Open mike 06/07/2021

95 comments on “Open mike 06/07/2021 ”

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1. Tiger Mountain 1

   6 July 2021 at 6:35 am

   Read/listen to these and weep…particularly the modular company account–they need more workflow fer crissakes…as motels blowout

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018800028/a-modular-solution-to-the-housing-crisis

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018799639/small-homes-big-ambitions

   To put it bluntly the Govt. should be plunking down many millions on these types of initiatives to house the people. But it seems the bulk of the Labour Caucus would fill their pants at the prospect of a mass flat pack/tiny house/apartment build.

   Yes there is a reason for that timidity, many decades of housing being treated as a cash cow rather than a family resource and accomodation, does not allow for an easy quick solution, but it surely must be attempted.
   • Adrian Thornton 1.1

     6 July 2021 at 12:09 pm

     (New) Labour New Zealand are as much a part of the problem as National, therefore as they both exist today they will never tackle this housing disaster..I can't understand why people haven't figured out by now that Ardern/Robertson and pretty much all Labour NZ are Neo Liberal Free Market ideologues…they are real believers in that shit and are prepared to hold that course until the bitter end, just like all ideologues (myself included, except my political ideology is right and theirs is wrong).
     • greywarshark 1.1.1

       6 July 2021 at 12:16 pm

       Adrian Thornton I am enjoying reading your comments. Wry sometimes, and leading to useful thought most of the time. Please stick in there.
     • Tiger Mountain 1.1.2

       6 July 2021 at 12:32 pm

       I agree Adrian, which is why I have suggested homeless and supporters need to start occupying appropriate empty residential and commercial property in an organised manner to put some more heat on the Labour Caucus. Pressure worked at Ihumatāo. Around 40,000 empty properties in Auckland per various statistics from Census to Real Estate sources.

       https://www.newsroom.co.nz/cat-maclennan-on-ghost-housing
     • bwaghorn 1.1.3

       6 July 2021 at 4:50 pm

       Can you point yo a country that's following your ideology so I can check that you are in fact right. ??
       • Andre 1.1.3.1

         6 July 2021 at 4:56 pm

         Late 70s Cambodia seems pretty close, as far as I can tell.
       • gsays 1.1.3.2

         6 July 2021 at 6:01 pm

         Here is some info on England and Wales.

         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatting_in_England_and_Wales

         Interestingly, you can apply to own the property after 12 years.
         • Koff 1.1.3.2.1

           6 July 2021 at 7:20 pm

           Squatting was common when I was young in England. Unoccupied buildings were squatted and in London, there was an agreement between local councils and a well organised squatting movement that allowed people who couldnt afford the rents at the time to occupy empty council homes that were going to be renovated or knocked down. My partner and I lived in 2 of these places for several years with others until eventually securing a council flat. I think squatting has been a criminal offence for years, now. Thatcher and those who followed her squashed all those protests at the same time as they squashed the miners and the British TU movement. Then she sold off as many council houses as possible.
2. Adrian 2

   6 July 2021 at 7:44 am

   We have brought up 3 children in an 150 year old school house, the main living area of which is the dining, lounge, homework and play area and is 60 sq metres. A 60 sq metre house which also requires toilet and bathroom, kitchen, wash house and storage and 3 bedrooms crammed into the same meterage means the rooms become cells. That’s why these things get turned down they don’t meet the required regulatory conditions for healthy living. Yes, there will be stories of “We we’re all bought up in shoebox and luvved it”, and so was I, but it had an outside shithouse, the bathroom could only take one person at a time and a standard bed wouldn’t fit in my shared room. It was not fit for purpose.
   • Jimmy 2.1

     6 July 2021 at 8:55 am

     How did you survive without a media room and ensuite?
   • Sabine 2.2

     6 July 2021 at 11:03 am

     If you count 8 sqm per bedroom as a min that would meant your three rooms would be 24 sqm, then the rest can be build into the remaining 36 sqm.

     Yeah, that might be a bit small, but it beats living in transient housing at million dollars for some motels who would have gone bust since the closed borders were it not for homeless people and those that lost houses in floods/tornadoes etc.

     Also not everyone has three kids. Tell us why someone starting out in adult life needs a 100sqm, three garages, two landings and 4 rooms?
     • McFlock 2.2.1

       6 July 2021 at 4:19 pm

       That's the same argument as the one for jobs paying a sub-living minimum wage – it's only for hardy young 'uns starting out.

       The problem is that a serious chunk of people end up in those jobs or dwellings for life.
       • greywarshark 2.2.1.1

         6 July 2021 at 4:45 pm

         I remember a journalist in tears as he described the likely starvation of people in an African country. They had estimates that they only had enough food, grain etc for about two weeks to send out to the people whose crops had failed, or had run from violence. The Red Cross were onto it, they were making plans for a big delivery – but that was months away, some said six months.

         Sometimes the small is beautiful, get started with practical plans now is the right thing to do. Not worry about the medium-term future, not make doubtful comments about it not being the best answer; if it fits short-term, wear it.
         • McFlock 2.2.1.1.1

           6 July 2021 at 8:07 pm

           Definitely a fair point to consider. The penalty for failure of subsized homes, however, is a slum. So would it be "two steps forward, one back", or "one step forward, two back"?

           The fact is that detached housing, no matter the size, isn't going to change the housing crisis. Just money for developers.

           Vacant investment dwellings and significant state housing increases need to be addressed. It's possible that some of the govt's economic changes might tweak things over the longer term, but I doubt it will decimate property market speculation.
           • greywarshark 2.2.1.1.1.1

             6 July 2021 at 8:49 pm

             Agree 96% – but some more advanced fix-it ideas needed.

             Like registering at an approved camping ground with toilets and showers. and covered area around them. concrete pathways and electric points so that those who have to sleep in their cars can do so. This would be government admitting the need and helping one group in a practical, honest way instead of promises at the end of the very ordinary rainbow. People who didn't behave would be ejected, so that those using the facility would have good sleep and security,
             • McFlock …

               6 July 2021 at 8:54 pm

               Is that really better than transitional housing in a motel?
3. Incognito 3

   6 July 2021 at 7:46 am

   Helpfully, Tim Watkin and RNZ are drawing the dividing line for us.

   https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/drawing-a-red-line-with-china

   Better make sure that I choose the right side …
   • Nic the NZer 3.1

     6 July 2021 at 11:35 am

     Yeah, apparently Japan is an imperialist country.

     Shows what I (or maybe Tim) know to be facts.
4. Incognito 4

   6 July 2021 at 8:00 am

   NZ is going to the dogs because we cannot express ourselves freely and frankly any longer 🙁

   https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/worker-at-auckland-airport-arrested-after-making-concerning-comments/DXVJBX2253DLWGC3GVXHK2SR5Q/

   Witness the supporters jumping to his aid \SARC
   • Jimmy 4.1

     6 July 2021 at 8:59 am

     Hopefully more details will come out. Was he talking about a bomb? Or was he being racist or sexist?
     • Incognito 4.1.1

       6 July 2021 at 9:06 am

       Did he make them online or did he have a ‘bad day’ at work and yelled at his co-workers and/or his boss? But that’s not really my point 😉
       • weka 4.1.1.1

         6 July 2021 at 10:50 am

         Would you mind saying what your point is? I’m not getting it.
   • AB 4.2

     6 July 2021 at 9:47 am

     "NZ is going to the dogs because we cannot express ourselves freely and frankly any longer" = New Zealand is going to the dogs because I fear my opinions and worldview are no longer hegemonic and I am being challenged in ways I find unacceptable. And I will 'prove' this by pointing at all manner of dopey sh*t that is basically just irrelevant peripheral idiocy – while ignoring anything else that doesn't suit my argument.
     • greywarshark 4.2.1

       6 July 2021 at 11:55 am

       Good one AB you understand the situation completely and ridicule it well, except that you are choosing the wrong side for your wry ire.
5. cricklewood 5

   6 July 2021 at 8:58 am

   Well I think its fair to say outside of Covid response evidence is mounting that this Govt is failing badly on a core issue that they had promised to address.

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018802675/nz-children-living-in-motels-reaches-record-high

   The state house build is forecast to add around 8000 homes over the next 4 years which will barely touch the sides.

   Record house price increases adding hundreds of thousands to values further entrenching inequality.

   https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/124504352/national-median-house-price-soars-to-record-high–reinz

   Rents are hitting record highs https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2021/04/housing-crisis-price-for-rentals-hits-new-all-time-high.html

   We all know that accommodation insecurity / affordability has a severe effect on families and their children including long term outcomes I think you can see the beginnings of this here.

   https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/truancy-crisis-more-than-60000-students-chronically-absent-from-school/6TXZWOLAE6WTO35J7CGKHIOOQ4/

   This is a crisis and it feels like the current govt is happy to tinker around the edges doing just enough to avoid real scrutiny… a middle class free the lane protest got a faster reaction ffs.
   • Sabine 5.1

     6 July 2021 at 9:04 am

     well, there is a lot of money to be made in 'transient housing'.

     https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/emergency-housing-crisis-hawkes-bay-hotel-earned-15m-in-nine-months-but-it-was-too-much-hassle/W3FGXTV5KFKFFJSXJXEB7RBV3E/

     A Hawke's Bay hotel that earned $1.5 million in nine months from housing people in emergency accommodation has stopped because it was "too much hassle".

     He said the $1.55m his hotel earned could be down to the November floods in Napier, which displaced hundreds and caused millions of dollars of damage.

     oh well. I guess that money will help him weather the lack of tourists and if its not enough they can again take up unhoused kiwis for another million or several.

     As for the kids. No one really cares.
     • cricklewood 5.1.1

       6 July 2021 at 9:11 am

       Yeah, I remember the endless media stories towards the end last Nat govt covering homelessness we had the big sleepout events all this pressure for action and now we have a Lab majority govt if feels no one cares that much anymore…
       • Pete 5.1.1.1

         6 July 2021 at 10:32 am

         I retread the article.

         Louise Upston obviously didn't want the hotel to take any of the displaced hundreds from the November floods in Napier.

         Maybe she could have put them up at her place.
         • Sabine 5.1.1.1.1

           6 July 2021 at 11:06 am

           i honestly don't care about Louise Upton, i dont' think that women has ever said a word in her political life that had value.

           My point was that the Motelier complained about housing people for Top Dollar who mostly have lost their houses in floods. He called it / them a 'hassle' that is not worth it.

           Unless 1.55 million is not top dollar and being a shitheel is the new norm.
     • Incognito 5.1.2

       6 July 2021 at 12:30 pm

       As for the kids. No one really cares.

       It saddens me to hear that you don’t care about the kids
       • Sabine 5.1.2.1

         6 July 2021 at 12:39 pm

         We all got to do what we got to do, don't we Incognito.
         • Incognito 5.1.2.1.1

           6 July 2021 at 1:05 pm

           Yup, othering, virtue signalling, making unsupported assumptions about what others think or feel, criticising the good intentions and actions of others, judging others in a negative way, the list goes on, doesn’t it, Sabine?
           • Sabine 5.1.2.1.1.1

             6 July 2021 at 1:39 pm

             Of course Incognito, it must be as you say it is.
             • Incognito …

               6 July 2021 at 2:05 pm

               I don’t write your comments, so please don’t avoid taking responsibility for them; they are yours.
               • woodart …

                 6 July 2021 at 3:49 pm

                 sabine washes her hands of all her statements with the trump excuse"im only repeating what someone else has said" just as indefensable as saying she is carbon negative because she doesnt have a car, too bad that all her product is delivered and most of her product is resold to people using dinosaur juice. bollocks…
                 • greywarshark …

                   6 July 2021 at 5:03 pm

                   Sabine's comments might work on the 80:20 principle. Most right but it us hard to see the constant truth. Perhaps you should put up some more interesting German stuff Sabine that we could learn from. You would be making your point and giving us some fresh ideas to add to the pot.
6. Sabine 6

   6 July 2021 at 9:01 am

   Move over Delta, there is a new kid in town. Everyone meet Lamda.

   https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-uk-lambda-variant-peru-b1878416.html

   The Lambda variant – known to scientists as C.37 – was first identified in Peru and has been detected in samples dating back to as early as December 2020.

   Since then it has become the dominant variant in the South American country, where it accounts for more than 80 per cent of new infections.

   It has now been detected in at least 26 countries, including the UK. So should we be concerned?

   A Variant of Interest

   The World Health Organisation designated the Lambda variant as a variant of interest on 14 June.
   • Jimmy 6.1

     6 July 2021 at 9:24 am

     They are going to run out of letters soon to name these variants.
     • Sabine 6.1.1

       6 July 2021 at 9:28 am

       That is what i said to some friends today. Next roman numericals?
   • tc 6.2

     6 July 2021 at 10:07 am

     It's more infectious than delta and so far appears to resist the vaccines.

     Blojo wants to remove many restrictions in a week or so whilst the reigning F1 Champion is openly critical of the expected crowd at his home event for the British GP

     The new normal is here.
     • AB 6.2.1

       6 July 2021 at 10:43 am

       If Bojo's "Freedom Day" on July 19 results in a million-person march descending on no.10 demanding that the genocidal lunatic leave office, there is some justification for it. More likely though that everyone will go to the pub.
     • David 6.2.2

       6 July 2021 at 10:45 am

       I know, right. How dare the rest of the western world actually have a vaccination plan and a plan to move beyond closed borders and MIQ as the only way to deal with COVID.
       • tc 6.2.2.1

         6 July 2021 at 1:16 pm

         A plan based on the science that's data driven so you know it's effective is awesome.

         However the tories have time and again shown a priority for the optics, dominating the rhetoric and looking after their mates with lucrative uncontested contracts using covid as cover.
       • greywarshark 6.2.2.2

         6 July 2021 at 1:19 pm

         Good new covert system David, kill Covid19 and its variants off! Use sly remarks, they are so satisfying to the progenitor. Bet you don't even know what that means.
   • Forget now 6.3

     6 July 2021 at 10:28 am

     There is distinction between the Variants of Concern (still only alpha, beta, gamma & delta), and Variants of Interest (epsilon-lambda). Kappa is also a potential VoC; and it may not be always distinguished from delta, if the reference sequences aren't being looked for. Though it does seem to be a bit weird that Lambda is more related to alpha (B1.1 – first detected in UK) than gamma (P.1 – Brazil). It's a bit hard to tell; given the limits of Brazilian SARS-CoV-2 testing, but the gamma may be holding it's own against the lambda variant there.

     https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/

     https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210627/Lambda-lineage-of-SARS-CoV-2-has-potential-to-become-variant-of-concern.aspx

     I found this particularly concerning from your link, Sabine:

     A new study – which has not yet been reviewed by other scientists and is based on tests on samples from healthcare workers in Chile – suggests that the Lambda variant is more infectious than both the Alpha (UK) or the Gamma (Brazil) variants.

     It also suggests that the Lambda variant has a higher "immune escape" compared to the Alpha or Gamma variants in relation to antibodies produced in patients who have received China’s CoronaVac (Sinovac) vaccine. (The preprint, published on 1 July, did not look at other vaccines).
     • Sabine 6.3.1

       6 July 2021 at 10:47 am

       Honestly at this stage I just call it the fucking virus or the fucking plague. 🙂 TFV or TVP take your pick.
7. Incognito 7

   6 July 2021 at 9:10 am

   Much like Covid-19, simple precautions like social distancing, hand washing and keeping sick children home from daycare or kindy could help to limit the spread [of the RSV virus], he said.

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/446272/rsv-outbreak-cases-of-babies-with-serious-virus-rising-nationwide
   • AB 7.1

     6 July 2021 at 10:32 am

     But what about our freedoms? If you take away my freedom to cough over other people's babies what will you do next – forced labour camps and organ-harvesting?
     • greywarshark 7.1.1

       6 July 2021 at 5:06 pm

       AB – hyperbole?
8. Jenny How to get there 8

   6 July 2021 at 9:13 am

   When will we stand up to Australia's abuse of our common entry border?

   Are we appalled at Australia's contempt for New Zealand as a dumping ground for convicts who have done their time in Australia?

   Currently new Zealand shares a common entry border with Australia.

   Should New Zealand protest these deportations as a breach of the common border?

   Should the government give a warning that the continued abuse of our common entry border threatens the preferential free entry to New Zealand afforded Australian citizens?

   If this abuse continues, should New Zealand demote Australian citizens to the same entry restrictions that we impose on our Pacific Island neighbours?

   In the midst of a pandemic.

   Is it time for New Zealand to stop being supine to Australia over the forced detention and deportation of 501s to this country?

   Should the government tell the Morrison Administration that flights from Australia bearing 501s will not be given landing rights, or not be allowed to disembark?

   Are we disgusted enough yet?

   [over long text deleted]

   https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/deportee-with-terminal-cancer-says-australian-government-treats-501s-like-numbers-not-humans/ar-AALMzsU?
   • Peter ChCh 8.1

     6 July 2021 at 10:08 am

     Or how about these '501's actually accepting their own responsibility for their plight?

     Why do you care, or why do you think anyone else should care about these 'people'?

     Australia is acting legally and with its own interests at heart. We spent decades exporting our problem people (long term unemployed, criminals and so on) to Australia, starting from the 1970s. Thats why Kiwis are and have been so prominent in Australian organised crime (eg, Mr Asia Syndicate). I guess what goes around comes around.
     • mac1 8.1.1

       6 July 2021 at 10:51 am

       Australia has a good historical example for transportation of criminals. Between 1788 and 1868 more than 162,000 convicts were transported to Australia. It’s estimated that 20% of the Australian population, over 5 million people, are descended from people originally transported as convicts, while around 2 million Britons have transported convict ancestry.

       https://www.migrationmuseum.org/were-your-ancestors-transported-to-australia-as-convicts/
       • greywarshark 8.1.1.1

         6 July 2021 at 11:25 am

         Just thinking about the length of your comments Jenny JTGT. I know that the setting when enter is pressed is to go to double spacing. When I finish my comments I usually go back and edit it to help put my point over, and I don't have a lot of one line paragraphs as you do.

         Could you consider making your comments shorter, more concise, easier to read. Then more people will read them and not just get annoyed at the number and length of yours. You are exhorting others all the time to do more, and giving us info about the environment, so to get the maximum number of minds reading them, the above changes would help your quest.
       • mary_a 8.1.1.2

         6 July 2021 at 1:01 pm

         @ mac1 (8.1.1) … Australian Royalty
     • Sabine 8.1.2

       6 July 2021 at 11:08 am

       This then raises the question: Are prisoners entitled to medical care while in custody? Because i seem that is what he is mainly complaining about, the lack of medical care.

       Unless we don't care about such things when it comes to those that we deem 'undesirables' such as the 501'ers.
       • woodart 8.1.2.1

         6 July 2021 at 5:07 pm

         ;"are prisoners entitled to medical care while in custody?" good question and one that continues to vex private prison operators in the u.s. . a real profit killer, blacks in prison have significantley better healthcare and a longer life expectancy than there brothers who are free(?). this has lead directley to private prison operators petitioning various states to be allowed to release many lossleaders,sorry, prisoners early, .. three stikes be damned.
   • Ad 8.2

     6 July 2021 at 11:02 am

     The real human rights being abused are us NZ citizens who have to put up with new massive criminal gangs expanding here.

     They should be required to wear bracelets upon entry, until they renounce all such affiliates.
9. Jimmy 9

   6 July 2021 at 10:53 am

   If this article is true, haven't the tax break on the EV's been a waste of time? Japanese putting up the price of EV's by the amount of the subsidy!

   "In Japan, there's such a small number of EVs. In terms of pricing, the vehicles in Japan have all gone up for the amount of the subsidy – $3450."
   – Todd Hunter, Turners Automotive Group

   https://www.newsroom.co.nz/car-dealers-price-warning-on-ev-subsidies
   • mac1 9.1

     6 July 2021 at 12:03 pm

     Maybe we'll get Chinese EV like this one. Similar range to my Leaf yet with a much smaller 13 kw/h battery.

     https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/07/20200725-wuling.html

     The Wuling Hong Guang Mini EV, outselling the Tesla. Under 3 metres long, under 700 kg weight, cleverly roomy inside. And much cheaper.
     • Graeme 9.1.1

       6 July 2021 at 12:39 pm

       Provided the car has a 3 Star safety rating and qualifies for the subsidy, and is being built in RHD, that'd come out cheaper than a lot of e-bikes or second hand ice cars.
10. Ad 10

    6 July 2021 at 10:58 am

    So, Barnaby Joyce is back leading the Australian National Party.

    That means Deputy Prime Minister. Big Cabinet vote. Big policy influence.

    National used to he a straight rural political organization. Now it's the funnel for big oil and coal to tilt Australian politics away from climate mitigation. Very successfully over a decade.

    That's a massive headache for the Liberals, because those rich inner seats will keep getting lost to light green independents.

    And of course that itself will become the second largest transTasman problem for NZ and our Pacific Island colleagues.

    One small party spill, one very big political problem.
    • greywarshark 10.1

      6 July 2021 at 12:12 pm

      As pointed out before, our deplorables have found Australia the land of promise, where they have flourished in that fertile soil, Joyce, Bjelke-Petersen, Clark, etc. (But not Clarke.) I guess it's all our fault! Now we have to get stronger to combat that overseas well-fed team of bullies. Perhaps we should try to enhance our strong points, and strive together including all in our team, and send the remaining deplorables over there to join with their natural cohort.
      • woodart 10.1.1

        6 July 2021 at 5:13 pm

        wasnt hosking threatening-promising to phuck off to aus? start a whocares page.
11. greywarshark 11

    6 July 2021 at 11:51 am

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/446272/rsv-outbreak-cases-of-babies-with-serious-virus-rising-nationwide

    (As is common in communications (lazy), only an acronym is used in this item, with no reference to the actual descriptive words. So here is info. – Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Infection)

    Our nation's leaders and wealthy upper class have brought the living conditions here down so far that people cannot keep themselves healthy, no longer having a standard of living previously regarded as basic and expected in an 'advanced, developed' country. Advancing means going forward, but we always thought it meant rising, not being on a sloping, downward path,

    There is no resilience in much of the population to be able to cope with the unhealthy conditions that bring sickness to the lower strata of society. Yet I see an outwardly pleasant world as i look locally and read about NZ with many examples of well-off people and consumer goods and holidays that the comfortably-off can afford. It's time to get off your comfortable assets and look to doing your bit to assist those disadvantaged through not having your 'class' advantages.

    It will cost you, but remember that we all pay tax through GST, and on top of that you can afford to pay more from your discretionary income ie what is left after paying the necessary bills, and buy less of your wants, so there is money left to go to others who can then have their needs met.
    • Treetop 11.1

      6 July 2021 at 1:30 pm

      I would like to know how many hospitalised babies live in substandard housing?
      • greywarshark 11.1.1

        6 July 2021 at 5:28 pm

        More stats about something we know is a precipitating factor? How will that help us? The UN have already told us we are not up to the mark in the modern world as far as kiddies are concerned.l

        Wikpedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_poverty_in_New_Zealand#Housing
        In 2010 25,000 children, mostly from lower-income families, were admitted to hospital for preventable respiratory infections aggravated by poor houses…The highest levels of crowding seen from 2013-2015 were children ages 0–17 living in social housing. 33% of children living in social housing experienced overcrowding

        https://www.waikato.ac.nz/news-opinion/media/2020/new-zealand-is-violating-the-rights-of-its-children-is-it-time-to-change-the-legal-definition-of-age-discrimination

        New Zealand continues to fail children, Unicef report shows …
        This article on suicide: 3/09/2020 — Last year, Unicef's State of the World's Children report ranked New Zealand second-worst in the OECD for child obesity. New Zealand also ranked 33rd of 38 for ..

        2016 https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/84170880/nz-comes-under-un-scrutiny-over-its-treatment-of-children
        (Anne Tolley) It's asked New Zealand to report on whether the "outsourcing" of essential services to private enterprise is "compliant with the provisions of the convention".

        A "feasibility study" was commissioned as part of the overhaul of Child, Youth and Family (CYF), which found that such an approach was "highly desirable" to support a consistent approach.
12. greywarshark 12

    6 July 2021 at 12:01 pm

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/446252/sea-lion-pitch-invasion-causes-suspension-of-two-kids-footie-games

    Perhaps someone can design a movable fence in Hurricane wire or such, and that can be placed around the seal to protect it and allow it uninterrupted spectator enjoyment! The kids can regard it as a mascot, give it a name, and ask it to arf who it considers the best player or team. Have to think laterally here I think.
13. Sabine 13

    6 July 2021 at 12:26 pm

    oh well that is some record i guess

    https://twitter.com/UNFCCC/status/1412006088090820610
14. UncookedSelachimorpha 14

    6 July 2021 at 12:33 pm

    Yet another long article on the "Worker Shortage" (substitute "Pay and Training Shortage" every time you read that).

    They say they offer $27 / hour so "it can't be the pay" – tried renting a house lately??!

    Instead of paying or training – just braying to be allowed to bring in insecure immigrant labour to drive wages and training down.
    • Sabine 14.1

      6 July 2021 at 1:06 pm

      What do you think would happen if the pay were increased to say 35 NZD? The landlords would increase their rent once a year as they are legally allowed to do.

      27NZD *40=1080 NZD per week, plus Kiwi Safer, Holiday Pay, Sick leave.

      But if you think that you can increase the pay to a point where Landlords are gonna be shamed into not annually increasing their rentals to match the pay increases, then how much would that be?

      Fifty bucks? A hundred?

      We need a better system for rentals and rents charged. A. the rent should reflect the value of the space rented. B. the rent should reflect that one uses the premises, but will not own these (difference between mortgage and rent), c. all rentals should be open ended, and rent should only be increased if significant investment happened during that tenancy. I .e. say remodel of the rotting bathroom could / should lead to a higher rent. These are just a few things that could be done, above all a Rent Cap system could be established.

      However that is not being done, with expeption being Chloe Swarbruck who raises these issues.
      • UncookedSelachimorpha 14.1.1

        6 July 2021 at 2:39 pm

        Agree we have a massive problem with out of control housing costs and I completely support perpetual tenancy by right and rent controls (and capital taxes too!). These need addressing and as you mention – Labour and National seem resolved not to do anything significant.

        But these high costs are real and the solution to the burden on society is not to suppress wages, but to address the housing crisis.
    • Graeme 14.2

      6 July 2021 at 3:19 pm

      Something that doesn't get mentioned in the hospo worker shortage is that people don't want to work in hospo because of covid. They've found other employment where you don't have random strangers spraying all over you. Personally know a lot who don't do hospo any more.

      Same goes on the punter side of the game too, people are being careful where and when they go out now.
      • Graeme 14.2.1

        6 July 2021 at 3:58 pm

        Re above

        Over a third of Kiwis claimed their lifestyle values have changed since the Covid-19 lockdowns. These have shifted to focus on family, health, friends and time.

        Nearly half of Kiwis agree that they now go out for dinner less frequently than they did before Covid. While 43% are trying to save money due to uncertainty, 35% do so because they enjoy staying at home more after getting used to it in lockdowns.

        https://theregister.co.nz/2021/07/05/new-zealands-hospitality-industry-is-struggling-more-than-ever/
      • bwaghorn 14.2.2

        6 July 2021 at 5:06 pm

        I know 2 youngins who have worked in hospo and hated it because alot of people are rude ignorant fuckwits who cant even use basic manners.
        • gsays 14.2.2.1

          6 July 2021 at 6:41 pm

          Yep, and begrudge paying the price that would help enable a decent wage let alone a living.
15. Incognito 15

    6 July 2021 at 12:37 pm

    Pfizer vaccine less effective against Delta variant, Israeli study finds

    https://www.ft.com/content/0b3da41e-6390-4f4b-866c-da5c6aec7f5e

    Well, that’s not the news that one would like to hear about this shitty virus.
    • Andre 15.1

      6 July 2021 at 4:32 pm

      Well, casting my mind back to 12 or so months ago, back then we would have been ecstatic at the idea of a vaccine with efficacy numbers as good as the reduced efficacy claimed for Pfizer against the Delta variant in Israel.

      Never mind that the UK has studied the same question and found a much smaller reduction in efficacy than the Israelis.
    • Drowsy M. Kram 15.2

      6 July 2021 at 5:54 pm

      "Always look on the bright side of life" – “At least they didn’t burn the potatoes.”
      Or (simply) "The sun will come out…"

      The data, however, also shows that the [Pfizer] vaccine is still highly effective against preventing serious symptoms and hospitalization. During May, that figure stood at 98.2%, and during June, it was 93%.

      Never mind the sentence construction, appreciate the good news. There will be [at least some] better days ahead – but we can't hurry them.
16. greywarshark 16

    6 July 2021 at 1:20 pm

    Some of us need a chuckle, and are interested in a different perspective on politics. The Holy Grail offers some hidden truths – it's not all buffoonery.

    Perhaps this opens up a sport that would take up male energies and channel them into fighting which also requires skill in metalwork, and obedience to a code of how to knock other people about. The new ABs.

    England v Australia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoFM2s0jxyQ

    NZrs are already into this. Let's get behind the code and the sporting bodies already organising it, make them officially recognised.

    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TflUa6IWNdk

    (https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/106094232/fighting-for-fun-an-inside-look-at-new-zealands-medieval-combat-scene

    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Medieval_Combat_Federation
17. Treetop 17

    6 July 2021 at 1:23 pm

    Good to see, but not happening fast enough. 83 apartments, 70 are one bedroom apartments.

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/125552616/wellington-city-mission-opens-new-transitional-housing-facility-te-p-pori
    • greywarshark 17.1

      6 July 2021 at 4:57 pm

      Treetop, can you just enjoy giving some positive news, without the grizzle 'not happening fast enough'. Be grateful completely, we need to feed that in when something good happens and just leave it as a Good Thing.
      • bwaghorn 17.1.1

        6 July 2021 at 5:08 pm

        Oh common grey every one knows labour has a fucking big magic wand, but the buggers simple wont use it.
        • greywarshark 17.1.1.1

          6 July 2021 at 5:38 pm

          If it's magic you wouldn't see it, so how do you know they aren't using it somewhere? It's not near me though so maybe you're right. But i like fairy stories; they can feel free to float by me scattering stars and tinsel around some great achievement.
      • Treetop 17.1.2

        6 July 2021 at 5:45 pm

        It goes to show it can be done. It is a slow process. It is not happening fast enough and this is a fact. If you interpret fact as grizzle that is up to you.
18. Adrian 18

    6 July 2021 at 4:32 pm

    Just drove from Blenheim to Christchurch and must have seen hundreds of houses being built and in even the smallest settlements, but get here and only read about ‘ Labour housing failure’ , these blind media fuckers need to get out more.
    • greywarshark 18.1

      6 July 2021 at 4:54 pm

      But who are the houses being built for Adrian? Can they be afforded by the really needy, the young families, the poorly paid single people or ones in the 'gig' economy with short-term contracts? Are they just a way for the overseas and local investors to exchange their vouchers for something real, such a nice solid feeling of wealth. Are they being used as lures for the overseas people who have come from a country that offers better wages, ie Australia…as holiday homes, or retirement ones, rather than adding extra houses to the present local waiting list? Are the houses built and the incoming residents in sync so that the locals aren't seeing any more houses available for them?

      Your irritated comment Adrian doesn't seem to allow for the above possibilities.
      • Pete 18.1.1

        6 July 2021 at 5:45 pm

        Now there's a good game for those who say the Government is doing nothing about housing and are also ultra-quick to to throw around words like "dictatorship" and "state control."

        Let houses only be built for certain defined groups – no-one outside that group is to get builders working for them.
19. Andre 19

    6 July 2021 at 5:08 pm

    Our government wimps out on dealing with our current clusterfuck of a system for collecting funding for our roads, and just kicks the can of RUCs for electric vehicles down the road to 2024.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/evs/125666247/government-extends-ruc-exemption-for-evs

    That means if your vehicle operating cost is any kind of factor in your purchasing choices, electric vehicles will cost more to operate from 2024 than a lot of the small hybrids running around today. I'm certainly not going to massively stretch my budget to go electric if there's that kind of financial penalty waiting to drop in 2 1/2 years.
20. Adrian 20

    6 July 2021 at 5:12 pm

    Cmon Grey, bugger all people are allowed in so that shoots down that theory, houses aren’t usually built without pre-sale , “ poorly paid “ singles generally flat with others or camp with mum and dad so no they haven’t put down a deposit and gig workers move about a bit to much to settle down until they find a job they want to stay in. No, these houses are for people to live in. In Blenheim, a 240 unit retirement complex being built, which I didn’t count as I didn’t drive past it, will free up a couple of hundred houses for families to shift into either to rent or own. So that shoots down that theory as well.

    The truth is that there are shitloads of houses being built, record numbers in fact, the last I heard the most annually since the early 70s. I’m complaining about lazy shit-stirring journalism. And shitloads of new houses puts downward pressure on housing costs and and about time, but speaking as an ex-builder I know it takes quite a while from the first line on a plan to a key in the door.
    • greywarshark 20.1

      6 July 2021 at 5:57 pm

      Ex-builder eh. So you know about it all. The problem is supply and demand for cheaper houses being in sync I guess. And whether those shitloads of houses are going to be leak-proof and fungus proof. Seems that one of the problems is the obsessive desire to have sealed-up houses so not a drop of hot air escapes. People need to open windows, stop thinking about lost energy units all the time, and government needs to just act sensibly and ensure builders are doing the right thing. Not only regulation but inspection while the concrete is being poured etc.

      The local Mens Shelter up for many years, and very much prized as we can't afford to put another one or one for women in our NCC budget, may have to be vacated because it is too expensive to put in all the energy-saving insulation required by busy bureaucrats devoted to achieving 'best practice' and 100% compliance, even if they have to use a whip – /sarc for the sensitives.

      All those houses, I hope they have young families and people living in them soon and they don't have to sell their souls to achieve that. But I am like bwaghorn wishful about magic wands, but with no suspended disbelief in the magician. And of course the disbelief needs to spread to the media because this is something they can hit Labour about. Why did they ever let wotsisname talk about 10,000 houses? Even a child of five would know that wouldn't fly. As Groucho Marx said – 'Send for a child of five' for our next list position.

      This from Bowalley Road on housing: https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-choice-giving-up-or-keeping-hope.html

      Not that Housing Minister Megan Woods vouchsafes too many smiles these days – progressive or otherwise. These days Megan’s more into frowns. The earnest frowns of the political realist who knows that there is no simple or quick fix to New Zealand’s housing crisis. The stoical frown of the left-wing politician who yet remains unflinching in her determination to keep on doing what she can with what she’s got.

      (It's part of a response to Bernard Hickey's comments on going to Oz and what is to be made of that by Minister Megan Wood.)
    • lprent 20.2

      6 July 2021 at 9:07 pm

      Crazy levels of apartments and townhouses going up in Auckland burbs now as well. Not just the 33m2 student apartments either.

      Bit of a pain in the arse dealing with their traffic disruptions to build them. Along with the infrastructure upgrades to water, power and comms that go along with them.
21. greywarshark 21

    6 July 2021 at 6:06 pm

    edit
    I would appreciate it if someone knows of a citizens website where there is a check kept on our business world. We were told things were going to be better under business control, and guidance instead of dozy old government…hah.

    I am concerned about my friend's experiences with InterCity buses cancelling bus services at the drop of a hat, tourist information providers not notified of immediate effect etc. She had to hitchhike to get to her next stop so she could take up the flight bookings to get home. Another time she was in Christchurch for a weekend, came to get the bus back and nil result!

    How much of this treatment of us as pawns to be pandered to when there is profit in it, and to be dropped like hot spuds when not, goes on? AirNZ has been doing this – people sleeping over at the airport or wherever when their plane is cancelled. If you are flying from Wellington to somewhere, and the flight is cancelled, you have to find your own accommodation as a local, it only gets provided for those from somewhere else!

    I think we need a Citizens site that gets feedback where you can check to find the company that gives decent service. Or we can try to go back to a time where we could get some leverage from those supposed to be providing service.
22. Adrian 22

    6 July 2021 at 6:17 pm

    For your information, in the year to the end of May, 43,460 new houses consented and the recent rolling monthly totals are heading for 50,000 annually. The most for almost 50 years.
    • lprent 22.1

      6 July 2021 at 8:38 pm

      Yay! But that still means that we’re running from way behind.

      Stats estimates on population growth between March 2020 5,083,100 to March 2021 5,116,300

      Shows a March year on year nett increase of population about 33,200.
      Better than the 117,900 from the previous March year.
      Or the 79,200 the March year prior to that.

      The ramp up on consents is welcome and way better than National has managed over 9 years of nett rampant population growth mostly from immigration, but there is a hell of a backlog.
      • mac1 22.1.1

        6 July 2021 at 10:57 pm

        From your figures, lprent, can one say that there are more houses being consented to be built than the total number of people in the net increase in New Zealand's population? That is, 43460 houses consented for 32,000 increase in population?

        Can the figures be easily discovered for the same two figures over the last ten years? Is there a significant difference between the numbers consented, and the numbers actually built?

        I'm watching a replay of today's question time where I watched the Prime Minister give a serve back to the Leader of the Opposition who was criticising children's having to be housed in motels by saying that this has to be better than children sleeping in cars. Especially when at the same time state housing was being sold into private ownership.

        Just how many houses are we short in God's Own Country?

        How does this sit in conscience with 200,000 empty houses in God's Own Country at the last census?

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