"Nana points to the rise in house prices as an example of this: New Zealanders selling pre-existing houses to one another is not a productive use of capital; New Zealanders investing more in new builds, thus increasing the housing stock, is."
Pardon?…now whether its a problem of misreporting or a fundamental misunderstanding of productivity is not clear but it is wrong.
And then theres the complete absence of the role of energy plays in productivity.
You cannot address productivity when understanding is so flawed
"Nana points to the rise in house prices as an example of this: New Zealanders selling pre-existing houses to one another is not a productive use of capital; New Zealanders investing more in new builds, thus increasing the housing stock, is."
Pardon?…now whether its a problem of misreporting or a fundamental misunderstanding of productivity is not clear but it is wrong.
Building new stock does not necessarily increase productivity…indeed it can reduce productivity. In fact its worth considering that decades ago the average build time for the standard 3 bedroom home was 14 weeks , it is considerably longer now.
Productivity is a measure of output to work…..and that work has been enhanced by the use of energy….energy that is increasingly less available.
It is true that work can be enhanced by energy, but capital is also a factor. Building houses is a more productive use of capital than investing it in existing houses.
It is more 'productive' to invest in new stock than existing stock in that it 'produces' something but that is not the measure of productivity rather it is a measure of capital stock.
And yes capital is a factor of productivity because that capital is also required to make the energy available and convert it to a usable form (though it must be recognised that it is not always necessary or desirable) and therein lies the productivity issue….an increasing ratio of capital is required to access that energy leaving less available for production.
a dwelling requires a hundred rocks in its construction.
an individual can move one rock per hour to where its needed.
If thatindividual spends 5 minutes making a yoke so he can move 2 rocks at a time hes (roughly) doubled his productivity with little capital investment .
If he spends a day making a barrow that allows him to move 4 rocks at a time he has quadrupaled his productivity but his capital investment is greater,
If he spends a thousand hours building a motorised vehicle to move a hundred rocks at a time he has increased his productivity a hundred fold but he has invested considerable productive capacity in building (and running) that machine.
If he only needs to build one dwelling is it worth investing a thousand hours in a motorised rock moving vehicle to move one hundred rocks?
He has this great rock moving machine so he builds a lot of dwellings because he can, but theyre are not needed…is that a productive activity?
he then finds that the fuel needed to run his machine is further and further away and he spends a lot of time (and fuel) that is needed to run his machine so he is spending more and more of his time getting fuel and less and less moving rocks….his productivity is declining.
at some point (relatively easily calculated0 it is more productive to move the rocks by hand again.
And then there is the usable lifespan of the dwellings (or anything) being constructed…if you only need to rebuild that dwelling every century then it is more productive than building one that only lasts 50 years…..work to output ratios.
There are various factors that influence 'productivity'. Availability of energy is one, but there are also, capital and the way it is employed, and educational outcomes; and there may be others that I can't think of offhand.
If capital is ‘wasted’ increasing the prices of existing houses, rather than building new ones, this will hardly enhance productivity.
It is important to think in terms of 'real' capital (or resources)….not monetary value.
Available energy is not simply 'a factor' in productivity it is the underlying source of our ability to produce at the level required to support our most basic of needs….without it we cannot produce anything like that which we require.
In other words, the basis of our productivity is available energy….if we have only muscle power (or lower EROI energy sources, in some instances, negative EROI) then what we can produce will be considerably reduced…..'money' dosnt solve that.
It is I submit already the cause of declining productivity
I also think in terms of resources. Capital is simply the value invested, or which is available to be invested, in productive resources. In days of yore waterwheels and windmills were used to grind grain. These primitive machines embodied capital, and without that capital the energy sources that drove those devices, wind and flowing water, would have been pretty useless. Energy resources just exist. Capital is the human element that makes use of energy, and is perhaps, therefor, the more fundamental concept.
It seems tragic that the supply of one of the energy resources we use today, namely fossil fuel, is diminishing, and in any case may become unusable due to global warming; however, this not to deny the value of capital in productivity. Building a new house is productive, but I think Gareth Nana held this up as an example of greater productivity because the question of housing, (though no doubt he could have used other examples), is topical at the present time.
As said originally it was unclear whether it was misreporting or misunderstanding but the quote is a complete misunderstanding of what productivity is….too many are confused by the application of 'money' which is merely a (inefficient0 method of rationing.
Energy resources may "just exist' however they are not unlimited, nor is our ability to utilise them….as we are finding out.
Isn't that a nonsense? Talk about setting up PT to fail. No one is going to choose to commute 2.5 hours (subject to transfer times at Papakura, which means the Southern line being closed for signalling/track/emergency service incident at least once a fortnight) with just two super early trains (departure times from the Tron are 5.46am and 6.28am) to Papakura and two home (4.42pm, useless for commuters and 6.25pm which assumes you can leave work and get to Britomart before 5.30pm for THE ONLY CONNECTION HOME). Sure, it might be a useful commuter rail if you live in Huntly and work in Hamilton but otherwise, it is a near useless service whose failure will be used as a stick to beat PT with in general by opponents of PT.
The politicians need to bite the bullet and announce an electrified, upgraded (as in level crossing separated) 125 (= top speed 125kn/hr) service bet Hamilton and Auckland, with the goal of extending it to Tauranga to build a "productivity corridor" linking up that population triangle.
again Incognito, are you snarking or just trying to rail someone up?
I have commuted for work. By bike to train station 10 min, lock bike at bike park, hop on train, 30 min later arrive at Munich airport – with four stops inbetween – just enough to have a cuppa at the coffee cart part of the train, leave trainstation, take light raile aka S-Bahn to final destination another 15 min, then walk ten min to office.
so together some 90+ kms inclusive biking and walking less then an hour with a train running either way every fifteen min at peek commuter hour. Oh and that was over 20 years ago. Train was packed, costs for commute were tax deductible and did i tell you about the coffee cart where you could also get a feed if you ended up working late?
So dear Incog, if this is the best the government can do, i suggest you take two books with every time you hop on the train, and take food, and don't forget your toilet paper – you know a bit like the old days in the late 19th.
Mind that is our government, a dollar short and several centuries late.
again Incognito, are you snarking or just trying to rail someone up?
Nah, I love a challenge.
I know people, here in NZ, who commute daily by train and actually work on the train. I kid you not.
Most people, however, like to have some ‘down-time’ and plug in the ear-phones, listen to music and chill. It is no different in European cities.
BTW, when you read the NZH, you don’t need to worry about toilet paper; I’m not quite as old as you to remember the “old days in the late 19th” [sic] 😉
5 hours a day is a long time to work while not on the job, and to read books.
but its ok, you get up for that train at 5.30 so that you may be at your job at 9 am, then you leave on the dot, no staying longer cause you only have that one train back out, so that you arrive at 7 pm at home.
hahahahahahahahahaha
that is not challenge, its animal poo delivered by containerloads. And i have spend all my working days in Europe going to work by train. This is the most pathetic announcement since the last anouncment of the travel bubble that was pushed out to today. Pathetic, uninspired, several dollars and years to short, Labour!
50 km per hour. …………hahahahahahahashahahahah we are not even aiming for the low hanging fruit anymore we just grab the rotten stuff of the ground now.
Agreed Incog…and according to the RNZ report this morning this train has an excellent ride, great coffee, free wifi and ample tables to use a laptop on. The 1.5 hours would never be wasted, and the RNZ report says it will take 73,000 car trips off the road annually.
It is a first step, but a good one, and only costs $90 million.
Meanwhile numpty Dylan Thomsen from the AA wants $930 million EXTRA (above the present massive budget) spent on the roads over the next 3 years to repair the roads. How about this was spent on public transport instead?
this train is pathetic, it is useless for most commuters that don't have 5 hours a day to waste in a train working unpaid or reading a book.
this train is pathetic because it literally travels at somewhere around 50 kms an hour if it needs 2.5 hours to get from Hamilton to Auckland.
this train is pathetic because it only has two departures either way, which if you have to work late , you are container loads of animal poo out of luck, cause there is no other train to take you home. And i know what i speak of, as i have many times been forced to take a later train home due to work requirements. And you would be very happy coming out of the office at 7 pm and still get home. Which in our case of the fabulous 50 km hour fast train from Hamilton to Auckland is not a given. You either make the train, or you sleep in a hotel or the trainstation and that makes it totally and utterly unsuitable for commuting.
But then i guess the guys got all flushed with excitement about THE TRAIN that they actually forgot to think about the logistics involved for those that use the train.
This is a nice to have, totally useless for its purposes and sadly underfunded program at the start that will go down as a 'we gave it a try, the operation succeeded, but the patient died' effort. But please give us a re-election for ‘trying’. How many consultants were paid good money to come up with this idiocy.
And trains are something that i was hoping for this motely crew of useless heissluft ballons would not manage to piss up and they did before it even started.
The Universe is like an open mind; it started with a light bulb moment and has been expanding ever since. I kid you not.
They say that dark matter cannot be detected. They are wrong; most of it hides in the blogosphere where it tries to annihilate new energy and bright ideas in a burst of pathetic commentary. I kid you not.
I used the Wairarapa service for five years before we came to Aus in 2013. It has a long history going back many decades, and for much of that time ran using notoriously cold, uncomfortable ‘red rattler’ wooden carriages and slowly but surely the service was running down. But around 2005 the very old carriages were replaced by much newer ones.
Since then, despite numerous setbacks and incidents (and I've a long list I personally encountered, some a bit funnier than others) – it's evolved into a real success story. Basically the trains are full every morning and evening – full to standing capacity. There are real limitations with the old rail infrastructure into the region that have held back expanding the service, but the basic principle has worked – they built it, the people used it.
For this new Hamilton service stopping at Papakura is a serious limitation at present, almost certainly because until new lines are built into the city, it's impossible to reliably run another express service. But that's going to be fixed.
It won't be ideal on Day 1, but this new service will almost certainly become very popular if we continue to invest in it. The best option would be to look across the Tasman at the V-Line trains that Victoria run reliably on narrow gauge at up to 160km/hr – reducing a very similar length trip from say Ballarat to Melbourne to just over 1hr. That has to be worth looking at.
One of the big challenges with scheduling is that if you have to run express and local services on the same line, unless you leave really big gaps, the fast express always catches up with the slow local one stopping at all stations. Or the local trains have to frequently pull into sidings. (The Wairarapa service is constantly hindered by this effect once it reaches the Hutt Valley for example.)
Ideally you need a second or third parallel line that can allow the fast and slow services to pass each other without interference. And from what I recall these new lines are either planned or being built – so this Papakura limitation will likely be fixed in the near-term.
and the RNZ report says it will take 73,000 car trips off the road annually.
Yes. I did wonder how it compares with driving from Hamilton to Auckland, given congestion. And who wants to spend a long time behind the wheel of a car morning and evening. Much better to spend the time reading a book, or surfing the net, or having a game of cards with a fellow passenger.
It may be preferable to spend two and a half hours engaged in useful activities, on a train, than one and a half hours sitting behind the wheel of an automobile.
It's pretty 19th century – the KTX operates at 305kph – ends up being faster than flying what with all the security and nonsense. A short leg like this would be ideal to roll out high speed rail.
The bullet train in France, Besanscon (near Swiss border) to Paris in less then 6 hours. Stopped right under Charles de Gaulle airoport, just an elevator ride up to the next floor for check in. Oh, and wifi, comfy seats, food, nice toilets and good service all around.
Its not the can't, its the won't that is the issue with the ruling suits of NZ. They just won't.
Yup – I used to fly Seoul/Daegu weekly at one point – the train was so much better. Faster overall, and you could get work done in the seating. High speed rail to Wellington would do more for carbon neutrality than 90% of the changes considered so far.
I never owned a car in Germany/Europe, why? Trains, busses, bicyle lanes, trams etc all there for your easy convenience. And with train costs being tax deductible it was cheaper then owning a car. You can still rent a car for the out of way trips, but they are very few that i could think of.
the lack of train in NZ is due to the suits not doing their jobs. All of them. . And this is a prime example.
You make very good points there Sabine, and of course no one who is trying to polish this pile shit is actually someone who will be spending five hours a day, six days a week commuting themselves.
Say someone works a full Monday –Friday job and half their Saturdays per year, that would come out at about 286 days per year, commuting those 286 days to work @5 hours commuting each day would mean that person would spend 1430 hours commuting….the average hours worked per year in New Zealand are 1762.
Bizarre, pointless, criminally wasteful, ill-conceived..and btw who on earth would end up using this service? The only people I can think of is low paid workers…so just another kick in the guts for them as well…this labour govt never fails to amaze me at how many ways it can disappoint..it’s almost like that is their job…do they have some sort of secret ministry of disappointments that they run all their policies/projects through before they roll them out to a disbelieving public?
No one is going to take that train into Auckland as a daily commute, it might see some use with someone coming up for a day or two but as you say there'll be negative stories before long. I suspect as soon as there is a service cancellation for the return journey to Hamilton leaving commuters stranded and price gouged by the CBD hotels…
Well at 2.5 hours to papakura i would not, and i love trains! Heck i would not even take that train to just go for a day to Hamilton, five hours for 200 odd k's both ways, is just plain dumb and uninspired. Look we are doing something,….something…..no one needs or want be something……
Oh bugger knee capping by NZs who come here often and know we are so in need of some new ideas and have to do things differently. Instead of being the caustic wiseguys, work out how to get others involved and making a success of things we do. It is so f….g anger-making to be in this tiny country trying to hold its head up above water, seeing huge divisions rising in the country that will explode also in anger, and people like to sit around and criticise initiatives like a bunch of bored aristos.
Just come here and talk about what you are doing that is good for the country, and what you have observed others doing, and stop feeding this negative smartarse BS that wastes what little time and energy we have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. If you have got a better idea, go and push it, build it, and if it proves too big and will take too long, look for something smaller and get into practice at energising your type of smartarses who can then critique themselves.
And what have you done today and yesterday and any other day before that to make NZ a better place? Oh, just kidding, it is actually not a policy of this page to gain daily right of posting here by proofing that one is a bona fide do gooder or not.
WE are here generally to discuss what the Polititians (all of them) do that have been given the power of the people and the purse of the people to do what is best for the people.
And part of being a democracy is to also state what is not going to work, and sadly this train is not up to the role it is supposed to fullfill, namely provide an alternative to car travel in order to reduce emissions and to get people from the car – a very convenient tool of transportation if you can afford it – to the train who is a slightly lesser tool of transportation if you can afford it. It is not even a decent thought out and planned commuter train. And yeah, sometimes things are done to fail, like to underfund a program and then complain that it can't work and thusly must be privatised. Oh, now surely Labour would never do something like that, right?
One ways of making trains more attractive then cars is time, aka, it is a convenient tool that runs often (not just two trips mornings and evenings) , covers peak commuting times, and runs into the night to get late travelers home. This train provides non of the above. Now you don't have to believe me, you can also just complain about how i complain or critique, but then I have a right to complain and to critique, this is the government that i help finance, that rules over me if i like it or not, and that can do great harm to me should it not be a benign government. And also i have always used trains to commute, and in NZ i have always lived so close to work that i could walk/bike and bus. So i don't speak as a Labour fan, but as a user of this fabulous thing called train.
So maybe you should rather ask yourself what you want to achieve with your constant trying to shut down those of whose message you do not approve of.
Like everyone here you, I, and humpty dumpty for that matter have a right to express their opinions, emotions, and even their grievances so as long as they abide by the rules of the barkeep which is the esteemed provider of this blog. So really, please stop trying to shut up people. It is just sad and in bad taste.
I think Sabine that though you have a lot of experience and ideas that I have alluded to, you may not think productively.
NZ has to get moving to do some things that may not be perfect for the solution to our problems.
We have given much of our autonomy away to profit-seeking businesspeople who hold back progress while they look for a better outcome for themselves. The governmental departments contract out to agencies. They are run by supposedly astute people receiving generous salaries. The outcomes however don't always measure up to expectations. The years are passing, and the consultations are long and often don't result in worthy practical outcomes. We need to press on and get things done, after wise planning, which may not be optimal.
This next news report relating to a Chief Executive resigning in Wellington, is an example of the difficulties facing us under the present hegemony of governance and control in this country.
It described the culture at LGWM as "detrimental to a collaborative and productive working environment", with three separate entities – Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency – all involved in funding the programme.
With Wellington transport, three entities are supposed to put their fine heads together, but probably each has a different perspective. Here are writers for Scoop informing about the Wellington situation that is frequently echoed around NZ I suggest.
Finding about the CBD http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=134840 Mar.19/21 Let's Get Wellington moving after 5 years is now employing a Danish concern to assess what is needed.
(Wellington was entertaining (an oxymoron) the idea of spending $120 million on updating the library, earthquake damaged, and in its present situation near the coastline, with sea incursions due along with storm events to beware of.)
Looking at Wellington rate rises: As well as rates ending up higher than previously indicated, residents could be facing a stack of new levies and charges. These include a sludge levy, congestion charges, levies on long term parking, developer contributions and higher rates on properties that benefit from Let’s Get Wellington Moving….
However those costs will be dwarfed by the unbudgetted portion of Let’s Get Wellington Moving which is already running at around $1.2 billion and is expected to rise.
(This is very informative about what activists can face when they attempt to get something done which is obviously essential; the stress, the time taken, the push back etc. This is why when something is done that is along the right lines, then activists can then turn their thoughts onto how it can be supported to be successful, not just right it off as a bit wet. There is an opportunity cost for each thing done, and to consider failure of a finished project means a loss of that, plus what could possibly have been done instead.)
good post shark. no-friends nigel finds it way more productive(?) to be negative about everything . it takes real courage to actually get out in the real world and at least TRY and improve things.expecting others to do things perfectly straight away happens only in p.c. games. good post from redlogix about the wairarapa commuter trains and how they have gradually improved service and how it has been accepted. here in horowhenua we battled for years AGAINST our elected nat m.p. who mouthed off about public transport but then did his best to sabotage the same public transport. the p.n. to welly commuter train is slowly gaining acceptance and many regular users DO actually work while travelling. with free wifi and no interuptions from interoffice colleagues , productivity is higher than same amount of time in office.
Yes it's entirely possible to 'work on the train' with decent internet connectivity. I recall one evening – after an urgent request from one of the plant operators – doing a rather significant online edit to one of Wellington's major water treatment plants control system, all the while sitting on the train going home.
I knew that in about 3 -4 km the mobile data service was going to drop out, so my edit was what you might call a high risk proposition. There was only time for one shot, and no quick fix if I fucked it up.
So maybe you should rather ask yourself what you want to achieve with your constant trying to shut down those of whose message you do not approve of.
What's that about Sabine? You are very strong about your right to have a say and criticise quite a lot. I look forward to positive ideas from people here with nous, otherwise it just becomes a wailing wall. NZ needs people with spirit and the will to talk up the good in the country, to look to be the ones to make change, including talking up ideas and people as often as possible.
I sort of tucked it in at the end as it isn't as important as the actual subject of how we get Nz moving in the right direction and support intelligent action with intelligent suggestions.
No mind gw – what you're saying still makes perfect sense.
The most legitimate role for the left will always be standing up and advocating for the weak and powerless.
I've participated here since The Standard started in 2008. I've seen, and taken part in myself, an awful lot of complaining. At some point about 5 – 7 years in I just wanted to say 'enough' – we know what the problems are, stop recycling endless recitations of them and start getting competent at solving them.
This to me is the diagnostic test between the useful and the toxic left – are you interested in constructing solutions, or just tearing down what you don't like? I know I get a lot of shit for this, but I've watched this dynamic play out over and over. In particular we've allowed the weakness and powerlessness we wish to advocate for, to become weaponised. We've turned them into fetish cards that are played to 'win all hands', turning what could be constructive, skillful negotiations of interest – into dull struggle sessions that drain everyone of energy. I sure I'm not the only one kinda over this.
Most of the regulars here I know moderately well by now. Well enough to get the sense that you're all by and large good people who do give a shit. Collectively there is one hell of a lot of strong passion and responsibility going on at TS. Maybe there's a chance we could learn to do something new with our time and energy here – something fresh could emerge. We just might get lucky if we tried
If you think that what you propose hasn't been investigated, then you need to do some research. That has been a wish list for a lot of people for quite some time – and it is not just the fault of politicians, that the establishment of a rapid rail between Auckland and Hamilton is not already an actuality. A rapid rail link would need a completely new line. The existing line isn't set up for really rapid rail, it goes through swamps and wetlands and choke points on bridges and all sorts of things. Even double tracking the existing line is beset with huge costs because of the terrain. Also much of the land for a new trail corridor would need to pass through Maori land. Quite rightly there is significant resistance to more compulsory acquisition by Govt.
because why would they change what works well for them? So far not one of these people in government have suffered any consequences of their actions. They are well fed, well heeled, well housed, have the best medical care and access to medical facilities tax payers can buy them and thus they have no reason to do anything more then they do.
They are the epitome of the 51%, that is all they need to do of anything to keep their jobs and pass the exam.
Id suggest it is nothing so self serving, for either the politicians or the public servants (though im sure it plays a role) rather it is the lack of expertise available to question the existing or develop an alternative.
well they went to Uni, studied something like communication and stuff, and are now educated?
Are you saying that they spend all this time getting an education but learned nothing? Gosh golly hinkadodas and diddly dum, that is why thye are in politics, no one else would hire them. And the perks. So nice to be looked after for the rest of your life and all you have to be is a total failure while in elected office.
Lol….im suggesting that there was a time when those in the public service were the top in their fields and had the ability to 'spot a dog' from a great distance….since the reforms those that have the ability have been drawn off to the private sector and act in their employers interests…leaving a hollowed out public service full of managers.
Theres an excellent submission to the EQ Commission from John Scarry that highlights exactly this in great detail re the construction industry in NZ post the 80s reforms.
My whole life have i been ruled by civilan loosers with neither shame nor compassion but well fed, well housed, well looked after while they wax lyrically about the things they can't do, how they listen to then go back to goverment to tell about they things they have heard, while they tell people on the down that government ain't here to help and please here have some tens of dollars for the month and won't you please just get on with learning about the value of work. Not me the suit, you the pauper that is to elect me for another round of waver thin mints.
And the suits ain't here to help, they are there to earn enough money to buy a house. And the only place that still allows you to do that is Politics.
I suspect they learned that they wernt required to be experts in their fields….they were required to 'manage public expectations" and cover their Ministers arse…..after all, 'the market' knows best and the governments role is to get out of the way of the 'the market'
They learned that not doing anything is not a problem that not helping anyone other themselves is not a problem, they learned that hungry kids are not a problem, homeless newborns are not a problem, no jobs for women are not a problem, leaking state houses are not a problem, failing schools due to homelessness and hunger are not a problem, underfunded hospitals are not a problem, and so on and so forth.
So as with every corporate and tax payer funded welfare bludger, they learned to be nice to each other, they learned to hire each others and they learned to blame anyone but themselves for the shit they fuck up.
And every three years we are told that the other will be worse in not doing a single thing that would actually have an impact.
Give me someone without education any day, cause they are capable of learning. These guys revel in their ignorance and they eat more of it every day.
Hits the nail pretty squarely. Disastrous failures like privatization and mass low-wage migration don't adversely affect the closeted wonks who deem them brilliant – so they keep recommending similar sociopathic follies. Government feels they ought to respect them for their quals, and consider their manifestly lousy results 'just bad luck' or 'unavoidable consequences of the operating environment'.
The QMS is a prime example, as is 1080 – ill-conceived and unpopular policies doomed to fail by design. Ministers accept no critical feedback on them (the Opposition bears some responsibility here – never was a more egregious collection of corrupt and ignorant self-serving plonkers assembled), and so we're stuck with non-performing policy. In my lifetime, NZ has only gone backward.
There were (are) so many drivers to the outcome, not least of which is the removal (largely ) of progressive taxation and globalisation….whether we like it or not we are competing in an international labour market in ways that were never available pre reforms….that may change…or not.
I could stomach a bit more of it had the "responsible" economists recognized that running a massive property bubble, because it increases cost of living, plays merry hell with our international competitiveness. So do most of the ill-conceived privatizations and user-pays provisions. They had to have known they were wrecking the economy – why haven't they been discharged with prejudice? Workers lose their jobs for much less.
Why indeed….mind you being discharged from high position these days usually involves a generous payment and often a brief holiday before taking up an equally well recompensed position…not much prejudice.
This Mediawatch story showing a woman lying in a bath of jellbaby lollies was one of the main current affairs in TVNZ new current affairs show that looks likely to be full of trivia and, freak and sensational news.
After watching or listening to such stuff there is possibly going to be a thimbleful of news that informed, responsible people need to know . Hopefully they will have a thimble-sized bit of alert brain not awash with stories about individuals in some sort of stress or ecstasy that presented for those in the public finding their own lives boring, can watch to divert themselves.
@ Stephen D (6) … Kiri Allan's public performance during the recent earthquake and tsunami threats as Disaster Management Minister, confirmed her dedication to duty and the country, despite the very same day having undergone tests for cervical cancer. I was also privileged to see Kiri speaking in Parliament three weeks ago. She is a political star on the rise. Kiri is definitely one of the best MPs we have had in a long time and NZ desperately need someone of her spirit and calibre to continue the good work.
I wish Kiri all the best in her health battle ahead and look forward to seeing her fighting fit back in Parliament again sometime later this year.
I get somewhat cranky at the hypocrisy that seems to surround shop trading hours, and particularly on public holidays. The irony seemed to be lost on Suzie Ferguson on Morning Report this morning that she had time off, at least Friday and Monday, and sounded like she wanted to have the opportunity to shop requiring other people (generally relatively lowly paid) to be at work to service her.
Phil Goff argued well on the issue of having some holidays rather sacrosanct.
What are the expectations/policies that people expect from the government and how do people expect the government to deliver those expectations/policies?
You touch on an interesting question TT….it is also interesting that at times people think a government can make a decision and the result is immediate…something like the Star Trek meme, 'make it so'.
It seems that there is a lack of appreciation for how political/government decisions get made and how they are implemented…a lack of understanding of the constraints and limitations that exist in the real world.
well for what its worth these two so far are the only ones actually talking about the fact that this pandemic has hit women probably the hardest in terms of job losses, income losses, loss of housing, plus education from home while working from home etc etc etc.
Politics are all about optics…Harris would have had full approval from the party and Biden to do this meeting, keep on mind Kamala Harris will probably soon be the most powerful person in the world.
Adrian, women have been at the loosing end of this pandemic, even here in NZ. I have posted some links for you to educate yourself to that fact.
I could not give a flying fudge about who raises this issue of women losing jobs, houses, every penny they have to their name so as long as it is done.
Now if you cared about the issue rather then these two women you may talk about the hardship women here in NZ face because our dear Lady of the Land don't give no flying shite, will not talk about it, will not raise the benefits, and has nothing to say other then kind, gently, please with me.
I agree with you that of course that it is a travesty that woman, the working poor etc have been disadvantaged during this pandemic, but seriously?..Bill fucking Clinton, the prick who has probably done more to make it Ok to objectify woman as pure sex object than any other POTUS in modern history, except maybe Trump? , that’s the guy you are going to OK to speak on your behalf as a woman…holy shit.
I have heard of pragmatism, but that ain’t that, that is allowing woman’s issues to be used as a political tool to white wash a disgusting extremely powerful old white pervert pure and simple.
I'd feel more comfortable with a travel bubble if the evidence for Ivermectin were properly considered. It can cut the suffering down to days which alone should have the government looking at it carefully on a cost basis alone.
Lots of negation of the studies. This is todays Trial Site News video where they cover each side of the story – it still looks like Ivermectin when used appropriately (early on, correct dose) is a worth approval.
At this stage it really comes down to personal choice. I purchased enough for the two of us from India about six months ago. Hope like hell I never get to use it and find out if it works or not.
another ban from facebook for telling a whining little bitch that he was a whining little bitch. hehehehehe. now I can comment on my blog or write original material instead of commenting on the idiots and mung bean anti vacationers who haunt cyberspace and social media to give their piffle/twaddle infantile opinion and cant take a robust estimate of their puerile nasty personalities and home truths. who can? hehehehehe. anyway the girls on johnkeyhasletdownnewzealand on fb at question time will keep the boogars honest.
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
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Ganesh Nana interviewed about productivity: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/podcast-the-detail/working-smarter-and-why-it-matters
Disappointing…..this quote is emblematic.
"Nana points to the rise in house prices as an example of this: New Zealanders selling pre-existing houses to one another is not a productive use of capital; New Zealanders investing more in new builds, thus increasing the housing stock, is."
Pardon?…now whether its a problem of misreporting or a fundamental misunderstanding of productivity is not clear but it is wrong.
And then theres the complete absence of the role of energy plays in productivity.
You cannot address productivity when understanding is so flawed
"Nana points to the rise in house prices as an example of this: New Zealanders selling pre-existing houses to one another is not a productive use of capital; New Zealanders investing more in new builds, thus increasing the housing stock, is."
Pardon?…now whether its a problem of misreporting or a fundamental misunderstanding of productivity is not clear but it is wrong.
Why???
Why?
Building new stock does not necessarily increase productivity…indeed it can reduce productivity. In fact its worth considering that decades ago the average build time for the standard 3 bedroom home was 14 weeks , it is considerably longer now.
Productivity is a measure of output to work…..and that work has been enhanced by the use of energy….energy that is increasingly less available.
It is true that work can be enhanced by energy, but capital is also a factor. Building houses is a more productive use of capital than investing it in existing houses.
It is more 'productive' to invest in new stock than existing stock in that it 'produces' something but that is not the measure of productivity rather it is a measure of capital stock.
And yes capital is a factor of productivity because that capital is also required to make the energy available and convert it to a usable form (though it must be recognised that it is not always necessary or desirable) and therein lies the productivity issue….an increasing ratio of capital is required to access that energy leaving less available for production.
AKA declining EROI.
Think of it this way'
a dwelling requires a hundred rocks in its construction.
an individual can move one rock per hour to where its needed.
If thatindividual spends 5 minutes making a yoke so he can move 2 rocks at a time hes (roughly) doubled his productivity with little capital investment .
If he spends a day making a barrow that allows him to move 4 rocks at a time he has quadrupaled his productivity but his capital investment is greater,
If he spends a thousand hours building a motorised vehicle to move a hundred rocks at a time he has increased his productivity a hundred fold but he has invested considerable productive capacity in building (and running) that machine.
If he only needs to build one dwelling is it worth investing a thousand hours in a motorised rock moving vehicle to move one hundred rocks?
He has this great rock moving machine so he builds a lot of dwellings because he can, but theyre are not needed…is that a productive activity?
he then finds that the fuel needed to run his machine is further and further away and he spends a lot of time (and fuel) that is needed to run his machine so he is spending more and more of his time getting fuel and less and less moving rocks….his productivity is declining.
at some point (relatively easily calculated0 it is more productive to move the rocks by hand again.
And then there is the usable lifespan of the dwellings (or anything) being constructed…if you only need to rebuild that dwelling every century then it is more productive than building one that only lasts 50 years…..work to output ratios.
There are various factors that influence 'productivity'. Availability of energy is one, but there are also, capital and the way it is employed, and educational outcomes; and there may be others that I can't think of offhand.
If capital is ‘wasted’ increasing the prices of existing houses, rather than building new ones, this will hardly enhance productivity.
It is important to think in terms of 'real' capital (or resources)….not monetary value.
Available energy is not simply 'a factor' in productivity it is the underlying source of our ability to produce at the level required to support our most basic of needs….without it we cannot produce anything like that which we require.
In other words, the basis of our productivity is available energy….if we have only muscle power (or lower EROI energy sources, in some instances, negative EROI) then what we can produce will be considerably reduced…..'money' dosnt solve that.
It is I submit already the cause of declining productivity
I also think in terms of resources. Capital is simply the value invested, or which is available to be invested, in productive resources. In days of yore waterwheels and windmills were used to grind grain. These primitive machines embodied capital, and without that capital the energy sources that drove those devices, wind and flowing water, would have been pretty useless. Energy resources just exist. Capital is the human element that makes use of energy, and is perhaps, therefor, the more fundamental concept.
It seems tragic that the supply of one of the energy resources we use today, namely fossil fuel, is diminishing, and in any case may become unusable due to global warming; however, this not to deny the value of capital in productivity. Building a new house is productive, but I think Gareth Nana held this up as an example of greater productivity because the question of housing, (though no doubt he could have used other examples), is topical at the present time.
As said originally it was unclear whether it was misreporting or misunderstanding but the quote is a complete misunderstanding of what productivity is….too many are confused by the application of 'money' which is merely a (inefficient0 method of rationing.
Energy resources may "just exist' however they are not unlimited, nor is our ability to utilise them….as we are finding out.
Big ups to the government for their inaugural passenger trip between Hamilton and Auckland. Enjoy the 2.5 hour trip and spectacular media coverage.
Isn't that a nonsense? Talk about setting up PT to fail. No one is going to choose to commute 2.5 hours (subject to transfer times at Papakura, which means the Southern line being closed for signalling/track/emergency service incident at least once a fortnight) with just two super early trains (departure times from the Tron are 5.46am and 6.28am) to Papakura and two home (4.42pm, useless for commuters and 6.25pm which assumes you can leave work and get to Britomart before 5.30pm for THE ONLY CONNECTION HOME). Sure, it might be a useful commuter rail if you live in Huntly and work in Hamilton but otherwise, it is a near useless service whose failure will be used as a stick to beat PT with in general by opponents of PT.
The politicians need to bite the bullet and announce an electrified, upgraded (as in level crossing separated) 125 (= top speed 125kn/hr) service bet Hamilton and Auckland, with the goal of extending it to Tauranga to build a "productivity corridor" linking up that population triangle.
It would be a lot of rail capital used if it weren't used by passengers.
And Waikato politicians have resisted contributing for well nigh 2 decades.
Putting effort into attracting attention and customers is the only start they can make.
Simply making another announcement just won't cut it now.
the train takes 2.5 hours for 93.5 kms? hamilton to papakura? Or doe that include the leg from papakura to brittomart?
i agree, that is a service set up to fail for lack of passengers that have 5 hours a day to waste on commuting.
its not that our overlords can't its that they won't do.
Commuting by train is not or should not have to be a waste. I’ve seen people read whole books on the train 😉
again Incognito, are you snarking or just trying to rail someone up?
I have commuted for work. By bike to train station 10 min, lock bike at bike park, hop on train, 30 min later arrive at Munich airport – with four stops inbetween – just enough to have a cuppa at the coffee cart part of the train, leave trainstation, take light raile aka S-Bahn to final destination another 15 min, then walk ten min to office.
so together some 90+ kms inclusive biking and walking less then an hour with a train running either way every fifteen min at peek commuter hour. Oh and that was over 20 years ago. Train was packed, costs for commute were tax deductible and did i tell you about the coffee cart where you could also get a feed if you ended up working late?
So dear Incog, if this is the best the government can do, i suggest you take two books with every time you hop on the train, and take food, and don't forget your toilet paper – you know a bit like the old days in the late 19th.
Mind that is our government, a dollar short and several centuries late.
Nah, I love a challenge.
I know people, here in NZ, who commute daily by train and actually work on the train. I kid you not.
Most people, however, like to have some ‘down-time’ and plug in the ear-phones, listen to music and chill. It is no different in European cities.
BTW, when you read the NZH, you don’t need to worry about toilet paper; I’m not quite as old as you to remember the “old days in the late 19th” [sic] 😉
5 hours a day is a long time to work while not on the job, and to read books.
but its ok, you get up for that train at 5.30 so that you may be at your job at 9 am, then you leave on the dot, no staying longer cause you only have that one train back out, so that you arrive at 7 pm at home.
hahahahahahahahahaha
that is not challenge, its animal poo delivered by containerloads. And i have spend all my working days in Europe going to work by train. This is the most pathetic announcement since the last anouncment of the travel bubble that was pushed out to today. Pathetic, uninspired, several dollars and years to short, Labour!
50 km per hour. …………hahahahahahahashahahahah we are not even aiming for the low hanging fruit anymore we just grab the rotten stuff of the ground now.
Commenters have asked for less doom & gloom here.
Mission accomplished.
Easiest job, ever.
Doom and gloom replaced by maniacal laughter 🙂
Agreed Incog…and according to the RNZ report this morning this train has an excellent ride, great coffee, free wifi and ample tables to use a laptop on. The 1.5 hours would never be wasted, and the RNZ report says it will take 73,000 car trips off the road annually.
It is a first step, but a good one, and only costs $90 million.
Meanwhile numpty Dylan Thomsen from the AA wants $930 million EXTRA (above the present massive budget) spent on the roads over the next 3 years to repair the roads. How about this was spent on public transport instead?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018790369/some-nz-road-conditions-reaching-critical-point-aa
So is that 1.5 hours to Papakura and then 1 hour from Papakura to Brittomart?
That is a five hour commute daily, five days a week that comes to 25 hours just to go to work.
What is the word that i am looking for? Oh , yeah, Productivity?
And if you work on your train ride, will it be considered working? will you get paid for your commute?
Five hours a day? for a min wage job somewhere in AKL or Hamilton?
Oh but it only costs 90 million…..and they are cheap fucks too.
hahahahahahahahahbwhahahahahahahbwhahahahahahahah
oh man Fred Flintstones car is faster that that fabled train.
Fred’s car’s top speed is 25 mph, which is not faster than that train.
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-physics-of-fred-flintstones-flaming-feet/
FYI, Fred Flintstone is a cartoon character and not real and neither is his car; that train is real. I kid you not.
hahahahahahahahah
try harder, this is not a challenge.
this train is pathetic, it is useless for most commuters that don't have 5 hours a day to waste in a train working unpaid or reading a book.
this train is pathetic because it literally travels at somewhere around 50 kms an hour if it needs 2.5 hours to get from Hamilton to Auckland.
this train is pathetic because it only has two departures either way, which if you have to work late , you are container loads of animal poo out of luck, cause there is no other train to take you home. And i know what i speak of, as i have many times been forced to take a later train home due to work requirements. And you would be very happy coming out of the office at 7 pm and still get home. Which in our case of the fabulous 50 km hour fast train from Hamilton to Auckland is not a given. You either make the train, or you sleep in a hotel or the trainstation and that makes it totally and utterly unsuitable for commuting.
But then i guess the guys got all flushed with excitement about THE TRAIN that they actually forgot to think about the logistics involved for those that use the train.
This is a nice to have, totally useless for its purposes and sadly underfunded program at the start that will go down as a 'we gave it a try, the operation succeeded, but the patient died' effort. But please give us a re-election for ‘trying’. How many consultants were paid good money to come up with this idiocy.
And trains are something that i was hoping for this motely crew of useless heissluft ballons would not manage to piss up and they did before it even started.
The Universe is like an open mind; it started with a light bulb moment and has been expanding ever since. I kid you not.
They say that dark matter cannot be detected. They are wrong; most of it hides in the blogosphere where it tries to annihilate new energy and bright ideas in a burst of pathetic commentary. I kid you not.
blub blub blub blub.
Long time since I last saw a bubble chamber.
I used the Wairarapa service for five years before we came to Aus in 2013. It has a long history going back many decades, and for much of that time ran using notoriously cold, uncomfortable ‘red rattler’ wooden carriages and slowly but surely the service was running down. But around 2005 the very old carriages were replaced by much newer ones.
Since then, despite numerous setbacks and incidents (and I've a long list I personally encountered, some a bit funnier than others) – it's evolved into a real success story. Basically the trains are full every morning and evening – full to standing capacity. There are real limitations with the old rail infrastructure into the region that have held back expanding the service, but the basic principle has worked – they built it, the people used it.
For this new Hamilton service stopping at Papakura is a serious limitation at present, almost certainly because until new lines are built into the city, it's impossible to reliably run another express service. But that's going to be fixed.
It won't be ideal on Day 1, but this new service will almost certainly become very popular if we continue to invest in it. The best option would be to look across the Tasman at the V-Line trains that Victoria run reliably on narrow gauge at up to 160km/hr – reducing a very similar length trip from say Ballarat to Melbourne to just over 1hr. That has to be worth looking at.
QFT
What is going to get Papakura thriving so people do not need to go into Auckland to work?
One of the big challenges with scheduling is that if you have to run express and local services on the same line, unless you leave really big gaps, the fast express always catches up with the slow local one stopping at all stations. Or the local trains have to frequently pull into sidings. (The Wairarapa service is constantly hindered by this effect once it reaches the Hutt Valley for example.)
Ideally you need a second or third parallel line that can allow the fast and slow services to pass each other without interference. And from what I recall these new lines are either planned or being built – so this Papakura limitation will likely be fixed in the near-term.
Not if/when that Mad Max mob is getting back into power. They seem to have many who are unwittingly (?) doing their bidding.
and the RNZ report says it will take 73,000 car trips off the road annually.
Yes. I did wonder how it compares with driving from Hamilton to Auckland, given congestion. And who wants to spend a long time behind the wheel of a car morning and evening. Much better to spend the time reading a book, or surfing the net, or having a game of cards with a fellow passenger.
It may be preferable to spend two and a half hours engaged in useful activities, on a train, than one and a half hours sitting behind the wheel of an automobile.
It's pretty 19th century – the KTX operates at 305kph – ends up being faster than flying what with all the security and nonsense. A short leg like this would be ideal to roll out high speed rail.
The bullet train in France, Besanscon (near Swiss border) to Paris in less then 6 hours. Stopped right under Charles de Gaulle airoport, just an elevator ride up to the next floor for check in. Oh, and wifi, comfy seats, food, nice toilets and good service all around.
Its not the can't, its the won't that is the issue with the ruling suits of NZ. They just won't.
Yup – I used to fly Seoul/Daegu weekly at one point – the train was so much better. Faster overall, and you could get work done in the seating. High speed rail to Wellington would do more for carbon neutrality than 90% of the changes considered so far.
I never owned a car in Germany/Europe, why? Trains, busses, bicyle lanes, trams etc all there for your easy convenience. And with train costs being tax deductible it was cheaper then owning a car. You can still rent a car for the out of way trips, but they are very few that i could think of.
the lack of train in NZ is due to the suits not doing their jobs. All of them. . And this is a prime example.
You make very good points there Sabine, and of course no one who is trying to polish this pile shit is actually someone who will be spending five hours a day, six days a week commuting themselves.
Say someone works a full Monday –Friday job and half their Saturdays per year, that would come out at about 286 days per year, commuting those 286 days to work @5 hours commuting each day would mean that person would spend 1430 hours commuting….the average hours worked per year in New Zealand are 1762.
Bizarre, pointless, criminally wasteful, ill-conceived..and btw who on earth would end up using this service? The only people I can think of is low paid workers…so just another kick in the guts for them as well…this labour govt never fails to amaze me at how many ways it can disappoint..it’s almost like that is their job…do they have some sort of secret ministry of disappointments that they run all their policies/projects through before they roll them out to a disbelieving public?
Interesting conversation Stuart – you and Sabine about transport – good to read some thoughts about ways to go from people with experience.
No one is going to take that train into Auckland as a daily commute, it might see some use with someone coming up for a day or two but as you say there'll be negative stories before long. I suspect as soon as there is a service cancellation for the return journey to Hamilton leaving commuters stranded and price gouged by the CBD hotels…
Well at 2.5 hours to papakura i would not, and i love trains! Heck i would not even take that train to just go for a day to Hamilton, five hours for 200 odd k's both ways, is just plain dumb and uninspired. Look we are doing something,….something…..no one needs or want be something……
Oh bugger knee capping by NZs who come here often and know we are so in need of some new ideas and have to do things differently. Instead of being the caustic wiseguys, work out how to get others involved and making a success of things we do. It is so f….g anger-making to be in this tiny country trying to hold its head up above water, seeing huge divisions rising in the country that will explode also in anger, and people like to sit around and criticise initiatives like a bunch of bored aristos.
Just come here and talk about what you are doing that is good for the country, and what you have observed others doing, and stop feeding this negative smartarse BS that wastes what little time and energy we have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. If you have got a better idea, go and push it, build it, and if it proves too big and will take too long, look for something smaller and get into practice at energising your type of smartarses who can then critique themselves.
And what have you done today and yesterday and any other day before that to make NZ a better place? Oh, just kidding, it is actually not a policy of this page to gain daily right of posting here by proofing that one is a bona fide do gooder or not.
WE are here generally to discuss what the Polititians (all of them) do that have been given the power of the people and the purse of the people to do what is best for the people.
And part of being a democracy is to also state what is not going to work, and sadly this train is not up to the role it is supposed to fullfill, namely provide an alternative to car travel in order to reduce emissions and to get people from the car – a very convenient tool of transportation if you can afford it – to the train who is a slightly lesser tool of transportation if you can afford it. It is not even a decent thought out and planned commuter train. And yeah, sometimes things are done to fail, like to underfund a program and then complain that it can't work and thusly must be privatised. Oh, now surely Labour would never do something like that, right?
One ways of making trains more attractive then cars is time, aka, it is a convenient tool that runs often (not just two trips mornings and evenings) , covers peak commuting times, and runs into the night to get late travelers home. This train provides non of the above. Now you don't have to believe me, you can also just complain about how i complain or critique, but then I have a right to complain and to critique, this is the government that i help finance, that rules over me if i like it or not, and that can do great harm to me should it not be a benign government. And also i have always used trains to commute, and in NZ i have always lived so close to work that i could walk/bike and bus. So i don't speak as a Labour fan, but as a user of this fabulous thing called train.
So maybe you should rather ask yourself what you want to achieve with your constant trying to shut down those of whose message you do not approve of.
Like everyone here you, I, and humpty dumpty for that matter have a right to express their opinions, emotions, and even their grievances so as long as they abide by the rules of the barkeep which is the esteemed provider of this blog. So really, please stop trying to shut up people. It is just sad and in bad taste.
I think Sabine that though you have a lot of experience and ideas that I have alluded to, you may not think productively.
NZ has to get moving to do some things that may not be perfect for the solution to our problems.
We have given much of our autonomy away to profit-seeking businesspeople who hold back progress while they look for a better outcome for themselves. The governmental departments contract out to agencies. They are run by supposedly astute people receiving generous salaries. The outcomes however don't always measure up to expectations. The years are passing, and the consultations are long and often don't result in worthy practical outcomes. We need to press on and get things done, after wise planning, which may not be optimal.
This next news report relating to a Chief Executive resigning in Wellington, is an example of the difficulties facing us under the present hegemony of governance and control in this country.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/439414/let-s-get-wellington-moving-director-andrew-body-resigns-after-18-months The director of the stalled transport programme Let's Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) has resigned. Andrew Body held the position of director for 18 months.
A recent report into the progress of the $6.4 billion project found it was at risk of failure, and suffered from poor leadership.
It described the culture at LGWM as "detrimental to a collaborative and productive working environment", with three separate entities – Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency – all involved in funding the programme.
With Wellington transport, three entities are supposed to put their fine heads together, but probably each has a different perspective. Here are writers for Scoop informing about the Wellington situation that is frequently echoed around NZ I suggest.
Finding about the CBD http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=134840 Mar.19/21 Let's Get Wellington moving after 5 years is now employing a Danish concern to assess what is needed.
What must be done and how to do it Mar.22/21 http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=134936
Is the show over before we see the programme? Mar.25/21 http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=135003
Preparing for more rates increases Mar.26/21 http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=135056
(Wellington was entertaining (an oxymoron) the idea of spending $120 million on updating the library, earthquake damaged, and in its present situation near the coastline, with sea incursions due along with storm events to beware of.)
Looking at Wellington rate rises: As well as rates ending up higher than previously indicated, residents could be facing a stack of new levies and charges. These include a sludge levy, congestion charges, levies on long term parking, developer contributions and higher rates on properties that benefit from Let’s Get Wellington Moving….
However those costs will be dwarfed by the unbudgetted portion of Let’s Get Wellington Moving which is already running at around $1.2 billion and is expected to rise.
Getting change by making trouble Mar.31/21 http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=135180
(This is very informative about what activists can face when they attempt to get something done which is obviously essential; the stress, the time taken, the push back etc. This is why when something is done that is along the right lines, then activists can then turn their thoughts onto how it can be supported to be successful, not just right it off as a bit wet. There is an opportunity cost for each thing done, and to consider failure of a finished project means a loss of that, plus what could possibly have been done instead.)
good post shark. no-friends nigel finds it way more productive(?) to be negative about everything . it takes real courage to actually get out in the real world and at least TRY and improve things.expecting others to do things perfectly straight away happens only in p.c. games. good post from redlogix about the wairarapa commuter trains and how they have gradually improved service and how it has been accepted. here in horowhenua we battled for years AGAINST our elected nat m.p. who mouthed off about public transport but then did his best to sabotage the same public transport. the p.n. to welly commuter train is slowly gaining acceptance and many regular users DO actually work while travelling. with free wifi and no interuptions from interoffice colleagues , productivity is higher than same amount of time in office.
Yes it's entirely possible to 'work on the train' with decent internet connectivity. I recall one evening – after an urgent request from one of the plant operators – doing a rather significant online edit to one of Wellington's major water treatment plants control system, all the while sitting on the train going home.
I knew that in about 3 -4 km the mobile data service was going to drop out, so my edit was what you might call a high risk proposition. There was only time for one shot, and no quick fix if I fucked it up.
So maybe you should rather ask yourself what you want to achieve with your constant trying to shut down those of whose message you do not approve of.
What's that about Sabine? You are very strong about your right to have a say and criticise quite a lot. I look forward to positive ideas from people here with nous, otherwise it just becomes a wailing wall. NZ needs people with spirit and the will to talk up the good in the country, to look to be the ones to make change, including talking up ideas and people as often as possible.
Replying to the wrong one!
I sort of tucked it in at the end as it isn't as important as the actual subject of how we get Nz moving in the right direction and support intelligent action with intelligent suggestions.
No mind gw – what you're saying still makes perfect sense.
The most legitimate role for the left will always be standing up and advocating for the weak and powerless.
I've participated here since The Standard started in 2008. I've seen, and taken part in myself, an awful lot of complaining. At some point about 5 – 7 years in I just wanted to say 'enough' – we know what the problems are, stop recycling endless recitations of them and start getting competent at solving them.
This to me is the diagnostic test between the useful and the toxic left – are you interested in constructing solutions, or just tearing down what you don't like? I know I get a lot of shit for this, but I've watched this dynamic play out over and over. In particular we've allowed the weakness and powerlessness we wish to advocate for, to become weaponised. We've turned them into fetish cards that are played to 'win all hands', turning what could be constructive, skillful negotiations of interest – into dull struggle sessions that drain everyone of energy. I sure I'm not the only one kinda over this.
Most of the regulars here I know moderately well by now. Well enough to get the sense that you're all by and large good people who do give a shit. Collectively there is one hell of a lot of strong passion and responsibility going on at TS. Maybe there's a chance we could learn to do something new with our time and energy here – something fresh could emerge. We just might get lucky if we tried
Inequality can't be torn down, but it could be dialed back a bit.
I support the Green's wealth tax as a means of making the tiniest dent in socioeconomic inequality – hope that doesn't frighten the toxic lefties
If you think that what you propose hasn't been investigated, then you need to do some research. That has been a wish list for a lot of people for quite some time – and it is not just the fault of politicians, that the establishment of a rapid rail between Auckland and Hamilton is not already an actuality. A rapid rail link would need a completely new line. The existing line isn't set up for really rapid rail, it goes through swamps and wetlands and choke points on bridges and all sorts of things. Even double tracking the existing line is beset with huge costs because of the terrain. Also much of the land for a new trail corridor would need to pass through Maori land. Quite rightly there is significant resistance to more compulsory acquisition by Govt.
In my view, a good balanced summary.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/changing-the-course-of-the-ship-of-housing-misery
Those who resist the little red digger could be met by a bulldozer.
A very good read indeed.
So close and yet so far….Chris Trotter begins well and loses the plot.
Why Governments are struggling to effect change.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2021/04/insufficiently-qualified-to-object-why.html
because why would they change what works well for them? So far not one of these people in government have suffered any consequences of their actions. They are well fed, well heeled, well housed, have the best medical care and access to medical facilities tax payers can buy them and thus they have no reason to do anything more then they do.
They are the epitome of the 51%, that is all they need to do of anything to keep their jobs and pass the exam.
Id suggest it is nothing so self serving, for either the politicians or the public servants (though im sure it plays a role) rather it is the lack of expertise available to question the existing or develop an alternative.
well they went to Uni, studied something like communication and stuff, and are now educated?
Are you saying that they spend all this time getting an education but learned nothing? Gosh golly hinkadodas and diddly dum, that is why thye are in politics, no one else would hire them. And the perks. So nice to be looked after for the rest of your life and all you have to be is a total failure while in elected office.
Lol….im suggesting that there was a time when those in the public service were the top in their fields and had the ability to 'spot a dog' from a great distance….since the reforms those that have the ability have been drawn off to the private sector and act in their employers interests…leaving a hollowed out public service full of managers.
Theres an excellent submission to the EQ Commission from John Scarry that highlights exactly this in great detail re the construction industry in NZ post the 80s reforms.
Sadly i never met this time.
My whole life have i been ruled by civilan loosers with neither shame nor compassion but well fed, well housed, well looked after while they wax lyrically about the things they can't do, how they listen to then go back to goverment to tell about they things they have heard, while they tell people on the down that government ain't here to help and please here have some tens of dollars for the month and won't you please just get on with learning about the value of work. Not me the suit, you the pauper that is to elect me for another round of waver thin mints.
And the suits ain't here to help, they are there to earn enough money to buy a house. And the only place that still allows you to do that is Politics.
"Sadly i never met this time."
And sadly nor have (the overwhelming majority) of our politicians….they dont know any better.
The current lot has worked under a labour lead government and yes, they spend the last 9 years under key, and you know what?
They.have.learned.absolutly.nothing.
Learning on the job is nothing they do because they don't have too, they get paid for failing. Literally.
I suspect they learned that they wernt required to be experts in their fields….they were required to 'manage public expectations" and cover their Ministers arse…..after all, 'the market' knows best and the governments role is to get out of the way of the 'the market'
They learned that not doing anything is not a problem that not helping anyone other themselves is not a problem, they learned that hungry kids are not a problem, homeless newborns are not a problem, no jobs for women are not a problem, leaking state houses are not a problem, failing schools due to homelessness and hunger are not a problem, underfunded hospitals are not a problem, and so on and so forth.
So as with every corporate and tax payer funded welfare bludger, they learned to be nice to each other, they learned to hire each others and they learned to blame anyone but themselves for the shit they fuck up.
And every three years we are told that the other will be worse in not doing a single thing that would actually have an impact.
Give me someone without education any day, cause they are capable of learning. These guys revel in their ignorance and they eat more of it every day.
Hits the nail pretty squarely. Disastrous failures like privatization and mass low-wage migration don't adversely affect the closeted wonks who deem them brilliant – so they keep recommending similar sociopathic follies. Government feels they ought to respect them for their quals, and consider their manifestly lousy results 'just bad luck' or 'unavoidable consequences of the operating environment'.
The QMS is a prime example, as is 1080 – ill-conceived and unpopular policies doomed to fail by design. Ministers accept no critical feedback on them (the Opposition bears some responsibility here – never was a more egregious collection of corrupt and ignorant self-serving plonkers assembled), and so we're stuck with non-performing policy. In my lifetime, NZ has only gone backward.
There were (are) so many drivers to the outcome, not least of which is the removal (largely ) of progressive taxation and globalisation….whether we like it or not we are competing in an international labour market in ways that were never available pre reforms….that may change…or not.
I could stomach a bit more of it had the "responsible" economists recognized that running a massive property bubble, because it increases cost of living, plays merry hell with our international competitiveness. So do most of the ill-conceived privatizations and user-pays provisions. They had to have known they were wrecking the economy – why haven't they been discharged with prejudice? Workers lose their jobs for much less.
Why indeed….mind you being discharged from high position these days usually involves a generous payment and often a brief holiday before taking up an equally well recompensed position…not much prejudice.
This is what we will get if Radionz is amalgamated with television here. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018786278/local-current-affairs-with-a-heavy-aussie-accent
This Mediawatch story showing a woman lying in a bath of jellbaby lollies was one of the main current affairs in TVNZ new current affairs show that looks likely to be full of trivia and, freak and sensational news.
After watching or listening to such stuff there is possibly going to be a thimbleful of news that informed, responsible people need to know . Hopefully they will have a thimble-sized bit of alert brain not awash with stories about individuals in some sort of stress or ecstasy that presented for those in the public finding their own lives boring, can watch to divert themselves.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/439879/labour-mp-kiri-allan-reveals-she-has-been-diagnosed-with-cervical-cancer
Headline says it all.
Lets all hope/pray for a complete recovery.
Kiri appears to be one of the better ones.
And please when the pain don't go away, when you bleed for 6 weeks non stop,
Go to the fucking doctor.
I had that mess, it is not nice, its deadly, it will cost what ever reproductive plans she ever has had, and fuck, why do women do this to themselves.
Hang in there Kiri you are a good person.
@ Stephen D (6) … Kiri Allan's public performance during the recent earthquake and tsunami threats as Disaster Management Minister, confirmed her dedication to duty and the country, despite the very same day having undergone tests for cervical cancer. I was also privileged to see Kiri speaking in Parliament three weeks ago. She is a political star on the rise. Kiri is definitely one of the best MPs we have had in a long time and NZ desperately need someone of her spirit and calibre to continue the good work.
I wish Kiri all the best in her health battle ahead and look forward to seeing her fighting fit back in Parliament again sometime later this year.
I get somewhat cranky at the hypocrisy that seems to surround shop trading hours, and particularly on public holidays. The irony seemed to be lost on Suzie Ferguson on Morning Report this morning that she had time off, at least Friday and Monday, and sounded like she wanted to have the opportunity to shop requiring other people (generally relatively lowly paid) to be at work to service her.
Phil Goff argued well on the issue of having some holidays rather sacrosanct.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018790372/phil-goff-on-auckland-easter-trading-laws
Sad to hear of Kiri Allen's cancer diagnosis. Wish her all the best with her treatment. Kia Kaha Kiri
The Great Train Robbery. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2103/S00189/michael-wood-a-wanted-man-in-the-wild-west.htm
They need a bullet train from Huapai to Auckland CBD and Auckland Airport. What are they thinking? Useless pathetic suits!
If anything, Covid has given a boost to more flexible working arrangements, except for characters who still live in the pre-historic Stone Age.
What are the expectations/policies that people expect from the government and how do people expect the government to deliver those expectations/policies?
You touch on an interesting question TT….it is also interesting that at times people think a government can make a decision and the result is immediate…something like the Star Trek meme, 'make it so'.
It seems that there is a lack of appreciation for how political/government decisions get made and how they are implemented…a lack of understanding of the constraints and limitations that exist in the real world.
The Joe Biden Democratic Party…in the spirit of the #meetoo movement
You just can't make this shit up….these people are fucked in the head!, they must have no moral compass what so ever.
Kamala Harris, Bill Clinton holding conversation on pandemic’s impact on women
https://www.ksby.com/news/national/kamala-harris-bill-clinton-holding-conversation-on-pandemics-impact-on-women
Not this again!! How repulsive.
well for what its worth these two so far are the only ones actually talking about the fact that this pandemic has hit women probably the hardest in terms of job losses, income losses, loss of housing, plus education from home while working from home etc etc etc.
see here the stats for NZ
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/covid-19s-impact-on-women-and-work
a bit more current
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300221045/unemployment-still-higher-for-women-maori-ctu
And remind yourself that calling attention to this is called whinging and moaning.
So maybe just for once complain about them being the only ones so far that are talking about this.
Politics are all about optics…Harris would have had full approval from the party and Biden to do this meeting, keep on mind Kamala Harris will probably soon be the most powerful person in the world.
Optics are, as of 6 months ago, Bill is 6th most popular democrat, and 2nd most famous, with a 43% positive rating.
https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/explore/public_figure/Bill_Clinton
Adrian, women have been at the loosing end of this pandemic, even here in NZ. I have posted some links for you to educate yourself to that fact.
I could not give a flying fudge about who raises this issue of women losing jobs, houses, every penny they have to their name so as long as it is done.
Now if you cared about the issue rather then these two women you may talk about the hardship women here in NZ face because our dear Lady of the Land don't give no flying shite, will not talk about it, will not raise the benefits, and has nothing to say other then kind, gently, please with me.
So really who fucking cares.
I agree with you that of course that it is a travesty that woman, the working poor etc have been disadvantaged during this pandemic, but seriously?..Bill fucking Clinton, the prick who has probably done more to make it Ok to objectify woman as pure sex object than any other POTUS in modern history, except maybe Trump? , that’s the guy you are going to OK to speak on your behalf as a woman…holy shit.
I have heard of pragmatism, but that ain’t that, that is allowing woman’s issues to be used as a political tool to white wash a disgusting extremely powerful old white pervert pure and simple.
You lay down with dogs you get up with fleas.
I'd feel more comfortable with a travel bubble if the evidence for Ivermectin were properly considered. It can cut the suffering down to days which alone should have the government looking at it carefully on a cost basis alone.
Lots of negation of the studies. This is todays Trial Site News video where they cover each side of the story – it still looks like Ivermectin when used appropriately (early on, correct dose) is a worth approval.
At this stage it really comes down to personal choice. I purchased enough for the two of us from India about six months ago. Hope like hell I never get to use it and find out if it works or not.
another ban from facebook for telling a whining little bitch that he was a whining little bitch. hehehehehe. now I can comment on my blog or write original material instead of commenting on the idiots and mung bean anti vacationers who haunt cyberspace and social media to give their piffle/twaddle infantile opinion and cant take a robust estimate of their puerile nasty personalities and home truths. who can? hehehehehe. anyway the girls on johnkeyhasletdownnewzealand on fb at question time will keep the boogars honest.