I'm coming to the suspicion that Waka Kotahi really really don't want anything other than cars, trucks and buses going over the Harbour Bridge, for institutional culture and ideology reasons. So as support grows for providing some kind of walking and cycling access, it appears to me they are resorting to blowing out the projected cost by ever increasing the size and cost of the proposal in hopes of killing the idea.
Consider the original proposed Skypath, pushed mostly by Bevan Woodward. This was to be a lightweight composite tube underneath the clip-on lanes on the east side. IIRC the east side is preferred because on average trucks travelling south are less loaded, so the structure has a bit more reserve capacity. Projected costs were well under $100 million, even with generous allowance for the cost increases that inevitably happen on infrastructure projects.
The engineering and costings were done by entirely credible people and organisations. Including Gurit (link to Google's cached html version of a pdf found by searching Skypath costing), a major international supplier of materials and engineering expertise for composites infrastructure, and Core Builders Composites in Warkworth, who started out as Oracle's America's Cup boatbuilder and diversified into a wide range of complex innovative composites projects.
Evidently, that didn't result in killing the project, so there's been another round of revisions resulting in what we now have, a proposal resulting in the best part of a billion dollars to be spent, or dedicating an existing lane to cyclists and walkers (with the resulting massive increase in traffic problems).
Looks to me like Waka Kotahi are desperately trying to refine their shit sandwich recipe to try to get to a 'uhh, we guess that's a no' from government and council.
Anyone want to try to allay my suspicions?
It also seems time to go back to the original concept. And if road traffic changes are needed to make it work for structural load reasons, then simply restrict heavy vehicles from using the left lane(s) southbound, perhaps coupled with more speed restrictions between the bridge and Fanshawe St, to ease the lane changes that heavy vehicles might need to make in that short distance.
It looks to me like that's just another step in the effort to increase the political unpalatability of the proposals by ever increasing the cost, in hopes of killing the idea of pedestrians and cyclists crossing the harbour at the bridge location.
edit: if you want to see the thoughts of a bunch of other people with apparently similar suspicions, have a rummage around on the http://www.getacross.org.nz website.
Oh, and as far as the existing bridge approaching its use by date, well it appears it is and it isn't.
It seems whenever there's a bit of a push on for something like a new crossing, or there's a proposal Waka Kotahi doesn't want, the bridge is on its last legs.
But whenever the issue is something like expanding the network that 50 tonne trucks are allowed to use, it seems the bridge has plenty of life and capacity.
I think that the painting of the bridge would have to go on pretty well continuously. As Sacha says, salt air is going to make a mess of it whether it is used or not.
I did some work on road surfaces many years ago for the old MOW. Not engineering but trying to find ways of predicting when roads would need repair. If I remember correctly the life of a bitumen surface depended mostly upon its age, rather than the loads the road carried, unless the substrate was very inadequate for the axle loads. Cracks and holes in the bitumen are probably going to have more effect on bicycles than on car or truck tires. Specialised off-road bikes may not be affected but they aren't that common among commuter cyclists are they? I don't know many cyclists who are happy to ride a normal road bike on an unsealed surface and there are always comments about stones and rubbish on the existing cycle lane to Petone making it unusable. I'm not a cyclist these days so I might be quite wrong of course. Any Tour de France competitors out there to comment?
That document was from 2009 was it?. The amount of money quoted didn't seem very much and I did wonder how old it was.
Thanks, but that didn’t really answer the question. You seem to have a tendency to wander off topic and lose focus easily. I tend to do this too in verbal convos, which is why I prefer written communication.
unfortunatley this often happens. a simple, relatively cheap idea is taken over by high priced consultants and costs blow out. sometimes these consultants get a percentage of the final cost so are very keen to push price up. sometimes, these consultants have very little real world engineering expertise , so have no idea of how to save money. and as you say, sometimes there are dirty deeds done to kill off entire projects. in this case??? pity the politician who has to wade through screeds of bullshit to find the truth.
I've seen it happen even entirely within a company.
It's really easy to do, just tweak an assumption here and an estimate there. A lot of times, people doing it aren't even aware they're doing it. They're just responding to their internal confirmation biases. With that last sentence in mind, hell, I've probably done it myself while being blithely unaware of it.
It’s a particularly powerful effect when the end result conforms with institutional biases and culture.
What about citizens putting forward fully engineered projects after agreement with the government, and guidelines, with some funding for the initial plans and specs, and if feasible then more funding, and bypassing the consultants. Just getting the technical aspects checked? Participatory government not this top-down bullshit.
Yes a lot of diversity there unless you break it down into; the cream, the bone, the white, the off-white, the ivory or the beige than a Richie Benaud wardrope. I am sure all who live in Manukau will appreciate all this money being spent for those who can afford a $4m house ( and who have made a cool $1m profit since June 2019) to live in and take time for a wee bike ride across their vanity project.
Surely you can see that the use of 'lycra' in this case is as an all-encompasing potent middle-class descriptor..?
(kinda like 'boomer'..and so many other examples of the genre..)
and let's not forget that lycra is the crocs of clothing..dunno about you but the sight of trevor mallard in lycra is an image I for one can never erase..
and yes..it is an accurate use of the english language/the word..
Well, well, well, Alwyn reckons he and everybody else here on TS is a pleb with one notable exception: Dr Mapp QSO – you like titles, Alwyn? When it comes to noblesse oblige, I can think of several examples here on TS who would qualify. Sadly, you’re missing off my list. Surely, there are other blogs that are more, shall we say, suited to you?
You’re reading way too much into the contributions here unless you’re a mind reader, but even you wouldn’t be so conceited, would you?
Oh dear. I have hurt Incognito's feelings. He clearly thinks he is one of the chosen Aristocrats who are here to rule us.
I suggest you remember what happened in 1793 when La Terreur began in France. Aristocrats like the class to which you aspire went to the guillotine.
In the meantime just remember that the great figures in the Labour movement such as Michael Savage and Peter Fraser in New Zealand would have gloried in being described as a working man.
The current lot not so much but of course they aren't as competent at their work as the early trade union pioneers are they?
The current lot not so much but of course they aren't as competent at their work as the early trade union pioneers are they?
Some of the 'current lot' of NZ Government MPs seem at least moderately competent, if a little less principled than Savage and Fraser. Regarding NZ's 'loyal' opposition MPs, however, even ‘moderately competent‘ would be a bit of a stretch.
Imho our current Government is moving in a good direction more often than not. While their speed is pragmatically slow (and nowhere near fast enough for me), the overall result may be more sustainable than the “radical remedies” I’d prefer. What chance that the Green’s party vote will get get above 10% while they advocate the introduction of a wealth tax? It’s just one of the reasons that I party vote Green, and likely one of the reasons that many people don’t.
The Leveller Inequality, in Piketty’s view, drives human history, and calls for radical remedies.
Of course, the people who are most likely to hear—and heed—Piketty’s call to action, whether or not they scythe their way through his book, are all of the Brahmin left. Throughout the book, Piketty heaps praise on Sanders, Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the British Labour Party. Corbyn recently campaigned on perhaps the most unabashedly redistributionist manifesto in the Party’s history (it called for transferring control of ten per cent of big companies to workers, nationalizing other companies, and instituting a four-day workweek) and then suffered catastrophic losses in working-class Labour strongholds. Perhaps that’s because Corbyn simply wasn’t bold enough. But if a candidate were to go the full Piketty—by proposing enormous taxes on the rich and taking steps toward surrendering sovereignty to a transnational socialistic union—do we really think that nativism and nationalism would retreat, rather than redouble? Would erstwhile supporters of Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen, Donald Trump, and Geert Wilders evolve beyond their fears of Muslim migration and accept the new utopia?
The challenge for the existing political order in affluent countries is to show that it can effectively address problems like poverty and precarity. In America, poverty is increasingly concentrated and thus more corrosive, while absolute economic mobility looks to be at a low point. So what might reform that falls short of revolution look like? Creating a universal child allowance of three hundred dollars a month may sound like a boring technocratic fix, and, at an annual cost of a hundred billion dollars (or less than half of what’s budgeted for Veterans Affairs), it certainly wouldn’t require expropriating the fortunes of the top one per cent. Yet it would halve child poverty all on its own. Tripling federal funding for poor schools—which would go a long way to improving mobility and reducing the inheritability of misfortune—would raise costs by a relatively paltry thirty billion a year. Reforming housing assistance so that adults who receive rent subsidies are no longer crammed into ghettos is another measure that’s very much within reach, and would substantially improve the lives of their children.
Imagine a congregation of economists a hundred years in the future. Maybe we’re on the moon; maybe we’re on Mars. Either way, the scene isn’t hard to sketch—it will probably still be in a large, windowless room. Inequality at the top end of the income distribution could very well look even more lopsided than it does now. But whether inequality is the topic of the keynote address may depend more on the progress against poverty and middle-class stagnation than on the number of newly minted trillionaires.
For the cultists she never went out of fashion. Maybe you should mix up your social circle, you know, fewer Denver cultists and more Olive ones. It’ll do you good to broaden your horizons somewhat beyond that dull stereotypical thinking of yours.
personally i have biked all my life overseas in Europe – Germany and Holland – and i would go so far to say that i probably biked more in my life as a commuter then many here have done so in a leisurly way.
I biked in Auckland 20 odd years ago, when no one did it. I biked because i never owned a car. I also use public transport such as busses, trams, trains, and yes the airplane, why ? Because i never saw the reason to have a car.
And i have biked in winter gear, summer gear, bathing suits etc. And the lycra crowd are the funniest to observe. There is a certain je ne sais quoi about people in tight fluo colors and a fancy pair of bike shoes.
And I cycle toured extensively in NZ and big bits of the ME in the late 70's. Also did club racing in my 20's. The great thing about cycling is that there are so many different ways people do it and they're all good. You get to dress however you like – or not at all.
But honestly – for long distances and sports cycling, tight fitting 'lycra' (it wasn't called that back then) offers both a lower wind resistance and is lot more comfortable. Smirk all you want – lyrcra works for me if I'm doing anything more than a short commute or leisure ride.
The lycra brigade is notably different from any other rider that i have met anywhere.
Be that Germany, Holland, Italy, France or NZ.
They tend to be male for the most part (again this might be changing), they tend to ride peloton style – irrespective of the road, or size of the road, need honking horns or insults to go into single file to let people pass and as observed a few times, fall of their bikes when coming to a full stop cause the shoes got stuck.
This of course is different if one is a solitary rider, but in groups that particular subgroup of riders generally is a pain in the proverbial.
That is really quite particular to them. Just my 2 cnts.
There is an interesting difference between English and Dutch when it comes to cycling.
The 4-min video clip is for all those commenters here with lycra hang-ups – lycra is very common in the Netherlands – and gives a great snapshot of how cycling is fully integrated in Dutch culture and society – and infrastructure – and used by all walks of life; so many bridges, tunnels and cycle paths!
Yes Incognito, i know that the dutch are quite different. I lived in Holland for a few years, and i commuted by bike. Just to clarify my stand on Lycra and fietsen.
Sports riders do quite frequently ride in peletons – in every country I've ever seen them in. It used to be largely confined to club events, often on controlled roads either closed or with limited traffic.
What's changed is the advent of the internet and the ability to organise weekend rides with 50 or more riders who have no club alliegence and have no alternative other than t use the open road. And on narrow sections of road they do indeed hold up traffic momentarily. Usually it incurs about a 30 – 90 sec delay at most, and if it happens to you more than once or twice a month you have to be a pretty unlucky motorist.
And all experienced cyclists quickly learn that at ”choke points’ it pays to ‘own the lane’ to prevent motorists from squeezing past at speed. As it happens in 2013 my sister-in-law was killed in exactly this circumstance on a group ride that was trying to do the right thing by riding single file and keeping well to the left. So there is that.
Being clipped in can take a bit of getting used to, but falling off at the lights is pretty rare – and I can't recall ever doing it or seeing anyone else for that matter.
That just leaves the fact that it's mostly men who enjoy group rides like this. Can't help you with that.
I am talking about early morning sunday riders in their fifties / sixties on teh way to the coffee shop, riding in a group of 6 often next to each other.
But to be fair i expect them to drive their big fat mon – fri suv wit the same courtesy.
And that is the main issue imho in traffic in NZ (can't speak for OZ never really stopped there) is the lack of courtesy to all users of the traffic network.
Throw out a suggestion or two here and see whether it catches anything? It can be hard to see options and opportunities when you work your arse off each and every day and life feels like Groundhog Day.
Sometimes it is better to let someone have a rant and not come down from your tree. 'Better out than in' they say. Have a nice evening grey – there I've said it for you.
I'm glad you're still with us bwaghorn. Do you have a caravan? Could you find a less self satisfied pair to work for? Trouble is there is a lot of it around. The fact that overseas or local rich people or ambitious anyway can buy houses, and don't do much physical work to earn it is part of our strangely different society. And people think they are so smart selling houses.
I find that hardly anyone I know actually looks to the future and measures the present and finds it wanting. They are deep in their own existence and I am sort of hanging five on it. But try to find some others who enjoy old time or folk music and a beer for relaxation, search it out. Folk music generally is about people making good, better than heavy metal say which just blots out everything, or rap which is clever and cutting generally rather than enjoyable. Is there an Irish band around your area? Learn to play the guitar, switch your mind frequenttly to a different channel, it's the only way to survive.
Cheers .its not a complete disaster the main reason I'm trapped in the job I'm in is the positive things (people mainly ) have rooted me to the spot and job opportunities are slim here ,that's why I loath my employers because they know I'm going no where so chose to shaft me for it . No unions for farm boys.
I envy you if you are in the quiet country. My neighbour is driving me out of my home and there is no plan B which isn't ugly. I hate not having a good plan B. For now I will just go a day at a time.
edit
You and Swordfish could get together Treetop and make a complaint to ? perhaps both local and central government about the lack of ability for people to have a peaceful enjoyment of your homes. You could point out that many are prevented from a life worth living because of the mental condition of people in the community.
I see that Ruth Dyson got an accolade this year. I think she was driving the policy of emptying the buildings and land put aside for the mentally damaged saying they should be living a sweeter life in the community (though probably NIHBY). Then the buildings and land got sold and the money went into the government accounts.
What should have been done was improvement, change of staff and different methods for treating those who weren't in violent or destructive episodes. And special places for the criminals. But no, dump the problems back into the community that struggles to cope with the decimation of society through ill-conceived policy shafting by the Gang of Four?
And now with alzheimers increasing in leaps and bounds, you can have the problem of policing loony parents and other loved ones at home, with the neighbours regularly involved also. The person affected can be distressed when they are halfway gone and have lucid moments and realise their minds are going and be engulfed in sorrow. Next they leave a pot on the stove going at full bore or are out of their beds in the middle of the night, wandering off to where they used to go to play when they were young.
It's a great life if you don't weaken I think they used to say in the UK in the war. I am increasingly having this feeling in the midst of this country that has such good financial measures and is near the top in world standards of everything!
I've pulled the nuclear option this morning,significant pay rise or else , meeting next week, have decided the stress of management needs proper wages or it's not worth it
Resentment can build up. Eventually a decision is made because of being treated unfairly. I have a rule, when something is impacting on me due to a person's shitty behaviour it is my business.
Personally i agree, give them a lane for a few month and see how much the usage would actually be. Traffic in Auckland is already f'ed up beyond believe, so really why not?
don't actually care. Give them the trial period, see how the usage is, run some reports on what a new bridge would need, and then go from there. IF they are serious about commuting they will do so wind, rain and shine, if they are Sunday cyclers or fair weather riders only it might shine a new light on the needs vs the wants theory.
Seriously, the council could consider a bike Sunday for example. Free two lanes on Sundays – weather permitting – not when high winds etc . Auckland traffic should manage on a Sunday. Even if you do it just for a few hours. Why not?
Depends on what you want to measure. Even a commute trial as such over three months would give a limited representation of what could be if/when implemented on a more permanent basis, for fairly obvious reasons. For example, with Te Huia travellers/commuters only have to not use a car for the journey and just buy a ticket. It is on a five-year trial! How does that compare to a measly few hours on a sunny not-too-windy Sunday?
Good opinion piece on TDB by Christine Rose on the cycling issue. I agree with what she says which is basically pro bike user and pro more safe cycling infrastructure. I have used bikes most of my life, for commuting, fun, travel, to do the shopping, never worn lycra and think cycling is cheap and healthy but becoming bloody dangerous anywhere on the public highway system (especially in NZ). Unfortunately, NZ, Oz, the U.S., Canada etc. have been built around the ownership and use of cars and now the serious prospect of changing all that around because of the need to combat climate change is really hard. Dont blame bike riders for the pain!
Koff I would imagine that your bike riding has been mostly done on the road. Now it has been pushed on to the footpath for safety, it endangers the simple basic transport option that is natural to us – walking. Plus all the other man-made contraptions that are too fast for comfort to walkers who want to relieve stress, get somewhere at their own pace, and enjoy the neighbourhood and perhaps stroll and chat with a friend.
And you are right the transport system is around vehicles. Dealers have made much money out of selling vehicles. The lots are full of hummer type vehicles that signal in metal, make way for me coming through, move over for my fat-bottomed wide vehicle encroaching on every space.
Yet our local council runs buses which often have one or two people in them. They could set up an arrangement with a taxi service for less cost, and help to use resources effectively and provide a better income for the often retired men and new citizens who drive them.
Ways to reduce vehicle purchase, such as extra tax on people movers, and encouragement for the smaller vehicle, for moving to EVs, for hybrids etc. would be helpful. But public transport that is tailored to what people need and that regular travellers can buy into with season tickets that bring the price down to what allows suppliers to make a good living, would be a good way of PPP.
\A set route of local season ticket holders could be picked up and dropped off each morning and night after work connecting to the bus route is one idea I have found. Also taxis that will serve an area within a set time once two people have called and who share the price. A person might call hopefully early in the morning, and if no-one else calls, then use other transport, but once the system got going enough people would be using and finding the system beneficial.
I like to point out that it is unlawful in any other country to ride a bicycle on a motorway/highway. It should be quite logical as to why.
Here in NZ it seems that there is an understanding that riding a bike is a free for all but this is not true. There are also rules that equally apply to motorized and non motorized cycling. I see many riders who completely ignore just basics: lighting – see and be seen (200 meters min), high vis clothing, using hand signs and speeding, crossing red lights, cutting across other vehicles, completely obliviend of the way a truck driver can or not see you when overtaking etc. etc. etc. There are bicycle riders that endanger others road users of all stripes and colors and I for one are for one would advocate for a driver licence to be compulsory.
A lisence could be simply a free but mandatory road rules test at the AA. In fact, you could start teaching basic road rules from kindergarten on so as to ease children in to using bikes, mopeds, scooters, car.
Even we as kids had a 'test' with a police man during school hours. They set up a low skill test area and you ride around, stop and go, red /green light etc. We got a batch. 🙂
Just make it free and begin in kindergarten. By the time the kid is 10 – 12 they can navigate the traffic in their area fairly well. And this will make passing the drivers test easier in the future.
that used to happen. we had visits from ?? with pedal cars and layout streets with ped x and roundabouts etc. there is film from then at national film unit.
I remember that happening once at my primary school. There were not enough bikes and pedal cars for all the kids so those who missed out performed pedestrian duties.
I was mightily pissed off at the pathetic tokenism of the whole charade and I was only 9.
perhaps I have a closer relationship with reality. you are the one who wanted ALL pushbike riders to be licensed. I dont have a problem with increased junior road education, but licenses for 6 yr olds!?. talk to yr local cop about that idea and watch for the eyeroll.
A sweet song from John Denver with thoughts that most of us will have as we are older. Unfortunately for some of us who are older we cannot relax and play our fiddles while Rome burns.
Poems Prayers and Promises
"Quite prickly" but mostly harmless as cultists go; fairly ‘soft‘ targets even.
Denver had his flaws, but who doesn't, eh Phil? Each to their own, imho.
In the mid-1970s, Denver became outspoken in politics. He expressed his ecologic interests in the epic 1975 song "Calypso", an ode to the eponymous exploration ship used by environmental activist Jacques Cousteau. In 1976, he campaigned for Carter, who became a close friend and ally. Denver was a supporter of the Democratic Party and of a number of charitable causes for the environmental movement, the homeless, the poor, the hungry, and the African AIDS crisis. He founded the charitable Windstar Foundation in 1976 to promote sustainable living. His dismay at the Chernobyl disaster led to precedent-setting concerts in parts of communist Asia and Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Denver#Political_activism
Say what you like about his music, his stance against Tipper Gore and her ilk was brave and influential.
I seem to recall an interview with Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys, who had been battling the PMRC over their album art, saying John Denver's testimony was game-changing.
Laughable they can't find landscapers – have they tried their local Polytech? They usually have courses turning out entry level folk. Mind, I've replied to a few rural ads over the last while – happy enough to move but the accommodation is the clincher – got to live somewhere, and if the wage won't let you save there's not much point.
I can understand them wanting people with enough experience to hit the ground running. Whole wage/price structure needs to adjust to our post-migrant-topup mentality.
The biggest impact has not been wages, in my view, but employment culture. The low wage migrant is obliged to endure some pretty nasty crap, and may not even get a legal wage. Kiwi workers won't get out of bed for ratbag employers like that – nor should they.
Offer decent pay and conditions and you'll have to fight off workers with a stick – the way big projects like the Clyde dam had to. We're not seeing any of that.
I just shake my head… many kiwis wont last longer than a week when it dawns on them that they actually have to work consistently and keep focus for more than a computer game time slot. Every day, not just once. There is a belief that they are owed a living because they have been hard done by, by the world, the parents, the school, the neighbor, the whatever. And the ones who have gone to high school, maybe sat a paper or two at Uni think that the work is beneath them. And then you have youngsters who are willing but their skill base is so low that they need 24/7 supervision that no one can provide. This is the reality out there, on the ground where no one is willing to look and ask the hard questions.
What it really is is that there will always be a minority of mallingerers, and grumpy old fuckers ,usually right wingers like to latch on to those few so they can run down all youngins.
Saw a funny thing a while back which suggested that the reason right wingers are so worried about malingerers on a humane dole is because they'd do it given half the chance, when actually most people want to actually work or contribute to society in some way.
It's the politics of envy, lol. The only motive tories can comprehend to do anything is money – if you gave them enough money to be happy, they'd do nothing.
But then (like all true addicts) the problem for some tories is that no amount is ever enough.
Even if this is true, it's still a case of chickens and eggs. If as SM suggested above, you offer decent pay and conditions so that workers really want these jobs, they'll know that a decent performance is needed to get and keep them.
But this is just a bit too hard. It's easier to politically capture governments and get them to break labour markets in ways that advantage you – such as easy access to foreign labour.
I think that many kids should spend time doing work and then do block courses at school. And all should have experience of doing physical work. The education system is training students to suit the tech people with heads filled with equations. But the old problem exists, they make very thin soup. A spell in the fields and workshop would break the spell of the screen; it trains many to be voyeurs of real life, has anyone thought of that. No wonder people are always going on overseas holidays – they have never realised that there is a different world out there away from the city or their small town.
That is the biggest issue is it not, that if you wanted to move and work there, without housing that is a no go. And it has been like that for ever. I doubt that many who work and live in the big city are saving that much of their wages. Kiwi safer maybe.
When I moved to Korea I took about a 40% pay cut on paper – but cost of living was so low I could save 60% of my pay without scrimping.
A few baselines need to be worked out here really – the neolib economy presently rewards the crook, the speculator, and the chair-polishing bureaucrat, not the worker.
unless there is some sort of rental cap, or a reform on how rent – i.e. the usage of a space is charged, nothing will change. At the moment people are paying the mortgage, rates and the boat in their rents. And the government could not increase the min. wage enough and fast enough to change that. Rent control, a rental mirror etc is what is needed.
Plenty a people are living in their cars and motels under Labour too. Heck, most of Rotorua Moteliers are earning themselves a golden toilet seat by renting to homeless at full prices cause the government has a big purse and is happy spending the money.
I prefer having a mil paid each week on social housing, given to those who need it and in time they can rent to own. Imagine how many houses we could have for those in need within only one year. I recon the property market is a ruse and some of the parliamentarians just look away.
It is a form of social housing, i.e. a temporary patch. Do you want to kick those people out of the motels and tell them to sleep in their cars and under bridges? Your suggestion makes no sense to me.
If we use the money to buy social housing – homes with bridging finance before going to the next stage, meaning moving the family in, it would be cheaper and more desirable to house those who live right now in temporary accommodation. A hotel/motel room is NOT a home. Especially for kids.
If I could jump the shadow of my manners and it would be acceptable, I would spit on the floor in front of the housing minister(s). The self interest of those in power makes me vomit.
ideally the government pays full rent for a house that is a proper rental – with all the stability that comes with it, rather then pay 400 NZD per night to house someone for a week or two and then they are back to where they were before.
The warehousing of homeless people in this country in rundown motels – the better ones try to get actual customers (less gang, less drugs, less violence, less police, etc) is shameful, and fwiw, it was shameful under Paula Benefit and it is shameful under Carmel (see nothing, hear nothing do nothing) Sepuloni. Shameful. Nothing more nothing less. That we have a few thousand kids in this country living in motels and hotels, is the failure of Labour and National – both parties and all of their highly paid, extremely well fed, and certainly expensively heeled members.
I've been looking at a variation on it – but Nash's laws on campervans are a bit discouraging – push that option mostly out of reach. Not that I'm being offered any work anyway – the worker drought is rhetorical from where I'm sitting.
Thats because although somewhat lowly regarded it actually requires a very diverse skill set, read plans, set out, carpentry, concrete, paving, drainlaying, horticulture etc etc and then you need to be happy working in all weathers.
Not many stick at it….
As an aside the polytech courses are garbage can get the same certification (in name) in a 1 year polytech course that took me 8000 hours of apprenticeship.
I know a small landscape business owner who couldn't compete with the bigger landscaping companies that were able to bring in migrant workers under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.
To save his business he started hiring beneficiaries and paying them under the table. That is, until the tax department caught up with him.
The article cited refers to the situation in Blenheim, a town I know a little of. 🙂 The employment rate in Marlborough is 2.5% against the national average of 4,7%. So, it is harder to find workers.
Marlborough has 1% of the country's population, with no unversity, and a small campus of the NMIT in Blenheim.
Housing is hard to find in Blenheim. Houses sell fast and there is a shortage of social housing. Anecdotally, we hear of jobs not taken as accommodation was not accessible.
Food prices are high here. The average wage is the second lowest in the country. The median age is one of the highest in the country, with a much larger 65+ age group, which has one corollary of fewer workers available per head of population. That demographic anomaly also determines in part the average wage/income in Marlborough, and also the amount of money available for circulation.
One of the business owners mentioned is decent as I know him and I know that he is determined to do his bit for training apprentices.
I don't know what wages are being offered, so I can't offer advice on that. But small town NZ as typified in Blenheim can struggle with the advent of large shopping chains.
Marlborough also suffers from what I call 'third world' status. 80% of Mrlborough wineries/vineyards are owned outside the province. Profits therefore go out of the province as do some of the highest paid jobs in the industry go outside Marlborough to the head offices etc.
So, knowing some of the local circumstances does help to understand some of the local difficulties; but also remembering we have our share of worker-unfriendly enterprises in timber, fishing and farming as well.
The commitment to apprenticing was admirable, yes, but it should not really fall on the shoulders of individual businesses or customers. Prices need to increase but so do incomes.
Those broader processes will take some effort to sort out – including somehow resourcing provincial economies enough to counteract extractive arrangements like you describe.
Plenty of trades do hire and train their own apprentices and are very happy to do so….
A good apprentice is hard to find these days usually they're someone that proactively approaches tbh also of course need suitably qualified staff to train them and have the time, very small sub contractor based business do struggle in this regard.
Its actually a problem with neoliberalism and that so many tradies are now sub contractors…
Businesses should train and pay their people but they are not in a position to engineer social acceptance of higher prices. That takes broader leadership and a just transition to a high-wage economy.
very good post mac1 those same conditions happen in a few rural locations around nz . as you say ,often outside owners who take the cream away from the locals. but propped up by local hardarses.
Getting social housing providers, employers and government to work together is also difficult in some areas. The politics got in the way.
We rented real hovels in Blenheim when young and hubby was a "manager" of a store belonging to a chain. We paid upfront to move our belongings by rail, from one appointment to the next. Eleven homes, always looking for better, in 4 moves before we threw out the anchor and built with a 30 year Housing Corporation Loan, in Rotorua.
For the first time in years, we see general building and social building happening, not just in the top end of the town.
As for these "Slum motels" we have driven around on different days looking for those??? The quality of homes here is poorer than those of some areas of Europe and until recently, Australia, motels follow a pattern world wide, built for short stays, but slums?? I question that?
We lived in a motel in Blenheim paid for by the employer as we had a child and no suitable housing. Not many employers do that now, and Councils do not see that as part of their brief, and until this Government social Housing was touted as short term accommodation!! Remember?
TBH I think local gummint got directive from central g in Douglas or RRichardsons time to heave ho a lot of things that they did in housing and other things. (Thanks you old people -haters in central gummint. You would be more use being fed to the lions, except they probably wouldn't like the taste and spit you out.)
Marlborough has some 180 Council units. They are still in favour as we in Grey Power told them to keep them and they were so willing they invited GP participation in their Housing Committee. Govt is building another 100+ units in Nelson/Marlborough. Grape workers accommodation is vastly improved with purpose-built complexes. There is real hope and cooperation here but not enough builders, tradies, and some blockage by local developers to release enough land for new housing. Some but never enough, to keep the prices up?
Meanwhile, 10% of Marlborough housing is not occupied…..
What about the provincial growth fund, is there no access to establish apprenticeships and support accommodation. Or shall I say, provide living support to those who sign up? If you can get support for doing nothing, surely there must be some for doing something. Provided our employment minister is proactive…
Sir Grahame Sydney about how and why he started and kept drawing and painting from the age of 5. Following the lead of his words could well be the means by which a generation of NZs could positively turn around and pull together.
"I've got an infamous blue suitcase which is full with stuff Mum kept from every sort of waking day of my life. I used to draw as a young child and always loved it and always thought it was magical and I just kept going … mainly because people used to praise me and it was a wonderful way of thinking you were okay."
The race is on in US Intelligence between finding ET and the Killer Bat that escaped from the lab cave – I can feel it in my big toe that we’re close – and they’ll know it when they see it, as they did with WMDs, because it is in their job title. My money is on Emo Musk meeting Ewoks on Mars. The modern day version of bread & circuses AKA dead cat bounce on the table. I’ll be ready to take selfies next time an oblong object flies past Earth at great speed in the opposite direction to where it came from.
Luckily, the US Intelligence is much more forthcoming than the NZ one; even NZ Government is shrouded in secrecy behind the OIA security wall. Put all DHB IT systems behind the OIA wall and no hacker will ever get in, let alone out, unredacted. That said, I thought I saw an UFO the other night, but it turned out to be the Emo Musk Satellite Express, no bells or flashing lights !
FWIW, I believe in alien life, but not life as we know it. It would be such a cosmic waste of resources if we were the only bugs in the Universe; it goes against my utilitarian values and beliefs.
I'm kinda meh on whether there are aliens or not. Unless they're orbiting one of the dozen or so closest stars, there isn't going to be any kind of back-and-forth communication within any human lifetime.
Then from a simple physics viewpoint, just contemplating the sheer amount of energy that would be needed for any kind of interstellar travel means I reckon I've got a better chance of winning Powerball than of earth ever getting visited by aliens in flying saucers.
Don’t let inconvenient traditional physics get in the way of good-old imagination.
We already struggle with migrants, can’t even get on top of a pandemic, make a real mess of online communication and free speech, and shit in our own nest, so the alien invasion visiting hour will have to wait for a little bit longer and I’m sure they’ll understand.
When you’re trying too hard you put strain on the brain. Sit back, relax and don’t fall asleep. Even better, go for a bike ride or walk across the bridge.
Or ski in your togs,which has shown great success.
Vladimir Igorevich had an unusual creative method which he inherited from his teacher Andrey Kolmogorov. Whenever he got stuck on a problem, he would grabbed his skis and ski 40 kilometers or more wearing nothing but his swim-trunks. His colleagues often met him dressed like this in the piercing wind. According to him, this practice would always lead him to a new idea. He also made it a rule for himself to go swimming whenever he encountered open water. A frequent bather in wintertime, he has convinced many of his students to do the same
I once biked thirty km in -20 weather. It did not lead to any insight beyond what would have been blindingly obvious before the exercise. Maybe I should have joined my colleague that did the ride a couple of weeks later at -38, setting a new company record.
I hope you didn't decide that because the gravitational force is so very, very much weaker that the other three forces you would be quite safe jumping off a high bridge?
That has quite a high percentage of cases where it does not end well.
if aliens visit nz will they have to do the two week quarantine, and will they be allowed to sleep in their spaceships and freedom camp? are they already here and members of the national party and living on the nth shore?. will an alien be worth two chinese(on the s bridges scale)?. will they qualify for nz benefits, and if they turn out to be bad eggs, where and how do we deport them?
There may be a joke of some kind in the future around the smell of minute living organisms from space that have come on one of his space fleet. We'll look at anything smelly and unwanted and say 'It has the Smell of Musk'. We already cart death dealing bugs and microbes round the world and deposit them to destroy crops and people in other earth countries, so next we will be doing it from space. We who have nothing better to do than wreck the physical and dream up fun and nirvanas for our pleasure and all without taking drugs. The mind is amazing.
I hear you. Panspermia is no longer a theory. If (!) we are attacked by alien monsters with tentacles in a few hundred years, at least we’ll know where they came from.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A NASA scientist reports detecting tiny fossilized bacteria on three meteorites, and maintains these microscopic life forms are not native to Earth.7/03/2011 Strange life signs found on meteorites: NASA scientist | Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-meteorites-life-idUSTRE7252KQ20110307
All those dirty secrets and another pile of shit laid before the feet of the catholic church .215 kids or their remains found in a secret grave in the grounds of a so called Residential School in BC.Just like many of us here in nz were unaware of abuses in state care were as bad or as prevalent as our recent enquiry revealed them to be most people in canada had no idea of the damage done to native children forcibly "educated "in special schools run by state funded churches from 1876 to 1996.Sounds like beatings rape and sodomy were common and a daily reality for many .In canada when i guess enough of the dirty secrets had made it to the surface authorities took six years to investigate the claims of abuse and finally had a fully blown truth and reconciliation hearing and this is old news now but they found the bodies last week .Now i guess they,ll have to search the grounds of all these schools .Seems incredible that so called "christians"could treat children in such a cruel manner could it be that rather than man supposedly being" made in the image of his maker "that its the other way around ?
Redline has produced this amazing article that recounts various happenings and statements that have aroused so much attention that it is stating that the contents of the article are the basis of all the wokeness that is going on about racism. It is about a woman who was born on Cloud 9 and without coming down from there considers she speaks for and understands the vast majority of women and men who are at the lower income levels of society.
She came, she saw, she conquered saying, 'I'm going to buy that theory and make it mine'!
Like the "Boomer" Millennial divide. Another way of distracting all of us from the real culprits, the wealthy and powerful, while they run off with our wealth.
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
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. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
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 ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
I'm coming to the suspicion that Waka Kotahi really really don't want anything other than cars, trucks and buses going over the Harbour Bridge, for institutional culture and ideology reasons. So as support grows for providing some kind of walking and cycling access, it appears to me they are resorting to blowing out the projected cost by ever increasing the size and cost of the proposal in hopes of killing the idea.
Consider the original proposed Skypath, pushed mostly by Bevan Woodward. This was to be a lightweight composite tube underneath the clip-on lanes on the east side. IIRC the east side is preferred because on average trucks travelling south are less loaded, so the structure has a bit more reserve capacity. Projected costs were well under $100 million, even with generous allowance for the cost increases that inevitably happen on infrastructure projects.
The engineering and costings were done by entirely credible people and organisations. Including Gurit (link to Google's cached html version of a pdf found by searching Skypath costing), a major international supplier of materials and engineering expertise for composites infrastructure, and Core Builders Composites in Warkworth, who started out as Oracle's America's Cup boatbuilder and diversified into a wide range of complex innovative composites projects.
Then, once it appeared that Auckland Council and the government were on board with the idea and Waka Kotahi were given somewhat more of a ‘make it happen’ directive, the design radically changed with a new estimated cost of $240 million.
Evidently, that didn't result in killing the project, so there's been another round of revisions resulting in what we now have, a proposal resulting in the best part of a billion dollars to be spent, or dedicating an existing lane to cyclists and walkers (with the resulting massive increase in traffic problems).
Looks to me like Waka Kotahi are desperately trying to refine their shit sandwich recipe to try to get to a 'uhh, we guess that's a no' from government and council.
Anyone want to try to allay my suspicions?
It also seems time to go back to the original concept. And if road traffic changes are needed to make it work for structural load reasons, then simply restrict heavy vehicles from using the left lane(s) southbound, perhaps coupled with more speed restrictions between the bridge and Fanshawe St, to ease the lane changes that heavy vehicles might need to make in that short distance.
Have you missed the bit about cyclists getting their own bridge?
The old bridge is rapidly approaching its use by I suspect.
By doing a pedestrian/cycle bridge it clears the way for a multi use tunnel for cars and trains apparently .
Yeah, I'm aware of the separate bridge proposal.
It looks to me like that's just another step in the effort to increase the political unpalatability of the proposals by ever increasing the cost, in hopes of killing the idea of pedestrians and cyclists crossing the harbour at the bridge location.
edit: if you want to see the thoughts of a bunch of other people with apparently similar suspicions, have a rummage around on the http://www.getacross.org.nz website.
All the transport interventions needed to provide transport choice away from cars are huge.
Witness the damage to local businesses of City Rail Link.
Light rail beyond the Ak SH20corridor will be even more disruptive.
At 46% of our greenhouse gases, we are just glimpsing the scale of our addiction and the costs of withdrawal.
Oh, and as far as the existing bridge approaching its use by date, well it appears it is and it isn't.
It seems whenever there's a bit of a push on for something like a new crossing, or there's a proposal Waka Kotahi doesn't want, the bridge is on its last legs.
But whenever the issue is something like expanding the network that 50 tonne trucks are allowed to use, it seems the bridge has plenty of life and capacity.
It's a dog. It is subject to stress fatigue, needs continuous re-painting, the road needs relaying every two years, the gradient is too steep and wastes fuel, it is vulnerable to damage by users.
Build a new one for the 22nd century next to it, then knock it down for scrap.
Inability to fund the Auckland Harbour bridge resulted in a very poor product. Let’s not make the same mistake again.
every major road bridge close to salt water suffers these same problems. building a new bridge wont stop these.
"Build a new one for the 22nd century next to it, then knock it down for scrap"
The old bridge in Frankton works splendidly as a walking/biking bridge now.
@ b.g..
that is a reasonable idea..
+1
I don't know hold old this fact sheet is but it says.
"NZTA spends up to $4m on maintenance and resealing each year."
That would still have to paid if you keep the bridge there, whatever it might be used for.
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/site-resources/content/about/docs/auckland-harbour-bridge-factsheet.pdf
Date of document is 21 Dec 2009.
Why would you need to fork the same amount of money for R & M if the use changes majorly?
Salt air is pretty unforgiving, but there's no way the road reseal or engineering load-related work would be needed as frequently.
I think that the painting of the bridge would have to go on pretty well continuously. As Sacha says, salt air is going to make a mess of it whether it is used or not.
I did some work on road surfaces many years ago for the old MOW. Not engineering but trying to find ways of predicting when roads would need repair. If I remember correctly the life of a bitumen surface depended mostly upon its age, rather than the loads the road carried, unless the substrate was very inadequate for the axle loads. Cracks and holes in the bitumen are probably going to have more effect on bicycles than on car or truck tires. Specialised off-road bikes may not be affected but they aren't that common among commuter cyclists are they? I don't know many cyclists who are happy to ride a normal road bike on an unsealed surface and there are always comments about stones and rubbish on the existing cycle lane to Petone making it unusable. I'm not a cyclist these days so I might be quite wrong of course. Any Tour de France competitors out there to comment?
That document was from 2009 was it?. The amount of money quoted didn't seem very much and I did wonder how old it was.
Thanks, but that didn’t really answer the question. You seem to have a tendency to wander off topic and lose focus easily. I tend to do this too in verbal convos, which is why I prefer written communication.
Not an unreasonable suspicion.
The CycleAuckland engineers have a lot of back-and-forh on this.
Waka Kotahi are always going to be hit, since the stream of commuters taken off by cycling will be replaced over double with more cars imported.
So car traffic will never improve even with light rail, cycling, heavy rail combined.
It will make it less worse than it could have been.
Thst means NZTA exist in a melancholic counterfactual.
Which the left should understand well.
unfortunatley this often happens. a simple, relatively cheap idea is taken over by high priced consultants and costs blow out. sometimes these consultants get a percentage of the final cost so are very keen to push price up. sometimes, these consultants have very little real world engineering expertise , so have no idea of how to save money. and as you say, sometimes there are dirty deeds done to kill off entire projects. in this case??? pity the politician who has to wade through screeds of bullshit to find the truth.
I've seen it happen even entirely within a company.
It's really easy to do, just tweak an assumption here and an estimate there. A lot of times, people doing it aren't even aware they're doing it. They're just responding to their internal confirmation biases. With that last sentence in mind, hell, I've probably done it myself while being blithely unaware of it.
It’s a particularly powerful effect when the end result conforms with institutional biases and culture.
What about citizens putting forward fully engineered projects after agreement with the government, and guidelines, with some funding for the initial plans and specs, and if feasible then more funding, and bypassing the consultants. Just getting the technical aspects checked? Participatory government not this top-down bullshit.
That is exactly how Skypath came to be, before NZTA got their claws into it.
(should-have-been headline..)
'the middle-class flex their lycra-clad muscles..and get all hot and sweaty..'
‘The poor take to using cycles due to the cost of rent.’
and they do so without needing lycra too.
It is the old adage of wants vs needs.
And the sad thing is, we have so many many needs.
Please go and look at photos of the actual people riding bikes on the bridge. Then stop throwing 'lycra' around as a cheap shot.
Yes a lot of diversity there unless you break it down into; the cream, the bone, the white, the off-white, the ivory or the beige than a Richie Benaud wardrope. I am sure all who live in Manukau will appreciate all this money being spent for those who can afford a $4m house ( and who have made a cool $1m profit since June 2019) to live in and take time for a wee bike ride across their vanity project.
Far from diverse, sure. Please do read the post I've linked to below.
@ sacha..
Surely you can see that the use of 'lycra' in this case is as an all-encompasing potent middle-class descriptor..?
(kinda like 'boomer'..and so many other examples of the genre..)
and let's not forget that lycra is the crocs of clothing..dunno about you but the sight of trevor mallard in lycra is an image I for one can never erase..
and yes..it is an accurate use of the english language/the word..
'you say 'lycra'..we see middle-class..'
Say middle class then.
@ sacha..
you are ignoring the beauty of the english language..and the potency of word-built images ..
(have you heard that song by olivia newton john..?..you might like it ..
it goes..
'let's get literal..literal..'..)
olivia newton john is the ugg boots of music..
That will be Dame Olivia Newton John to plebs like us.
After all, if the call has to be "Bring Back Sir Buck" in the future she should be entitled to her proper title as well.
You self-identify as “plebs?? Strike me down with a feather!
Anyway, Olive has enough titles already.
As a singer-actress, she’s a metaphorical ugg boot, IMO.
A "pleb"?
Reading the contributions to this blog I would say it is a fair descriptor for almost every one, including you and I.
The only exception would perhaps be Wayne Mapp, when he graces us with his presence.
Surely you don't consider yourself to be a patrician? Heaven forbid that you are really so conceited.
Well, well, well, Alwyn reckons he and everybody else here on TS is a pleb with one notable exception: Dr Mapp QSO – you like titles, Alwyn? When it comes to noblesse oblige, I can think of several examples here on TS who would qualify. Sadly, you’re missing off my list. Surely, there are other blogs that are more, shall we say, suited to you?
You’re reading way too much into the contributions here unless you’re a mind reader, but even you wouldn’t be so conceited, would you?
I am with alwyn on this..
we are a nation of plebs..
the country was colonised by plebs..
with a scattering of poor patricians..sent to rule over us..
little has changed..
Alwyn and Phil Ure are like peas in a pod.
@incog..
no…more like plebs in a pod…
Oh dear. I have hurt Incognito's feelings. He clearly thinks he is one of the chosen Aristocrats who are here to rule us.
I suggest you remember what happened in 1793 when La Terreur began in France. Aristocrats like the class to which you aspire went to the guillotine.
In the meantime just remember that the great figures in the Labour movement such as Michael Savage and Peter Fraser in New Zealand would have gloried in being described as a working man.
The current lot not so much but of course they aren't as competent at their work as the early trade union pioneers are they?
Just as well you can remember for us, alwyn – how old are you?!
I admire Savage and Fraser for their socialist principles.
Some of the 'current lot' of NZ Government MPs seem at least moderately competent, if a little less principled than Savage and Fraser. Regarding NZ's 'loyal' opposition MPs, however, even ‘moderately competent‘ would be a bit of a stretch.
@ drowsy..
just 'cos national are going down the crapper..
galloping towards irrelevancy..
doesn't excuse labour for doing nowhere near enough..
to fix what ails us..
it is just incrementalism heaped upon incrementalism..
their recent drip-fed/gratification-delayed increases to the pittance that is welfare..is a potent example of not doing enough..
I mean..when you have the bosses spokesperson (hope) saying it wasn't enough..
it clearly shows that labour have jumped that particular shark..
Imho our current Government is moving in a good direction more often than not. While their speed is pragmatically slow (and nowhere near fast enough for me), the overall result may be more sustainable than the “radical remedies” I’d prefer. What chance that the Green’s party vote will get get above 10% while they advocate the introduction of a wealth tax? It’s just one of the reasons that I party vote Green, and likely one of the reasons that many people don’t.
@ incognito..
is she also back in fashion again..?
For the cultists she never went out of fashion. Maybe you should mix up your social circle, you know, fewer Denver cultists and more Olive ones. It’ll do you good to broaden your horizons somewhat beyond that dull stereotypical thinking of yours.
All further entries to today's irony contest are now closed lol
the ones in lycra are the funniest tho, honestly.
personally i have biked all my life overseas in Europe – Germany and Holland – and i would go so far to say that i probably biked more in my life as a commuter then many here have done so in a leisurly way.
I biked in Auckland 20 odd years ago, when no one did it. I biked because i never owned a car. I also use public transport such as busses, trams, trains, and yes the airplane, why ? Because i never saw the reason to have a car.
And i have biked in winter gear, summer gear, bathing suits etc. And the lycra crowd are the funniest to observe. There is a certain je ne sais quoi about people in tight fluo colors and a fancy pair of bike shoes.
And I cycle toured extensively in NZ and big bits of the ME in the late 70's. Also did club racing in my 20's. The great thing about cycling is that there are so many different ways people do it and they're all good. You get to dress however you like – or not at all.
But honestly – for long distances and sports cycling, tight fitting 'lycra' (it wasn't called that back then) offers both a lower wind resistance and is lot more comfortable. Smirk all you want – lyrcra works for me if I'm doing anything more than a short commute or leisure ride.
The lycra brigade is notably different from any other rider that i have met anywhere.
Be that Germany, Holland, Italy, France or NZ.
They tend to be male for the most part (again this might be changing), they tend to ride peloton style – irrespective of the road, or size of the road, need honking horns or insults to go into single file to let people pass and as observed a few times, fall of their bikes when coming to a full stop cause the shoes got stuck.
This of course is different if one is a solitary rider, but in groups that particular subgroup of riders generally is a pain in the proverbial.
That is really quite particular to them. Just my 2 cnts.
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/lycra-on-the-streets-of-the-netherlands/
?
The clue is in the first sentence:
The 4-min video clip is for all those commenters here with lycra hang-ups – lycra is very common in the Netherlands – and gives a great snapshot of how cycling is fully integrated in Dutch culture and society – and infrastructure – and used by all walks of life; so many bridges, tunnels and cycle paths!
Just for your general edification, really.
'lycra is very common in the Netherlands..'
I would submit it is 'very common' everywhere/anywhere….
My mind is too small for that.
Yes Incognito, i know that the dutch are quite different. I lived in Holland for a few years, and i commuted by bike. Just to clarify my stand on Lycra and fietsen.
Of course, clarify away.
Sports riders do quite frequently ride in peletons – in every country I've ever seen them in. It used to be largely confined to club events, often on controlled roads either closed or with limited traffic.
What's changed is the advent of the internet and the ability to organise weekend rides with 50 or more riders who have no club alliegence and have no alternative other than t use the open road. And on narrow sections of road they do indeed hold up traffic momentarily. Usually it incurs about a 30 – 90 sec delay at most, and if it happens to you more than once or twice a month you have to be a pretty unlucky motorist.
And all experienced cyclists quickly learn that at ”choke points’ it pays to ‘own the lane’ to prevent motorists from squeezing past at speed. As it happens in 2013 my sister-in-law was killed in exactly this circumstance on a group ride that was trying to do the right thing by riding single file and keeping well to the left. So there is that.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/8438533/Notorious-road-claims-cyclist
Being clipped in can take a bit of getting used to, but falling off at the lights is pretty rare – and I can't recall ever doing it or seeing anyone else for that matter.
That just leaves the fact that it's mostly men who enjoy group rides like this. Can't help you with that.
I am not talking about organised events.
I am talking about early morning sunday riders in their fifties / sixties on teh way to the coffee shop, riding in a group of 6 often next to each other.
But to be fair i expect them to drive their big fat mon – fri suv wit the same courtesy.
And that is the main issue imho in traffic in NZ (can't speak for OZ never really stopped there) is the lack of courtesy to all users of the traffic network.
agree sabine – that word 'courtesy'. That would save a lot of stress.
I think male lycra-wearers are just men who harbour a secret desire to wear womens' underwear..
why don't they just go ahead and do that..?
and spare us all the sight of their crushed genitalia..?
Dr Phil
Yoga pants!
In reply to treetop
If they did itll solve the obesity epidemic!!!
O fuck did I say that out loud?
Yes you did.
I'm fucking 50 soon and I've decided it's time to let it all hang out,take no shit and no prisoners.
Aaahhh, the midlife crisis
Property less, earning fuck all working for a had life handed to them on plate pair of cunts, and cant find a plan b, crisis what crisis, . 🥺🥺🤪
Throw out a suggestion or two here and see whether it catches anything? It can be hard to see options and opportunities when you work your arse off each and every day and life feels like Groundhog Day.
Have a nice evening.
Sometimes it is better to let someone have a rant and not come down from your tree. 'Better out than in' they say. Have a nice evening grey – there I've said it for you.
I'm glad you're still with us bwaghorn. Do you have a caravan? Could you find a less self satisfied pair to work for? Trouble is there is a lot of it around. The fact that overseas or local rich people or ambitious anyway can buy houses, and don't do much physical work to earn it is part of our strangely different society. And people think they are so smart selling houses.
I find that hardly anyone I know actually looks to the future and measures the present and finds it wanting. They are deep in their own existence and I am sort of hanging five on it. But try to find some others who enjoy old time or folk music and a beer for relaxation, search it out. Folk music generally is about people making good, better than heavy metal say which just blots out everything, or rap which is clever and cutting generally rather than enjoyable. Is there an Irish band around your area? Learn to play the guitar, switch your mind frequenttly to a different channel, it's the only way to survive.
No need for you to say it for me Grey. I can manage it.
Cheers .its not a complete disaster the main reason I'm trapped in the job I'm in is the positive things (people mainly ) have rooted me to the spot and job opportunities are slim here ,that's why I loath my employers because they know I'm going no where so chose to shaft me for it . No unions for farm boys.
I envy you if you are in the quiet country. My neighbour is driving me out of my home and there is no plan B which isn't ugly. I hate not having a good plan B. For now I will just go a day at a time.
edit
You and Swordfish could get together Treetop and make a complaint to ? perhaps both local and central government about the lack of ability for people to have a peaceful enjoyment of your homes. You could point out that many are prevented from a life worth living because of the mental condition of people in the community.
I see that Ruth Dyson got an accolade this year. I think she was driving the policy of emptying the buildings and land put aside for the mentally damaged saying they should be living a sweeter life in the community (though probably NIHBY). Then the buildings and land got sold and the money went into the government accounts.
What should have been done was improvement, change of staff and different methods for treating those who weren't in violent or destructive episodes. And special places for the criminals. But no, dump the problems back into the community that struggles to cope with the decimation of society through ill-conceived policy shafting by the Gang of Four?
And now with alzheimers increasing in leaps and bounds, you can have the problem of policing loony parents and other loved ones at home, with the neighbours regularly involved also. The person affected can be distressed when they are halfway gone and have lucid moments and realise their minds are going and be engulfed in sorrow. Next they leave a pot on the stove going at full bore or are out of their beds in the middle of the night, wandering off to where they used to go to play when they were young.
It's a great life if you don't weaken I think they used to say in the UK in the war. I am increasingly having this feeling in the midst of this country that has such good financial measures and is near the top in world standards of everything!
It is going to blow up any day. I am considering a sleep out in the back yard.
I've pulled the nuclear option this morning,significant pay rise or else , meeting next week, have decided the stress of management needs proper wages or it's not worth it
Good luck with the neighbour.
Resentment can build up. Eventually a decision is made because of being treated unfairly. I have a rule, when something is impacting on me due to a person's shitty behaviour it is my business.
Considerate article by a Kainga Ora sustainability manager and on-the-ground cycling advocate:
https://twitter.com/AlecTang_/status/1401639134112849920
Personally i agree, give them a lane for a few month and see how much the usage would actually be. Traffic in Auckland is already f'ed up beyond believe, so really why not?
Three months from Dec until March or June until Sep?
I suggest June until September 2023. Do you think the Government would dare to do that?
Is it up to Government to decide?
don't actually care. Give them the trial period, see how the usage is, run some reports on what a new bridge would need, and then go from there. IF they are serious about commuting they will do so wind, rain and shine, if they are Sunday cyclers or fair weather riders only it might shine a new light on the needs vs the wants theory.
\shrug
Seriously, the council could consider a bike Sunday for example. Free two lanes on Sundays – weather permitting – not when high winds etc . Auckland traffic should manage on a Sunday. Even if you do it just for a few hours. Why not?
Depends on what you want to measure. Even a commute trial as such over three months would give a limited representation of what could be if/when implemented on a more permanent basis, for fairly obvious reasons. For example, with Te Huia travellers/commuters only have to not use a car for the journey and just buy a ticket. It is on a five-year trial! How does that compare to a measly few hours on a sunny not-too-windy Sunday?
Might be entertaining if a race and sponsorship for a good cause.
The prize could be an original cycle lycra.
Yes let's start trialling some things.
On such a crap day weather wise all round, reasons to be Cheerful part 3. For those who appreciate greatness and to celebrate the Queens best
Good opinion piece on TDB by Christine Rose on the cycling issue. I agree with what she says which is basically pro bike user and pro more safe cycling infrastructure. I have used bikes most of my life, for commuting, fun, travel, to do the shopping, never worn lycra and think cycling is cheap and healthy but becoming bloody dangerous anywhere on the public highway system (especially in NZ). Unfortunately, NZ, Oz, the U.S., Canada etc. have been built around the ownership and use of cars and now the serious prospect of changing all that around because of the need to combat climate change is really hard. Dont blame bike riders for the pain!
Koff I would imagine that your bike riding has been mostly done on the road. Now it has been pushed on to the footpath for safety, it endangers the simple basic transport option that is natural to us – walking. Plus all the other man-made contraptions that are too fast for comfort to walkers who want to relieve stress, get somewhere at their own pace, and enjoy the neighbourhood and perhaps stroll and chat with a friend.
And you are right the transport system is around vehicles. Dealers have made much money out of selling vehicles. The lots are full of hummer type vehicles that signal in metal, make way for me coming through, move over for my fat-bottomed wide vehicle encroaching on every space.
Yet our local council runs buses which often have one or two people in them. They could set up an arrangement with a taxi service for less cost, and help to use resources effectively and provide a better income for the often retired men and new citizens who drive them.
Ways to reduce vehicle purchase, such as extra tax on people movers, and encouragement for the smaller vehicle, for moving to EVs, for hybrids etc. would be helpful. But public transport that is tailored to what people need and that regular travellers can buy into with season tickets that bring the price down to what allows suppliers to make a good living, would be a good way of PPP.
\A set route of local season ticket holders could be picked up and dropped off each morning and night after work connecting to the bus route is one idea I have found. Also taxis that will serve an area within a set time once two people have called and who share the price. A person might call hopefully early in the morning, and if no-one else calls, then use other transport, but once the system got going enough people would be using and finding the system beneficial.
I like to point out that it is unlawful in any other country to ride a bicycle on a motorway/highway. It should be quite logical as to why.
Here in NZ it seems that there is an understanding that riding a bike is a free for all but this is not true. There are also rules that equally apply to motorized and non motorized cycling. I see many riders who completely ignore just basics: lighting – see and be seen (200 meters min), high vis clothing, using hand signs and speeding, crossing red lights, cutting across other vehicles, completely obliviend of the way a truck driver can or not see you when overtaking etc. etc. etc. There are bicycle riders that endanger others road users of all stripes and colors and I for one are for one would advocate for a driver licence to be compulsory.
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/roadcode/code-for-cycling/
so, you have just forced all under 15 yr old off bicycles. not a good idea.
A lisence could be simply a free but mandatory road rules test at the AA. In fact, you could start teaching basic road rules from kindergarten on so as to ease children in to using bikes, mopeds, scooters, car.
sadly this page is only in german, but it is done there, https://www.adac.de/verkehr/verkehrssicherheit/kindersicherheit/verkehrserziehung/mobil-sicher-radfahrer/
Even we as kids had a 'test' with a police man during school hours. They set up a low skill test area and you ride around, stop and go, red /green light etc. We got a batch. 🙂
Just make it free and begin in kindergarten. By the time the kid is 10 – 12 they can navigate the traffic in their area fairly well. And this will make passing the drivers test easier in the future.
that used to happen. we had visits from ?? with pedal cars and layout streets with ped x and roundabouts etc. there is film from then at national film unit.
I remember that happening once at my primary school. There were not enough bikes and pedal cars for all the kids so those who missed out performed pedestrian duties.
I was mightily pissed off at the pathetic tokenism of the whole charade and I was only 9.
woodart – You are kidding right? I mean do you want to get a point across regardless of any risk to the kids? Really?
perhaps I have a closer relationship with reality. you are the one who wanted ALL pushbike riders to be licensed. I dont have a problem with increased junior road education, but licenses for 6 yr olds!?. talk to yr local cop about that idea and watch for the eyeroll.
A sweet song from John Denver with thoughts that most of us will have as we are older. Unfortunately for some of us who are older we cannot relax and play our fiddles while Rome burns.
Poems Prayers and Promises
john denver is the crocs of music..
a rocky mountain high
as in reviled by most…loved by a few..
and essentially soft and comfortable..
Some soft and comfortable is good, unlike much of your comment PU.
aaww..!!
and denver-cultists are quite prickly..I've noticed..if their guru is slighted in any way..
and funny story..they self-identity as 'johns'..
and tend towards overstuffed/fussy furnishings in their home environment..(think doilies..and the like..)
is this you grey..?
"Quite prickly" but mostly harmless as cultists go; fairly ‘soft‘ targets even.
Denver had his flaws, but who doesn't, eh Phil? Each to their own, imho.
Say what you like about his music, his stance against Tipper Gore and her ilk was brave and influential.
I seem to recall an interview with Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys, who had been battling the PMRC over their album art, saying John Denver's testimony was game-changing.
yes..his politics were good..
especially when compared with 'cool' musos..like morrissy..van morrison..and that notorious racist..eric clapton..
I like the music from all of those three..(some of that music examples of transcendental-beauty…c.f…astral weeks..)
but as human beings/ their personal politics..they all really are pieces of shit..
Some exploiters of migrant workers happily discussing proposed law changes. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125101418/employers-openly-talk-about-charging-migrant-meat-more-for-residency
And provincial employers complaining they can't get staff (without paying enough): https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300324465/got-workwant-work-small-businesses-cant-fill-jobs-as-there-is-nobody-around
Laughable they can't find landscapers – have they tried their local Polytech? They usually have courses turning out entry level folk. Mind, I've replied to a few rural ads over the last while – happy enough to move but the accommodation is the clincher – got to live somewhere, and if the wage won't let you save there's not much point.
I can understand them wanting people with enough experience to hit the ground running. Whole wage/price structure needs to adjust to our post-migrant-topup mentality.
The biggest impact has not been wages, in my view, but employment culture. The low wage migrant is obliged to endure some pretty nasty crap, and may not even get a legal wage. Kiwi workers won't get out of bed for ratbag employers like that – nor should they.
Offer decent pay and conditions and you'll have to fight off workers with a stick – the way big projects like the Clyde dam had to. We're not seeing any of that.
I just shake my head… many kiwis wont last longer than a week when it dawns on them that they actually have to work consistently and keep focus for more than a computer game time slot. Every day, not just once. There is a belief that they are owed a living because they have been hard done by, by the world, the parents, the school, the neighbor, the whatever. And the ones who have gone to high school, maybe sat a paper or two at Uni think that the work is beneath them. And then you have youngsters who are willing but their skill base is so low that they need 24/7 supervision that no one can provide. This is the reality out there, on the ground where no one is willing to look and ask the hard questions.
Spoken like a true Kiwi!
Forty years of slave workers and union busting in the fishing industry – and they wonder what happened to the work ethic.
When you're scum like that, anyone with any get up and go, will.
Cry me no boss tears – they made this bed – best they lie on it.
To me, it looks more like 30 years of trades training policy and shite wages has come to bite us in the arse.
What it really is is that there will always be a minority of mallingerers, and grumpy old fuckers ,usually right wingers like to latch on to those few so they can run down all youngins.
Saw a funny thing a while back which suggested that the reason right wingers are so worried about malingerers on a humane dole is because they'd do it given half the chance, when actually most people want to actually work or contribute to society in some way.
It's the politics of envy, lol. The only motive tories can comprehend to do anything is money – if you gave them enough money to be happy, they'd do nothing.
But then (like all true addicts) the problem for some tories is that no amount is ever enough.
Even if this is true, it's still a case of chickens and eggs. If as SM suggested above, you offer decent pay and conditions so that workers really want these jobs, they'll know that a decent performance is needed to get and keep them.
But this is just a bit too hard. It's easier to politically capture governments and get them to break labour markets in ways that advantage you – such as easy access to foreign labour.
Foreign Waka
I think that many kids should spend time doing work and then do block courses at school. And all should have experience of doing physical work. The education system is training students to suit the tech people with heads filled with equations. But the old problem exists, they make very thin soup. A spell in the fields and workshop would break the spell of the screen; it trains many to be voyeurs of real life, has anyone thought of that. No wonder people are always going on overseas holidays – they have never realised that there is a different world out there away from the city or their small town.
@waka..
socrates had similar thoughts on the perfidies/failings of the young.
they have always been a problem for the old..the young..
little changes..over time..eh..?
That is the biggest issue is it not, that if you wanted to move and work there, without housing that is a no go. And it has been like that for ever. I doubt that many who work and live in the big city are saving that much of their wages. Kiwi safer maybe.
When I moved to Korea I took about a 40% pay cut on paper – but cost of living was so low I could save 60% of my pay without scrimping.
A few baselines need to be worked out here really – the neolib economy presently rewards the crook, the speculator, and the chair-polishing bureaucrat, not the worker.
unless there is some sort of rental cap, or a reform on how rent – i.e. the usage of a space is charged, nothing will change. At the moment people are paying the mortgage, rates and the boat in their rents. And the government could not increase the min. wage enough and fast enough to change that. Rent control, a rental mirror etc is what is needed.
live in your car , thats the nat party solution to non existant housing crisis.
Plenty a people are living in their cars and motels under Labour too. Heck, most of Rotorua Moteliers are earning themselves a golden toilet seat by renting to homeless at full prices cause the government has a big purse and is happy spending the money.
So you could say the issue is bipartisan.
Well, not much has changed. They are now in substandard motels costing the taxpayer 1 Mill a week.
Plenty of bridges in NZ.
I prefer having a mil paid each week on social housing, given to those who need it and in time they can rent to own. Imagine how many houses we could have for those in need within only one year. I recon the property market is a ruse and some of the parliamentarians just look away.
It is a form of social housing, i.e. a temporary patch. Do you want to kick those people out of the motels and tell them to sleep in their cars and under bridges? Your suggestion makes no sense to me.
????? you have read what I wrote right?
If we use the money to buy social housing – homes with bridging finance before going to the next stage, meaning moving the family in, it would be cheaper and more desirable to house those who live right now in temporary accommodation. A hotel/motel room is NOT a home. Especially for kids.
If I could jump the shadow of my manners and it would be acceptable, I would spit on the floor in front of the housing minister(s). The self interest of those in power makes me vomit.
Already happening.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kiwis-cant-outbid-kainga-ora-government-grilled-over-750-million-house-buying-bill/5C2LMNP7F5ZTSJMDF6BL3P2SG4/
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/04/government-buys-hundreds-of-houses-in-direct-competition-with-first-home-buyers.html
Emotions get in the way of clear thinking and this won’t help anyone.
ideally the government pays full rent for a house that is a proper rental – with all the stability that comes with it, rather then pay 400 NZD per night to house someone for a week or two and then they are back to where they were before.
The warehousing of homeless people in this country in rundown motels – the better ones try to get actual customers (less gang, less drugs, less violence, less police, etc) is shameful, and fwiw, it was shameful under Paula Benefit and it is shameful under Carmel (see nothing, hear nothing do nothing) Sepuloni. Shameful. Nothing more nothing less. That we have a few thousand kids in this country living in motels and hotels, is the failure of Labour and National – both parties and all of their highly paid, extremely well fed, and certainly expensively heeled members.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018784185/housing-crisis-more-than-4-000-nz-children-living-in-motels
I've been looking at a variation on it – but Nash's laws on campervans are a bit discouraging – push that option mostly out of reach. Not that I'm being offered any work anyway – the worker drought is rhetorical from where I'm sitting.
Thats because although somewhat lowly regarded it actually requires a very diverse skill set, read plans, set out, carpentry, concrete, paving, drainlaying, horticulture etc etc and then you need to be happy working in all weathers.
Not many stick at it….
As an aside the polytech courses are garbage can get the same certification (in name) in a 1 year polytech course that took me 8000 hours of apprenticeship.
Polytech short courses are the band aid for the semi illiterate. Employers know it.
I know a small landscape business owner who couldn't compete with the bigger landscaping companies that were able to bring in migrant workers under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.
To save his business he started hiring beneficiaries and paying them under the table. That is, until the tax department caught up with him.
The article cited refers to the situation in Blenheim, a town I know a little of. 🙂 The employment rate in Marlborough is 2.5% against the national average of 4,7%. So, it is harder to find workers.
Marlborough has 1% of the country's population, with no unversity, and a small campus of the NMIT in Blenheim.
Housing is hard to find in Blenheim. Houses sell fast and there is a shortage of social housing. Anecdotally, we hear of jobs not taken as accommodation was not accessible.
Food prices are high here. The average wage is the second lowest in the country. The median age is one of the highest in the country, with a much larger 65+ age group, which has one corollary of fewer workers available per head of population. That demographic anomaly also determines in part the average wage/income in Marlborough, and also the amount of money available for circulation.
One of the business owners mentioned is decent as I know him and I know that he is determined to do his bit for training apprentices.
I don't know what wages are being offered, so I can't offer advice on that. But small town NZ as typified in Blenheim can struggle with the advent of large shopping chains.
Marlborough also suffers from what I call 'third world' status. 80% of Mrlborough wineries/vineyards are owned outside the province. Profits therefore go out of the province as do some of the highest paid jobs in the industry go outside Marlborough to the head offices etc.
So, knowing some of the local circumstances does help to understand some of the local difficulties; but also remembering we have our share of worker-unfriendly enterprises in timber, fishing and farming as well.
The commitment to apprenticing was admirable, yes, but it should not really fall on the shoulders of individual businesses or customers. Prices need to increase but so do incomes.
Those broader processes will take some effort to sort out – including somehow resourcing provincial economies enough to counteract extractive arrangements like you describe.
Why shouldn't businesses pay for training? Otherwise they are just passing their business costs onto employees and tax payers.
What happened to Capitalism. A business which cannot pay all its costs, etc.
Plenty of trades do hire and train their own apprentices and are very happy to do so….
A good apprentice is hard to find these days usually they're someone that proactively approaches tbh also of course need suitably qualified staff to train them and have the time, very small sub contractor based business do struggle in this regard.
Its actually a problem with neoliberalism and that so many tradies are now sub contractors…
Businesses should train and pay their people but they are not in a position to engineer social acceptance of higher prices. That takes broader leadership and a just transition to a high-wage economy.
very good post mac1 those same conditions happen in a few rural locations around nz . as you say ,often outside owners who take the cream away from the locals. but propped up by local hardarses.
Getting social housing providers, employers and government to work together is also difficult in some areas. The politics got in the way.
We rented real hovels in Blenheim when young and hubby was a "manager" of a store belonging to a chain. We paid upfront to move our belongings by rail, from one appointment to the next. Eleven homes, always looking for better, in 4 moves before we threw out the anchor and built with a 30 year Housing Corporation Loan, in Rotorua.
For the first time in years, we see general building and social building happening, not just in the top end of the town.
As for these "Slum motels" we have driven around on different days looking for those??? The quality of homes here is poorer than those of some areas of Europe and until recently, Australia, motels follow a pattern world wide, built for short stays, but slums?? I question that?
We lived in a motel in Blenheim paid for by the employer as we had a child and no suitable housing. Not many employers do that now, and Councils do not see that as part of their brief, and until this Government social Housing was touted as short term accommodation!! Remember?
TBH I think local gummint got directive from central g in Douglas or RRichardsons time to heave ho a lot of things that they did in housing and other things. (Thanks you old people -haters in central gummint. You would be more use being fed to the lions, except they probably wouldn't like the taste and spit you out.)
Talking about lions eating – great piece from Stanley Holloway sending up the common people in the lion that ate Albert.
Marlborough has some 180 Council units. They are still in favour as we in Grey Power told them to keep them and they were so willing they invited GP participation in their Housing Committee. Govt is building another 100+ units in Nelson/Marlborough. Grape workers accommodation is vastly improved with purpose-built complexes. There is real hope and cooperation here but not enough builders, tradies, and some blockage by local developers to release enough land for new housing. Some but never enough, to keep the prices up?
Meanwhile, 10% of Marlborough housing is not occupied…..
Mac1 that is really a complete change then. Why are 10% empty?
Mostly holiday homes, of course. The census gives the information….. but in the midst of the homeless we have this rather stark anomaly.
What about the provincial growth fund, is there no access to establish apprenticeships and support accommodation. Or shall I say, provide living support to those who sign up? If you can get support for doing nothing, surely there must be some for doing something. Provided our employment minister is proactive…
Sir Grahame Sydney about how and why he started and kept drawing and painting from the age of 5. Following the lead of his words could well be the means by which a generation of NZs could positively turn around and pull together.
"I've got an infamous blue suitcase which is full with stuff Mum kept from every sort of waking day of my life. I used to draw as a young child and always loved it and always thought it was magical and I just kept going … mainly because people used to praise me and it was a wonderful way of thinking you were okay."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444199/landscape-artist-grahame-sydney-made-a-knight
By the way praise for weka and incognito and other mods for keeping on, keeping us reasonably seemly and effectively managed.
Grahame Sydney one of the best artists I have seen who are active in modern times. His paintings are breath taking and he deserves the honor.
The race is on in US Intelligence between finding ET and the Killer Bat that escaped from the
labcave – I can feel it in my big toe that we’re close – and they’ll know it when they see it, as they did with WMDs, because it is in their job title. My money is on Emo Musk meeting Ewoks on Mars. The modern day version of bread & circuses AKA dead cat bounce on the table. I’ll be ready to take selfies next time an oblong object flies past Earth at great speed in the opposite direction to where it came from.https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/300326712/scientists-sense-they-are-getting-closer-to-discovering-aliens
As always, xkcd is relevant:
https://xkcd.com/1235/
https://xkcd.com/718/
https://xkcd.com/638/
… and my first reaction whenever there's any UFO news is to see what's being said on Metabunk.
https://www.metabunk.org/whats-new/
Luckily, the US Intelligence is much more forthcoming than the NZ one; even NZ Government is shrouded in secrecy behind the OIA security wall. Put all DHB IT systems behind the OIA wall and no hacker will ever get in, let alone out, unredacted. That said, I thought I saw an UFO the other night, but it turned out to be the Emo Musk Satellite Express, no bells or flashing lights !
FWIW, I believe in alien life, but not life as we know it. It would be such a cosmic waste of resources if we were the only bugs in the Universe; it goes against my utilitarian values and beliefs.
I'm kinda meh on whether there are aliens or not. Unless they're orbiting one of the dozen or so closest stars, there isn't going to be any kind of back-and-forth communication within any human lifetime.
Then from a simple physics viewpoint, just contemplating the sheer amount of energy that would be needed for any kind of interstellar travel means I reckon I've got a better chance of winning Powerball than of earth ever getting visited by aliens in flying saucers.
Why would they go to all the trouble and then just buzz a few locals?
For shits and giggles. They only buzz believers, which is why I refuse to believe this nonsense. Usians are more gullible, I believe.
You reminded me of a wonderful bbc one-off from 1980 that agreed with you – the buzzing was just bored rich kids from the future.
https://youtu.be/JRwg8YbbaTE
For a number of reasons I more than thoroughly enjoyed that, thank you.
Don’t let inconvenient traditional physics get in the way of good-old imagination.
We already struggle with migrants, can’t even get on top of a pandemic, make a real mess of online communication and free speech, and shit in our own nest, so the alien
invasionvisiting hour will have to wait for a little bit longer and I’m sure they’ll understand.Every time I've tried to imagine my way outside of traditional physics it's ended in a lot of pain, sometimes tears, sometimes a visit to the doctor …
When you’re trying too hard you put strain on the brain. Sit back, relax and don’t fall asleep. Even better, go for a bike ride or walk across the bridge.
Or ski in your togs,which has shown great success.
http://www.ams.org/publicoutreach/in-memory/arnold-2010.pdf
[link added]
I once biked thirty km in -20 weather. It did not lead to any insight beyond what would have been blindingly obvious before the exercise. Maybe I should have joined my colleague that did the ride a couple of weeks later at -38, setting a new company record.
Brilliant! What is normal anyway?
I’ve added the link, because it’s worth reading the whole story.
Errm, riding a bike, and bridges have featured prominently in episodes of me trying to imagine outside of traditional physics that did not end well.
I see, accident prone. Pub crawling sounds more like your thing then
That also did not end well.
But you had a good time, didn’t you?
Indeed I did. Many times. I don't think I'm really accident prone, just a slow learner.
I relate, recognise and sympathise!!
I hope you didn't decide that because the gravitational force is so very, very much weaker that the other three forces you would be quite safe jumping off a high bridge?
That has quite a high percentage of cases where it does not end well.
A kayak was also involved.
Up the river without a paddle?
if aliens visit nz will they have to do the two week quarantine, and will they be allowed to sleep in their spaceships and freedom camp? are they already here and members of the national party and living on the nth shore?. will an alien be worth two chinese(on the s bridges scale)?. will they qualify for nz benefits, and if they turn out to be bad eggs, where and how do we deport them?
Rocket Lab for deportation back into space.
There may be a joke of some kind in the future around the smell of minute living organisms from space that have come on one of his space fleet. We'll look at anything smelly and unwanted and say 'It has the Smell of Musk'. We already cart death dealing bugs and microbes round the world and deposit them to destroy crops and people in other earth countries, so next we will be doing it from space. We who have nothing better to do than wreck the physical and dream up fun and nirvanas for our pleasure and all without taking drugs. The mind is amazing.
I hear you. Panspermia is no longer a theory. If (!) we are attacked by alien monsters with tentacles in a few hundred years, at least we’ll know where they came from.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/300325044/spacex-launches-more-than-100-tiny-squid-into-space
Don’t get me started on space junk and EM pollution; I need to upgrade my tinfoil helmet.
And
May 2021 https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/300307616/where-do-meteorites-come-from-we-tracked-hundreds-of-fireballs-streaking-through-the-sky-to-find-out
We searched through six years’ worth of records from the Desert Fireball Network, which scans the Australian outback for flaming meteors streaking through the sky. None of what we found came from comets…
We now know most of these come from the main asteroid belt – a region between Mars and Jupiter.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/earth-extraterrestrial-space-dust-weight-meteorite
.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A NASA scientist reports detecting tiny fossilized bacteria on three meteorites, and maintains these microscopic life forms are not native to Earth.7/03/2011
Strange life signs found on meteorites: NASA scientist | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-meteorites-life-idUSTRE7252KQ20110307
(Is the rock really those exciting colours?)
[link fixed]
Mars Attack
No wonder I have to vacuum clean so often with all that space dust and I was blaming the blimmin cat.
It seems as if you left something out of your comment. I fixed the last link.
Not sure what “exciting colours” you’re referring to!?
Thanks for link fix. Dunno what I didn't do. Pic was from I thought, detail in link.
All those dirty secrets and another pile of shit laid before the feet of the catholic church .215 kids or their remains found in a secret grave in the grounds of a so called Residential School in BC.Just like many of us here in nz were unaware of abuses in state care were as bad or as prevalent as our recent enquiry revealed them to be most people in canada had no idea of the damage done to native children forcibly "educated "in special schools run by state funded churches from 1876 to 1996.Sounds like beatings rape and sodomy were common and a daily reality for many .In canada when i guess enough of the dirty secrets had made it to the surface authorities took six years to investigate the claims of abuse and finally had a fully blown truth and reconciliation hearing and this is old news now but they found the bodies last week .Now i guess they,ll have to search the grounds of all these schools .Seems incredible that so called "christians"could treat children in such a cruel manner could it be that rather than man supposedly being" made in the image of his maker "that its the other way around ?
I think all organised religions have bloody hands and dirty secrets.all in the name of their various gods
Attitudes of white Canadians to indigenous people is not as good as projected. This about a young woman:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/45-year-anniversary-of-helen-betty-osborne-s-murder-shows-work-is-never-done-1.3849427
Creation of First Human-Monkey Embryos Sparks Concern
Called chimeras, these lab-grown creations have been hailed as a major scientific breakthrough. But some ethics experts see reason for worry
Creation of First Human-Monkey Embryos Sparks Concern
I think they should just let things happen naturally! The series of images of us developing from knuckle dragging apes is already in reverse anyway.
It is a hugely complex ethical issue where to draw a line; chimeric antibodies have been in use as highly effective anti-cancer drugs for years.
Has no-one read I am Legend???
Redline has produced this amazing article that recounts various happenings and statements that have aroused so much attention that it is stating that the contents of the article are the basis of all the wokeness that is going on about racism. It is about a woman who was born on Cloud 9 and without coming down from there considers she speaks for and understands the vast majority of women and men who are at the lower income levels of society.
She came, she saw, she conquered saying, 'I'm going to buy that theory and make it mine'!
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2021/06/06/unpacking-peggy-mcintoshs-knapsack/
Like the "Boomer" Millennial divide. Another way of distracting all of us from the real culprits, the wealthy and powerful, while they run off with our wealth.