cleaning them, re-rolling the cleaned tobacco and then using it on the black market as currency before the great new introduction of the Deutsch Mark.
And you are saying that my preferred option has not been successfully tried before? Really? I mean Really?
So I am sorry, but there are more examples of humanity using what ever they can as currency, in abscence of anything better.
And if your cashless society comes true, i bet you a hundered chits that there will be immediately a different cash form available for those that don’t want to use the government sanctioned, controlled and government depended ‘credit/debit’ cards.
You need to prove that your idea is better, and at the moment i see you failing.
The current advantage of cash over electronics isn’t trust so much as the convenience of universality – almost everyone can take cash, not everyone can take cards as that involves a cost outlay. When that advantage no longer exists, cash will slowly be phased out.
There is a hybrid option that might persist as a transitional step if manufacturing costs approach negligible: individual tokens like debit cards that have a display of their remaining balance. They can be physically exchanged, or debited (transferring between tokens would be more difficult and would require each token to be networked, although thinking about it one could organise some sort of exchange protocol that involves the token uploading and confirmation of transaction histories at merchant terminals).
That sort of thing was in the 1980s series Max Headroom, for the scifi folks out there 🙂
And you are saying that my preferred option has not been successfully tried before?
It’s been tried and failed and linked to some information on it. There’s more around on the same site if you look.
Sure, the laws that got put in place empowered the private banks which is why we need to change the laws and make it so that only the government an create money.
Hell, we technically already have your system in that the private banks create money every time a loan is made and is failing miserably.
And if your cashless society comes true, i bet you a hundered chits that there will be immediately a different cash form available for those that don’t want to use the government sanctioned, controlled and government depended ‘credit/debit’ cards.
Probably because we’ve been taught that government is bad and that stealing from them is good. Of course, stealing from the government is stealing from yourself and so you’re actually worse off.
You need to prove that your idea is better, and at the moment i see you failing.
You’re being wilfully blind.
Advantages:
1. It’s cheaper as it uses less resources
2. It’s more secure – can’t be stolen
3. Makes it easier to determine taxes
4. Makes it easier to find crime
Disadvantages:
1. It may go offline occasionally
2. Everyone will need a cellphone
“KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Southeast Asian nations want China to stop land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea, a regional official said Tuesday, but China insisted it has a right to continue the activity.
Le Luong Minh, secretary-general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said ASEAN foreign ministers expressed concerns in a meeting Tuesday over massive Chinese island-building activities that have escalated tensions in the area…
China says it’s all their territory, a load of other nations disagree. It was in this area that Chinese and US aircraft collided in 2001. Lol, and it was the macguffin for a James Bond movie, I think The world is not enough.
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Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
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+100 Tricledown…and in this regard this post and some comments on the Daily Blog are of interest
….seems like some “in the know” about NZ cover ups are being heavied and attempts are being made to compromise, entrap and blackmail them ….
http://frameblame.org/personal-experiences-entrapment/
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/07/19/and-then-they-came-for-rodney-hide/
Chris Hedges shows how people like Heath get away with the things they do…
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_careerists_20120723
http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/70835050/Fonterras-GlobalDairyTrade-auction-posts-10th-consecutive-fall
The price keeps dropping is it possible rural nz is being set up for a corporate raid??
kinda what i’ve been wondering.que mortgage sales and farms being offloaded by desperate farmers and “investors”, especially marginal farms. remember how china pushed up the price of coal, all the while stockpiling it and the subsequent crash in price when they stopped buying? now with dairy dejavu. the banks have not been particularly responsible with lending, pouring millions into dairy conversions (including in area totally unsuited like central otago) making hay while the sun shines. well the weather has turned and is about to shit all over those hapless farmers – and our economy. whose goin to buy all these farms? i wonder.
The farmers screwing the environment (and their workers) are probably being screwed by the banks (and insurance companies) themselves.
When it really comes down to it, it is the finance sector calls that calls the shots, we all just dance to their tune,
Wouldn’t surprise me to see such happen even if it hadn’t been purposeful. The rich will always find ways to take from everyone else during times of trouble.
And the finance sector are their key facilitators
Just look at the those who are now part of the Chinese banking system: Don Brash, Jenny Shipley, Ruth Richardson, Chris Tremain (this one would be absurdly funny if it was’t true).
I would not be surprised if Chinese financed corporate farming rises to prominence in the next couple of years.
its all just coincidence. nats just all happen to be more gifted than other nzers.
Yes, the main problem with the world dairy market is nobody knows what is happening in China, zero visibility. Its utterly stupid to be relying on this country for our future, that is the mistake Fonterra has made.
It makes you wonder what van der heyden knew when he made this comment.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/8726453/Chinese-comments-taken-out-of-context
BW It’s The market init?
I don’t know but China filled its warehouses chooker full buy all accounts and are know in a position of being able to sit it out for a while while farms potentially go broke.
I am aware there’s lots of other factors pushing dairy prices down as well but was just interested to see what other comenters here thought.
The War On Cash Is Evil – Mike Maloney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GteG8jnIPc&utm
Banks stand to make a lot more money from a cashless society than they currently make.
One flaw in his talk is the assertion that it will force every one onto a credit card when its easier now to be cashless and not have a credit card than it was 10 years ago.
How do you buy online without a credit card?
Direct transaction from account to account and I believe my eftpos card can be set up as a debit card that works like a credit card but you use you’re own money.
I understand there is some consumer protection if you use either the credit or debit card as well.
It is a separate card but runs off the same account/s as your regular eftpos card
“Direct transaction from account to account”
How?
“and I believe my eftpos card can be set up as a debit card that works like a credit card but you use you’re own money.”
But also has a credit card type limit on it whereby you can go into debt? (You can also run a credit card off your own money)
Log in to your bank
set up payment to another persons account
Click ‘pay’
You only have the money in your account to pay with unless you have an overdraft available in which case there would also be credit available.
Ok, so overnight online banking. In my experience there are still enough places that won’t do that and require a credit card. I also use my credit card over the phone. Is there is a substitute for that (not sure if debit cards can be used like that)?
Debit cards can be used exactly the same way as credit cards and in the same places. The only difference is that debit cards don’t usually have credit on them and so you can only use money that you have in the bank.
Debit cards used to have problems. These days if they have a visa or mastercard, they appear to be accepted everywhere on the net.
Weka their are several different versions of cash card now even one that you transfer only the amount of the purchase so you don’t get your bank account emptied by a scam.
Does paypal accept them?
Debit cards – they’re eftpos cards that are linked into the Visa or Mastercard network and can be used in the same fashion as a credit card except they draw directly from your account. So far as I can tell, they are offered by the major banks, Kiwibank, TSB, the Cooperative Bank and most credit unions.
Go on to your bank website and search using the term “debit card” you should get the info if you’re interested. I’ve been far better at managing my money since I switched from using credit to debit.
Are you saying that a debit card by default can’t go into overdraft?
How does the bank and/or credit card company make money from it then? Is the retailer picking that up?
That’s what I’m saying. Unless you have an overdraft facility on your account.
Mine is with ANZ – I don’t have an annual fee on it because it’s linked with my everyday account. If it was linked with another account – like my savings – it would be $10 p.a. There is a currency conversion fee of 2.5% when buying in foreign currency, but lots of overseas retailers – like Amazon – charge in $NZD, so that can be avoided.
I would guess the retailer is picking up the charges for being on the network.
Thanks Ovid. I think when my bank originally offered me something like this it was tied into them offering me credit, so I said no. I generally don’t take my credit card to town, so having a credit facility on my eftpost card was always going to be a bad idea. That was some years ago though, I should check it out.
Basically from nebulous account charges and margins on overseas sales
AFAIK store owners and businesses get killed with these debit cards because the credit card company takes their 2.5% financial industry tax on every transaction.
Banks pushed customers to replace their eftpos cards with these credit card branded debit cards because they get a cut of this action.
Awful financial industry ticket clipping.
Which happens to be another reason why we have to shift from private bank financial system to a government bank owned financial system.
We should not have to pay private companies to use our money.
thanks CV. Is that worse than what credit card companies/banks do with credit cards? I’ve noticed a few places that now add a charge if purchasing with a credit card.
It’s exactly the same but the credit card also creates money when it’s used whereas the debit card usually doesn’t.
How much will the banks be allowed to charge you/ me/us for transactions on our ‘deposit’ ‘credit’ ‘eftpos’ card?
When I pay cash, i pay cash, the bank gets nothing. So in fact, ‘the cashless’ society is going to increase the cost of living by way of ‘taxing’ transactions.
its just that you don’t physically have to pull out a note of your wallet.
this is an interesting read on the cashless society that are the US American Citizens that receive SNAP and or other benefits.
http://prospect.org/article/how-big-banks-are-cashing-food-stamps
the banks are making a killing.
Exactly – but its small business owners who bare the brunt of this financial leachery, as they end up paying % merchant fees to the credit card companies. SMEs then feel pressure to take more from employees and customers.
To feed the financial industry vampire.
I pay these fees every month, but i do count these fees as a ‘cost of doing business’ and i am able to write them off at the end of the year.
Bank Cards cost money, account fees, transaction fees, replacement fees for a lost card etc etc etc. This can actually eat up quite a bit of cash at the end of the year, that only benefits the card issuing bank, but add to no service to the businesses and/or community.
A cashless society run by the banks? No thank you, they are already milking us to no end, i also don’t like the idea that my every purchase is traceable via bank statements, nor do I like the idea that my data gets a. sold of to the highest bidder or to any business that the bank works with….shared data ….or that it might get stolen.
I can see the attraction aka the Startrek button that is the intercom, the bank account and we are all paid in credits. Alas, as our current government here, and various other government overseas show daily, we first have to have the total war before the Vulcan come to Earth to give us Warp Drive and a better more enlightened future.
So no, Cash is still King/Queen.
one major goal of a cashless society is to be able to track your commercial activities in real time, wherever you are.
This is an extension of the surveillance state.
Also in a banking shutdown like Greece just had, it leaves people with no choice but to beg the controllers of the banking and transaction networks to throw the switch back on, at any cost.
CV, the previous finance minister Cullen,was very hot on a cashless society,just shows you where his community lies, (that’s for those out there pumping his credentials) .
I am as well but I hold that all the transactions need to be done on a government server/network and not on private bank servers so that the banks don’t get to prey on the people for using their money.
even if the government is as democratically elected as the one in Russia, China, Zimbabwe, or Saudi Arabia/Iran/Iraq etc to name just a few?
No the reason people like cash is that it is almost untracable, and that most of us are able to trace their purchases with simple book keeping methods.
I would not trust the banks, nor any government with the access to ‘my’ money.
the 00 on your bank account have no value, the little bit of paper cash in the shoebox under the hotwater cupboard on the other hand has.
Actually, if the little bit of paper has value then it’s broken as cash.
Governments can ban/make obsolete any means of exchange they want. Black markets can look for other means of exchange, including cigarettes or stable currencies like USD or RMB, but in general you might equally find that cash in the shoebox useless as a means of exchange. If banning doesn’t work, refusing to honour it as legal tender and no longer integrating it into the digital economy, or even printing gazillions of it to devalue it to a point approaching zero, would seriously damage it as a means of exchange. Weimar Republic, for example.
and this would be the answer
Scrip (sometimes called chit) is a term for any substitute for legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrips were created as company payment of employees under the truck system and also as a means of local commerce in times where regular currency is unavailable, such as remote coal towns, military bases, ships on long voyages, or occupied countries in war time. Besides company scrip, other forms of scrip include land scrip, vouchers, token coins such as subway tokens, IOUs, arcade tokens and tickets, and points on some credit cards.
Scrips have gained historical importance and become a subject of study in numismatics and exonumia due to their wide variety and recurring use. Scrip behaves similarly to a currency, and as such can be used to study monetary economics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrip
————————————————————————————————
I honestly would not want my finances at the whim of a government or a bank. In both cases we would be fucked and not in a good way. Greece, no amount of money in the bank without access is gonna pay yer rent or food.
The only way we are going cashless is if we abolish the system of money altogether and live in a Utoptia, where everyone is housed, clothed and fed the same. A Utopia where no one is rich nor poor, where all work to provide the things to live, i.e. housing, food and clothes. But thats not gonna work.
The main reasons government cash is the almost universal means of exchange within a country are the government guarantee (which historically has proved much more reliable than private enterprise guarantees) and the fact that only the government can require people by law to accept that currency as face-value means of exchange (“legal tender”).
The funny thing about scrip is that the issuer can stop honouring them, or change the value of them, and many are linked to the government currency anyway and as such are more a loan than a scrip (e.g. the balance on my bus card). The reason companies issue scrip or tokens is simply to lock the consumer into purchasing from that supplier – e.g. my coffee card.
No it wouldn’t.There was a reason why such were made illegal and national currency brought in – it’s because the private creators of money always create too much which they can’t actually back. Private creation of money inevitably leads to financial and economic collapse.
And what else do you think will happen if the use of scrip would be allowed?
This is despite the fact that that is how the economy works anyway. The real problem is that we have rich people.
Answer me this: What good is your money (literally virtual money), if you can’t access it, if you can’t use your bank card, or if your access is blocked by a government?
I can see quite a few people barter, trade or institute on a community level something to replace all that virtual money if access is not guaranteed or made hard.
I think they call it the black economy, or the under the table economy etc.
So, you have no answer to the point that your preferred option has been tried before and failed.
Gotcha.
If you can’t access your money it is no good.
The same as when banks locked their doors if there was a run on the bank in the pre-electronic days.
But the only intrinsic characteristic of money is that it is virtual, whether it’s numbers on a screen or numbers on a bit of paper.
I recall reading an article in the 1990s that described the job of an Eastern European factory manager – the economy was in the toilet, so this person’s job involved creating massive networks of barter deals in order to either pay the workers in food or useful goods rather than the toilet paper that was the national currency at the time.
A friend of mine recently brought out some family heirlooms – marks from the early 1920s. As the denominations accrued loads of zeros, the size got smaller and the quality rougher. The value of the currency wasn’t the digits, it was what you could exchange for those digits.
Community currencies, parallel currencies, time banks, IOUs etc.
Health insurance companies might pull up your transactions and deny you cover because ‘KFC” and “McDonalds” comes up too many times…
although gift cards like the kiwipost prezzy cards don’t need id for under $100, ISTR.
hi b waghorn, with respect, there are far more flaws for us with the proposal of a cashless society.
i dont want to hand any control to another, least of all the banksters.
I think its inevitable so I would like think people in position s that could have some input into it are doing every thing possible to protect the public.
do you mean the people like the police, gcsb, or some of those ‘leaders’ in wellington?
sorry, my friend i do not share your faith in their altruism.
the finance sector kings and the surveillance industry kings are the ones who are making all the decisions on any such transition to a “cashless society.”
their concern for the “little person” is not notable; their concern for profit and for knowing everything about your life, while you know nothing about what they are doing, is however.
i would not be surprised if/when the ‘cashless’ society comes, that people will use script.
It has been done before, the best currency my Nana had in the after war years in Germany were cigarettes.
German ones had a bit of value, American ones like Lucky Strike could buy you heeps of stuff, Russian ciggies rolled in the pravda ….not so much buying power.
No, like the cash less office, i don’t think we are going to have a cash less society.
National’s dags being rattled by Parker on National Radio this morning.
Hope it wipes smirk off Key’s face, watching Key blatantly distract the country by accusing King And Goff of undermining Little was sickening.
Blinglish saying adjustments about Dairy industry job losses bankruptcies firesale prices for Dairy farms to be snapped up by cashed up countries with long-term agendas.
And you can bet this government will let nz get sold overseas instead of letting the banks take the hit and land prices fall dramatically.
Yep… they’re cheerleading a new wave of colonisation… by corporations.
Message above was in reply to b waghorn at 5.1
Funny that there is nothing re the Saudi sheep Saga (Shagger?) online in the Herald?
Just this single piece from the National section.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11491836
First up on RNZ coverage was Goff discussing the accusations from the Government
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201765180/goff-says-pm-being-deliberately-dishonest-over-saudi-debacle
The RNZ coverage presented some interesting information. This includes how [then] Agriculture Minister David Carter was publicly saying live sheep exports would not be re-instated, but according to the documents released, was involved in talks about re-instating live exports. (1:45)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201765190/govt-planned-resume-live-sheep-exports-market-with-middle-east
I do wonder how The Speaker will handle questions on this issue in Parliament next week?
& the chat with David Parker
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201765191/labour-says-saudi-sheep-deal-documents-are-embarrassing
Thanks freedom. I wonder what will happen next. National Radio seems to take the lead so Mr English’s warning that National Radio is a dinosaur must send a warning.
Seems evident that the Government is happy and confident to lie with impunity regardless of contrary evidence.
English’s interview this morning does not imbue confidence. Big pauses, super soft phrasing and when asked the big Yes/No question he started explaining explaining explaining
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201765206/minister-of-finance,-bill-english
and we all know what it means when politicians start waffling instead of saying Yes or No
so the speaker is duplicitous at best and a liar at worst and he is the sole arbiter of MPs behaviour?
you couldnt make this up.
It’s been my experience that the truth is always stranger than fiction!
Not that many years ago, an interview that held revelations involving Government Ministers’ auditioning for the role of TwoFace would have had the Ministers involved looking for new employment by the time their cars arrived to collect them from the studios. Because that’s where they were, in the studio, metaphorically at least. But Ministers barely front up for interviews anymore, unless they have a policy they want to sell, or know of a bus due any minute and who they think should be under it.
Yes, that’s an exaggeration but let’s be real here, nothing is going to happen. The MSM are showing how compliant they have become. They are lost to us. Thankfully much of the public have taken their voices on-line and are building their own fledging networks of contemporary news and analyses. Not a perfect system but imagine the MSM without the public discourse we have built amongst ourselves over the past decade or so. Having blogs & social media to parry through the melee might be a senseless struggle to some and a waste of resources to others but it does keep the battle going. Even pacifists like me understand to win a war you must stay in the fight.
Given the duplicity’s wide reaching implications for our democracy, there are plenty of unspoken questions about what else lies beneath the surface of this [and other] Government/s. But those questions are left to fade on the Editor’s to do list. Instead the Editors get their staff to scramble over each other, scratching and tearing at all the shiny things worn by all the shiny people.
At times like this there are few more rational responses than anger. The public anger that such facts should generate is so stage managed that many people are unsure what they are meant to be focusing their anger on, but they do know they are angry about something.
The Opposition, stymied by the media’s complicity, is left to struggle against a Speaker who was apparently instrumental in the co-ordination of the circumstances being discussed. Circumstances he has openly assisted the Government in avoiding as he sits as Speaker. When the opposition rise to their feet next week, and hopefully deliver carefully co-ordinated single part questions, they know full well what they will be facing. The Speaker will simply shut down any debate on the topic faster than he closed the door on ‘matters before the court’ that actually weren’t.
The PM could be asked directly about the blatantly two-faced actions taken by his Minister/s and if, by some miracle, he doesn’t launch into ‘Labour did it! Labour did it! Labour did it!’ we’ll get a shrug, a ‘you know’ then [the now tired] sneer followed by his latest version of ‘there’s always another person with a different interpretation of events’ before he wraps up by attacking another Party’s policies or making some lame joke whilst ignoring the lacklustre demands from the Speaker for him to be seated.
Yeah I guess you could say I’m less than thrilled about our prospects as a modern democratic state.
The National Youth Theatre in the UK closes down a production a fortnight before opening night.
Homegrown (not in the NZ sense) is a promenade play about the radicalisation of young people living in Britain. The idea and the performance sounds great, but it will not be performed.
Theatre is a great way to get people discussing and talking, and they are missing an opportunity here.
Not to mention the involvement of 112 local young people, who discover (once again) that their voices are silent.
Looks like the west is eagerly following the example of East German authorities.
1984
How heartening would it be if we could threaten companies such as Miller Argent with the “costs” of their externalities, instead of reading again about their threats to local peoples and governments to act as they see fit.
Coal company threatens to sue welsh borough if mine permit is denied
The Guardian’s expert on obfuscation by bureaucratese and acronym, Steven Poole, recently argued that TTIP could be a conspiracy to pull some very thick wool over our eyes. We live in an age when we’re so accustomed to being entertained that we haven’t the temperament to do the difficult work of penetrating the wool of boring. So we’re going to take that wool, roll it into a ball and leave it for the cat to play with. No, don’t look at the cat. Look at me. Focus.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/03/ttip-what-why-angry-transatlantic-trade-investment-partnership-guide
You’re so right. Isn’t this cute.
Vicious beast mauls helpless orange gourd
http://i.imgur.com/yUh8kbj.gifv
Murdoch on the TPPA
And how come he can be part of it when we are not privy to the TPP?
“Fonterra chairman John Wilson’s verbal sharp-shooting skills were put to good effect at the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) ministerial negotiations in Maui.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11491984 (Fran O’Sullivan.)
Brilliant.
Anybody hearing about the Turks bombing Kurdish anti-ISIS positions and the US bombing Syria to create an ISIS free safe zone? Neh, I didn’t think so! I mean why keep us posted on an area where NZ soldiers are involved in another war crime of apocalyptic proportions?
Gotta keep the customer happy.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/29/turkeys-american-lobbyists-work-defeat-military-aid-isis/
This excerpt from the Leaked TPP IP chapter would appear to be affecting Māori sovereignty.
Article QQ.E.23[95]: {Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic
Resources}
[PE/NZ/VN/BN/MX/SG/CL/MY propose[96]: 1. The parties recognise the importance and contribution
of traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and biological diversity to cultural, economic
and social development.]
[[97]PE/MY/MXBN propose; NZ/AU/SG/CL oppose: 2. Each Party exercises sovereignty over their
biological [MY/BN oppose: diversity] [MY/BN propose: resources] and shall determine the access
conditions to their genetic resources and their derivatives in accordance to their domestic legislation.]
http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/Section-E-PatentsUndisclosed-Data-TK-TTP-IP-Text-11May2015.pdf
Don’t forget to PROTEST AGAINST TPPA – our government is very keen to sign our sovereignty away. Just because they didn’t do it last week – they seem confident that they will next time so show the government the people mean business!
Here are the details
Hokianga
15 August protest, 11am at Kohukohu Village Green.
Whangarei
15 August protest, 11am at the Town Basin.
Auckland
15 August protest, 1pm at Aotea Square to march down Queen Street, featuring speakers and music.
Hamilton
15 August protest, Meet @ 1pm outside Cock and Bull carpark on corner of Church and Maui.
Tauranga
8 August, 10 am @ Red Square (Downtown Tauranga) for ‘Chalk n talk’.
9 August, Johns Key’s birthday bash with live music and Cake Signing the giant card.
10 August at lunch time, Banner making in Red Square.
12 August, Nag banner from cambridge rd over bridge.
13 August, signs on the road side
14th August – public meeting
15 August protest at 1pm, Red Square.
Gisborne
15 August protest, details to come.
Napier/Hastings
15 August protest, 1pm, location to be announced.
Wanganui
8 August protest, 1pm, march from Silver Ball in the market to Majestic Square.
New Plymouth
Protest planned, details to come
Palmerston North
(Before Action Week) – At 7pm on July 29th Palmerston North City Library is hosting a panel discussion on the TPPA, featuring Assoc Prof Jeff Sluka, Dr Deborak Russell and Dr Shamin Shukur (compere: Assoc Prof Bill Fish).
Art and photo exhibition planned with accompanying information, concert and talks
8 August Rally and concert, 1pm – 3:30pm in the Square in the quadrant opposite The Plaza. Keynote speech from Barry Coates, including Dr Romauld Rudzki, Dr Deborah Russell, Dr Jeff Sluka and Cr Lew Findlay, and local musicians.
14 August will be a concert in the library at 5pm, then documentary maker and investigative journalist Bryan Bruce will speak at 6pm on Poverty, Inequality & the TPPA.
Many committed P North activists will also be heading to Wellington on 15 August.
Wellington
7-13 August – The People Speak #STOPTPPA. NZ Photo exhibition (10am-5pm)
12 August – Lunchtime rally outside Parliament with politicians and speakers.
15 August – TPPA Walk Away! Protest action to stop the TPPA. Assemble at Midland Park and march to Parliament for speakers and music. More details to come.
Nelson
15 August protest at 11:00am, top of Trafalgar St – 1903 Square.
Christchurch
10 August political debate at 6pm, Canterbury Horticultural Society (57 Riccarton Avenue), featuring David Parker, Russell Norman, Fletcher Tabuteau and Marama Fox.
12 August film screening of ‘Inequality for All” by economist Robert Reich, 6pm at The Auricle (35 New Regent Street).
14 August New Economics Seminar and Expo, 7pm at Horticultural Hall.
15 August protest at 12:30pm. Location: South Hagley Park (corner Deans Ave and Riccarton Rd) marching down Riccarton Rd.
Timaru
15 August protest planned, details to come.
Dunedin
15 August protest at 1pm, marching from the Dental School to the Octagon.
Invercargill
15 August protest, 12pm at Wachner Place.
Save NZ +100 …Thanks for the info !
Draco T Bastard:
So, you have no answer to the point that your preferred option has been tried before and failed.
Gotcha.
————————————————————————————————————————-
your answer to my question here
Answer me this: What good is your money (literally virtual money), if you can’t access it, if you can’t use your bank card, or if your access is blocked by a government?
I can see quite a few people barter, trade or institute on a community level something to replace all that virtual money if access is not guaranteed or made hard.
I think they call it the black economy, or the under the table economy etc.
————————————————————————————————————————
ok, so I have linked to a Wiki Page that explains the use of scrip / chits throught the history of banking.
I have mentioned bartering, trading, or exchanging goods at an agreed value,
I have raised my reasons as to why i am not deluded into thinking that a benevolent government would run our cashless society that you advocate (i still would love the Start Trek years, but alas i will only live the years of the war leading up to the Vulcan arriving and providing humanity with Warp Speed).
I have mentioned cigarettes as currency as used in the after war years of Germany, my mother has good memories of picking up buds, taking them home, cleaning them, re-rolling the cleaned tobacco and then using it on the black market as currency before the great new introduction of the Deutsch Mark.
And you are saying that my preferred option has not been successfully tried before? Really? I mean Really?
So I am sorry, but there are more examples of humanity using what ever they can as currency, in abscence of anything better.
And if your cashless society comes true, i bet you a hundered chits that there will be immediately a different cash form available for those that don’t want to use the government sanctioned, controlled and government depended ‘credit/debit’ cards.
You need to prove that your idea is better, and at the moment i see you failing.
Actually, nobody needs to prove a damned thing.
The current advantage of cash over electronics isn’t trust so much as the convenience of universality – almost everyone can take cash, not everyone can take cards as that involves a cost outlay. When that advantage no longer exists, cash will slowly be phased out.
There is a hybrid option that might persist as a transitional step if manufacturing costs approach negligible: individual tokens like debit cards that have a display of their remaining balance. They can be physically exchanged, or debited (transferring between tokens would be more difficult and would require each token to be networked, although thinking about it one could organise some sort of exchange protocol that involves the token uploading and confirmation of transaction histories at merchant terminals).
That sort of thing was in the 1980s series Max Headroom, for the scifi folks out there 🙂
It’s been tried and failed and linked to some information on it. There’s more around on the same site if you look.
Sure, the laws that got put in place empowered the private banks which is why we need to change the laws and make it so that only the government an create money.
Hell, we technically already have your system in that the private banks create money every time a loan is made and is failing miserably.
Probably because we’ve been taught that government is bad and that stealing from them is good. Of course, stealing from the government is stealing from yourself and so you’re actually worse off.
You’re being wilfully blind.
Advantages:
1. It’s cheaper as it uses less resources
2. It’s more secure – can’t be stolen
3. Makes it easier to determine taxes
4. Makes it easier to find crime
Disadvantages:
1. It may go offline occasionally
2. Everyone will need a cellphone
Jeeesus DTB “it can’t be stolen”
FFS someone can press a button and haircut it or take it all in a microsecond.
And that would be known and thus can be reversed.
‘ASEAN wants China to stop work in disputed sea: official’
By EILEEN NG
http://news.yahoo.com/malaysia-seeks-amicable-solution-china-sea-dispute-065959378.html
“KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Southeast Asian nations want China to stop land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea, a regional official said Tuesday, but China insisted it has a right to continue the activity.
Le Luong Minh, secretary-general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said ASEAN foreign ministers expressed concerns in a meeting Tuesday over massive Chinese island-building activities that have escalated tensions in the area…
Related Stories
http://news.yahoo.com/philippines-wants-south-china-sea-talks-despite-chinas-072657154.html
http://news.yahoo.com/asia-security-talks-open-south-china-sea-tensions-033935769.html
http://news.yahoo.com/us-philippines-raise-territorial-row-malaysia-meet-015600913.html
http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-chinas-wang-discuss-south-china-sea-tensions-040713628.html
http://news.yahoo.com/asean-china-discuss-hotline-sea-dispute-philippines-053923198.html
lol no shit.
China says it’s all their territory, a load of other nations disagree. It was in this area that Chinese and US aircraft collided in 2001. Lol, and it was the macguffin for a James Bond movie, I think The world is not enough.
‘The world is not enough’ …huh… must get back into James Bond movies…think I missed that one
The one with Jonathan Pryce as the baddie.