Worldwide phenomenon. Perhaps it is the legacy of no discipline, no civility, no respect. Someone has thought the wrong principles to the young generation. Its a stomping of feet saying if I cant get what I want, you cant have it. Meanwhile the environment, heritage and civilisation is slowly disintegrating.
Mickeysavage – this attitude displayed [deleted] here is why we have a housing crisis.
I have one question for [deleted], given this is intensification rather than spread where else are the houses we need going to be built if not in this location?
It is far too easy to oppose development while at the same time bemoaning the fact we have a housing crisis. I think people who do that (e.g. [deleted]) should be asked to identify exactly where else houses are going to be built.
This development however is in the wrong area. The Unitary Plan already allows for dramatic intensification in the area and we are already seeing it happen. This is outside the intensification zones which cover a significant part of West Auckland thanks to our high quality rail system.
This development is outside what is considered a walkable catchment for the Sunnyvale Railway Station. People will be using their cars.
There are twin ten story apartment blocks in the middle of Glen Eden that the local board and I supported. It is next to the railway station and also provides a significant number of social housing. There is also a six story apartment building being constructed right now for older adult housing that we also supported.
Insisting that there are adequate parks and schools for intensification are not some form of nimbyism.
I used to live up West Coast road, and this development is a nonsense. Those locals up in the Oratia hills are a formidable lot though, as Watercare found to it's cost in 2017, so I doubt it will go ahead in it current form.
Why is it nonsense? It is almost 250 houses that Auckland desperately needs. If you can find some other location where 250 houses or units can be built in place of this then point it out.
The nimbyism in Auckland comes from your Peers Mickey. Not hte poor. They don't care which cage the government is throwing them into so as long they get a key to that cage. Keep that in mind. IT si the rich and well heeled who are Nimby. And they are Nimby in Titirangi as much as they are in Remuera. Its the same crowd, arrogant, overfed, and generally unpleasant.
Secondly, if you plant high density housing in Plattenbau, keep in mind that Plattenbau does not age well, it holds up for about 15 years. I consider that whomever the Party will import to build this crap will build it about as good as the Russians did with their mass housing in the 60/70, same as england, and yeah, shamefull comes to mind. Oh and it does not matter if you build three levels of that shit or ten. It does not age well.
Thirdly, i hope that the overpaid goon who signs of on this will realise that if you don't provide parks, outdoor recreation, and ease bus stops, access to trains stops your party will have build an awesome slum.
But maybe that is the intent.
Build crap, as it has been done in NZ since ages ago.
Just pointing to existing apartment buildings and stating these are the sort of houses that should be built is not good enough. There are almost 250 houses that are proposed to be built. Please show me a location where 250 houses/units can be built if this development does not go ahead. I think people who oppose new housing development (especially if they are involved with local politics) should be required to do that.
Stop misinterpreting what I say Gosman. Local board and I supported the construction of the Glen Eden apartment blocks when resource consent was applied for.
I am all for affordable housing. It is crazy that we have a city where teachers and police officers and nurses, let alone cleaners and supermarket workers, can barely afford to buy a house. But the Unitary Plan attempted to design a city where intensification could occur adjacent to major public transport routes and this development is outside of where this is intended. Intensification has to be done right.
Where are the current alternatives (not previously built ones) for the 246 houses that are proposed to be built? Is there NEW land that is being made available to build these 7 story apartment blocks close to transport routes? If so can you please point me to this land that will be made available to this developer in return for not building these 246 houses in Glen Eden?
There is a lot of vacant land around the Sunnyvale Railway Station. In Glen Eden there are a number of quarter and half acre sections that are seeing multiple unit developments being applied for.
It is funny Gossie. How does it feel to suddenly be part of the urban intensification part of twitter? I thought you were a right wing market will sort it out sort of guy.
Its not only about Land Mickey, its about decent smart town planning.
so to put a new development of single family houses with the biggest footprint possible on an ex orchard ( i lived there i know the area) with no public amenities is crap, to be polite.
Now there is Henderson, Sandringham Road, Remuera Fringe, Grey Lynn Fringe, heck Ponsonby Fringe that could and should be build up for these reasons alone
a. access to train stations and bus hubs
b. access to shops and doctors and medical clinics
c. schools
and here we are to applaud a wasted opportunity to build some crap houses that will look shite in less then 15 years, and worse if for sale will be to expensive to fix (see apartment buildings in town, see leaky house syndrom, see generally fucked up builds) and can only end up in Slums.
So gossy might not be from Akl, but living in wellington would still make him a kiwi, and if he pays taxes then he like me or you is financially underwriting this boondoggle.
Btw, don't we have some really nice very large Golf courses in Auckland that we could build some really nice developments with bus stops, roads wide enough to allow Fire Trucks to get in there is a fire (something that is not a given in the Hobsonville development Lol), maybe build a nice school to accomodate all the new people living htere, and rather then build a three story house or a four story house for one family, build four story buildings that house a flat on each floor – or even two ! – on the same foot print, but with a cellar for storage, a green area with play grounds and benches, etc.
Or is that in the too hard basket. I mean labour literally only had 9 years of Key to think about such.
Just as Gosman, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Read the comments & replies and read the links in these before you start your incessant barking again.
BTW, you seem to confuse local with central government. Do you pay rates in Auckland so that you can claim barking rights here again?
i used to pay rates in Auckland for nigh on 20 years.
Now i pay rates in rotorua. I pay income tax. I pay GST. I pay any other levy the government – local or regional sends me an invoice for.
Are you paying any rates anywhere dear Incognito?
other then that i have family in West Auckland. I have family in South Auckland. Does that qualify or do you need some more vitals to establish the right to have an opinion?
I know the area Incog because i lived there and my family still lives there.
Why are you saying that the buildings will not last more than 15 years? Is it the climate, soil moister or building material? Not sure what you are eluding to.
By and large it is a good thing to have buildings near transport, I hope they will get a supermarket too. Perhaps if necessary a police station to prevent the area being infiltrated by gangs etc…
It will be people who design the vibe. It will put to the test whether some care and pride is part of that. As we see with Paris and so many large cities, the general population will make or break a place.
only allowing intensification around major public transport routes, in a city with terrible public transport routes, will lead to the next generations slums.
And if they only option for development, they are likely to be purchased by the people they aren't intended for.
Development should be allowed if the developers away from public transport routes pay for the connections normally required of the council to connect the infrastructure. That way they will naturally be of a denser nature, without robbing the needy of the "affordable" and handy public transport located intense development.
If you stopped barking for a second and read the comments & replies, you may actually have something useful to offer instead of you bleating ad nauseam about your rights to have an opinion because you pay taxes & rates, your rights to express your ‘opinion’ here on this free forum, and your lamentable objections against people who allegedly try to shut you down here.
As MS already mentioned @ 2.1:
This development is outside what is considered a walkable catchment for the Sunnyvale Railway Station. People will be using their cars. [my emphasis]
Nope you catch a bus to the station. It costs no more if in the same zone. That's what I do in South Auckland. Im sure there are plenty of buses out west as well. The trains and buses are all very frequent. Sometimes I catch another bus from the train to my destination.
Is the land in Sunnyvale at the end of Seymour road near the railway line that is available for multi-story apartments available to be purchased and built on or is it currently already occupied and any developer will have to buy the existing properties and demolish houses before they start building?
No but you should make it easy to develop houses rather than just be a handbrake. Even your comments around the two 10 story building built right next to the railway line is indicative of the anti-development mindset of the local board. There were comments about the make up of the number of one bedroom apartments (what business is this of the board anyway?), the height, traffic issues, AND you wanted development slowed down by allowing local people have input by it being notified. Do you not realise that is a major factor why we aren't building enough housing?
It is the local board job to comment on proposals. And I always recommend notification. I think people should be allowed to find out what is happening in their communities.
Do you acknowledge that we are in a housing affordability crisis and that a major factor in that is the amount of time it takes for developments to get off the ground?
If you do, then you also have to acknowledge requesting developments should be notified is going to contribute to this slowness. If you are happy to be one of the causes of the problem then keep pushing for developments to jump through more planning approval than they have to.
Gee gossie I am really pleased that you have become a die hard leftie and are concerned about homelessness. Given your comments over the years I must admit that I am surprised.
nope, people have a right to point out if a planned development may not suit the site.
I lived on Strid Road in AKL and some geezer proposed a development of 110 dwellings on two half acre sections bordering a park.
110 dwellings = 220 cars (and i am lowballing), that is 220 cars that try to get onto a road that already is congested, no bus stop near by no train stop.
make that dwellings rather then houses/flats or homes, and you call for trouble. this is how do gooders with no idea fuck up whole areas and turn them into gigantic slums.
So yes, the lady has a reason to speak up. Between National and Labour the country has had nothing but horsemanure on the dinner plan when it comes to housing. Both parties are fucking useless at building anything then their own financial wellbeing.
You can build high density, but a good place to start would be around train stations, bus hubs and the likes. there are a whole heep of people in akl that don't have cars, are good with public transport and they also don't insist in gardens. But rather then building decent sized Apartment blocks with cellars for storage and balconies, we build dwellings that will look shit within 10 years.
Yeah you can always build higher density so long as it is somewhere you are not eh? Please provide the exact locations where people can build the same number of housing units that people are trying to stop being built?
There is a golden nugget at the end of this article on rent freezes.
But rental advocates argued there was still no limit on the size of an increase – only the requirement that it not exceed market rent, defined as the average rent for a similar house in the same area. And while tenants could apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to have rent reduced, the onus was on them to prove increases exceeded market rent.
Rogers wanted the law flipped, forcing landlords to justify a rent increase ahead of time, rather than tenants having to challenge an increase after the fact.
Eaqub agreed this might go some way to correcting an existing power imbalance.
But “as a tenant, are you really going to challenge a rent increase? The answer is no”.
There must be some way to make this feasible.
Another thing – has anyone modeled how average market rent is achieved? As long as people can’t move out of the rental market the rents would continue to spiral upwards because the majority of landlords keep pushing them up so the “average” is more indicating a driver of the market, no other value if that makes sense. Perhaps what is needed is a different method of establishing average market rent, eg demographics/wages of the area.
“The Market” will never build enough 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom houses needed to fix the housing crisis. There is not enough profit in a basic house and wage workers can’t afford McMansions. Government intervention is needed, bring back the Ministry of Works and bring in teams of Chinese builders!
good comment nic. leaving it to builders and developers gives us mcmansions, as there is waaaay more profit in a mcmansion than a small two bedroom house. dont know about the teams of chinese builders though. they are masters at not following plans correctly to save on time and materials(plenty of new builds fall over in china because of shonky workmanship.)I had brief involvement with builder checking and fixing new houses in waikato, that had been built by team of chinese builders. put in roof insulation, get council to inspect and sign off,then take insulation out and put into next house! unbelievable! wouldnt have believed it if I hadnt seen it myself.
You actually saw workers remove all the ceiling insulation from one house and place it in another? That's one hell of a lot of work for little gain.
Sounds like the urban myth of contractors removing concrete floor steel reinforcing and placing it in the next build. Which of course is ludicrous. Anyone who has ever placed rebar steel for a concrete floor will know this.
Haha same happens with structural steel… get it inspected prior to the pour then lift it out and replace with half the amount…
This sort of stuff will get worse with a 15% jump in basic materials costs ie timber and steel about to hit.
Inflationary pressure is now building. Nearly every supplier I use has sent out letters flagging increases of 5 to 15 percent in the last 2‐3 months we're about to do the same.
Once inflation creeps up the Reserve bank will be forced to lift interest rates, the banks will follow and the increased costs on what are now very large mortgages will suck alot of discretionary spending out of the economy… thats when the rubber will really hit the road.
. And if no one can afford the houses the market builds, the government will pay the rents via the accomodation benefits, or does it did two weeks ago increases a government hand out to those that want to buy an affordable 700.000 dollar house.
Nic – Exactly, well said. They haven't cut corners to fit profit margins and produced leaky homes. Roads that were build under MOF are still being used with no major issues. And look at the Kapiti motorway. The waste water system that was build has lasted 100 years but alas the profit takers just let it rot. WCC deferred maintenance to put a plib lib sign on the hill to greet Airplane passengers with "Windy Wellington". The way Wellington is governed just makes my blood boil.
I well remember PM John Key cancelling his regular slot with RNZ radio. Iirc, he did not accept any RNZ invitations to speak on the station for several years. That was his prerogative. Did RNZ kick up a fuss? No. They continued to invite him and each time the news host would note he had been asked to comment but had declined. End of story. No histrionics.
Now we have this arrogant upstart, Hosking who has to turn it into a he said/she said fit of the sulks when he only had himself to blame. He constantly carped at her, refused to allow her to complete her replies, found non existent faults or misinterpreted (deliberately) everything she said and generally behaved like a misogynistic arsehole.
Jacinda will be grinning with glee that she doesn't have to waste any more of her precious time on his third rate show.
hoskings will do as his advertisers want. he is a poodle with advertisers holding his leash. we have seen overseas, other right wing bigmouths being told what to do and how to grovel by their paymasters(alan jones in aus, piers morgan in u.k.etc). his worth to advertisers has fallen sharply since the days of nightly tv shows, and the new trend in broadcasting is to give the expensive mouths the flick ,hire no-names who can read an autoprompter, and save $$$$.
He's a little boy who thinks that advertisers threw him money because he's so awesome, rather than because his particular flavour of nausea happened to catch the mood of a market segment with disposable cash.
Now he no longer catches that mood, folks are distancing themselves from him and he thinks it must be because they're the ones slowly getting further out of sync with the money that gave him a job.
Our little Piers Morgan, angry that angry dudes who can't take being rejected by a woman are slowly shrinking as a market segment.
Quite – the sooner Mike starts a job he's actually good at, the better. I understand there are many opportunities in animal husbandry for folk who love dirt.
Guy on Espiner recently told us that John Key declined only once to appear on Morning Report and gave the reason that he needed more time to prepare. Only once.
So why keep repeating this myth that he refused to appear on his regular spot on Morning Report?
Guyon, if quoted correctly, is wrong. I was a daily RNZ listener and I recall numerous occasions when he declined to speak to them. It went on for a long time.
It might have only happened to Espiner once but he wasn't at RNZ for the first two terms of the Key regime. He worked for TV1 then TV3.
Timed out. For the record. I didn't specify Morning Report anyway. I was talking RNZ per se… including Nine to Noon and the current affairs programme currently called Checkpoint.
TBF. She [PM Ardern] doesn't actually say anything when asked direct questions.
TBF, it's not credible to suggest that PM Ardern is mute when asked direct questions. I find her easy to hear, so you might be suffering from selective hearing (slightly more common in men, believe it or not), or even simple hearing loss – you and the Hosk could get tested together
How come commenters aren't spelled more often when they attempt to take over the discourse? The commenter variety has shrunk and it would be better to have fewer surely, than have those reiterating self-centred wilfully ignorant or a combination of these traits fill up the gaps. It trivialises what is an important political discussion outlet, and it is preferable to have light and enjoyable trivial stuff occasionally rather than having to suck on acid drops or gobstoppers so often.
They are unlikely to look like the harmless, bedraggled pooch in the picture that accompanied the article. In that part of the world they are more likely to be the nasty things much favoured by people who want a legal way of projecting their own aggression. On the surface, shooting sounds like a good option.
"I was not the first one to use violence as a suggestion unless you of course consider the shooting of dogs not part of the violence thing"
Quite right – it was me. Though it was more (I'd hope reluctantly) endorsing someone else's suggestion. Much as I care about animals, I don't have any tolerance for dogs that are a threat to humans or wildlife.
Directly or indirectly advocating violence in any shape or form (including ‘jest’ and advocating self-harm) to individuals or groups is simply not allowed. Moderators will have a no-tolerance humourless response as the only possible response. If you want to talk about political conflicts around the world, then do so being mindful of this proscription.
Who's funding Jordan Williams and his shitty wee scam?
McLachlan said ACT "weaponised" astroturfs.
He claimed the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union did a lot of the groundwork for the party in the 2020 election with their Campaign for Affordable Housing to fight the Green Party's proposal for an asset tax.
"So when they were saying 'This is a problem', it was actually a contrived problem that the ACT Party told them to create.
"That's the problem."
The campaign involved letters to thousands of householders, a website and media work.
What nonsense. The Taxpayers Union has around 60,000 subscribed members . Much more than ACT. In the early days of the TU it was overshadowing the ACT party and taking away potential donors.
"As an incorporated society, the Taxpayers' Union must file annual accounts with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies. That means we will be more transparent about our income and spending than most political parties. In relation to individual donations, we will publicise the identity of donors where they have requested public acknowledgment of their support. "
However, it was unlikely the Taxpayers' Union would now declare its financial relationship with British American Tobacco even though the company had outed itself.
Right from the horse's mouth – the greater the residential property investor's wealth the less likely removing interest as a tax write-off helps the housing crisis. The latest tinkering targets the wrong people, as per fucking ususal:
The solution to that lies with increasing the slope of the progressive tax system – the opposite of the trend since that freeloader, Roger Douglas, screwed everything up.
So he either pays more tax, or he buys fewer properties to pay down his debt, helping to cool off the property market for both renters and first home buyers?
How is this not part of a comprehensive housing policy?
“If you have no debt on your rental properties, there will be no interest to pay … My goal has always been to eventually have no debt on any properties and by bringing in this new rule, I may accelerate this and sell off some properties to reduce or eliminate the residential debt."
Chris the simple fact this hard done by property investor overlooks is people need somewhere affordable to live.
Home owners don't get a tax deduction on interest.
He has 70 houses but not much debt then claims he makes most of his money out of capital gains.Then hopes when National gets back in they will drop the tax.
Then he forgets that if he sells the home for more than he paid for it he has to pay the tax deductions back.
This is poor journalism a whinging very wealthy property investor who knows this is the only form of tax free money.
If he was in NSW he would have to pay CGT Victoria land tax Labour has finally got some balls to even the playing field which even National has been goading them.
Home owners don’t get a tax deduction on interest.
That’s correct, but the reason is that home owners don’t derive income from living in their family home unless you’d (ac)count forgone ‘rent’ as income.
Yeah lets not forget how the last National government reacted when an overseas person on benefit taunted a minister by sending them photos of themselves overseas. They made every single person on benefit have to reapply every year.
That is punishing the many for the few.
Or what about the puritan policy of anyone having a child while on a benefit not being able to get a sole parent benefit but having to look for work as a job seeker. That also obfuscated how many unemployed there were and still does today.
Not that labour has fixed either being national lite. Not that the media could (were willing) to work that out.
Making the poor jump through hoops – that's mean spirited. Wealthy people not being able to claim their interest back – meh. I don't think they'll be going hungry tonight.
On the National Programme today I think I heard an orchardist bemoaning the fact that migrant workers have not been available to work for him and as a result he has acres of exportable fruit just "rotting away".
I am certain that I have seen it written here, but why didn't he reassess his profit margins, pay inflated wages and bonuses to those who may have been available right here in New Zealand, and everyone would have been a winner. Unfortunately, because he has a fixed outlook on the world and what people are worth, he decided to let his crop rot. Brilliant!
Incidentally, if I was to buy some suitable land and plant it in fruit trees, and have wonderful yields. It would not mean that I was necessarily entitled to have that fruit picked…
I also notice they are not talking about whether they actually have markets to sell to or transport to get those apples to market. Typically there is over production in case of hail or drought. If anyone thinks they grow exactly the right number of apples they they have markets for they are sadly mistaken.
Of course the media will never ask that question – pictures of rotting fruit suit the capitalist agenda.
Would be interesting to know the gap between production and market. Watties were (and maybe still are) well known for requiring crops they don't need having to be destroyed.
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Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
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‘
Looks like a job for President ‘Not Sure’
Idiocracy; the prequal
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/staggering-photos-show-paris-has-become-a-rubbish-dump/7DDQRM6XJX77WEJAZQ44AOUSXA/?fbclid=IwAR3IQjPKnNod87kfOQF9hxwGBN90Jxc-T0gIZJ3w98xZ5yc1EU_sLa7pqfo
Worldwide phenomenon. Perhaps it is the legacy of no discipline, no civility, no respect. Someone has thought the wrong principles to the young generation. Its a stomping of feet saying if I cant get what I want, you cant have it. Meanwhile the environment, heritage and civilisation is slowly disintegrating.
The end of the beginning
Best of Idiocracy- Dr Lexus! – YouTube
Mickeysavage – this attitude displayed [deleted] here is why we have a housing crisis.
I have one question for [deleted], given this is intensification rather than spread where else are the houses we need going to be built if not in this location?
It is far too easy to oppose development while at the same time bemoaning the fact we have a housing crisis. I think people who do that (e.g. [deleted]) should be asked to identify exactly where else houses are going to be built.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/124716092/residents-concerned-about-impact-of-new-auckland-homes-that-look-like-prison-cells
[Don’t play that game again, Gosman, and don’t SHOUT – Incognito]
Here you go Gosman – http://gregpresland.com/the-nola-development/
Short version:
There are twin ten story apartment blocks in the middle of Glen Eden that the local board and I supported. It is next to the railway station and also provides a significant number of social housing. There is also a six story apartment building being constructed right now for older adult housing that we also supported.
Insisting that there are adequate parks and schools for intensification are not some form of nimbyism.
I used to live up West Coast road, and this development is a nonsense. Those locals up in the Oratia hills are a formidable lot though, as Watercare found to it's cost in 2017, so I doubt it will go ahead in it current form.
Why is it nonsense? It is almost 250 houses that Auckland desperately needs. If you can find some other location where 250 houses or units can be built in place of this then point it out.
I suspect you haven't actually read the posts on the topic.
+1
there are quite a few areas where decent medium rise up to 5 levels could occur.
Heck this site would be one.
But that would require to think about housing differently, and it seems that even you can't conceive of it.
As for the need, its National and labour that fucked up consistently in regards to housing. Keep that in mind.
I’ve moderated Gosman’s comment to avoid others doing the same kind of thing.
The nimbyism in Auckland comes from your Peers Mickey. Not hte poor. They don't care which cage the government is throwing them into so as long they get a key to that cage. Keep that in mind. IT si the rich and well heeled who are Nimby. And they are Nimby in Titirangi as much as they are in Remuera. Its the same crowd, arrogant, overfed, and generally unpleasant.
Secondly, if you plant high density housing in Plattenbau, keep in mind that Plattenbau does not age well, it holds up for about 15 years. I consider that whomever the Party will import to build this crap will build it about as good as the Russians did with their mass housing in the 60/70, same as england, and yeah, shamefull comes to mind. Oh and it does not matter if you build three levels of that shit or ten. It does not age well.
Thirdly, i hope that the overpaid goon who signs of on this will realise that if you don't provide parks, outdoor recreation, and ease bus stops, access to trains stops your party will have build an awesome slum.
But maybe that is the intent.
Build crap, as it has been done in NZ since ages ago.
Just pointing to existing apartment buildings and stating these are the sort of houses that should be built is not good enough. There are almost 250 houses that are proposed to be built. Please show me a location where 250 houses/units can be built if this development does not go ahead. I think people who oppose new housing development (especially if they are involved with local politics) should be required to do that.
Stop misinterpreting what I say Gosman. Local board and I supported the construction of the Glen Eden apartment blocks when resource consent was applied for.
I am all for affordable housing. It is crazy that we have a city where teachers and police officers and nurses, let alone cleaners and supermarket workers, can barely afford to buy a house. But the Unitary Plan attempted to design a city where intensification could occur adjacent to major public transport routes and this development is outside of where this is intended. Intensification has to be done right.
Where are the current alternatives (not previously built ones) for the 246 houses that are proposed to be built? Is there NEW land that is being made available to build these 7 story apartment blocks close to transport routes? If so can you please point me to this land that will be made available to this developer in return for not building these 246 houses in Glen Eden?
There is a lot of vacant land around the Sunnyvale Railway Station. In Glen Eden there are a number of quarter and half acre sections that are seeing multiple unit developments being applied for.
Do you get the feeling that Gosman is a local Westie or just stirring?
I am under the impression he lives in Wellington and yes he is stirring. Is also having a go at me on twitter.
It is more than just me that is objecting to your position on this on Twitter.
Are you a member of ACT, the Astroturf Conspiracy Team?
What Astroturf are you meaning?
Please keep up.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07-04-2021/#comment-1787085
It is funny Gossie. How does it feel to suddenly be part of the urban intensification part of twitter? I thought you were a right wing market will sort it out sort of guy.
I'm sure Gosman wants lefties shaken, not merely stirred.
Its not only about Land Mickey, its about decent smart town planning.
so to put a new development of single family houses with the biggest footprint possible on an ex orchard ( i lived there i know the area) with no public amenities is crap, to be polite.
Now there is Henderson, Sandringham Road, Remuera Fringe, Grey Lynn Fringe, heck Ponsonby Fringe that could and should be build up for these reasons alone
a. access to train stations and bus hubs
b. access to shops and doctors and medical clinics
c. schools
and here we are to applaud a wasted opportunity to build some crap houses that will look shite in less then 15 years, and worse if for sale will be to expensive to fix (see apartment buildings in town, see leaky house syndrom, see generally fucked up builds) and can only end up in Slums.
So gossy might not be from Akl, but living in wellington would still make him a kiwi, and if he pays taxes then he like me or you is financially underwriting this boondoggle.
Btw, don't we have some really nice very large Golf courses in Auckland that we could build some really nice developments with bus stops, roads wide enough to allow Fire Trucks to get in there is a fire (something that is not a given in the Hobsonville development Lol), maybe build a nice school to accomodate all the new people living htere, and rather then build a three story house or a four story house for one family, build four story buildings that house a flat on each floor – or even two ! – on the same foot print, but with a cellar for storage, a green area with play grounds and benches, etc.
Or is that in the too hard basket. I mean labour literally only had 9 years of Key to think about such.
Just as Gosman, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Read the comments & replies and read the links in these before you start your incessant barking again.
BTW, you seem to confuse local with central government. Do you pay rates in Auckland so that you can claim barking rights here again?
i used to pay rates in Auckland for nigh on 20 years.
Now i pay rates in rotorua. I pay income tax. I pay GST. I pay any other levy the government – local or regional sends me an invoice for.
Are you paying any rates anywhere dear Incognito?
other then that i have family in West Auckland. I have family in South Auckland. Does that qualify or do you need some more vitals to establish the right to have an opinion?
I know the area Incog because i lived there and my family still lives there.
Why are you saying that the buildings will not last more than 15 years? Is it the climate, soil moister or building material? Not sure what you are eluding to.
By and large it is a good thing to have buildings near transport, I hope they will get a supermarket too. Perhaps if necessary a police station to prevent the area being infiltrated by gangs etc…
It will be people who design the vibe. It will put to the test whether some care and pride is part of that. As we see with Paris and so many large cities, the general population will make or break a place.
I've looked at the land around Sunnyvale station. Much of it is a carpark for park and ride. Are you pushing for this to be sold off?
You looked at the land? How did you do that, using Google Earth?
Tech idea: a google earth filter that lets people pretend they are slinging lightning bolts onto the ground, leaving scorched and burning patches.
That way they can pretend they are omnipotent as well as omniscient.
They don’t have to pretend being omnoxious.
damn, that's a good 'un
only allowing intensification around major public transport routes, in a city with terrible public transport routes, will lead to the next generations slums.
And if they only option for development, they are likely to be purchased by the people they aren't intended for.
Development should be allowed if the developers away from public transport routes pay for the connections normally required of the council to connect the infrastructure. That way they will naturally be of a denser nature, without robbing the needy of the "affordable" and handy public transport located intense development.
Demonstrably untrue:
New Lynn since 2004
Newmarket since 2002
Hobsonville since 2007
Takapuna since 2005
Mt Albert since 1980s
Avondale since 2009
And developers already pay for much infrastructure.
The rest is up to the public dollar, and you should only get that by delivering public policy objectives.
West Auckland rail is first class although it still has some historical maintenance problems.
if you have a car to get to the station.
You don’t get it, do you?
If you stopped barking for a second and read the comments & replies, you may actually have something useful to offer instead of you bleating ad nauseam about your rights to have an opinion because you pay taxes & rates, your rights to express your ‘opinion’ here on this free forum, and your lamentable objections against people who allegedly try to shut you down here.
As MS already mentioned @ 2.1:
Nope you catch a bus to the station. It costs no more if in the same zone. That's what I do in South Auckland. Im sure there are plenty of buses out west as well. The trains and buses are all very frequent. Sometimes I catch another bus from the train to my destination.
Is the land in Sunnyvale at the end of Seymour road near the railway line that is available for multi-story apartments available to be purchased and built on or is it currently already occupied and any developer will have to buy the existing properties and demolish houses before they start building?
Do you think the local board should dictate that it be sold to developers?
Isn't that cOMmuNIst?
Please don’t do that again. I could swear you’d written cOMnuDIst. Maybe it’s time for my monthly appointment …
Sorry!
No but you should make it easy to develop houses rather than just be a handbrake. Even your comments around the two 10 story building built right next to the railway line is indicative of the anti-development mindset of the local board. There were comments about the make up of the number of one bedroom apartments (what business is this of the board anyway?), the height, traffic issues, AND you wanted development slowed down by allowing local people have input by it being notified. Do you not realise that is a major factor why we aren't building enough housing?
It is the local board job to comment on proposals. And I always recommend notification. I think people should be allowed to find out what is happening in their communities.
Do you acknowledge that we are in a housing affordability crisis and that a major factor in that is the amount of time it takes for developments to get off the ground?
If you do, then you also have to acknowledge requesting developments should be notified is going to contribute to this slowness. If you are happy to be one of the causes of the problem then keep pushing for developments to jump through more planning approval than they have to.
Gee gossie I am really pleased that you have become a die hard leftie and are concerned about homelessness. Given your comments over the years I must admit that I am surprised.
nope, people have a right to point out if a planned development may not suit the site.
I lived on Strid Road in AKL and some geezer proposed a development of 110 dwellings on two half acre sections bordering a park.
110 dwellings = 220 cars (and i am lowballing), that is 220 cars that try to get onto a road that already is congested, no bus stop near by no train stop.
make that dwellings rather then houses/flats or homes, and you call for trouble. this is how do gooders with no idea fuck up whole areas and turn them into gigantic slums.
So yes, the lady has a reason to speak up. Between National and Labour the country has had nothing but horsemanure on the dinner plan when it comes to housing. Both parties are fucking useless at building anything then their own financial wellbeing.
You can build high density, but a good place to start would be around train stations, bus hubs and the likes. there are a whole heep of people in akl that don't have cars, are good with public transport and they also don't insist in gardens. But rather then building decent sized Apartment blocks with cellars for storage and balconies, we build dwellings that will look shit within 10 years.
Yeah you can always build higher density so long as it is somewhere you are not eh? Please provide the exact locations where people can build the same number of housing units that people are trying to stop being built?
Mt Albert.
Avondale.
New Lynn.
Henderson.
Albany.
Manukau.
All around rail lines or dedicated busways. All brownfields sites.
Are these available to be purchased now?
Did your landlord kick you out?
See my Moderation note @ 6:56 am.
Graeme Hart apparently lost around $2 billion last year!
There is a golden nugget at the end of this article on rent freezes.
There must be some way to make this feasible.
Another thing – has anyone modeled how average market rent is achieved? As long as people can’t move out of the rental market the rents would continue to spiral upwards because the majority of landlords keep pushing them up so the “average” is more indicating a driver of the market, no other value if that makes sense. Perhaps what is needed is a different method of establishing average market rent, eg demographics/wages of the area.
“The Market” will never build enough 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom houses needed to fix the housing crisis. There is not enough profit in a basic house and wage workers can’t afford McMansions. Government intervention is needed, bring back the Ministry of Works and bring in teams of Chinese builders!
good comment nic. leaving it to builders and developers gives us mcmansions, as there is waaaay more profit in a mcmansion than a small two bedroom house. dont know about the teams of chinese builders though. they are masters at not following plans correctly to save on time and materials(plenty of new builds fall over in china because of shonky workmanship.)I had brief involvement with builder checking and fixing new houses in waikato, that had been built by team of chinese builders. put in roof insulation, get council to inspect and sign off,then take insulation out and put into next house! unbelievable! wouldnt have believed it if I hadnt seen it myself.
You actually saw workers remove all the ceiling insulation from one house and place it in another? That's one hell of a lot of work for little gain.
Sounds like the urban myth of contractors removing concrete floor steel reinforcing and placing it in the next build. Which of course is ludicrous. Anyone who has ever placed rebar steel for a concrete floor will know this.
Haha same happens with structural steel… get it inspected prior to the pour then lift it out and replace with half the amount…
This sort of stuff will get worse with a 15% jump in basic materials costs ie timber and steel about to hit.
Inflationary pressure is now building. Nearly every supplier I use has sent out letters flagging increases of 5 to 15 percent in the last 2‐3 months we're about to do the same.
Once inflation creeps up the Reserve bank will be forced to lift interest rates, the banks will follow and the increased costs on what are now very large mortgages will suck alot of discretionary spending out of the economy… thats when the rubber will really hit the road.
The market rent will be what the government is happy to pay in Accomodation benefits.
not talking about rents.
not talking to you btw, i answered to nic.
. And if no one can afford the houses the market builds, the government will pay the rents via the accomodation benefits, or does it did two weeks ago increases a government hand out to those that want to buy an affordable 700.000 dollar house.
bye now. .
Did Nic181 ask a question about rents?
It's presupposed since we wouldn't have a crisis if rents were reasonable.
Nope, but thanks for trying. Regardless, there was no question, was there?
Nic – Exactly, well said. They haven't cut corners to fit profit margins and produced leaky homes. Roads that were build under MOF are still being used with no major issues. And look at the Kapiti motorway. The waste water system that was build has lasted 100 years but alas the profit takers just let it rot. WCC deferred maintenance to put a plib lib sign on the hill to greet Airplane passengers with "Windy Wellington". The way Wellington is governed just makes my blood boil.
How infantile can you be:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/04/mike-hosking-says-he-doesn-t-want-pm-jacinda-ardern-back-on-radio-show-after-interview.html
I well remember PM John Key cancelling his regular slot with RNZ radio. Iirc, he did not accept any RNZ invitations to speak on the station for several years. That was his prerogative. Did RNZ kick up a fuss? No. They continued to invite him and each time the news host would note he had been asked to comment but had declined. End of story. No histrionics.
Now we have this arrogant upstart, Hosking who has to turn it into a he said/she said fit of the sulks when he only had himself to blame. He constantly carped at her, refused to allow her to complete her replies, found non existent faults or misinterpreted (deliberately) everything she said and generally behaved like a misogynistic arsehole.
Jacinda will be grinning with glee that she doesn't have to waste any more of her precious time on his third rate show.
hoskings will do as his advertisers want. he is a poodle with advertisers holding his leash. we have seen overseas, other right wing bigmouths being told what to do and how to grovel by their paymasters(alan jones in aus, piers morgan in u.k.etc). his worth to advertisers has fallen sharply since the days of nightly tv shows, and the new trend in broadcasting is to give the expensive mouths the flick ,hire no-names who can read an autoprompter, and save $$$$.
this can be said of anyone who has 'sponsors' be that advertising, or donations to public officials.
Nah.
He's a little boy who thinks that advertisers threw him money because he's so awesome, rather than because his particular flavour of nausea happened to catch the mood of a market segment with disposable cash.
Now he no longer catches that mood, folks are distancing themselves from him and he thinks it must be because they're the ones slowly getting further out of sync with the money that gave him a job.
Our little Piers Morgan, angry that angry dudes who can't take being rejected by a woman are slowly shrinking as a market segment.
heh
https://twitter.com/Mihi_Forbes/status/1379552680540971011
I should hope so – MF is one of the best journalists we've got. Hoskings, not so much.
has Mike (hell has no fury like a narcissist scorned) Hoskings just scored an own goal???
I would hope the PM doesn’t return.
Having listened to this morning’s interview I think it would be advantageous to both parties if she didn’t.
Quite – the sooner Mike starts a job he's actually good at, the better. I understand there are many opportunities in animal husbandry for folk who love dirt.
Hosking fancies himself at a job that's already taken. He knows he would be better than the incumbent.
I don't think God will step aside for him though.
God did for Jim Carrey.
Guy on Espiner recently told us that John Key declined only once to appear on Morning Report and gave the reason that he needed more time to prepare. Only once.
So why keep repeating this myth that he refused to appear on his regular spot on Morning Report?
Sorry my Dear little troll,
Guyon, if quoted correctly, is wrong. I was a daily RNZ listener and I recall numerous occasions when he declined to speak to them. It went on for a long time.
It might have only happened to Espiner once but he wasn't at RNZ for the first two terms of the Key regime. He worked for TV1 then TV3.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-cancels-regular-interview-slot-with-mike-hosking-on-newstalk-zb/NLJK5CP7SX4RRH6CIWRYLHFRVM/
Timed out. For the record. I didn't specify Morning Report anyway. I was talking RNZ per se… including Nine to Noon and the current affairs programme currently called Checkpoint.
TBF. She doesn't actually say anything when asked direct questions.
Shame, but it will bite her own arse in the end.
TBF, it's not credible to suggest that PM Ardern is mute when asked direct questions. I find her easy to hear, so you might be suffering from selective hearing (slightly more common in men, believe it or not), or even simple hearing loss – you and the Hosk could get tested together
public officials dont get replaced by anybody who can read an autoprompter.
How come commenters aren't spelled more often when they attempt to take over the discourse? The commenter variety has shrunk and it would be better to have fewer surely, than have those reiterating self-centred wilfully ignorant or a combination of these traits fill up the gaps. It trivialises what is an important political discussion outlet, and it is preferable to have light and enjoyable trivial stuff occasionally rather than having to suck on acid drops or gobstoppers so often.
Could DoC and Far Northern Maori kaitiaki get together to lessen or solve this problem? Dead kiwis are cropping up often up in the Far North I think.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/439916/feral-dogs-roaming-the-far-north-prompt-track-closures-warnings
They are unlikely to look like the harmless, bedraggled pooch in the picture that accompanied the article. In that part of the world they are more likely to be the nasty things much favoured by people who want a legal way of projecting their own aggression. On the surface, shooting sounds like a good option.
The SPCA and the pound are pretty useless in the Far Noth if they actually do still any work there with dumped dogs.
That pooch in that picture has been on its own for a while now.
how about we shoot the people that breed these dogs and then abuse them first? or would that be considered rude?
[How about you don’t suggest, advocate, or promote violence of any kind on this site? – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 1:43 pm.
I was not the first one to use violence as a suggestion unless you of course consider the shooting of dogs not part of the violence thing.
My comment was in jest, i forgot the snark emojicon. Sorry for the oversight, it will not happen again.
Apology accepted, thank you. Please don’t joke about violence either, with or without “the snark emojicon”.
"I was not the first one to use violence as a suggestion unless you of course consider the shooting of dogs not part of the violence thing"
Quite right – it was me. Though it was more (I'd hope reluctantly) endorsing someone else's suggestion. Much as I care about animals, I don't have any tolerance for dogs that are a threat to humans or wildlife.
Policy
Who's funding Jordan Williams and his shitty wee scam?
McLachlan said ACT "weaponised" astroturfs.
He claimed the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union did a lot of the groundwork for the party in the 2020 election with their Campaign for Affordable Housing to fight the Green Party's proposal for an asset tax.
"So when they were saying 'This is a problem', it was actually a contrived problem that the ACT Party told them to create.
"That's the problem."
The campaign involved letters to thousands of householders, a website and media work.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/439960/ex-act-staffer-grant-mclachlan-says-party-created-fake-grassroots-groups
What nonsense. The Taxpayers Union has around 60,000 subscribed members . Much more than ACT. In the early days of the TU it was overshadowing the ACT party and taking away potential donors.
Any proof of that membership other than their own say-so?
According to the Gospel of Gosman, it is nonsense, and he’d know, wouldn’t he?
What proof do you want considering there are privacy issues around releasing people's personal information?
I guess they could clear things up by doing what other unions are required to do and file an annual return.
Do you mean like they already do?
"As an incorporated society, the Taxpayers' Union must file annual accounts with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies. That means we will be more transparent about our income and spending than most political parties. In relation to individual donations, we will publicise the identity of donors where they have requested public acknowledgment of their support. "
https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/our_mission
Of course they do.
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However, it was unlikely the Taxpayers' Union would now declare its financial relationship with British American Tobacco even though the company had outed itself.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/taxpayers-union-backed-by-tobacco-giant
Do Trade Unions list the members who pay subs?
And nor should they. OTOH, the TPU is book-ended by dirty politics and the dirty money of the purveyors of disease and addiction.
Let's get this clear.
You think organisations you disagree with politically should be forced to reveal their supporters details but not those you do support.
There are words to describe that view and they don't include free tolerant pluralistic and democratic.
Astroturfing and DP are the opposite of democratic, as they pervert the democratic process.
Got bored at work.
Lowest "Membership" costs $25. Most expensive option is $500.
TU 2019 accounts show $156k in membership fees.
If all members pay the minimum: $156000/25 = 6240.
If all members pay the maximum: $156000/500 = 192
Gossie is overstating the membership by a factor of anywhere between ten and two hundred, lol.
Right from the horse's mouth – the greater the residential property investor's wealth the less likely removing interest as a tax write-off helps the housing crisis. The latest tinkering targets the wrong people, as per fucking ususal:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/300270132/property-investor-braces-for-extra-45k-tax-bill
The solution to that lies with increasing the slope of the progressive tax system – the opposite of the trend since that freeloader, Roger Douglas, screwed everything up.
So he either pays more tax, or he buys fewer properties to pay down his debt, helping to cool off the property market for both renters and first home buyers?
How is this not part of a comprehensive housing policy?
“If you have no debt on your rental properties, there will be no interest to pay … My goal has always been to eventually have no debt on any properties and by bringing in this new rule, I may accelerate this and sell off some properties to reduce or eliminate the residential debt."
And there you have it…he has options.
Chris the simple fact this hard done by property investor overlooks is people need somewhere affordable to live.
Home owners don't get a tax deduction on interest.
He has 70 houses but not much debt then claims he makes most of his money out of capital gains.Then hopes when National gets back in they will drop the tax.
Then he forgets that if he sells the home for more than he paid for it he has to pay the tax deductions back.
This is poor journalism a whinging very wealthy property investor who knows this is the only form of tax free money.
If he was in NSW he would have to pay CGT Victoria land tax Labour has finally got some balls to even the playing field which even National has been goading them.
That’s correct, but the reason is that home owners don’t derive income from living in their family home unless you’d (ac)count forgone ‘rent’ as income.
who watched juddy do the histrionics in the house this arvo on the bubble bill.
poof!
putrid lump of bellyaching and irrational proposals all delivered with a snide twist.
not a good advertisement for proper governance at all
Yeah lets not forget how the last National government reacted when an overseas person on benefit taunted a minister by sending them photos of themselves overseas. They made every single person on benefit have to reapply every year.
That is punishing the many for the few.
Or what about the puritan policy of anyone having a child while on a benefit not being able to get a sole parent benefit but having to look for work as a job seeker. That also obfuscated how many unemployed there were and still does today.
Not that labour has fixed either being national lite. Not that the media could (were willing) to work that out.
Making the poor jump through hoops – that's mean spirited. Wealthy people not being able to claim their interest back – meh. I don't think they'll be going hungry tonight.
On the National Programme today I think I heard an orchardist bemoaning the fact that migrant workers have not been available to work for him and as a result he has acres of exportable fruit just "rotting away".
I am certain that I have seen it written here, but why didn't he reassess his profit margins, pay inflated wages and bonuses to those who may have been available right here in New Zealand, and everyone would have been a winner. Unfortunately, because he has a fixed outlook on the world and what people are worth, he decided to let his crop rot. Brilliant!
Incidentally, if I was to buy some suitable land and plant it in fruit trees, and have wonderful yields. It would not mean that I was necessarily entitled to have that fruit picked…
I also notice they are not talking about whether they actually have markets to sell to or transport to get those apples to market. Typically there is over production in case of hail or drought. If anyone thinks they grow exactly the right number of apples they they have markets for they are sadly mistaken.
Of course the media will never ask that question – pictures of rotting fruit suit the capitalist agenda.
Would be interesting to know the gap between production and market. Watties were (and maybe still are) well known for requiring crops they don't need having to be destroyed.