Looks like Jonathan Cook isn't that impressed by George Monbiot.
I once admired George Monbiot. But his grim trajectory shows us where politics is heading.
Monbiot has form. For several years, he has been regularly smearing the other few icons of the progressive left, such as linguist Noam Chomsky and investigative journalist John Pilger. Now, it seems, it is comedian Russell Brand’s turn to come under Monbiot’s scalpel.
The truth is Monbiot has become just another advocate for managerial, technocratic liberalism – a liberalism that has been entirely discredited since the financial collapse of 2008, and is now the target of contempt and ridicule from that same younger demographic and figures like Greenwald and Brand.
Monbiot is desperate to maintain his credibility. And he imagines he can keep it a little longer by widening the circle of people on the left he smears: from Chomsky and Pilger, Fisk and Hersh, to Brand and Greenwald. But the only person he is damaging is himself, narrowing his relevance down to a group of liberal cultists, those who still believe that the very same people who destroyed our world are the ones who will fix it.
I am just going to repeat this one more time. Russell Brand is a glib grifter isn't half as clever as he sounds and even dumber than that. He needs to make a living, he's found his niche.
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) called on his fellow Republicans in Congress to slash funding for the US Justice Department and the FBI
Despite overwhelming calls from a large number of councils and community organisations, Labour MPs decided they couldn't conscience acting to minimise alcohol harm:
Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick's Alcohol Harm Minimisation bill has failed at its first reading, after only a handful of Labour MPs voted for it.
The bill would have banned alcohol sponsorship and advertising in sports.
National and ACT voted against the bill as blocs, but Labour treated it as a conscience issue, meaning MPs were free to vote however they wanted.
However the bill failed 85 votes to 29 – with just 18 Labour MPs supporting it.
The government has already planned to adopt one part of the bill, which will abolish the Special Appeals process from Local Alcohol Policies, so councils have more power to control alcohol sales, trading hours, and locations.
“Auckland Council, Christchurch City Council, Hamilton City Council and Wanganui have all passed motions for supporting the Bill, but also for delegating either the mayor or a councillor within that council to lobby directly all of the parties and the spokespeople to support this Bill bypassing the ballot,” she said.
This week, Palmerston North became the latest council to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s bill, with one councillor saying if they are going to be responsible for the social wellbeing of their community, they need to have the tools to manage that risk.
“This is just a demonstration of how grassroots communities are having to do all of the bloody work where parliament refuses to just get on with it because these pieces of evidence and enquiries have been sat in front of parliamentarians for twenty-plus years now and there just simply hasn’t been the action,” Swarbrick said.
It's pretty much up to the millennials, gen z's and other non aligned groups to form a party and get on with it.
Labour is a brand appealing to the diminishing centre, not upsetting the horses to keep power or simply keep the nact horror show out of power it seems now.
It blows my mind that in a democracy the entire media-political establishment basically tugs it forelock to an unelected bean counter with an explicit agenda to overturn several of the economic wins of the incumbent government.
No wonder Trumpists think the deep state is nothing but a financial conspiracy by the have class against Joe and Jane Sixpack on Struggle Street.
"The remit for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) outlines the objectives that the MPC must use monetary policy to pursue, as set by the Minister of Finance."
I think the government can be held responsible for the things they can control.
For instance, they should be putting government expenditure under the microscope to see how that is impacting on inflation, and what they can do to minimise unnecessary expenditure and waste.
Christopher Luxon: Isn’t it the case that this Government’s broken immigration settings have stoked labour shortages and fuelled inflation?
Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: If the member is arguing that we should open up the border in order to repress wages, which was the strategy of the last Government, then he can mount that argument at the next election.”
So, the government is definitely contributing to inflation by controlling the immigration settings.
And the government really needs to consider the flow-on effects from putting up the minimum wage so rapidly. The minimum wage increase itself may impact inflation all that much. But, it does impact other wages which are pressured to maintain the differential in relation to the minimum wage.
The social equity side of the argument is well understood. But, it is the impact on inflation that needs to be acknowledged and factored into government planning.
But, inflation is why wages are declining in real terms. So, there is a continued upward spiral that wages never catch up with.
I am not arguing so much about wages increasing. But more, that, if the government wants to increase minimum wages, they should offset that by taking the knife to government expenditure sop there isn’t any more money in the system overall. Then, wages actually will have a chance to catch up with inflation.
Something a left wing government is absolutely loathed to do.
Wage growth is not driving the inflation, at best they have been catching up with inflation. Monetary policy successfully suppressing wages makes that worse rather than actually improving economic conditions in NZ. It also doesn't really help with inflation in how its implemented because as I started with wages are not driving inflation.
Government expenditure is also not driving inflation. Most of the debated stuff to cut in this policy area will not have any impact on inflation what so ever. They would however have quite negative impacts on New Zealand.
If we want to deal with actual economic impacts on New Zealand we would need a viable understanding on inflation and the idea that there is a pool of money which is multiplied across an independent pool of productive capacity resulting in an inflation rate (which is the concept your applying), this is completely bankrupt.
If we want to tackle actual inflation you need to look at a few institutional things like, why are price setters in that industry increasing their prices, what reasons do they give, and are those reasonable explanations, and how much price setting power do they have.
You might then consider looking at if there are anti-competitive aspects, if companies could be encouraged to pass on price hikes to employees (esp when that's the explanation given, but they are profiteering instead), even sometimes if the public sector is out bidding the non-government undesirably (this is how government spending can drive inflation, but its not widely happening). One of the main things to be concerned about at present would be does New Zealand need a larger domestic version of that industry.
But if you just look at government total expenditure, give it a thumb suck and say that 30% is too big, cut it, because reasons. In that case your not even looking at the issue in any meaningful way.
Wage growth is not driving the inflation, at best they have been catching up with inflation.
The economy is blind to where money comes from. It responds to the fact that there is more money in the system, whatever the source. So, if you accept wages are increasing, then this will add to inflation, as will government expenditure, etc.
More money in the system devalues the value of money. (the law of supply and demand, right?). That is what inflation essentially is.
So, any factor that increases money supply in the economy will increase inflation.
Trying to say money from one particular source is or isn't driving inflation is therefore logically incorrect.
The government needs to be responsible and acknowledge its own effects on inflation, and do what it can to get inflation under control, rather than adding fuel to the fire.
And this policy of aiming to increase wages by restricting immigration is as retarded as it gets.
Businesses aren’t paying higher wages because they are earning more money themselves. They are just facing increased costs due to an artificial intervention from the government.
Hence, no good can come from that in the long run.
No, that's all reasoning based on the fundamentally flawed concept of inflation I alluded to you using in your argument.
Inflation is some kind of continuous price increases. If its to be understood you need to look into the institutional or individual reasons for those price hikes and the ability of those actors to influence their going prices anyway.
We can already throw your concept out once we realize that those people setting prices almost never look at the clearing balances held by banks (what the government spends in and taxes back). That would be enough, but they also don't look at the deposit balances which the banks hold either. This also makes it irrelevant that deposit balances are not a consistent multiple of clearing balances anyway and that banks are independently of their deposit base able to expand their balance sheets when lending and worst case purchase clearing balances at the OCR as a matter of government policy.
Rather than thinking of money like a durable good with a quantity, you should understand it like the supply of video views on a streaming service. Its not quantity constrained and doesn't derive its value from a quantity constraint anyway.
The underlying cause is usually that too much money is available to purchase too few goods and services, or that demand in the economy is outpacing supply. In general, this situation occurs when an economy is so buoyant that there are widespread shortages of labour and materials. People can charge higher prices for the same goods or services.
The RB thinks the problem of inflation is too much money chasing too fewer goods.
The issue is that infinite amounts of money can be created. But the goods money purchases are finite. Hence, as the quantity of money increases, the value of that money decreases against the finite goods, and prices rise.
As I said, the economy is completely blind to where that money comes from.
The RB thinks the problem of inflation is too much money chasing too fewer goods.
Rather than the results of shortages and sanctions arising from the invasion of Ukraine. Never mind, I'm sure they'll all retire on a fat sinecure irrespective of how woefully they underperform.
Rather than the results of shortages and sanctions arising from the invasion of Ukraine.
Sure. That amongst a myriad of things. Again, the economy is blind as to why there are shortages. The war in Ukraine is definitely one of those things contributing to shortages.
But, as stated, inflation is simply the result of too much money chasing too fewer goods, regardless of why there is too much money or too fewer goods.
An obvious example is in the cost of produce which responds very quickly to shortages. For instance, have you seen the price of Kumara lately after the flooding wiped out a lot of the crops?
We should probably have a public debate between Robertson and Orr to determine if its a cost of living crisis, or an excessive spending crisis. That would be at least entertaining though (as the RBNZ recently spoke about) with all the price hikes coming from overseas NZ has got poorer and probably should actually work that through domestically in the interests of fairness.
Also you've got to be incredibly careful interpreting such official statements in specific ways. They are quite carefully worded,
"The underlying cause is usually that too much money is available to purchase too few goods and services, or that demand in the economy is outpacing supply."
Even in their terms its highlighted that there are other causes of inflation than demand driven, and when it is demand driven its about a flow of spending not a quantity of money driving pricing decisions.
Any theory of inflation is fundamentally a theory of human and institutional behavior and MV=PQ has been known to be a complete failure for quite some time, especially as several of the quantities in that equation are subjective and not quantifiable.
The reserve bank is well aware that "infinite amounts of money can be created" and its actually things like credit criteria and capital ratios (NZ has no reserve ratios) which are the actual constraints on lending.
I will grant you that various factors can cause fluctuations in the trend. But the macro factors will result in the same end being reached eventually.
For instance, if people believe prices will rise tomorrow they will often bring forward their purchases in order to avoid price rises. This psychological factor can increase demand in the short-term and thus accelerate price increases. But, in the end, this effect will level off.
Conversely, people will often hold off making purchases if they believe prices will drop tomorrow because they want to take advantage of the cheaper prices in the future, thus accelerating price drops in the short-term.
This is one of the psychological factors the RB is relying on at the moment to dampen demand.
on the 22nd March i posted that i thought Sturgeons resigning in Scotland had a lot to do with her husband being involved in very shady dealings involving money, donations, party funds etc.
It has been in the news (the one that dared to report on it) for a while now but i guess "hard done by, bigottry, anti 'self identifying women hate' and thus resignation" sounds better then the Husband of the First Minister – feminist to their fingertips – and CEO of SNP, is a crook.
You still got my details? I nuked the account and printed yours but i can't find the doc. Would you mind texting or calling?
Trans identified male please not guilty to throwing liquids on women. And no this is not a women. [deleted] oneself does not make a male a women, it makes them a [deleted]. And sadly for the world this [deleted] is a danger to women. But that is ok. What is a little violence……..if that violence is for a 'good' cause.
And even sadder still, that [deleted] would get locked up in a female prison, with women who can not consent, but then its not as if anyone gave a flying shit about women, be they in a public space or in a female prison cell.
I've deleted some words. The noun in particular is not going to be ok here. It's technically inaccurate (dictionary definition) and thus is a pejorative. I don't know if it even applies to the person.
This debate is going to be long and intense, so there need to be some limits on inflammatory language. In the policy we encourage robust debate (thus there is no problem with being angry, or making strong political arguments like you just did), and we have limits on language or tone that will put others off from commenting, or contribute to flame wars.
I note that the lawyer has already made a start with the usual t**pe
“We must also protect the right to protest against those who espouse hate and discrimination … Hate speech emboldens others to use violence against those in our trans community, a community already targeted and at risk'
Hopefully the Judge will read the judgements on what constitutes hate speech in the SUFW case and is not convinced.
The anti women's issues, anti free speech protestors were not a mass Robin Hood like protest to fight back the baddies.
It involved a gross misreading of what the women were going to discuss and the use of force against ideas (sounds like the Dark Ages?)
For context of the "We must also protect the right to protest against those who espouse hate and discrimination … Hate speech emboldens others to use violence against those in our trans community, a community already targeted and at risk'" – some women spoke on Waiheke Island last weekend.
Viewers can determine for themselves the level of epousing of hate and discrimination:
Everything you need to know about why transing kids is a bad idea.
"This essay is an attempt to share with you what I’ve learned. Something hasgone very wrong in our attempt to help these young people, so much so that too many have been badlyharmed—and I hope to explain why. (If you prefer videos, you can watch this excellentdocumentary, one of many).
I read an article recently, which commented that a large swathe of left-wing Kiwis would simply stay home in November, rather than vote.
They can't support major policies for either the Greens or Labour – but can't stomach voting for National or Act.
[Sorry, I've had a look, but can't track it down again]
I’d hope it would be somewhere in between being absolutely random & unpredictable (stochastic, flick of a coin) and absolute certainty (birth, death, and taxes). Of course, there’s always an element of speculation, especially in politics. However, polls, surveys, and sound research can help being a little more accurate and a little less speculative.
Also based on anecdata – but older leftist women in my family – staunch feminists and lifelong Labour voters – are going noticeably quiet on the political front (usually, you can't shut them up (joke)). It's as though they can't support some of these policies, but also can't bring themselves to be disloyal and say so.
This is excellent because members are about to vote on list rankings 😈 I’d be happy with EK out of parliament (doubt that will happen but dropping her dues the list might teach her something).
Otoh if EK’s Bill got selected, we’d have a sex/gender wars election instead of a climate election, and I doubt the Greens would come out of that well.
Weka, having read the bill in full I noted that it leaves sections 43, 46 and 49 (which protect single sex facilities and sport) as they are. Not sure if this is intentional or an oversight by Dr Kerekere, but either way it makes the bill considerably less controversial than it would otherwise be.
More "assigned sex at birth" bulldust. And no idea of what the "self identified gender expression" actually means apart from "whatever I say it is". Plus the obligatory "rainbow washing" and inclusion of medical conditions.
When caught, she sent a generic – 'this message was inappropriate for this chat' apology; rather than acknowledging that the message was inappropriate for any forum she should be engaging in as an MP.
Then flat-out lied to RNZ – “I didn’t call Chlöe a crybaby, and I don’t think I can comment on it, but I didn’t call her that" – her words on the actual chat leaked to journalists were “omg what a crybaby”
It's difficult to see what sanctions Shaw and Davidson can apply. EK appears to only be sorry about being caught, not for her actions.
A “full internal investigation” should include all comms that EK has sent during her time as an MP. This is unlikely to be an isolated incident.
Will this (egregious example of disloyalty behind a colleague's back) be important enough to the Greens, for the Party membership to 'reward' her with a low list placing?
The unwillingness to apologise (because you think you are right) is the same – but the target is different.
Davidson's was a demographic that she's always had little time for; Kerekere was attacking her colleague (who she's supposed to support under the Greens kaupapa).
From a party perspective, Kerekere is by far the greater 'sinner'.
Both stupid. Both myopic (not seeing how this will play to the larger audience). . Both, ultimately, self-defeating.
I think difference is though that Labour has maintained it's internal discipline. This points to a factional internal party squabble – traditionally lethal to your electoral chances in NZ.
I agree with you. However, this from Kerekere isn't debate, but backbiting – and not about Swarbrick's political views, but about internal ranking chances in the GP. Not attractive.
This silly and spurious "crybaby" story is the headline in both Stuff and the Herald today. It will form part of a large number of coordinated attacks by the Right on Swarbrick before the election in order to dent her credibility as well as that of the Greens.
Spurious-"Not being what it purports to be, false, fake."
It is a non-story (false, fake) that the MSM has elevated to the level of a major issue with large front page banner headlines in both of the two major media outlets in NZ in order to attack both the Greens and Chloe.
As Chloe says today, she has "been called much worse" [I would suggest many times] and has refused to give the non-story any more oxygen by refusing further comment. Well played her.
How is it fake. Kerekere sent the text (then lied about it to a journalist).
I think we can all believe that the MSM didn't make this story up.
Surely the poor judgement and untrustworthiness of a politician and senior list candidate on the GP list – is a significant news story.
Every report I've read has been highly critical of Kerekere – and neutral-to-supportive to Swarbrick. EK comes out as someone with the political instincts of an amoeba, and the trustworthiness of a piranha; CK comes out as a politician doing her job, and rising above petty insults. It's not the insult that's the issue, it's the fact that it came from someone who is supposed to be a colleague.
I can't see any way that Swarbrick has been 'attacked' by the MSM. And, the GP leaders, coming out quickly to announce an investigation, and tell Kerekere not to come to work the next day – makes them look on-to-it and effective.
So, a bad news story for EK; a medium-to-good news story for CS and the GP.
You don't see the bold front page headline* "fellow Green MP calls Swarbrick a "crybaby"" as an attack on Chloe and the Greens?
With respect you are being naive. This is how the anti-left MSM works. It vastly exaggerates a very minor issue** that reflects badly on the Left/Greens and then keeps the story alive as long as possible.
*I forget the exact wording
** I think KK has already apologised?
But I agree with you that KK has not come out of this well, though I repeat it is a minor issue/transgression.
That's the apology you make when you accidentally send your work colleagues the plans for the family BBQ. Not the apology you make when you're caught making a nasty comment about a colleague.
And, with respect, you are being naive, if you think that MSM are magically not going to report poor behaviour from any MP – regardless of which party s/he belongs to.
Yup, another NZ MSM media beat-up for cheap & easy clicks that shows again how lazy (some) MSM have become. Content is no longer King, which is why chatbots will soon write most of the stuff and the public won’t even care because it sounds so ‘plausible’ (and because it can’t tell the difference).
If MSM want to stay relevant then they should stop acting like SM and start doing a proper job.
This puts the pressure back on our news media to impartially assess and critique events as they unfold.
What a farce. I've lost faith in the Green Party this year, but Chloe is a politician for whom I still have considerable respect. Her Alcohol Harm bill was an attempt to do something practically useful for the community rather than just navel gazing.
That would make me very happy. I think it would be a much better fit for her but she is so in deep with the Greens at this point it would be a big ask to make a clean break without damaging her reputation. If she took over as TOP leader it might just be the name recognition needed to get them over the 5% hump. She does seem to be consistently getting around 5% as preferred PM, indicating support for her personally as opposed to the Greens.
Her reputation is being damaged already by association with her Green Party colleagues' activities in the past few weeks….and her tweet after Albert Park.
Agree Ed. I thought her blindly loyal defence of that Albert Park shambles was the first major misstep I have seen from her. There will undoubtedly be another if she continues to hitch her raft to the current Green crew. If she's ever going to cut herself loose now seems like as good a time as any.
Fucking ridiculous, the greens get agitated by on mp saying something vaguely petty about their golden girl, but are allgood with their number one place holder being a racist,
Fuck the greens they've had my vote 3 times they won't get it again till they sort their shit.
By no means all – there are many good environmentalists and soft technology engineers among them still. But they have cuckoos among the leadership, grown fat, and trying to force their more honorable siblings out.
Anyone want to bet Parkers RMA replacement is dead with the Chief Justice and Commissioner for the Environment going to the select committee and lobbying very hard against it?
Isn't this a really unusual step for the Chief Justice?
My (non-legal) understanding is that she's basically saying it's so unclear and badly drafted, that there will be decades of legal cases to clarify the intent.
"there will be decades of legal cases to clarify the intent".
That is exactly what happened with the RMA, and that was introduced by a National government in 1990.
My understanding is (and I have considerable experience in working with the parts of the RMA that relate to rural subdivision and development) that the existing RMA related case law will still be relevant and have weight.
The Parker proposals are partially derived from the RMA. If something similar to the existing RMA Sections 5, 6 and 7 are carried forward much case law will remain relevant.
This is completely different to 1990 when the RMA represented a radical change in planning direction.
I find it hard to believe that Parker, who has a law degree and is a policy wonk, would have stuffed up this process. The Chief Justice's intervention may be, in part, a political reaction.
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Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
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The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
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Looking for a different topic to get foamed-up about?
George Monbiot talks about the vital issue.
Rusty Rockets; doing for the the clicks.
https://twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/1634090091567095810
Looks like Jonathan Cook isn't that impressed by George Monbiot.
https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/i-once-admired-george-monbiot-but
I am just going to repeat this one more time. Russell Brand is a glib grifter isn't half as clever as he sounds and even dumber than that. He needs to make a living, he's found his niche.
The guardian is part of the problem not the solution.
of course it was all caps on "Truth Social"
(locker room talk true).
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2023/04/donald-trump-facing-criminal-charges-calls-for-defunding-of-fbi.html
He should perhaps save something for the Jan 6 and Georgia phone call charges.
Despite overwhelming calls from a large number of councils and community organisations, Labour MPs decided they couldn't conscience acting to minimise alcohol harm:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/487421/swarbrick-s-alcohol-harm-minimisation-bill-fails-at-first-reading
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-house/audio/2018845214/local-authorities-urge-mps-to-support-alcohol-harm-minimisation-bill
It's pretty much up to the millennials, gen z's and other non aligned groups to form a party and get on with it.
Labour is a brand appealing to the diminishing centre, not upsetting the horses to keep power or simply keep the nact horror show out of power it seems now.
It is now very very hard to see Labour surviving the Election from the Reserve Bank actions this year.
It won't be fair, but rheyll be blamed for $500 a fortnight getting sucked out of family budgets.
It blows my mind that in a democracy the entire media-political establishment basically tugs it forelock to an unelected bean counter with an explicit agenda to overturn several of the economic wins of the incumbent government.
No wonder Trumpists think the deep state is nothing but a financial conspiracy by the have class against Joe and Jane Sixpack on Struggle Street.
Its entirely fair.
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary-policy/about-monetary-policy/history-of-the-remit-and-policy-targets-agreement
"The remit for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) outlines the objectives that the MPC must use monetary policy to pursue, as set by the Minister of Finance."
I think the government can be held responsible for the things they can control.
For instance, they should be putting government expenditure under the microscope to see how that is impacting on inflation, and what they can do to minimise unnecessary expenditure and waste.
Secondly, they really need to consider their settings on immigration which seem to be purposefully limited to force up wages. In Question time the other day there was this exchange:
So, the government is definitely contributing to inflation by controlling the immigration settings.
And the government really needs to consider the flow-on effects from putting up the minimum wage so rapidly. The minimum wage increase itself may impact inflation all that much. But, it does impact other wages which are pressured to maintain the differential in relation to the minimum wage.
The social equity side of the argument is well understood. But, it is the impact on inflation that needs to be acknowledged and factored into government planning.
Real wages have been declining. NZ wage rates are not significantly driving inflation.
But, inflation is why wages are declining in real terms. So, there is a continued upward spiral that wages never catch up with.
I am not arguing so much about wages increasing. But more, that, if the government wants to increase minimum wages, they should offset that by taking the knife to government expenditure sop there isn’t any more money in the system overall. Then, wages actually will have a chance to catch up with inflation.
Something a left wing government is absolutely loathed to do.
Wage growth is not driving the inflation, at best they have been catching up with inflation. Monetary policy successfully suppressing wages makes that worse rather than actually improving economic conditions in NZ. It also doesn't really help with inflation in how its implemented because as I started with wages are not driving inflation.
Government expenditure is also not driving inflation. Most of the debated stuff to cut in this policy area will not have any impact on inflation what so ever. They would however have quite negative impacts on New Zealand.
If we want to deal with actual economic impacts on New Zealand we would need a viable understanding on inflation and the idea that there is a pool of money which is multiplied across an independent pool of productive capacity resulting in an inflation rate (which is the concept your applying), this is completely bankrupt.
If we want to tackle actual inflation you need to look at a few institutional things like, why are price setters in that industry increasing their prices, what reasons do they give, and are those reasonable explanations, and how much price setting power do they have.
You might then consider looking at if there are anti-competitive aspects, if companies could be encouraged to pass on price hikes to employees (esp when that's the explanation given, but they are profiteering instead), even sometimes if the public sector is out bidding the non-government undesirably (this is how government spending can drive inflation, but its not widely happening). One of the main things to be concerned about at present would be does New Zealand need a larger domestic version of that industry.
But if you just look at government total expenditure, give it a thumb suck and say that 30% is too big, cut it, because reasons. In that case your not even looking at the issue in any meaningful way.
The economy is blind to where money comes from. It responds to the fact that there is more money in the system, whatever the source. So, if you accept wages are increasing, then this will add to inflation, as will government expenditure, etc.
More money in the system devalues the value of money. (the law of supply and demand, right?). That is what inflation essentially is.
So, any factor that increases money supply in the economy will increase inflation.
Trying to say money from one particular source is or isn't driving inflation is therefore logically incorrect.
The government needs to be responsible and acknowledge its own effects on inflation, and do what it can to get inflation under control, rather than adding fuel to the fire.
And this policy of aiming to increase wages by restricting immigration is as retarded as it gets.
Businesses aren’t paying higher wages because they are earning more money themselves. They are just facing increased costs due to an artificial intervention from the government.
Hence, no good can come from that in the long run.
No, that's all reasoning based on the fundamentally flawed concept of inflation I alluded to you using in your argument.
Inflation is some kind of continuous price increases. If its to be understood you need to look into the institutional or individual reasons for those price hikes and the ability of those actors to influence their going prices anyway.
We can already throw your concept out once we realize that those people setting prices almost never look at the clearing balances held by banks (what the government spends in and taxes back). That would be enough, but they also don't look at the deposit balances which the banks hold either. This also makes it irrelevant that deposit balances are not a consistent multiple of clearing balances anyway and that banks are independently of their deposit base able to expand their balance sheets when lending and worst case purchase clearing balances at the OCR as a matter of government policy.
Rather than thinking of money like a durable good with a quantity, you should understand it like the supply of video views on a streaming service. Its not quantity constrained and doesn't derive its value from a quantity constraint anyway.
It looks like the Reserve Bank agrees with me more than you.
From the article:
The RB thinks the problem of inflation is too much money chasing too fewer goods.
The issue is that infinite amounts of money can be created. But the goods money purchases are finite. Hence, as the quantity of money increases, the value of that money decreases against the finite goods, and prices rise.
As I said, the economy is completely blind to where that money comes from.
The RB thinks the problem of inflation is too much money chasing too fewer goods.
Rather than the results of shortages and sanctions arising from the invasion of Ukraine. Never mind, I'm sure they'll all retire on a fat sinecure irrespective of how woefully they underperform.
Sure. That amongst a myriad of things. Again, the economy is blind as to why there are shortages. The war in Ukraine is definitely one of those things contributing to shortages.
But, as stated, inflation is simply the result of too much money chasing too fewer goods, regardless of why there is too much money or too fewer goods.
An obvious example is in the cost of produce which responds very quickly to shortages. For instance, have you seen the price of Kumara lately after the flooding wiped out a lot of the crops?
We should probably have a public debate between Robertson and Orr to determine if its a cost of living crisis, or an excessive spending crisis. That would be at least entertaining though (as the RBNZ recently spoke about) with all the price hikes coming from overseas NZ has got poorer and probably should actually work that through domestically in the interests of fairness.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/rbnz-we-need-to-accept-were-poorer/ZWTC5TIBEBCZNOBGH5ZQLUOOGU/
Also you've got to be incredibly careful interpreting such official statements in specific ways. They are quite carefully worded,
"The underlying cause is usually that too much money is available to purchase too few goods and services, or that demand in the economy is outpacing supply."
Even in their terms its highlighted that there are other causes of inflation than demand driven, and when it is demand driven its about a flow of spending not a quantity of money driving pricing decisions.
Any theory of inflation is fundamentally a theory of human and institutional behavior and MV=PQ has been known to be a complete failure for quite some time, especially as several of the quantities in that equation are subjective and not quantifiable.
The reserve bank is well aware that "infinite amounts of money can be created" and its actually things like credit criteria and capital ratios (NZ has no reserve ratios) which are the actual constraints on lending.
I will grant you that various factors can cause fluctuations in the trend. But the macro factors will result in the same end being reached eventually.
For instance, if people believe prices will rise tomorrow they will often bring forward their purchases in order to avoid price rises. This psychological factor can increase demand in the short-term and thus accelerate price increases. But, in the end, this effect will level off.
Conversely, people will often hold off making purchases if they believe prices will drop tomorrow because they want to take advantage of the cheaper prices in the future, thus accelerating price drops in the short-term.
This is one of the psychological factors the RB is relying on at the moment to dampen demand.
on the 22nd March i posted that i thought Sturgeons resigning in Scotland had a lot to do with her husband being involved in very shady dealings involving money, donations, party funds etc.
I was told that that was 'far fetched' https://thestandard.org.nz/sturgeon-like-ardern-a-casualty-of-online-abuse/#comment-1936272
lol……..today
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-65187823
sometimes people really are as shitty as they appear. And Mr. Sturgeon was not a nice person.
Yep. You were right.
Many were just waiting for the official announcement.
It has been in the news (the one that dared to report on it) for a while now but i guess "hard done by, bigottry, anti 'self identifying women hate' and thus resignation" sounds better then the Husband of the First Minister – feminist to their fingertips – and CEO of SNP, is a crook.
You still got my details? I nuked the account and printed yours but i can't find the doc. Would you mind texting or calling?
Emailed a couple of times to reiterate the invitation for #LetWomenSpeak, but I couldn't attend as I was with my mother who had contracted Covid.
I'll send a text to your (partner's) mobile. Call or text anytime.![yes yes](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/thumbs_up.png?x42494)
Hang on. Need to charge, will do it now.
Trans identified male please not guilty to throwing liquids on women. And no this is not a women. [deleted] oneself does not make a male a women, it makes them a [deleted]. And sadly for the world this [deleted] is a danger to women. But that is ok. What is a little violence……..if that violence is for a 'good' cause.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300848339/woman-pleads-not-guilty-to-assault-after-throwing-juice-on-posie-parker
And even sadder still, that [deleted] would get locked up in a female prison, with women who can not consent, but then its not as if anyone gave a flying shit about women, be they in a public space or in a female prison cell.
I've deleted some words. The noun in particular is not going to be ok here. It's technically inaccurate (dictionary definition) and thus is a pejorative. I don't know if it even applies to the person.
This debate is going to be long and intense, so there need to be some limits on inflammatory language. In the policy we encourage robust debate (thus there is no problem with being angry, or making strong political arguments like you just did), and we have limits on language or tone that will put others off from commenting, or contribute to flame wars.
Thanks Sabine
I note that the lawyer has already made a start with the usual t**pe
“We must also protect the right to protest against those who espouse hate and discrimination … Hate speech emboldens others to use violence against those in our trans community, a community already targeted and at risk'
Hopefully the Judge will read the judgements on what constitutes hate speech in the SUFW case and is not convinced.
The anti women's issues, anti free speech protestors were not a mass Robin Hood like protest to fight back the baddies.
It involved a gross misreading of what the women were going to discuss and the use of force against ideas (sounds like the Dark Ages?)
.
For context of the "We must also protect the right to protest against those who espouse hate and discrimination … Hate speech emboldens others to use violence against those in our trans community, a community already targeted and at risk'" – some women spoke on Waiheke Island last weekend.
Viewers can determine for themselves the level of epousing of hate and discrimination:
https://www.youtube.com/live/pgW3zQ–HSk?feature=share
Everything you need to know about why transing kids is a bad idea.
"This essay is an attempt to share with you what I’ve learned. Something has gone very wrong in our attempt to help these young people, so much so that too many have been badly harmed—and I hope to explain why. (If you prefer videos, you can watch this excellent documentary, one of many).
https://genspect.org/to-help-trans-identifying-kids-follow-the-science/?fbclid=IwAR2oehH9An_xD73OOkw2t-iEgfzqI5c7wkdPC4p1GrRb155zP8x4Wm2hBs4
Skewed data lead to skewed conclusions & decisions.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/census-turnout-low-despite-37m-blowout
I fear the turnout at the General Election might be quite low too. The lower voter turnout, the less representative the overall result.
I read an article recently, which commented that a large swathe of left-wing Kiwis would simply stay home in November, rather than vote.
They can't support major policies for either the Greens or Labour – but can't stomach voting for National or Act.
[Sorry, I've had a look, but can't track it down again]
Would be good to see if that article was based on reason, reckon, or wishful thinking.
Election Day is 14 October, so people are ok to stay home in November.
Well, it can only be based on speculation at this stage.
Apologies for the misdating of the election….
I’d hope it would be somewhere in between being absolutely random & unpredictable (stochastic, flick of a coin) and absolute certainty (birth, death, and taxes). Of course, there’s always an element of speculation, especially in politics. However, polls, surveys, and sound research can help being a little more accurate and a little less speculative.
Found it, better late than never.
Chris Trotter, and re-reading it, he doesn't give any source for his data – so anecdata and/or speculation.
I wouldn't ascribe it to 'wishful thinking' (I can't see any reason he'd want to see a National/ACT government) – so 'reckon' is probably the closest.
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2023/04/sitting-this-one-out-how-angry.html
Also based on anecdata – but older leftist women in my family – staunch feminists and lifelong Labour voters – are going noticeably quiet on the political front (usually, you can't shut them up (joke)). It's as though they can't support some of these policies, but also can't bring themselves to be disloyal and say so.
Ta
The Green party seems to be planning to destroy itself.
This is excellent because members are about to vote on list rankings 😈 I’d be happy with EK out of parliament (doubt that will happen but dropping her dues the list might teach her something).
She certainly seems someone whose ambition and entitlement exceeds her talents.
very awkward – not a good few weeks for the left in the foot in mouth department
who leaked it to the media?
Otoh if EK’s Bill got selected, we’d have a sex/gender wars election instead of a climate election, and I doubt the Greens would come out of that well.
https://twitter.com/pen_ultimate__/status/1643803910489112579
Weka, having read the bill in full I noted that it leaves sections 43, 46 and 49 (which protect single sex facilities and sport) as they are. Not sure if this is intentional or an oversight by Dr Kerekere, but either way it makes the bill considerably less controversial than it would otherwise be.
More "assigned sex at birth" bulldust. And no idea of what the "self identified gender expression" actually means apart from "whatever I say it is". Plus the obligatory "rainbow washing" and inclusion of medical conditions.
Gender ideology at its most obvious.
It's like a new religion.
And, Good Lord!, talking about doubling down.
When caught, she sent a generic – 'this message was inappropriate for this chat' apology; rather than acknowledging that the message was inappropriate for any forum she should be engaging in as an MP.
Then flat-out lied to RNZ – “I didn’t call Chlöe a crybaby, and I don’t think I can comment on it, but I didn’t call her that" – her words on the actual chat leaked to journalists were “omg what a crybaby”
It's difficult to see what sanctions Shaw and Davidson can apply. EK appears to only be sorry about being caught, not for her actions.
A “full internal investigation” should include all comms that EK has sent during her time as an MP. This is unlikely to be an isolated incident.
Will this (egregious example of disloyalty behind a colleague's back) be important enough to the Greens, for the Party membership to 'reward' her with a low list placing?
Only time will tell.
It can be argued Kerekere is following her leader's example. When Davidson had her post Parker outburst she refused to apologise.
Kinda rank hypocricy for Davidson to get too uppitty about this.
The unwillingness to apologise (because you think you are right) is the same – but the target is different.
Davidson's was a demographic that she's always had little time for; Kerekere was attacking her colleague (who she's supposed to support under the Greens kaupapa).
From a party perspective, Kerekere is by far the greater 'sinner'.
Both stupid. Both myopic (not seeing how this will play to the larger audience). . Both, ultimately, self-defeating.
more than 'self defeating'…party damaging (both)
Labour can hardly complain about Green stability after needlessly losing a PM, firing the moronic Nash, and the dorky Kiri Allen at RNZ.
I think difference is though that Labour has maintained it's internal discipline. This points to a factional internal party squabble – traditionally lethal to your electoral chances in NZ.
It would be more preferable if our political economy – of which we are part – had the maturity for more actual live debate from all parties.
The UK and US main parties manage to achieve it without the world falling apart.
I agree with you. However, this from Kerekere isn't debate, but backbiting – and not about Swarbrick's political views, but about internal ranking chances in the GP. Not attractive.
This silly and spurious "crybaby" story is the headline in both Stuff and the Herald today. It will form part of a large number of coordinated attacks by the Right on Swarbrick before the election in order to dent her credibility as well as that of the Greens.
What's "spurious" about it?
Agree that it was a very silly thing for Kerekere to do.
But, I doubt that Swarbrick's credibility will be dented.
Spurious-"Not being what it purports to be, false, fake."
It is a non-story (false, fake) that the MSM has elevated to the level of a major issue with large front page banner headlines in both of the two major media outlets in NZ in order to attack both the Greens and Chloe.
As Chloe says today, she has "been called much worse" [I would suggest many times] and has refused to give the non-story any more oxygen by refusing further comment. Well played her.
How is it fake. Kerekere sent the text (then lied about it to a journalist).
I think we can all believe that the MSM didn't make this story up.
Surely the poor judgement and untrustworthiness of a politician and senior list candidate on the GP list – is a significant news story.
Every report I've read has been highly critical of Kerekere – and neutral-to-supportive to Swarbrick. EK comes out as someone with the political instincts of an amoeba, and the trustworthiness of a piranha; CK comes out as a politician doing her job, and rising above petty insults. It's not the insult that's the issue, it's the fact that it came from someone who is supposed to be a colleague.
I can't see any way that Swarbrick has been 'attacked' by the MSM. And, the GP leaders, coming out quickly to announce an investigation, and tell Kerekere not to come to work the next day – makes them look on-to-it and effective.
So, a bad news story for EK; a medium-to-good news story for CS and the GP.
You don't see the bold front page headline* "fellow Green MP calls Swarbrick a "crybaby"" as an attack on Chloe and the Greens?
With respect you are being naive. This is how the anti-left MSM works. It vastly exaggerates a very minor issue** that reflects badly on the Left/Greens and then keeps the story alive as long as possible.
*I forget the exact wording
** I think KK has already apologised?
But I agree with you that KK has not come out of this well, though I repeat it is a minor issue/transgression.
So, you're now accepting that the story isn't 'fake' (it really did happen).
And just objecting to how it's been presented.
The fact that the GP are investigating, indicates that they're taking it seriously – i.e. not just a "minor issue" – even if you are not.
I think that we'll just agree to differ on just who comes out badly from this.
If Kerekere has already apologized to Swarbrick or the GP, then it has yet to be released.
The only reported apology was:
"Kia ora everyone. I wrote an inappropriate message on here which was not meant for this thread and I apologise to everyone here"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/487463/green-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-calls-chloe-swarbrick-a-crybaby-in-group-chat
That's the apology you make when you accidentally send your work colleagues the plans for the family BBQ. Not the apology you make when you're caught making a nasty comment about a colleague.
And, with respect, you are being naive, if you think that MSM are magically not going to report poor behaviour from any MP – regardless of which party s/he belongs to.
Incognito has it right in the post below.
Yup, another NZ MSM media beat-up for cheap & easy clicks that shows again how lazy (some) MSM have become. Content is no longer King, which is why chatbots will soon write most of the stuff and the public won’t even care because it sounds so ‘plausible’ (and because it can’t tell the difference).
If MSM want to stay relevant then they should stop acting like SM and start doing a proper job.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131690407/social-media-may-be-a-political-battlefield-but-does-it-change-voters-minds
What a farce. I've lost faith in the Green Party this year, but Chloe is a politician for whom I still have considerable respect. Her Alcohol Harm bill was an attempt to do something practically useful for the community rather than just navel gazing.
Could Chloe join TOP?
That would make me very happy. I think it would be a much better fit for her but she is so in deep with the Greens at this point it would be a big ask to make a clean break without damaging her reputation. If she took over as TOP leader it might just be the name recognition needed to get them over the 5% hump. She does seem to be consistently getting around 5% as preferred PM, indicating support for her personally as opposed to the Greens.
Her reputation is being damaged already by association with her Green Party colleagues' activities in the past few weeks….and her tweet after Albert Park.
Did you not see her performance on morning tele with Brooke Van Helden?
It was self sabotaging of her reputation from my view.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/03/27/mps-weigh-in-on-free-speech-debate-following-posie-parker-protests/
Agree Ed. I thought her blindly loyal defence of that Albert Park shambles was the first major misstep I have seen from her. There will undoubtedly be another if she continues to hitch her raft to the current Green crew. If she's ever going to cut herself loose now seems like as good a time as any.
Only if she goes blue in the face.
Did you vote Green at the last election Leighton?
Fucking ridiculous, the greens get agitated by on mp saying something vaguely petty about their golden girl, but are allgood with their number one place holder being a racist,
Fuck the greens they've had my vote 3 times they won't get it again till they sort their shit.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/04/06/wrong-chat-green-mp-kerekere-calls-chloe-swarbrick-a-crybaby/
surely the Greens have lost all credibility now?
By no means all – there are many good environmentalists and soft technology engineers among them still. But they have cuckoos among the leadership, grown fat, and trying to force their more honorable siblings out.
Anyone want to bet Parkers RMA replacement is dead with the Chief Justice and Commissioner for the Environment going to the select committee and lobbying very hard against it?
Quite a move by Chief Justice Winkelmann
Isn't this a really unusual step for the Chief Justice?
My (non-legal) understanding is that she's basically saying it's so unclear and badly drafted, that there will be decades of legal cases to clarify the intent.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300842078/three-strikes-against-david-parkers-rma-reforms
Yes it's a knifing eyes front.
"there will be decades of legal cases to clarify the intent".
That is exactly what happened with the RMA, and that was introduced by a National government in 1990.
My understanding is (and I have considerable experience in working with the parts of the RMA that relate to rural subdivision and development) that the existing RMA related case law will still be relevant and have weight.
The Parker proposals are partially derived from the RMA. If something similar to the existing RMA Sections 5, 6 and 7 are carried forward much case law will remain relevant.
This is completely different to 1990 when the RMA represented a radical change in planning direction.
I find it hard to believe that Parker, who has a law degree and is a policy wonk, would have stuffed up this process. The Chief Justice's intervention may be, in part, a political reaction.