Open mike 07/02/2025

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 7th, 2025 - 50 comments
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50 comments on “Open mike 07/02/2025 ”

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  1. Tiger Mountain 1
    7 February 2025 at 7:58 am

    The Govt. punitive approach to beneficiaries proceeds with gay abandon, many of which have been created by this same Govt. via public service sackings, austerity and cancelling contracts and state house builds! We are entering Ken Loach “I, Daniel Blake” territory of harassing unemployed to hunger, mental meltdown or even stress death.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Daniel_Blake

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/540724/more-sanctions-for-those-on-benefits-announced-by-government

    https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-benefit-sanctions-traffic-light-system#:~:text=They%20are%3A,to%20be%20looking%20for%20work.

    Are there five hour courses in your town? So few jobs in some areas that bennies will have to apply for out of area and above their skill levels just to tick the box. This is a blatant measure to kick people off income support and get them off the books. Go to a food bank?…find one that has not been defunded, ditto other services, CoC has slashed NGO funding.

    Let's not forget, to deal with WINZ/MSD you need a phone/device with internet connection. Miss a call–sanction. Fail to respond–sanction. Public transport is full price again and set to rise. Petrol is likely to be going up again with Trump’s chaos. Beneficiaries soon run down their resources of all kinds and the MSD punishment maze is designed to be hostile rather than helpful.

    We urgently need a basic income for all citizens and full implementation of the 2019. WEAG Report to stop this state malevolence which maintains a reserve group of labour so that the the parasite class can put downward pressure on wages for those still in work.

    • Mike the Lefty 1.1
      7 February 2025 at 8:20 am

      A couple of days ago Nicola Willis, under questioning on Morning Report, made the glib unsubstantiated claim that most public servants sacked under his government's restructuring had found new jobs.

      When pressed, she admitted she had no figures to prove it. Her attitude was akin to "I said it so it must be true".

      A government based on spin, pipe dream economic progress and a boom/bust mentality – they can't see any further than the next election and those who become a victim of their madness are promptly forgotten in the search for heady glory.

    • PsyclingLeft.Always 1.2
      7 February 2025 at 8:26 am

      I wonder (cynically), did those who are being now punitively impacted, or even more so, actually vote for "change"? Or even vote?

      And an FYI….I have tried to reason with same. Vote. Please. That things will get worse.

      Is that what it will take?

      • Kay 1.2.1
        7 February 2025 at 9:59 am

        I've been saying since the election (and I'm pretty sure, here) that I am unable to have any sympathy whatsoever for those who voted for the coalition- or didn't vote at all- and are now on the receiving end of what we all knew would happen.

        I'm a strong believer in karma.

        These actions- or inactions- of so many citizens, are an indictment on our society at large; a society that doesn't give a shit about society, only themselves. And of course, punishing Labour for a pandemic many still seem to believe was caused soley by Jacinda, and it's effects were only experienced in NZ. Which attests to the downright stupidity of many voters. A good reason to introduce a competency test in order to vote.

        These people despise my existence for being disabled and needing a benefit. Why the hell should I feel sorry for them when their lives go into freefall?

        • Anne 1.2.1.1
          7 February 2025 at 10:49 am

          My sentiments too. No sympathy whatsoever for the stupid and ignorant in NZ society. I'm a believer in karma too. Trouble is, it can take a long time coming for some people.

          A competency test is a good idea but it will never see the light of day, especially when there are more than a few Coalition parliamentarians who would never get a pass rating.

        • PsyclingLeft.Always 1.2.1.2
          7 February 2025 at 12:52 pm

          Kay, it is indeed a sad state of it really. Those of us who are/were aware of what was certain to result if NAct1 "won", did fight very hard to prevent it…but not in the end to help those revenge vote/non vote morons…but for our own Families and the rest of NZ.

          All the best and keep being Aware. So vital.

    • Bearded Git 1.3
      7 February 2025 at 8:27 am

      Agree 100% on basic income needed…..something people can live on with dignity.

      • Tiger Mountain 1.3.1
        7 February 2025 at 8:36 am

        Yes, the unemployment area of welfare could be completely discarded with the amount of BI abating as people move into work, and starting again if they exit paid work–administered by IRD with no value judgement on who you live with etc.

        As others have said a special needs benefit or payments/assistance of some nature for sick and disabled would likely need to remain. Shut down WINZ though!

    • gsays 1.4
      7 February 2025 at 8:44 am

      At our local hospital some of the under 30's nursing staff were saying how bad it is- morale, staffing, supplies etc.

      Two of their 'senior' colleagues started recalling the '90s…

      It all seems so familiar.

    • SPC 1.5
      7 February 2025 at 9:38 am

      In the USA they have welfare term limits, but ease up on that and extend them when there is a recession.

      Here National do the opposite making it onerous to be on welfare when there are less jobs. And thus have people unable to find suitable work adding to the numbers applying for the jobs available (leading to employers adopting the screen-out of most).

      An alternative would be 6 month opt outs.

      And thus a form of UI.

      1."Internships" (on the job training – in the area where they would like to work) on the dole. "Work experience" for young people.

      2.General – where they have part time and or casual work income. They can then move on to a focus on part-time study or seek to become self-employed.

      3.Ease up on those in poor health (and maybe those age 60-65). Have them focus on getting into better health as a first priority.

    • SPC 1.6
      7 February 2025 at 10:23 am

      MSD

      Managing poverty

      1.where a person is facing long term unemployment and poverty (as determined by assessment of circumstance) – sole parents, those sick/injured, the Crown/MSD take over the persons debts (credit card/hire purchase/car finance etc) and provide them with some cash savings (vital for surviving on a low income without stress and to reduce resort to supplicant hardship claims). They pay debts back when they get a job.

      2.beneficiary debt repayment is made on the terms of student debt repayment – on obtaining employment.

      3.fund food banks.

      W and I

      4.funding NGO support for beneficiaries – budgeting, advice on housing, banking and internet/phone. This should reduce demand on W and I resources.

      • Kay 1.6.1
        7 February 2025 at 10:53 am

        and provide them with some cash savings

        Oh we couple possibly do that? Haven't you heard that we'd all use it to support our drug/drink/gambling habits? /s

        What they could do is stop making the supplementary benefits (accommodation, temporary additional support which is these days more permanent) NOT subject to having a small amount of savings, or a one-off gift/bequest. I actually had to turn down an unexpected small-ish amount of money left to me by my best friend who died suddenly. Had I accepted it, I would've lost my entire accommodation and TAS, and use my friend's money to pay the rent, not have a few treats and a small nest-egg. The state will stoop that low.

        • Anne 1.6.1.1
          7 February 2025 at 11:18 am

          I went through the 1990s on the DPB looking after an elderly parent. I had to turn down a part-time job because I would have earned more than $60 gross per week. When my shoes finally gave up I couldn't replace them – at least not their equivalent. I walked around in white sandshoes courtesy of the Warehouse @ $30 a pair. No nice clothes, no restaurant or café lunches. No social life because it cost money to socialise. I had one thing though, a beautiful golden retriever and he saved me.

          When 1999 arrived and the first thing Helen Clark did when she became PM was to sack the former WINZ chief Christine Rankin, it felt like karma had been restored.

          • Tiger Mountain 1.6.1.1.1
            7 February 2025 at 11:28 am

            Yes, it is back to the 90s in a number of ways. You were not alone Anne, my partner was an advocate at the Auckland People’s Centre and they had a disturbing case of young woman who developed malnutrition because she neglected her own well being to pay rent and feed and care for her beloved dog companion.

            The case manager did not give a toss, let alone offer extra support, others might have shoplifted, but it is easy to develop tunnel vision when you are without a support network.

        • Patricia Bremner 1.6.1.2
          7 February 2025 at 4:32 pm

          Kay I used to buy things for a sick friend who was on a benefit. That way I could get around it. I would take her for a coffee and cake in her car, fill it up at the garage, give her Motor/petrol vouchers, jars of coffee, boxes of biscuits and personal requirements. At first she was anxious. I explained I had read gifts were ok as long as they were not money, so I said to her, if she was working and I was sick she would do the same.

          Their welfare system is mean and punitive, and actually traps people, and this government is pushing all boundaries of cruelty and control. They take dignity away.

    • Macro 1.7
      7 February 2025 at 11:33 am

      There are now 34,000 more unemployed in NZ since this CoC took office – and that does not include those workers in the 128,000 who who left this country permanently last year.

  2. PsyclingLeft.Always 2
    7 February 2025 at 8:44 am

    Contact Energy: Competition? We dont need no stinkin' competition

    Contact Energy is undeterred by a negative report from the Commerce Commission about its $1.9 billion takeover of Manawa Energy.

    Contact Energy reiterated the merits of the merger in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, given the New Zealand market was closed for Waitangi Day.

    As they blithely bullshit. …."For New Zealand" !

    Chief executive Mike Fuge said the two companies had provided the Commerce Commission with plenty of evidence to support the benefits of the merger.

    "The strategic rationale for this transaction remains compelling. This combination of Contact and Manawa will make a stronger, more resilient electricity company for New Zealand with a more diversified generation portfolio across the North and South Islands."

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/541132/commerce-commission-cold-on-billion-dollar-electricity-merger

    A warning for the future..

    'Real risk of double-digit increases' in power prices

    And a real April fools (those who just..dont care)

    Low-user scheme

    From 1 April, the next step in the phase-out of the low-user electricity tariffs takes effect.

    This increases the maximum daily charge that power companies can apply, to $1.50 a day. Before 1 April 2022, it was 30c a day.

    On a fixed Income?..look out !

    Lines charges

    The lines component of power prices will also increase by about $10 to $25 a month, a roughly 8 percent to 11 percent lift.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/540613/real-risk-of-double-digit-increases-in-power-prices

    • Bearded Git 2.1
      7 February 2025 at 3:53 pm

      Surely that is CEO Mike Fudge?

    • Ad 2.2
      8 February 2025 at 7:18 am

      Damn that's bad.

      That line charge increase is worse than an increase in income tax.

      Very sad to see Manawa taken over by the big Australian player. We lose our last major fully private independent generator.

      Big loss to NZ

  3. SPC 3
    7 February 2025 at 10:36 am

    Donald J Trump is evolving.

    He now comes back with the idea that the IDF forces the Gaza population out first, so he and the USA can move in afterwards, as the good guys.

    Pre-emptively, he launches war on the ICC – because forced population move is merely a war crime, but permanent removal is ethnic cleansing (and the USA is in support of it).

    He adds a warning to the other 4 of the 5 Eyes nations, that if they do not fall into line (see Cruz) there may be consequences (response to Starmer saying yeah na on his original Gaza approach and maybe to influence the election in Oz).

    In an ideal world, Albanese would return to the French deal in response (and bring in an estate tax).

    • SPC 3.1
      7 February 2025 at 11:29 am

      So my opinion of Australians can go down further.

      Peter Dutton has praised Donald Trump as a “big thinker” in response to the US president’s calls for America to take over Gaza in what would probably be a breach of international law, saying he brought “gravitas” to international affairs.

      https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/feb/06/peter-dutton-donald-trump-gaza-strip-plan-comments

      • bwaghorn 3.1.1
        7 February 2025 at 12:06 pm

        That's 4 areas so far trump wants to bring into the US empire that he's dreaming of building no different from the the mongols, the roamans,the united kingdom and Germany before him , same shit different arshole.

      • tc 3.1.2
        7 February 2025 at 1:18 pm

        Fair go cobbah ! Duttons an ex qld copper backed by the murdoch empire to unseat an ineffective Albanese.

        Its close without a date set yet so he barks at every passing car, pimps nuclear energy, attends NIMBY events against wind farms etc etc

        Like luxon he doesn't represent the average Ozzie….. probably couldn't even recognise one from his canberra bubble.

        • KJT 3.1.2.1
          7 February 2025 at 5:52 pm

          Queensland cops!

          We used to joke that Bjelke-Petersons much touted "low crime rate" was because all the crims were in the police.

  4. tWig 4
    7 February 2025 at 10:39 am

    RNZ reports Ngai Tahu's Justin Tipa response at the Akaroa marae when Luxon went for Waitangi Day, in response to a thin "growth is what this government is about" speech from Luxon:

    "Too much of the conversation has been focused on abstract philosophical debates about the nature of sovereignty and the true meaning of liberalism … used as smokescreens to advance shallow ideological agendas and play party politics," Tipa said.

    "True political leadership is about meeting people where they are and synthesising the interest of various strands of society into a workable whole … when there's an absence of this type of leadership, voices that represent comparatively simpler and shallower viewpoints begin to shine through."

    "This is why our political debates – particularly those concerning the Treaty – have come to be dominated by minor parties: because our major parties are struggling to articulate a political vision that builds on the distinct character of the New Zealand nation … instead, we get an ACT party neoliberal thought experiment posing as a faux source of moral principle and national unity."

  5. tWig 5
    7 February 2025 at 12:17 pm

    Pat at BHN interviews Haimoana, one of the Treaty 'defacers' at Te Papa. From 10 min, with Chewie's intro.

    When asked about ACT's political manoeuvres, Haimoana said "we really are witnessing… that our system is in decline. We have a systemic problem we need systemic change you're not going to get that from changing the people in government unless we have people in government who are advocating for a systemic change…Māori lead that and I think Māori can take Pākeha non-Māori through that walk, make sure they're safe so that they don't get freaked out."

    Now that I think about it, it’s another part to the ‘lack of central leadership message’ by Tipa.

    Educating the electorate/nation is the role of political leadership.

  6. SPC 6
    7 February 2025 at 12:23 pm

    Starmer and Dutton go down into the nuclear power plant together.

    AUKUS the first step.

  7. Macro 7
    7 February 2025 at 12:51 pm

    FFS!

    Trump signs executive order imposing US sanctions on international criminal court

    Donald Trump has signed an executive order sanctioning the international criminal court (ICC), the White House has confirmed.

    The text of the order, posted on the White House website, accuses the ICC of having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel” and abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant”.

  8. Tony Veitch 8
    7 February 2025 at 1:50 pm

    Margie Apa has resigned!

    Is it possible she couldn't stomach the cuts PeeWee Brown had demanded?

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/541173/te-whatu-ora-boss-margie-apa-resigns

  9. Jenny 9
    7 February 2025 at 5:27 pm

    '

    Some 300,000 Palestinians have voted with their feet to return to what remains of their homes in Gaza City.

    Trump says he wants to remove the entire 2 million people inhabiting the Gaza strip to some other country.

    The last Western leader who tried to relocate millions of people to another country couldn't do it. What makes Trump think he will have any more luck?

    'We warned them to leave' said every genocidal maniac ever.

    And when they don't leave, What then?

    Trump has as much chance of clearing Gaza of Palestinians and relocating them to Jordan and Egypt, as Hitler had of clearing Europe of Jews and relocating them to Madagascar.

    Rationalising Genocide

    When Trump's version of the Madagascar Plan fails, as it will, what will be his version of the Final Solution to the so-called ‘Palestinian problem’?

    The Holocaust Explained

    Madagascar Plan

    The Madagascar Plan was the Nazis initial solution to the so-called Jewish problem, adopted in early 1940 and abandoned in late 1940. The plan involved deporting Jews in all Nazi-occupied lands to Madagascar. Similar ideas had been floated around Europe since the First World War.

    https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/magagascar-plan/

    P.S. As the final grisly slaughter gets underway, some nasty little fascist will pop their head up claiming. that because they were warned and had a chance to leave, it can't be called a genocide.

  10. Paul Huggett 10
    7 February 2025 at 5:48 pm

    Interesting epithets.

    Uncle Toms: (couldn't possibly be [insert your Murray – EEEOre Seymores, Potakas Peters, Hold the ladder steady Shanes, Benefits, Chours – it it was up for any sort of intellectual analysis, etc.]

    Tom Foolery : A bugger's muddle of a Coalition

    Ladder Pullers: Participants in the above

  11. Jenny 11
    7 February 2025 at 6:11 pm

    From Radio NZ:

    6:02 pm on 6 February 2025

    By Nic Robertson, CNN

    ….Whatever Trump's tough-talking intent is, by undercurrent or opportunism, he has made the previously unthinkable part of the mainstream conversation. A forced expulsion on a scale not witnessed in decades. And one that would be a war crime.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/541122/why-trump-s-gaza-plan-spells-trouble-for-his-arab-allies

    Is Bisan From Gaza one of the millions of Palestinians that Trump wants to clear out of Gaza?

    What if she and others like her don't want to go?

  12. Jenny 12
    8 February 2025 at 12:38 am

    "The business of America, is business." Calvin Coolidge, US President 1923 to 1929.

    And Coolidge is not wrong, imperialism is first and foremost an economic system.

    The people of Gaza have already answered Trump: ‘We are not leaving’

    @0:28 minutes:

    …..The problem is that the Gazans are still there

    So what's the solution?

    Get rid of them.

    Find them a plot of land somewhere, doesn't really matter where, just not in Gaza.

    The excuse today? Gaza is destroyed it is uninhabitable….

    …..who's paying for this grand humanitarian project?

    The Arabs. Because as Trump so eloquently put it, 'there's a lot of money in that area'.

    That's all the Middle East is to him. Money, land, oil, gas. Not nations, not people, not histories, not identities, just resources to be seized, deals to be made, profits to be counted. But this isn't just about business, it's colonialism dressed as capitalism. Trump isn't just another greedy developer looking for land, he is both, a racist colonialist, and a ruthless businessman…

    Palestinians on Trump's Gaza plan: 'We’ll reconstruct Gaza with our own will'

    @0:18 minutes:

    ….We spent a year-and-a-half under war, we will not accept the idea of leaving. Those who leave their own countries suffer unspeakably. We will not leave or flee our country.

    Of course there will be people who will flee, those who have no homes and such, people like that will leave, but of course the vast majority will not flee.

    On my side, I will not leave….

    Palestinians on Trump's Gaza plan: 'We’ll reconstruct Gaza with our own will' | Watch