It is all about perceived conflict of interest. A minister of Transport making decisions that could potentially benefit his investment is a problem. In this case, it is unlikely because the holding is small. But, it is simply a bad look.
It is all about managing perceived conflicts of interest. I am on several boards for trusts, and we have to declare perceived conflicts of interest so it is transparent to all. And, if the conflict is significant enough, we may have to recluse ourselves from decision making in that area.
It isn't a problem if it is handled correctly. In this case it wasn't. And given Wood's experience and seniority, he should have known and handled this much better.
A minister of Transport making decisions that could potentially benefit his investment is a problem
I'm looking forward to every @nznationalparty MP who owns a rental property recusing themselves from a vote re tax breaks on the interest.
Each house alone could net them more than Wood's whole share parcel.
No media will pick that up.
Corrin Dann very weakly touched on this with Luxon on RNZ this morning. Luxon has 5 rentals I think, and stands to make tens of thousands annually by reinstating tax breaks on rentals.
What does having a mortgage got to do with Luxon’s profiteering from his Party’s bullet points policies on home ownership and rental properties? You seem to imply that because he has no mortgage on any of the many properties he owns and therefore pays no mortgage interest he does not stand to benefit at all!? For example, have you heard of the Bright Line test and that National will repeal its extension by the sitting Government from 2 to 10 years?
Either you’re incredibly ignorant or maliciously manipulative.
You do not make “tens of thousands annually” from the one off sale as a result of any gain from moving the bright line test.
You could potentially make “tens of thousands annually “ from the re-establishment of interest deductibility – but of course only if you have a mortgage against which to claim the interest.
The median profit on the 93.9 percent of resales that sold for a gain remained high at $305,000, though below its peak of $440,000 in the final quarter of 2021.
Having a much shorter Bright-Line test will make a difference of about $100,000 on a median profit of $305,000, depending on the top tax rate, which, coincidentally, National and Luxon also want to scrap. In my Maths textbook 100,000 is 10 times more than 10,000.
My son bought a house in 2017 lived in it for 4 years, till his marriage dissolved, sold for $400k more than he paid. That's $100,000 per year of tax free income
The realised gains from a house sale are taxed or non-taxed, depending on whether they pass the Bright Line test or not. This is irrespective of whether or how the money is spent/reinvested.
It was not the same rising market of 20201 in 2022 or 2023 or …
Having a half share of $400,000 CG – and having a share in the original equity, does not equate to immediately buying back into the market.
$300,000 of equity would still means a lot of mortgage to pay in some markets. And despite lower values now, there is the high cost of debt (on one income).
It does mean a capability to pair up again sometime – and if a lower property value than in 2021 and lower mortgage rates c2024-2025, someone will have timed the blended/reboot well.
I think a rich man who reportedly owns seven properties wanting a tax cut for high income earners looks worse than Woods' case but the media ignores that!
Again, as I pointed out above, the issue is managing conflicts of interest.
Wood would be in the clear if he had declared his potential conflict correctly. Given the fact it is only a small shareholding, then likely declaring that should be enough, even as Transport minister in my opinion. I don't actually think he should have to sell them if the conflict was properly managed, because any likely benefit he could get from his possible decisions would be trivial.
The same with investment housing etc. An MP owning say five houses may, in the scheme of things may not be consequential, whereas owning 100 houses may be a problem.
As I said above, this is the sort of thing that must be managed all the time when on a board of a trust etc. If the conflict is minor, having it declared is sufficient. If the conflict is considered too substantial, it is best to not be involved in related decisions at all.
A conflict I need to be aware of is that I am treasurer on two independent trusts, that compete for the same funding. I have this declared as a conflict, and is something I need to make sure I maintain confidentiality over.
So, for argument’s sake, the difference is between owning 5 and 100 houses?
Do you always tilt the field in your favour for you to score points easily & lazily?
Managing real and perceived conflicts of interest are the issue here, as you correctly stated.
Of course, Wood has to sell those AIA shares now, as he intended all along, because they’re tainted now. It is not a legal but a moral imperative aka the right thing to do, under the circumstances.
Do you always tilt the field in your favour for you to score points easily & lazily?
I didn't think I was. And, it is totally contingent on a variety of factors whether 5 houses would be a conflict or not.
For example, on one hand a decision maker may own 5 houses, so could benefit if a decision is made to drop interest rates. On the other hand, said person may have $10,000,000 in the bank, and may stand to lose income due to dropping interest rates.
It is all contingent, and has to be judged on a case by case basis. The key thing is to declare potential conflicts properly and have proper processes to manage conflicts.
For instance, on one of the trusts I am treasurer on the board was keen to know where the other trust had got funding for a new van. The way I handled that conflict was to ask the other board if it was OK to divulge that information. That meant having to ask the first board if it was OK to tell the other board that we were looking at purchasing a van.
I agree Wood probably has to sell the shares now. Though, he probably didn’t have to if the conflict was managed properly in the first place.
And, for the record, I don’t agree with opposition calls for Wood to be sacked.
Your idiosyncratic hypothetical examples rarely have any bearing on reality and are often bordering on being absurd.
How many New Zealanders own 100 houses? Of those, how many are MPs?
Owning 5 houses may (?) not be a problem but a 100 may (?) be.
Luxon owns 7 Real Properties, and this may or may not be a conflict of interest depending on how much he has in the bank, depending on which way the interest rates might go, and on position of Venus in the star sign of Sagittarius on Friday 30 February?? Or so does your typical ‘argument’ go.
The rules are clear: any perceived or real conflict of interest must be declared, with a low minimum threshold, of course, for practicality. End of.
And such declaration does not actually remove the conflict of interest, it merely declares it.
So, Luxon and many other MPs do have a declared conflict of interest when it comes to any decisions regarding to housing and landlording, for example. He’s a ‘good boy’ because he declared it and Wood is a ‘bad boy’ because he fucked up his declaration.
I can see Wood selling his AIA shares, as he’s intended all along, but I can’t see Luxon selling his properties. Can you?
Stop jumping up & down on the head of a pin and stop hiding behind absurd examples and start engaging in a mature conversation without deflecting, diverting, and dodging, thanks.
Your idiosyncratic hypothetical examples rarely have any bearing on reality and are often bordering on being absurd.
The point is not to show real life examples, but to point to the principle that the overall effect needs to be considered, balancing up what may be competing conflicts of interest.
The rules are clear: any perceived or real conflict of interest must be declared, with a low minimum threshold, of course, for practicality. End of.
Absolutely agree.
And such declaration does not actually remove the conflict of interest, it merely declares it.
Absolutely agree again. And I expect that advice would be sought on how the conflict should be managed, if it is viewed as something that should be. And I don't think this is something the individual with the conflict should make a decision about.
I can see Wood selling his AIA shares, as he’s intended all along, but I can’t see Luxon selling his properties. Can you?
I have no problems with the fact that owning property should be declared. And, if Luxon doesn’t want to sell his, then he needs to have the conflict managed in an appropriate way.
If the conflict is seen as material enough to affect decisions in a particular area of responsibility, then that conflict needs to be managed.
Likely, in that situation, one way to manage the conflict would be to have decisions reviewed by an appropriate independent person to ensure that the decision is correct and balanced.
Either that, or delegate that decision to another person not affected by that conflict.
I have said previously that I don’t think Wood should have to sell his shares. And I think pressure for him to sell previously was likely over the top, and there could have been a way forward that allowed him to keep them. But, I agree with you, that he probably will now given the politics at play.
And, if Luxon doesn’t want to sell his, then he needs to have the conflict managed in an appropriate way.
What do you suggest? There is no “if”, is there now?
Should he recuse himself from voting (abstain) for his own (Party’s) policies? If so, that would exclude many MPs, not just from National, from voting.
As to demonstrating the validity of a principle, it strengthens your argument if you’d indeed use real-life examples instead of absurd hypotheticals that are merely rhetorical tools that make you appear disingenuous.
I actually agree with you, that housing is a problematic area. Because, owning investment houses for rentals has been fairly pervasive with politicians
I am not sure what is in place now. But, I think politicians need to be discussing potential conflicts with an independent body such as Parliamentary services, for guidance on whether particular areas of conflict are material to certain areas, and what should be done to manage the conflict.
One way to do that is with a blind trust, where all a politicians relevant assets are placed in the trust, and and independent person makes decisions about the trust.
I think the Wood situation has shown why politicians need to be careful about conflicts of interest, and it may be necessary to tighten requirements in this area.
the NZ property market needs to devalue if we are to end poverty (or even reduce it to levels of 20 years ago). By quite a lot. Do you really trust MPs who are banking on personal capital gains to do that? It’s not the number of houses, it’s the number of MPs who are currently becoming quite wealthy. They’re the greater majority in parliament.
I stuffed up …my calculation above should have been made in relation to Auckland International Airport not AirNZ.
So I will make the same point with AIA.
Auckland International Airport (AIA) currently has a capital value of $12.8 billion.
Wood's $13,000 shares represent roughly ONE MILLIONTH of the value of AIA shares.
Wood owns a miniscule part of AIA. This could hardly be called a conflict of interest. There should be some recognition of the SCALE of ownership in the parliament rules in terms of conflict of interest.
Not much doubt that it was the Russians. As the video above points out, it was understood last year that the Russians had mined the damn, and had it prepared for demolition. And, it is the most simple answer when the two following questions were considered: Firstly, who controlled the damn, and secondly, what would be required to cause that sort of damage.
The answer to the first question is obviously Russia. The answer to the second question, according to most commentators, is that it is nigh on impossible to destroy that sort of structure with missiles or the like, and that it would require planned demolition. Thus, the answer is obviously Russia IMO.
So, what do the Russians get out of this? On one hand, they have cut their water supply to Crimea. But, on the other hand, they have shortened their front line, and are able to redeploy troops elsewhere.
It looks like it may have been a demolition that went out of hand.
According to this timeline and the contradictory and developing Russian messaging, it appears that the damn may have been blown at around 2am the preceding morning, with the goal of creating a small breach to flood Ukrainian positions on the other side of the Dnipro. But, the demo caused much more damage than intended.
" The Russians had raised the water level to maximum height etc Yeah right i guess they just wanted to flood all their fortifications an wash away their minefields ? Why wouldnt they just open the floodgates ?? .I guess for the same reason they blew up their own pipeline rather than simply turning off the tap !!! makes perfect sense lol .
Same thing as the Seppos got using white phosphorus on Fallujah – the chance to indulge their spite. They know they've lost – they just want to share the pain.
Certainly that. But, also some military defensive advantage as well. It makes it nigh on impossible for the Ukrainians to advance across the Dnipro now in that location. So, it simplifies things for the Russians, and allows them to redeploy their troops.
Though, I tend to buy into the theory that this was a demo that got out of hand.
It is, apparently, the source of Crimea's water, so that will complicate the defense.
I imagine it is part of a larger scheme to precipitate a failure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which requires the Khakhovka reservoir as a source of cooling water. Fixes involving extra pumping are surely possible, but Russia would like nothing better than to turn it into a second Chernobyl.
I'm inclined to think that any defensive advantage will be pretty temporary – especially given that any crossing of the Dnieper was going to be by boat in any case. But Russia is likely desperate enough to seize any momentary advantage – and a local Russian commander in the Kherson region wanting a few days to secure a retreat might have good selfish reasons to do it, together with the means.
" What do the Russians get out of this " ? Good question stuart !! You say " they know they've lost " etc Really ?? hmm Soledar has fallen Bakmut has fallen Marinka has a few days if its lucky, the great springsummer offensive has been for the most part repelled with heavy losses to the Ukranians …doesnt really seem like losing to me but you think it is Why ?
Their victories are at best Pyrrhic. They lose a lot of men and materiale. And the West is fed up with their bullshit and are, at last, supporting Ukraine properly.
For a supposedly crucial strategic point, Bakhmut has done nothing to swing the war in Russia's favour since its capture destruction. And, as Wagner withdraws, under friendly fire no less, it transpires that Russian regular forces struggle to maintain the positions they once held.
The scorched earth policy of an army looking down the barrel of an ignominious trouncing. The Ukrainian offensive to retake Crimea would make continued occupation untenable. Destroying the dam jiggers the water supply to large areas of south Ukraine and makes Crimea virtually uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.
Are you serious joe ??!! Despite ' the west' dribbling in weapons to prolong the conflict as long as it can Ukraine remains outgunned in almost everyway .Judging by the increasing use of airpower by Russia Ukraines air defences are seriously depleted and its pretty obvious what aircraft they have left are living on borrowed time .Russia has hypersonic missiles and fearsome weapons like the thermobaric flamethrower systems Russia has industrial capacity such that it can bombard any area of Ukraine anytime it wants .
Seems to me its Ukraine " looking down the barrel of a gun " because everyday Russia grows stronger and Ukraine grows weaker .The idea that Russia is getting a "trouncing " is delusional .As for the water supply to Crimea it still functioned when the Ukrainians cut off the supply the first time so doubtless it will cope .Id be more worried about the supply to the power station .
I wouldn't be so quick to rush to judgement. Russia again had far more to lose than to gain from blowing up critical infrastructure in territory they seek long term control.
U.S. had intelligence of detailed Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream pipeline
No, they had a lot more to gain than lose from a military perspective. Firstly it effectively reduced their front line so far as defence is concerned. Secondly, it frees up a lot of troops to defend in other areas.
The other thing is that the damage was done on the Russian side of the dam. And it had been known for months that they had pre-mined it. And, as Michael Clarke points out in the link I gave, missiles can't do that sort of damage to a large dam. It has to be a planned demo job.
The only downside for Russia is that it cuts the water supply to Crimea. But that was the situation for years when Ukraine had shut the canal. And a lot of people have been leaving Crimea anyway. And, Putin really doesn't care that much about his own people.
Inside the Ukrainian counteroffensive that shocked Putin and reshaped the war.
Dec 29th 2022.
Kovalchuk considered flooding the river. The Ukrainians, he said, even conducted a test strike with a HIMARS launcher on one of the floodgates at the Nova Kakhovka dam, making three holes in the metal to see if the Dnieper’s water could be raised enough to stymie Russian crossings but not flood nearby villages.
The test was a success, Kovalchuk said, but the step remained a last resort. He held off.
I agree that all war is shit for those caught up in it. This is a highly-reported and discussed conflict in Europe, unlike most of the miseries of recent semi-proxy wars, like the horror in Syria. So we can see much of the nuts and bolts of extended warfare play out daily.
The outcome of this conflict is critical to the future political shape of Europe and of political alliances on both sides of the conflict. I'm not a military buff at all, and can imagine only too well the suffering of soldiers and citizens. But I am interested in the decisions on both sides that affect the political future and also reframe conventional warfare. Bury your head in the sand if you want: this is a pivotal time in political history.
It is clear to me that the moral certitude of an anti-war position has been co-opted by Russian disinformation. Can you imagine even 10 years ago the most right-wing of the US Republican party supporting the Russian Federation over Ukraine and urging isolationism? Ukraine would have been swallowed up by Russia by now if Trump, an admirer of strongmen, had retained the US presidency.
Pretty sure many leftists went and fought in the Spanish Civil War – Orwell being one of them.
Appeasing Putin simply isn't going to work. This is the same person who was openly killing people in foreign countries while the capitalist elite made friendly with him.
I was surprised at the lack of kick back then. Eventually it bit everyone on the arse.
He is as much of an arsehole as Bush was. Both unjust invasions of other countries.
Not even close. Himars etc would only scratch the surface of that structure. It requires properly placed explosives to achieve that sort of damage. Watch that second video by Michael Clarke I linked to.
Did earlier damage weaken part of the dam – and I read somewhere the water levels were very high? This could could have been the straw that broke the camel's back.
It's what chekist thugs do. The human cost be buggered.
/
In 1941, as Nazi German troops swept through Soviet-era Ukraine, Josef Stalin's secret police blew up a hydroelectric dam in the southern city of Zaporizhzhya to slow the Nazi advance.
The explosion flooded villages along the banks of the Dnieper River, killing thousands of civilians.
As Europe marks its Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism on August 23, a handful of Zaporizhzhya residents are battling for the recognition of the little-known wartime tragedy.
[…]
The team successfully carried out its secret mission — which historians say was ordered by Stalin himself — tearing a hole in the dam and temporarily cutting off part of the city from the invaders.
But the explosion also flooded villages and settlements along the Dnieper River.
The tidal surge killed thousands of unsuspecting civilians, as well as Red Army officers who were crossing over the river.
Since no official death toll was released at the time, the estimated number of victims varies widely. Most historians put it at between 20,000 and 100,000, based on the number of people then living in the flooded areas.
Seems the Herald is keen to deflect from Wayne Brown's public relation disasters by fussing about what Wellington's mayor should or should not be doing. Normally Wellington's mayor would be ignored.
Whanau has faced scrutiny for her absence at civic events and meetings, including a meeting of the regional mayor’s forum. But the mayor thinks the focus on her attendance is undue, and largely because people don’t like what she represents as a young Māori woman in council.
And yet, it goes on to say:
Whanau has admitted it’s “not ideal” she has missed meetings recently and she “wouldn’t do that again.” “I should have been there.”
Seeing as Whanau has admitted it’s “not ideal” she has missed meetings recently, stating she should have been there and she wouldn’t do that again. Isn't the criticism valid?
With regard to the meetings she has missed, Whanau admitted "I should have been there. I gave an apology on the morning of.
"That's not ideal. Wouldn't do that again."
…
"I'm here to represent the next generation of leaders, the next generation that I'm trying to set up the city for and our most vulnerable. So I can't change who I am," she added. "I'm not going to change my values and I'm not going to change the policies that I campaigned on."
And Wayne Brown's thinks some of his critics are "drongos" – what say you?
She [Simpson] said Brown's behaviour – calling councillors "financially illiterate" and forwarding them copies of insulting emails – has not made the budget process smoother.
"It's not made easier," she admitted to Checkpoint's Lisa Owen.
…
Asked if Brown was acting in a manner befitting the office of Auckland mayor, Simpson paused, and said, "he could potentially at times use better language".
Maybe Mayor Brown can't change who he is – and his supporters wouldn't have it any other way. Let's hope the supercity doesn't face too many more major challenges over the next two and a half years – jeez, Wayne!
Seeing as Whanau has admitted she should have been there, coupled with there being no evidence of ageist or gendered language or racism, it seems the criticism is valid.
Furthermore, she lowered herself by pulling out the gendered, ageist and racism card.
Wait- that point where the Mayor has a busy schedule and has to choose meetings as opposed to the Mayor who does almost no media? Imagine if Tory Whanau had done that.
And to say the least..so he should ! In your link (thanks) I did also see this..
Council disowns report revealing consent breaches
Greenpeace Aotearoa says disowning the report is a “shocker” and the council is throwing its former staff member “under a bus”. “It’s evidence that ECan is failing to take its responsibilities seriously,” says Christine Rose, the environmental lobby group’s senior agricultural campaigner.
Many thanks for that Scotty…interesting that ECan seems to be trying to wriggle out of its role to protect the river despite the fact that it knows that the permitted "take' from the river is being exceeded.
Quite a court battle on the horizon. Well done David Parker indeed for wading in on this (no pun intended…though with the illegal low flows at the moment wading wouldn't be needed)
As for the pledge this film studies expert poses at the end of the article, Kathleen Stock would be the first to sign up
I'm all for trans rights, as long as they don't destroy womens rights to same sex assembly and protection .For a lot of women , gender , the way in which one expresses one's sex culturally, is just a fiction, subject to societal mores and ever changing cultural fashion Sex is the ground zero reality, gender the window dressing.
So hang me, send me off for conversion therapy, neuter my brain , sanitise my dictionary.
Shaw references this 2021 review of Stock's book on transgender by a Texas philosopher with a trans child. Also well worth the read – it is not a diatribe, but examines Stock’s main points in a reasoned way.
The reviewer discusses the crux of Stock's position, and mirrors what frustrates me most about the debate on this topic at The Standard:
'Stock is most concerned about a teeming horde of violent “transsexual pretenders” who might rush into the nihilistic void created by gender identity policies. Yet the book has no systematic scheme or scale for weighing different harms or assessing the likelihood of such a social collapse. Of course, any such scheme would be shot-through with judgment calls, but at least those could be made in the open. No, her utilitarianism is the invisible ghost in the machine.'
I have already said elsewhere…that I sure hope a lot of these..recipients…. might remember who gave them. For sure Nact…(charter schools, tax cuts for rich etc etc) do NOT have their best interests at heart (heart? Im being ironic)
Anway…I was wondering..did teachers ever strike under..the Nats? I cant remember many? If any? I found this…seems a bit…well, excuse making. IMO.
I am supportive of teachers and don't know that what they have just rejected is good but if they are not careful they are going to be negotiating their collective with an ACT minister….
100%. PLA, yes, Teachers were attending meetings to find out which schools would close, under National, and which Teacher conditions would be removed. Communities don't matter to National apparently… as they constantly talked up Individual Responsibility while Key swapped hats to suit his needs!!. Teachers know Labour tries to assist them and children, and not treat Education as a cash cow!!
'cos while I support selling the airport shares..'cos they don't make economic sense ..I do support us buying a cash cow like vodofone ..on both economic and ideological grounds..
An independent panel has recommended changes to the electoral law:
"There have been piecemeal changes to electoral law over many years, including some recently, but this review is an opportunity to step back and look at the bigger picture," panel chair Deborah Hart said.
The draft recommendations include:
Lowering the voting age for general elections to 16 and extend overseas voting rules
Extending voting rights to all prisoners, not just those sentenced to less than a three-year jail term
Holding a referendum on extending the Parliamentary term from three to four years
Lowering the party vote threshold from 5 to 3.5 per cent and abolishing the coat-tail rule
Restricting political donations to registered voters, rather than organisations, and capping them at $30,000 to each party and its candidates per electoral cycle while reducing the amount that can be anonymously donated
Rewriting the Electoral Act to modernise its language (e.g. eliminating references to faxes)
Requiring the Electoral Commission to give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi.
Because permanent residents shouldn't be disenfranchised because they aren't 'citizens'.
While we live under a representative democracy as opposed to a direct democracy the parties represent the will of the voters so there is no disenfranchisement there. The head of the panel makes a valid point on this issue in the article:
If some of the recommendations were to proceed, including lowering the voting age to 16, they would require a 75 percent majority in Parliament or a referendum.
Hart did not believe that was a problem.
"When you're talking about electoral reform you do want broad support. You don't want electoral reform to become a political football."
That’s an interesting position to take. If Parliament cannot determine electoral matters then who can (or should)?
I’ve had an (growing) unease about the power of political parties in democracy and the democratic processes and have been meaning to write a Post about this for quite some time. I recently read On the Abolition of All Political Parties by Simone Weil (see https://thestandard.org.nz/kerekere-quits-greens/#comment-1948834) and this almost made me write it but perhaps Election Year is not the most appropriate time to start kicking against the political establishment and parties
One would only have to note the USA practice as to what could go wrong if political parties (in government) had determination of electoral and election matters. Less of it, rather than more.
The rate of increase in theft is about the same as the supermarkets profit margin:
The highest supermarket margins Newshub found were in dairy products, fresh produce, and organics.
But there is a huge range – the lowest profit margin Newshub heard of was 20 percent. That particular supplier was selling a dry-packaged product with a very long shelf life.
The vast majority of these small to medium-sized suppliers were seeing a supermarket profit margin on their product of between 30 percent and 40 percent.
Wage theft is a much more significant issue, and is yet to be a crime:
In 2016 the Council of Trade Unions found workers had been repaid more than $35 million for payroll errors that year.
A 2017 audit of the forestry industry by labour inspectors form the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment found almost 90% were breaching basic employment law standards.
In certain trading situations – shortages, prices escalate to ration supply by price. The retailer will claim if there more tomatoes they could sell at a smaller mark-up and maintain the same sort of overall return for tomatoes.
The same retailers have their (negotiated as one of two – duopoly market) supply contracts to prevent growers doing to them, what they do to their own customers.
Governance includes the option of windfall profits taxation after national disasters/pandemic events (QE and increased supply of cheap money as per banks).
The government has aided independent chemists with the end of prescription charges – reducing the risk of a big chemist retail monopoly.
It needs to constantly work on measures in the food supply sector to maintain competition – other outlets for suppliers (online, local markets etc) as well as regulatory vigilance of monopolies in their management of their relations with suppliers (as they would employers as to employees – including contractors and migrants).
Someone needs to make a graph or a visual description comparing the scale of Wood’s shares and Luxon’s properties as Luxon has been making up policy on the fly which benefits home owners…
The relationships between plants and the fungi that colonise their roots are responsible for locking away a huge amount of carbon underground – maybe equivalent to more than one-third of global emissions from fossil fuels.
Almost all land plants on Earth have a symbiotic relationship with fungi that live in the soil around their roots, trading the carbon they draw from the air for nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.
These mycorrhizal fungi store the carbon they get from their plant partners in their tissues and the surrounding soil, thus keeping it out of the atmosphere. But despite the interest in nature-based solutions to climate change, mycorrhizal fungi have been largely overlooked, says Heidi-Jayne Hawkins at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. So, she and her colleagues set out to calculate just how much carbon plants might be transferring to these fungi.
By scouring data from dozens of scientific studies on the relationships between plants and fungi, the researchers estimated that between 3 and 13 per cent of the carbon dioxide that plants pull out of the atmosphere ends up in the fungal tissue.
The team then used global data on which plants live where, how productive they are and which fungi they are associated with to estimate that about 13.1 gigatonnes of CO2 is transferred to fungi each year – equivalent to around 36 per cent of annual emissions from fossil fuels around the world.
It's good to see our farmers looking to revitalise our soils:
Evans believes regenerative farming techniques can provide farmers with a practical solution for building long-term soil health.
On a smaller scale, it's the same as what many growers do in their home food gardens, he says.
"It is possible to scale it up, we have the technology, but there's not enough people doing it all at once to turn this big ship around, of losing topsoil at crazy rates."
There's a groundswell of fresh awareness amongst Australian farmers, Evans says.
"Farming for a long time was seeing soil as a way to grow plants and animals, but now there's a new breed of farmers who are saying hang on, how do we use plants and animals to build soil."
Wanting health soils structure is not new, we been talking about worms ,root depths and growing mor clover for years.
Of interest my work just got a paddock to farm next door that was in potatoes last year, lifeless with no soil structure at all, boss reckons it takes years to turn these type of paddocks around.
Absolutely but the evidence is stacking up that our current practices aren't helping, too much monoculture, too many chemical amendments, a more holistic approach is necessary as is more diversity, raising animal and plants in a more circular nature-replicating process.
It does take years to improve soils, so best we start now!
Follow potatoes with a crop of lupins dug back in, plus sea grass and bio chat and compost, for root veg, followed by brassicas. Cheers 1/3 each year on rotation.
NACT reveal their governing modus operandi – exploit migration worker numbers to place upward pressure on property values and downward pressure on wages (growing the gap between haves and have nots). And while low wage workers are struggling to afford rents let alone own their homes – divert attention from this with this sort of politics.
It's a sideshow of building more prisons to house those they would not employ into jobs.
It's the Americanisation of our society.
People under 25 on the benefit placed under the care of (faith based provider, fear and obey regime) overseers who decide whether they are deserving poor. The period of pre employment trial on the jobs (guess what happens to those who join unions).
Be nice if the current govt differed on this issue, sadly they also seek to supress wages by maintaining immigration levels which will exacerbate the number of crises which already have insufficient infrastructure spending:
While acknowledging a lot of uncertainty, the economists say the surge in migration “has the potential to disturb the grand plan” the Reserve Bank has for reining in inflation. Westpac economists are forecasting a net inflow of 100,000 people over 2023, adding almost 2% to New Zealand’s population. That would be the fastest rate of population growth New Zealand has seen in decades.
At the neo-liberal policy setting a bit of commonality.
But the divergence is in how the disparity is then managed. One mitigates it, the other places the jackboot on the neck of the poor.
A cost of living crisis is hitting New Zealanders hard, with grocery prices and inflation all spiking over the last 12 months.
But despite this, Quin said this has nothing to do with the rapid spike in crime and there are three factors driving retail crime at supermarkets.
"The first is organised activity, so it's organised crime activity, stealing to order, stealing to revenue or an ability to dispose of the product," he told AM.
He seems to fail to note a connection to there being an underclass (cannot afford stuff and or in motels etc) and those who organise to escape this, via crime.
As in the 1980's USA in Volcker's recession and subsequent family break-up, levels of crime rose as a last resort to fulfil the American dream
The second level, sadly and unfortunately, is it's feeding an addiction, habit, drugs or alcohol.
There is no evidence that any of these have suddenly got worse in recent months.
NACT and Seymour of course blame it on Labour for letting people out of prison and not puting them back (Seymour calls them "criminals as if they are a class branded") in there asap.
Is NACT proposing an end to parole? And then a return for any infringement upon release (thus a form of 2 tier legal system) as a crime prevention programme?
It pays to read any link before posting..'cos despite reading like a puff-piece for the flesh industries..your one is quite bullish on the red meat gives you cancer evidence..
And claims in it that 'fake meat' is 25 times more polluting than cow flesh …is just total horseshit…
Yet no refutal of the paper's assertion that the GWP of all purified scenarios ranged from 246 to 1,508 kg of CO2e per kilogram of ACBM which is 4 to 25 times greater than the median GWP of retail beef.
The Davis paper published recently in the journal Nature Geoscience found the warming effect of methane was 30% lower than previously thought because, in addition to the heat trapped in the earth’s atmosphere, methane also creates cooling clouds which partly offset the heating impact. This supports the argument from B+LNZ about the need to apply the GWP* measurement instead of GWP100 to arrive at a more accurate assessment of the warming of methane.
Maybe. But its no reason, for critics of farmers doiing anything, to pull out of agreements here that connect to our meeting international commitments.
There is somewhat of a play for time aspect to that, because of research to find a measure to reduce methane from livestock. If that does result in 50% reductions – based on a seasonal dose, then with this latest calculation that would significantly impact determination of the emissions from pastoral farming.
As some might point out, as to nutrition and meat alternative comparisons (including emissions), they object to the farming of animals on other grounds.
In the abstract of that UC Davis paper Barber refers to, the final sentence is spot on.
Despite our findings, methane remains a potent contributor to global warming, and efforts to reduce methane emissions are vital for keeping global warming well below 2 °C above preindustrial values.
Barber's comment about "unreasonable constraints" on agriculture is intriguing. I support his plea that "politicians need to follow the science" – now, if not sooner, imho.
The Green Party's Eugenie Sage said binning two old regulations for every new one "suggests that National is going to roll back a lot of our environmental regulations… All of those regulations are about ensuring that nature survives, thrives, and not is just exploited to maximise farm production".
Leader Christopher Luxon has revealed the party is pulling its support for He Waka Eke Noa – a group made up of industry leaders trying to put a price on agricultural emissions.
National has labelled the process as dead, accusing the Government of not listening to the primary sector.
Luxon said National wanted to go back to the drawing board.
He Waka Eke Noa? Not if Luxon can help it. Will he "follow the science", or feed us more repeal and delay ‘policy’? Time “to go back to the drawing board“? Time will tell.
"In June 2021, The Telegraph reported on an Oxfam staff training document called ‘Learning About Trans Rights and Inclusion’.
This manual claimed that “Mainstream feminism centres on privileged white women and demands that ‘bad men’ be fired or imprisoned”, which, it adds, “Legitimises criminal punishment, harming black and other marginalised people”. The text was accompanied by a cartoon of a weeping white woman.
The training manual was drawn up after the Oxfam’s LGBT+ network wrote to the leadership team, demanding that it must publicly support trans rights. The letter stated, “To argue that trans-inclusivity would undermine the vital work we do for women and girls is not only transphobic, but also perpetuates the white saviour complex that assumes that we know best for the people we work with”. It went on to claim that it is ‘transphobic’ to question whether men who identify as women could pose a threat to women and that discussions around identity within the charity exposed ‘queer’ employees to ‘harm’.
The training manual Oxfam subsequently produced told staff that protecting single-sex spaces for women “Contributed to transphobia and undermining of trans rights”. It added that “Oxfam stands actively against any implication that the realization of trans rights and inclusion poses a threat to creating a safe environment for all”."
We remember how Oxfam failed to protect women and girls from sexual exploitation from its own staff in Haiti – including the former Oxfam "Country director" and not only failed to investigate allegations about the sexual abuse of children, but repeatedly fell below expected standards of safeguarding and tried to cover up the Haiti scandal and failed to care for the victims.
Maybe they should be updating those manuals instead.
All nation states have a right to defend themselves. But do regimes enjoy an equal right to self-defence? Is the security of a particular party-in-power a fundamental right of nations? The Chinese government is asking ...
A modest attempt to analyse Donald Trump’s tariff policies.Alfred Marshall, whose text book was still in use 40 years after he died wrote ‘every short statement about economics is misleading with the possible exception of my present one.’ (The text book is 719 pages.) It’s a timely reminder that any ...
If nothing else, we have learned that the economic and geopolitical turmoil caused by the Trump tariff see-saw raises a fundamental issue of the human condition that extends beyond trade wars and “the markets.” That issue is uncertainty and its centrality to individual and collective life. It extends further into ...
To improve its national security, South Korea must improve its ICT infrastructure. Knowing this, the government has begun to move towards cloud computing. The public and private sectors are now taking a holistic national-security approach ...
28 April 2025 Mournfor theDead FightFor theLiving Every week in New Zealand 18 workers are killed as a consequence of work. Every 15 minutes, a worker suffers ...
The world is trying to make sense of the Trump tariffs. Is there a grand design and strategy, or is it all instinct and improvisation? But much more important is the question of what will ...
OPINION:Yesterday was a triumphant moment in Parliament House.The “divisive”, “disingenous”, “unfair”, “discriminatory” and “dishonest” Treaty Principles Bill, advanced by the right wing ACT Party, failed.Spectacularly.11 MP votes for (ACT).112 MP votes against (All Other Parties).As the wonderful Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke said: We are not divided, but united.Green ...
The Pacific Response Group (PRG), a new disaster coordination organisation, has operated through its first high-risk weather season. But as representatives from each Pacific military leave Brisbane to return to their home countries for the ...
The Treaty Principles Bill has been defeated in Parliament with 112 votes in opposition and 11 in favour, but the debate about Te Tiriti and Māori rights looks set to stay high on the political agenda. Supermarket giant Woolworths has confirmed a new operating model that Workers First say will ...
1. What did Seymour say after his obnoxious bill was buried 112 to 11?a. Watch this spaceb. Mea culpac. I am not a crookd. Youse are all such dumbasses2. Which lasted longest?a. Liz Trussb. Trump’s Tariffsc. The Lettuced. Too soon to say but the smart money’s on the vegetable 3. ...
And this is what I'm gonna doI'm gonna put a call to you'Cause I feel good tonightAnd everything's gonna beRight-right-rightI'm gonna have a good time tonightRock and roll music gonna play all nightCome on, baby, it won't take longOnly take a minute just to sing my songSongwriters: Kirk Pengilly / ...
The Indonesian military has a new role in cybersecurity but, worryingly, no clear doctrine on what to do with it nor safeguards against human rights abuses. Assignment of cyber responsibility to the military is part ...
The StrategistBy Gatra Priyandita and Christian Guntur Lebang
Another Friday, another roundup. Autumn is starting to set in, certainly getting darker earlier but we hope you enjoy some of the stories we found interesting this week. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday we ran a guest post from the wonderful Darren Davis about what’s happening ...
Long stories shortest:The White House confirms Donald Trump’s total tariffs now on China are 145%, not 125%. US stocks slump again. Gold hits a record high. PM Christopher Luxon joins a push for a new rules-based trading system based around CPTPP and EU, rather than US-led WTO. Winston Peters ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics and climate, including Donald Trump’s shock and (partial) backflip; and,Health Coalition Aotearoa Chair ...
USAID cuts and tariffs will harm the United States’ reputation in the Pacific more than they will harm the region itself. The resilient region will adjust to the economic challenges and other partners will fill ...
National's racist and divisive Treaty Principles Bill was just voted down by the House, 112 to 11. Good fucking riddance. The bill was not a good-faith effort at legislating, or at starting a "constitutional conversation". Instead it was a bad faith attempt to stoke division and incite racial hatred - ...
Democracy watch Indonesia’s parliament passed revisions to the country’s military law, which pro-democracy and human rights groups view as a threat to the country’s democracy. One of the revisions seeks to expand the number of ...
The StrategistBy Linus Cohen, Astrid Young and Alice Wai
Australia should follow international examples and develop a civilian cyber reserve as part of a whole-of-society approach to national defence. By setting up such a reserve, the federal government can overcome a shortage of expertise ...
A ballot for three Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill (Cameron Brewer) Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Restrictions on Issue of Off-Licences and Low and No Alcohol Products) Amendment Bill (Mike Butterick) Crown ...
Te Whatu Ora is proposing to slash jobs from a department that brings in millions of dollars a year and ensures safety in hospitals, rest homes and other community health providers. The Treaty Principles Bill is back in Parliament this evening and is expected to be voted down by all parties, ...
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has repeatedly asserted the country’s commitment to a non-aligned foreign policy. But can Indonesia still credibly claim neutrality while tacitly engaging with Russia? Holding an unprecedented bilateral naval drills with Moscow ...
The NZCTU have launched a new policy programme and are calling on political parties to adopt bold policies in the lead up to the next election. The Government is scrapping the 30-day rule that automatically signs an employee up to the collective agreement when they sign on to a new ...
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te must have been on his toes. The island’s trade and defence policy has snapped into a new direction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. The government was almost ...
Auckland’s ongoing rail pain will intensify again from this weekend as Kiwirail shut down the network for two weeks as part of their push to get the network ready for the City Rail Link. KiwiRail will progress upgrade and renewal projects across Auckland’s rail network over the Easter holiday period ...
This is a re-post from The Electrotech Revolution by Daan Walter Last week, UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch took the stage to advocate for slowing the rollout of renewables, arguing that they ultimately lead to higher costs: “Huge amounts are being spent on switching round how we distribute electricity ...
That there, that's not meI go where I pleaseI walk through wallsI float down the LiffeyI'm not hereThis isn't happeningI'm not hereI'm not hereSongwriters: Philip James Selway / Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood / Edward John O'Brien / Thomas Edward Yorke / Colin Charles Greenwood.I had mixed views when the first ...
(A note to subscribers:I’m going to keep these daily curated news updates shorter in future to ensure an earlier and more regular delivery.Expect this format and delivery around 7 am Monday to Friday from now on. My apologies for not delivering yesterday. There was too much news… This ...
As Donald Trump zigs and zags on tariffs and trashes America’s reputation as a safe and stable place to invest, China has a big gun that it could bring to this tariff knife fight. Behind Japan, China has the world’s second largest holdings of American debt. As a huge US ...
Civilian exploration may be the official mission of a Chinese deep-sea research ship that sailed clockwise around Australia over the past week and is now loitering west of the continent. But maybe it’s also attending ...
South Korea’s internal political instability leaves it vulnerable to rising security threats including North Korea’s military alliance with Russia, China’s growing regional influence and the United States’ unpredictability under President Donald Trump. South Korea needs ...
Here are 5 updates that you may be interested in today:Speed kills and costs - so why does National want more of it?James (Jim) Grenon Board Takeover Gets Shaky - As Canadian Calls An Australian Shareholder a “Flake” Billionaire Bust-ups -The World’s Richest Men Are UncomfortableOver 3,500 Australian doctors on ...
Australia is in a race against time. Cyber adversaries are exploiting vulnerabilities faster than we can identify and patch them. Both national security and economic considerations demand policy action. According to IBM’s Data Breach Report, ...
The ever brilliant Kate Nicholls has kindly agreed to allow me to re-publish her substack offering some under-examined backdrop to Trump’s tariff madness. The essay is not meant to be a full scholarly article but instead an insight into the thinking (if that is the correct word) behind the current ...
In the Pacific, the rush among partner countries to be seen as the first to assist after disasters has become heated as part of ongoing geopolitical contest. As partners compete for strategic influence in the ...
The StrategistBy Miranda Booth, Henrietta McNeill and Genevieve Quirk
We’ve seen this morning the latest step up in the Trump-initiated trade war, with the additional 50 per cent tariffs imposed on imports from China. If the tariff madness persists – but in fact even if were wound back in some places (eg some of the particularly absurd tariffs on ...
Weak as I am, no tears for youWeak as I am, no tears for youDeep as I am, I'm no one's foolWeak as I amSongwriters: Deborah Ann Dyer / Richard Keith Lewis / Martin Ivor Kent / Robert Arnold FranceMorena. This morning, I couldn’t settle on a single topic. Too ...
Australian policy makers are vastly underestimating how climate change will disrupt national security and regional stability across the Indo-Pacific. A new ASPI report assesses the ways climate impacts could threaten Indonesia’s economic and security interests ...
So here we are in London again because we’re now at the do-it-while-you-still-can stage of life. More warm wide-armed hugs, more long talks and long walks and drinks in lovely old pubs with our lovely daughter.And meanwhile the world is once more in one of its assume-the-brace-position stages.We turned on ...
Hi,Back in September of 2023, I got pitched an interview:David -Thanks for the quick response to the DM! Means the world. Re-stating some of the DM below for your team’s reference -I run a business called Animal Capital - we are a venture capital fund advised by Noah Beck, Paris ...
I didn’t want to write about this – but, alas, the 2020s have forced my hand. I am going to talk about the Trump Tariffs… and in the process probably irritate nearly everyone. You see, alone on the Internet, I am one of those people who think we need a ...
Maybe people are only just beginning to notice the close alignment of Russia and China. It’s discussed as a sudden new phenomenon in world affairs, but in fact it’s not new at all. The two ...
The High Court has just ruled that the government has been violating one of the oldest Treaty settlements, the Sealord deal: The High Court has found the Crown has breached one of New Zealand's oldest Treaty Settlements by appropriating Māori fishing quota without compensation. It relates to the 1992 ...
Darwin’s proposed Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct is set to be the heart of a new integrated infrastructure network in the Northern Territory, larger and better than what currently exists in northern Australia. However, the ...
Local body elections are in October, and so like a lot of people, I received the usual pre-election enrolment confirmation from the Orange Man in the post. And I was horrified to see that it included the following: Why horrified? After all, surely using email, rather ...
Australia needs to deliver its commitment under the Seoul Declaration to create an Australian AI safety, or security, institute. Australia is the only signatory to the declaration that has yet to meet its commitments. Given ...
Ko kōpū ka rere i te paeMe ko Hine RuhiTīaho mai tō arohaMe ko Hine RuhiDa da da ba du da da ba du da da da ba du da da da da da daDa da da ba du da da ba du da da da ba du da da ...
Army, Navy and AirForce personnel in ceremonial dress: an ongoing staffing exodus means we may get more ships, drones and planes but not have enough ‘boots on the ground’ to use them. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning:PM Christopher Luxon says the Government can ...
If you’re a qualified individual looking to join the Australian Army, prepare for a world of frustration over the next 12 to 18 months. While thorough vetting is essential, the inefficiency of the Australian Defence ...
I’ve inserted a tidbit and rumours section1. Colonoscopy wait times increase, procedures drop under NationalWait times for urgent, non-urgent and surveillance colonoscopies all progressively worsened last year. Health NZ data shows the total number of publicly-funded colonoscopies dropped by more than 7 percent.Health NZ chief medical officer Helen Stokes-Lampard blamed ...
Three billion dollars has been wiped off the value of New Zealand’s share market as the rout of global financial markets caught up with the local market. A Sāmoan national has been sentenced for migrant exploitation and corruption following a five-year investigation that highlights the serious consequences of immigration fraud ...
This is a guest post by Darren Davis. It originally appeared on his excellent blog, Adventures in Transitland, which we encourage you to check out. It is shared by kind permission. Rail Network Investment Plan quietly dropped While much media attention focused on the 31st March 2025 announcement that the replacement Cook ...
Amendments to Indonesia’s military law risk undermining civilian supremacy and the country’s defence capabilities. Passed by the House of Representatives on 20 March, the main changes include raising the retirement age and allowing military officers ...
The StrategistBy Alfin Febrian Basundoro and Jascha Ramba Santoso
So New Zealand is about to spend $12 billion on our defence forces over the next four years – with $9 million of it being new money that is not being spent on pressing needs here at home. Somehow this lavish spend-up on Defence is “affordable,” says PM Christopher Luxon, ...
Donald Trump’s philosophy about the United States’ place in the world is historically selfish and will impoverish his country’s spirit. While he claimed last week to be ‘liberating’ Americans from the exploiters and freeloaders who’ve ...
China’s crackdown on cyber-scam centres on the Thailand-Myanmar border may cause a shift away from Mandarin, towards English-speaking victims. Scammers also used the 28 March earthquake to scam international victims. Australia, with its proven capabilities ...
At the 2005 election campaign, the National Party colluded with a weirdo cult, the Exclusive Brethren, to run a secret hate campaign against the Greens. It was the first really big example of the rich using dark money to interfere in our democracy. And unfortunately, it seems that they're trying ...
Many of you will know that in collaboration with the University of Queensland we created and ran the massive open online course (MOOC) "Denial101x - Making sense of climate science denial" on the edX platform. Within nine years - between April 2015 and February 2024 - we offered 15 runs ...
How will the US assault on trade affect geopolitical relations within Asia? Will nations turn to China and seek protection by trading with each other? The happy snaps a week ago of the trade ministers ...
I mentioned this on Friday - but thought it deserved some emphasis.Auckland Waitematā District Commander Superintendent Naila Hassan has responded to Countering Hate Speech Aotearoa, saying police have cleared Brian Tamaki of all incitement charges relating to the Te Atatu library rainbow event assault.Hassan writes:..There is currently insufficient evidence to ...
With the report of the recent intelligence review by Heather Smith and Richard Maude finally released, critics could look on and wonder: why all the fuss? After all, while the list of recommendations is substantial, ...
Well, I don't know if I'm readyTo be the man I have to beI'll take a breath, I'll take her by my sideWe stand in awe, we've created lifeWith arms wide open under the sunlightWelcome to this place, I'll show you everythingSongwriters: Scott A. Stapp / Mark T. Tremonti.Today is ...
Staff at Kāinga Ora are expecting details of another round of job cuts, with the Green Party claiming more than 500 jobs are set to go. The New Zealand Defence Force has made it easier for people to apply for a job in a bid to get more boots on ...
Australia’s agriculture sector and food system have prospered under a global rules-based system influenced by Western liberal values. But the assumptions, policy approaches and economic frameworks that have traditionally supported Australia’s food security are no ...
Following Trump’s tariff announcement, US stock values fell by the most ever in value terms (US$6.6 trillion). Photo: Getty ImagesLong story shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning:Donald Trump just detonated a neutron bomb under the globalised economy, but this time the Fed isn’t cutting interest rates to rescue ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 30, 2025 thru Sat, April 5, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
This is a longer read.Summary:Trump’s tariffs are reckless, disastrous and hurt the poorest countries deeply. It will stoke inflation, and may cause another recession. Funds/investments around the world have tanked.Trump’s actions emulate the anti-economic logic of another right wing libertarian politician - Liz Truss. She had her political career cut ...
We are all suckers for hope.He’s just being provocative, people will say, he wouldn’t really go that far. They wouldn’t really go that far.Germany in the 1920s and 30s was one of the world’s most educated, culturally sophisticated, and scientifically advanced societies.It had a strong democratic constitution with extensive civil ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Mars warming? Mars’ climate varies due to completely different reasons than Earth’s, and available data indicates no temperature trends comparable to Earth’s ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...
In recent weeks, disturbing instances of state-sanctioned violence against Māori have shed light on the systemic racism permeating our institutions. An 11-year-old autistic Māori child was forcibly medicated at the Henry Bennett Centre, a 15-year-old had his jaw broken by police in Napier, kaumātua Dean Wickliffe went on a hunger ...
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW Sydney Australia’s relationship with its regional neighbours could be in doubt under a Coalition government after two Pacific leaders challenged Opposition Leader Peter Dutton over his weak climate stance. This week, ...
An additional tariff by the US on New Zealand exporters is harmful and the Minister of Trade has written to his American counterparts to tell them that. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophia Staite, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures Social media is ablaze with reports of kids going wild at screenings of A Minecraft Movie. Some cinemas are cracking down. There are reports of cinemas calling ...
The Treaty Principles Bill has been brutally defeated in Parliament. We have highlights from key speeches, and explain why its demise is so unusual. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Fujak, Senior Lecturer in Sport Management, Deakin University Few issues in Australian sport generate as much media noise or emotional fan reactions as player movement, especially in our major winter codes the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australian Football League (AFL). ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isabelle Ng, PhD candidate, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University A couple of whip coral goby (_Bryaninops yongei_).randi_ang/Shutterstock Swim along the edge of a coral reef and you’ll often see schools of sleek, torpedo-shaped fishes gliding through the currents, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charles Kemp, Professor, School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Languages are windows into the worlds of the people who speak them – reflecting what they value and experience daily. So perhaps it’s no surprise different languages highlight different ...
A new poem by Daniel Frears. Pale Straw this season’s colour is pale straw a revelatory colour for an oh so special season it might mess with your head, or mine you can rub my belly like I was a dog. all actions are allowed in this .. phase. if ...
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 The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins (Hay House, $32) “A truly helpful treatise on seeing ...
Tara Ward watches the return of The Handmaid’s Tale and discovers the dystopia of the future now feels all too real. If you like your television so bleak that you need to curl into a ball and rock back and forward afterwards, then clear the floor because I have great ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national YouGov poll, conducted April 4–10 from a sample of 1,505, gave Labor a 52.5–47.5 lead, a 1.5-point gain for Labor ...
Submissions close today on proposed reforms that would mark the most significant shakeup of fisheries in decades. Here’s what you need to know.On February 12, oceans and fisheries minister Shane Jones held up a wagging finger and a shiny, plastic-comb-bound document as Wellington’s downtown seagulls squawked overhead. Among a ...
This bill sought to fundamentally alter the meaning of Te Tiriti o Waitangi by selectively and incorrectly interpreting the reo Māori text, says E tū National Secretary Rachel Mackintosh. ...
Luxon has an opportunity to emerge as a stabiliser without the diplomatic risk of poking the bear in the White House. Last month, pundits from across the political spectrum were begging Christopher Luxon to add a modicum of clarity to the way he communicates after a disastrous interview with Mike ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Mitchell, Professor of Nursing and Health Services Research, University of Newcastle Annie Spratt/Unsplash Hospital-acquired infections are infections patients didn’t have when they were admitted to hospital. The most common include wound infections after surgery, urinary tract infections and pneumonia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christina Hanna, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Planning, University of Waikato Christina Hanna, CC BY-SA Once floodwaters subside, talk of planned retreat inevitably rises. Within Aotearoa New Zealand, several communities from north to south – including Kumeū, Kawatiri Westport and parts ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arian Wallach, Future Fellow in Ecology, Queensland University of Technology michael garner/Shutterstock In 1938, zoologist Ellis Le Geyt Troughton mourned that Australia’s “gentle and specialized creatures” were “unable to cope with changed conditions and introduced enemies”. The role of these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Peetz, Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow at the Centre for Future Work, and Professor Emeritus, Griffith Business School, Griffith University doublelee/Shutterstock Can the government actually make a difference to the wages Australians earn? A lot of attention always falls on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Egliston, Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures, Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow, University of Sydney Last week, Nintendo announced the June 5 release of its long anticipated Switch 2. But the biggest talking point wasn’t the console’s launch titles or features. At ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Woodman, TR Ashworth Professor in Sociology, The University of Melbourne Securing the welfare of future generations seems like solid grounds for judging policies and politicians, especially during an election campaign. Political legacies are on the line because the stakes are so ...
With protests in the gallery, a projectile thrown and an MP ejected, the second reading of the controversial bill ended in a resounding defeat, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Disruption, then defeat In a parliamentary sketch optimistically ...
So if the transport minister can't own airport shares.
Are housing minister s allowed to own a property especially an investment property ?
It’s fucking ridiculous making him sell his shares, making it public knowledge is enough
It is all about perceived conflict of interest. A minister of Transport making decisions that could potentially benefit his investment is a problem. In this case, it is unlikely because the holding is small. But, it is simply a bad look.
Maybe but surely a housing minister could benefit from policy they put forward.
So why os that different?
It is all about managing perceived conflicts of interest. I am on several boards for trusts, and we have to declare perceived conflicts of interest so it is transparent to all. And, if the conflict is significant enough, we may have to recluse ourselves from decision making in that area.
It isn't a problem if it is handled correctly. In this case it wasn't. And given Wood's experience and seniority, he should have known and handled this much better.
Your still dodging there me old mate, do you think the housing minister should be allowed to own rental properties?
That IS and interesting point. I say no. Why the hell should they?
Interesting point bw
Corrin Dann very weakly touched on this with Luxon on RNZ this morning. Luxon has 5 rentals I think, and stands to make tens of thousands annually by reinstating tax breaks on rentals.
https://twitter.com/GSilbery/status/1665995662310387714
Difference of course being, the houses have always been declared.
also, assuming when you assert he @ stands to make tens of thousands annually” you know for a fact he has a mortgage on those properties?
What does having a mortgage got to do with Luxon’s profiteering from his Party’s
bullet pointspolicies on home ownership and rental properties? You seem to imply that because he has no mortgage on any of the many properties he owns and therefore pays no mortgage interest he does not stand to benefit at all!? For example, have you heard of the Bright Line test and that National will repeal its extension by the sitting Government from 2 to 10 years?Either you’re incredibly ignorant or maliciously manipulative.
And FYI, Luxon hasn’t declared any mortgage or other debts owed by him (https://www.parliament.nz/media/10239/register-of-pecuniary-and-other-specified-interests-of-members-of-parliament-2023.pdf).
You do not make “tens of thousands annually” from the one off sale as a result of any gain from moving the bright line test.
You could potentially make “tens of thousands annually “ from the re-establishment of interest deductibility – but of course only if you have a mortgage against which to claim the interest.
Uhuh, so you’re maliciously manipulative.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/490518/loss-making-property-resales-at-seven-year-high-corelogic
Having a much shorter Bright-Line test will make a difference of about $100,000 on a median profit of $305,000, depending on the top tax rate, which, coincidentally, National and Luxon also want to scrap. In my Maths textbook 100,000 is 10 times more than 10,000.
Spot on Inco.
My son bought a house in 2017 lived in it for 4 years, till his marriage dissolved, sold for $400k more than he paid. That's $100,000 per year of tax free income
Only if he didn't buy another property.
The 'gain' from sale is entirely illusionary if you are buying in the same rising market.
No, your comment is irrelevant and misleading.
The realised gains from a house sale are taxed or non-taxed, depending on whether they pass the Bright Line test or not. This is irrespective of whether or how the money is spent/reinvested.
Not talking about tax – my comment was in relation to the claim of 'tax free income'
The fact that this is now taxed – doesn't change the fact that, if you are rebuying in the same market – your gains are illusionary.
It was two years in 2017 (when the property was bought). It was sold 4 years later. Not taxed.
It was not the same rising market of 20201 in 2022 or 2023 or …
Having a half share of $400,000 CG – and having a share in the original equity, does not equate to immediately buying back into the market.
$300,000 of equity would still means a lot of mortgage to pay in some markets. And despite lower values now, there is the high cost of debt (on one income).
It does mean a capability to pair up again sometime – and if a lower property value than in 2021 and lower mortgage rates c2024-2025, someone will have timed the blended/reboot well.
I think a rich man who reportedly owns seven properties wanting a tax cut for high income earners looks worse than Woods' case but the media ignores that!
I think property investment is totally impacting on the decisions successive governments make on housing policy.
Property investment is so common that if it ruled out being a housing or related Minister then we probably wouldn't have a Minister
Agreed. I think it's apparent that many MPs are beneficiaries of the inaction on housing affordability.
There are a number of MPs that do not own investment properties as the latest Register shows, including the Greens. The full list of declarations: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/revealed-how-many-properties-each-new-zealand-mp-owns.html
Again, as I pointed out above, the issue is managing conflicts of interest.
Wood would be in the clear if he had declared his potential conflict correctly. Given the fact it is only a small shareholding, then likely declaring that should be enough, even as Transport minister in my opinion. I don't actually think he should have to sell them if the conflict was properly managed, because any likely benefit he could get from his possible decisions would be trivial.
The same with investment housing etc. An MP owning say five houses may, in the scheme of things may not be consequential, whereas owning 100 houses may be a problem.
As I said above, this is the sort of thing that must be managed all the time when on a board of a trust etc. If the conflict is minor, having it declared is sufficient. If the conflict is considered too substantial, it is best to not be involved in related decisions at all.
A conflict I need to be aware of is that I am treasurer on two independent trusts, that compete for the same funding. I have this declared as a conflict, and is something I need to make sure I maintain confidentiality over.
So, for argument’s sake, the difference is between owning 5 and 100 houses?
Do you always tilt the field in your favour for you to score points easily & lazily?
Managing real and perceived conflicts of interest are the issue here, as you correctly stated.
Of course, Wood has to sell those AIA shares now, as he intended all along, because they’re tainted now. It is not a legal but a moral imperative aka the right thing to do, under the circumstances.
I didn't think I was. And, it is totally contingent on a variety of factors whether 5 houses would be a conflict or not.
For example, on one hand a decision maker may own 5 houses, so could benefit if a decision is made to drop interest rates. On the other hand, said person may have $10,000,000 in the bank, and may stand to lose income due to dropping interest rates.
It is all contingent, and has to be judged on a case by case basis. The key thing is to declare potential conflicts properly and have proper processes to manage conflicts.
For instance, on one of the trusts I am treasurer on the board was keen to know where the other trust had got funding for a new van. The way I handled that conflict was to ask the other board if it was OK to divulge that information. That meant having to ask the first board if it was OK to tell the other board that we were looking at purchasing a van.
I agree Wood probably has to sell the shares now. Though, he probably didn’t have to if the conflict was managed properly in the first place.
And, for the record, I don’t agree with opposition calls for Wood to be sacked.
You keep on deflecting, diverting, and dodging.
Your idiosyncratic hypothetical examples rarely have any bearing on reality and are often bordering on being absurd.
How many New Zealanders own 100 houses? Of those, how many are MPs?
Owning 5 houses may (?) not be a problem but a 100 may (?) be.
Luxon owns 7 Real Properties, and this may or may not be a conflict of interest depending on how much he has in the bank, depending on which way the interest rates might go, and on position of Venus in the star sign of Sagittarius on Friday 30 February?? Or so does your typical ‘argument’ go.
The rules are clear: any perceived or real conflict of interest must be declared, with a low minimum threshold, of course, for practicality. End of.
And such declaration does not actually remove the conflict of interest, it merely declares it.
So, Luxon and many other MPs do have a declared conflict of interest when it comes to any decisions regarding to housing and landlording, for example. He’s a ‘good boy’ because he declared it and Wood is a ‘bad boy’ because he fucked up his declaration.
I can see Wood selling his AIA shares, as he’s intended all along, but I can’t see Luxon selling his properties. Can you?
Stop jumping up & down on the head of a pin and stop hiding behind absurd examples and start engaging in a mature conversation without deflecting, diverting, and dodging, thanks.
The point is not to show real life examples, but to point to the principle that the overall effect needs to be considered, balancing up what may be competing conflicts of interest.
Absolutely agree.
Absolutely agree again. And I expect that advice would be sought on how the conflict should be managed, if it is viewed as something that should be. And I don't think this is something the individual with the conflict should make a decision about.
I have no problems with the fact that owning property should be declared. And, if Luxon doesn’t want to sell his, then he needs to have the conflict managed in an appropriate way.
If the conflict is seen as material enough to affect decisions in a particular area of responsibility, then that conflict needs to be managed.
Likely, in that situation, one way to manage the conflict would be to have decisions reviewed by an appropriate independent person to ensure that the decision is correct and balanced.
Either that, or delegate that decision to another person not affected by that conflict.
I have said previously that I don’t think Wood should have to sell his shares. And I think pressure for him to sell previously was likely over the top, and there could have been a way forward that allowed him to keep them. But, I agree with you, that he probably will now given the politics at play.
So, what are we actually disagreeing on?
What do you suggest? There is no “if”, is there now?
Should he recuse himself from voting (abstain) for his own (Party’s) policies? If so, that would exclude many MPs, not just from National, from voting.
As to demonstrating the validity of a principle, it strengthens your argument if you’d indeed use real-life examples instead of absurd hypotheticals that are merely rhetorical tools that make you appear disingenuous.
I actually agree with you, that housing is a problematic area. Because, owning investment houses for rentals has been fairly pervasive with politicians
I am not sure what is in place now. But, I think politicians need to be discussing potential conflicts with an independent body such as Parliamentary services, for guidance on whether particular areas of conflict are material to certain areas, and what should be done to manage the conflict.
One way to do that is with a blind trust, where all a politicians relevant assets are placed in the trust, and and independent person makes decisions about the trust.
I think the Wood situation has shown why politicians need to be careful about conflicts of interest, and it may be necessary to tighten requirements in this area.
the NZ property market needs to devalue if we are to end poverty (or even reduce it to levels of 20 years ago). By quite a lot. Do you really trust MPs who are banking on personal capital gains to do that? It’s not the number of houses, it’s the number of MPs who are currently becoming quite wealthy. They’re the greater majority in parliament.
it's not a perceived conflict of interest, it's an actual conflict of interest.
My pint exactly , so it's ridiculous that woods is forced to sell his shares.
he should sell his shares just to clear up the perceived mess. Election year and all that.
but I agree, the air shares are insignificant by comparison.
Wood owns one twenty thousandth of AirNZ-close to nothing. There is no conflict of interest here.
The rules should make allowance for the SCALE of ownership. There should not be a blanket rule.
Much easier to have a blanket rule, rather than litigating each and every asset ownership for 'significance'
All Wood had to do was declare them in the register of interests (as every other MP must do) – from 2016.
Every incoming MP gets chapter and verse on this as part of their induction into Parliament.
It's not whether he owns the shares that's the issue, it's his sloppy management of the possible conflict of interest.
AND follow through on his agreement with the Cabinet office to sell them when he agreed to do this in 2020.
Again, it's his poor ability to follow through that's the issue.
I stuffed up …my calculation above should have been made in relation to Auckland International Airport not AirNZ.
So I will make the same point with AIA.
Auckland International Airport (AIA) currently has a capital value of $12.8 billion.
Wood's $13,000 shares represent roughly ONE MILLIONTH of the value of AIA shares.
Wood owns a miniscule part of AIA. This could hardly be called a conflict of interest. There should be some recognition of the SCALE of ownership in the parliament rules in terms of conflict of interest.
I see the Russians have blown the Kakhovka damn causing a humanitarian disaster, and in doing so committed a major war crime.
Not much doubt that it was the Russians. As the video above points out, it was understood last year that the Russians had mined the damn, and had it prepared for demolition. And, it is the most simple answer when the two following questions were considered: Firstly, who controlled the damn, and secondly, what would be required to cause that sort of damage.
The answer to the first question is obviously Russia. The answer to the second question, according to most commentators, is that it is nigh on impossible to destroy that sort of structure with missiles or the like, and that it would require planned demolition. Thus, the answer is obviously Russia IMO.
So, what do the Russians get out of this? On one hand, they have cut their water supply to Crimea. But, on the other hand, they have shortened their front line, and are able to redeploy troops elsewhere.
It looks like it may have been a demolition that went out of hand.
According to this timeline and the contradictory and developing Russian messaging, it appears that the damn may have been blown at around 2am the preceding morning, with the goal of creating a small breach to flood Ukrainian positions on the other side of the Dnipro. But, the demo caused much more damage than intended.
And, the other thing is that the Russians had raised the water level to maximum height just prior to the explosion, thus maximising the flooding.
Note: should be “dam” not “damn” in my earlier post. Posting early in the morning lol.
" The Russians had raised the water level to maximum height etc Yeah right i guess they just wanted to flood all their fortifications an wash away their minefields ? Why wouldnt they just open the floodgates ?? .I guess for the same reason they blew up their own pipeline rather than simply turning off the tap !!! makes perfect sense lol .
So, what do the Russians get out of this?
Same thing as the Seppos got using white phosphorus on Fallujah – the chance to indulge their spite. They know they've lost – they just want to share the pain.
Certainly that. But, also some military defensive advantage as well. It makes it nigh on impossible for the Ukrainians to advance across the Dnipro now in that location. So, it simplifies things for the Russians, and allows them to redeploy their troops.
Though, I tend to buy into the theory that this was a demo that got out of hand.
It is, apparently, the source of Crimea's water, so that will complicate the defense.
I imagine it is part of a larger scheme to precipitate a failure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which requires the Khakhovka reservoir as a source of cooling water. Fixes involving extra pumping are surely possible, but Russia would like nothing better than to turn it into a second Chernobyl.
Here Michael Clarke gives a more indepth analysis. Quite interesting.
I'm inclined to think that any defensive advantage will be pretty temporary – especially given that any crossing of the Dnieper was going to be by boat in any case. But Russia is likely desperate enough to seize any momentary advantage – and a local Russian commander in the Kherson region wanting a few days to secure a retreat might have good selfish reasons to do it, together with the means.
Michael Clarke is always worth hearing too.
" What do the Russians get out of this " ? Good question stuart !! You say " they know they've lost " etc Really ?? hmm Soledar has fallen Bakmut has fallen Marinka has a few days if its lucky, the greatsummer offensive has been for the most part repelled with heavy losses to the Ukranians …doesnt really seem like losing to me but you think it is Why ?
springTheir victories are at best Pyrrhic. They lose a lot of men and materiale. And the West is fed up with their bullshit and are, at last, supporting Ukraine properly.
For a supposedly crucial strategic point, Bakhmut has done nothing to swing the war in Russia's favour since its
capturedestruction. And, as Wagner withdraws, under friendly fire no less, it transpires that Russian regular forces struggle to maintain the positions they once held.The scorched earth policy of an army looking down the barrel of an ignominious trouncing. The Ukrainian offensive to retake Crimea would make continued occupation untenable. Destroying the dam jiggers the water supply to large areas of south Ukraine and makes Crimea virtually uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.
" Ignominious trouncing " etc
Are you serious joe ??!! Despite ' the west' dribbling in weapons to prolong the conflict as long as it can Ukraine remains outgunned in almost everyway .Judging by the increasing use of airpower by Russia Ukraines air defences are seriously depleted and its pretty obvious what aircraft they have left are living on borrowed time .Russia has hypersonic missiles and fearsome weapons like the thermobaric flamethrower systems Russia has industrial capacity such that it can bombard any area of Ukraine anytime it wants .
Seems to me its Ukraine " looking down the barrel of a gun " because everyday Russia grows stronger and Ukraine grows weaker .The idea that Russia is getting a "trouncing " is delusional .As for the water supply to Crimea it still functioned when the Ukrainians cut off the supply the first time so doubtless it will cope .Id be more worried about the supply to the power station .
I wouldn't be so quick to rush to judgement. Russia again had far more to lose than to gain from blowing up critical infrastructure in territory they seek long term control.
U.S. had intelligence of detailed Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream pipeline
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/06/nord-stream-pipeline-explosion-ukraine-russia/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
No, they had a lot more to gain than lose from a military perspective. Firstly it effectively reduced their front line so far as defence is concerned. Secondly, it frees up a lot of troops to defend in other areas.
The other thing is that the damage was done on the Russian side of the dam. And it had been known for months that they had pre-mined it. And, as Michael Clarke points out in the link I gave, missiles can't do that sort of damage to a large dam. It has to be a planned demo job.
The only downside for Russia is that it cuts the water supply to Crimea. But that was the situation for years when Ukraine had shut the canal. And a lot of people have been leaving Crimea anyway. And, Putin really doesn't care that much about his own people.
Inside the Ukrainian counteroffensive that shocked Putin and reshaped the war.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/29/ukraine-offensive-kharkiv-kherson-donetsk/
Let's see where Nordstream is.
1 – Russia did it, and Seymour Hersh is an old has been.
2 – 4 guys on a yacht did it.
Latest – Ukraine did it with advanced CIA knowledge.
There's also the possibility previous shelling with Himars back in October /November last year undermined the dam
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010815000740/Ukraine-Targes-Dam-in-Khersn-wih-US-Made-HIMARS-Missiles
Why have parts of the left become so pro-war and so pro establishment?
Once the left was anti-imperialist, anti war and anti nuclear.
Now some appear to want to want war with both China and Russia.
I agree that all war is shit for those caught up in it. This is a highly-reported and discussed conflict in Europe, unlike most of the miseries of recent semi-proxy wars, like the horror in Syria. So we can see much of the nuts and bolts of extended warfare play out daily.
The outcome of this conflict is critical to the future political shape of Europe and of political alliances on both sides of the conflict. I'm not a military buff at all, and can imagine only too well the suffering of soldiers and citizens. But I am interested in the decisions on both sides that affect the political future and also reframe conventional warfare. Bury your head in the sand if you want: this is a pivotal time in political history.
It is clear to me that the moral certitude of an anti-war position has been co-opted by Russian disinformation. Can you imagine even 10 years ago the most right-wing of the US Republican party supporting the Russian Federation over Ukraine and urging isolationism? Ukraine would have been swallowed up by Russia by now if Trump, an admirer of strongmen, had retained the US presidency.
Have you listened or read any of the above on the causes of this war?
It's a bit more nuanced than the propaganda pumped out by the New York Times and the Guardian.
We don't want war with Russia – nothing would please us more than Russia surrendering and delivering Putin to The Hague for trial.
Pretty sure many leftists went and fought in the Spanish Civil War – Orwell being one of them.
Appeasing Putin simply isn't going to work. This is the same person who was openly killing people in foreign countries while the capitalist elite made friendly with him.
I was surprised at the lack of kick back then. Eventually it bit everyone on the arse.
He is as much of an arsehole as Bush was. Both unjust invasions of other countries.
Not even close. Himars etc would only scratch the surface of that structure. It requires properly placed explosives to achieve that sort of damage. Watch that second video by Michael Clarke I linked to.
Did earlier damage weaken part of the dam – and I read somewhere the water levels were very high? This could could have been the straw that broke the camel's back.
It's what chekist thugs do. The human cost be buggered.
/
In 1941, as Nazi German troops swept through Soviet-era Ukraine, Josef Stalin's secret police blew up a hydroelectric dam in the southern city of Zaporizhzhya to slow the Nazi advance.
The explosion flooded villages along the banks of the Dnieper River, killing thousands of civilians.
As Europe marks its Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism on August 23, a handful of Zaporizhzhya residents are battling for the recognition of the little-known wartime tragedy.
[…]
The team successfully carried out its secret mission — which historians say was ordered by Stalin himself — tearing a hole in the dam and temporarily cutting off part of the city from the invaders.
But the explosion also flooded villages and settlements along the Dnieper River.
The tidal surge killed thousands of unsuspecting civilians, as well as Red Army officers who were crossing over the river.
Since no official death toll was released at the time, the estimated number of victims varies widely. Most historians put it at between 20,000 and 100,000, based on the number of people then living in the flooded areas.
https://www.rferl.org/a/european-remembrance-day-ukraine-little-known-ww2-tragedy/25083847.html
Seems the Herald is keen to deflect from Wayne Brown's public relation disasters by fussing about what Wellington's mayor should or should not be doing. Normally Wellington's mayor would be ignored.
Do you mean this:
And yet, it goes on to say:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington-mayor-tory-whanau-says-attendance-criticism-is-gendered/ONOVVKY4XZAO7K7ZF36KVCIFWY/
So is the criticism valid or was it gendered?
The Herald attacking the performance of a young eloquent popular female Green Maori mayor. Surely not? (sarc).
Meanwhile Wayne Brown’s atrocious behaviour gets an easy ride.
Spot the difference.
Seeing as Whanau has admitted it’s “not ideal” she has missed meetings recently, stating she should have been there and she wouldn’t do that again. Isn't the criticism valid?
I'm not saying she is perfect….Wayne has been consistently awful.
What say you? Seems overblown to me, but then I'm "more left than most."
And Wayne Brown's thinks some of his critics are "drongos" – what say you?
Maybe Mayor Brown can't change who he is – and his supporters wouldn't have it any other way. Let's hope the supercity doesn't face too many more major challenges over the next two and a half years – jeez, Wayne!
Seeing as Whanau has admitted she should have been there, coupled with there being no evidence of ageist or gendered language or racism, it seems the criticism is valid.
Furthermore, she lowered herself by pulling out the gendered, ageist and racism card.
So it seems that you had a firm opinion as to the answers to your questions.
"The gendered, ageist and racism card" is a very heavy one to 'pull out'
Wait- that point where the Mayor has a busy schedule and has to choose meetings as opposed to the Mayor who does almost no media? Imagine if Tory Whanau had done that.
Good to see David Parker step up .
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/environment-minister-wades-into-river-battle
And to say the least..so he should ! In your link (thanks) I did also see this..
Ecan..what a mixed bag. A few standouts. One..Lan Pham..but now standing for Greens
Anway..re the above…very similar to Otago and its seriously fucked over Rivers and Streams. Dairy responsible for much of that….
And…Mr Parker…do your job. Protect our NZ Rivers and Streams.
Many thanks for that Scotty…interesting that ECan seems to be trying to wriggle out of its role to protect the river despite the fact that it knows that the permitted "take' from the river is being exceeded.
Quite a court battle on the horizon. Well done David Parker indeed for wading in on this (no pun intended…though with the illegal low flows at the moment wading wouldn't be needed)
Not sure if this has already been posted
Kathleen Stock at Oxford, covering and replying to the usual old chestnuts
Thanks, Francesca. I'll give it a look.
I viewed the movie What is a woman? the other day. That was interesting.
https://rumble.com/v2rj1jy-matt-walsh-what-is-a-woman-full-documentary.html
Deborah Shaw's article from Dec 2022 is excellent background reading.
A tale of two feminisms: gender critical feminism, trans inclusive feminism and the case of Kathleen Stock
A good read, but not really a lot about Stock
As for the pledge this film studies expert poses at the end of the article, Kathleen Stock would be the first to sign up
I'm all for trans rights, as long as they don't destroy womens rights to same sex assembly and protection .For a lot of women , gender , the way in which one expresses one's sex culturally, is just a fiction, subject to societal mores and ever changing cultural fashion Sex is the ground zero reality, gender the window dressing.
So hang me, send me off for conversion therapy, neuter my brain , sanitise my dictionary.
Shaw references this 2021 review of Stock's book on transgender by a Texas philosopher with a trans child. Also well worth the read – it is not a diatribe, but examines Stock’s main points in a reasoned way.
The reviewer discusses the crux of Stock's position, and mirrors what frustrates me most about the debate on this topic at The Standard:
'Stock is most concerned about a teeming horde of violent “transsexual pretenders” who might rush into the nihilistic void created by gender identity policies. Yet the book has no systematic scheme or scale for weighing different harms or assessing the likelihood of such a social collapse. Of course, any such scheme would be shot-through with judgment calls, but at least those could be made in the open. No, her utilitarianism is the invisible ghost in the machine.'
https://social-epistemology.com/2021/11/24/which-reality-whose-truth-a-review-kathleen-stocks-material-girls-why-reality-matters-for-feminism-adam-briggle/
"Trans children" are like "vegan cats". We know who is making the decisions.
Thanks
Will read when I get home
All good. And good on Labour. Actually..I have been thinking on this…and other recent Labour ups. Incl..
I have already said elsewhere…that I sure hope a lot of these..recipients…. might remember who gave them. For sure Nact…(charter schools, tax cuts for rich etc etc) do NOT have their best interests at heart (heart? Im being ironic)
Anway…I was wondering..did teachers ever strike under..the Nats? I cant remember many? If any? I found this…seems a bit…well, excuse making. IMO.
Yea of course Labour could and should do more. But dont forget who are looming in the corner. Nact.
All IMO of course. But..i think valid.
Tha chat in my PPTA staffroom is that Labour has lost votes over this. Probably to the Greens for want of a decent left alternative.
Hi, thanks for reply. And FYI.. I support NZ Teachers and Education.
I cant help how they see it? But please …must vote. Green..Labour ? The alternative… Nact..is just awful.
I am supportive of teachers and don't know that what they have just rejected is good but if they are not careful they are going to be negotiating their collective with an ACT minister….
Well I can only agree. And they dont want to go with that scenario! Wonder how Nact would respond to them… and strikes?
Infratil takes over full control of OneNZ previously Vodafone.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/infratil-taking-full-control-of-one-nz-in-18-billion-deal/OI5IEIFKY5EBDLIXCS2G66ORT4/
Infratil are essentially our government without any public accountability.
Well and truly more powerful than any government department other than MBIE and Treasury.
How can Infratil be government-controlled when NZ Super and ACC only own ~6% of shares?
https://m.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/INFRATIL-LIMITED-6494631/company/
Read Ad's comment again
Any evidence of malfeasance on their part…?
'cos while I support selling the airport shares..'cos they don't make economic sense ..I do support us buying a cash cow like vodofone ..on both economic and ideological grounds..
An independent panel has recommended changes to the electoral law:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/491390/electoral-system-review-recommends-voting-age-lowered-to-16-party-threshold-to-3-point-5-percent
These are sensible and have long been requested by numerous reviews and interest groups for many years. Time to take action one would think.
My question is why no restriction of the vote and or donations to citizens and putting all the recommendations to a referendum?
Allowing parties to veto change (the 75% criteria) just disenfranchises voters.
Because permanent residents shouldn't be disenfranchised because they aren't 'citizens'.
While we live under a representative democracy as opposed to a direct democracy the parties represent the will of the voters so there is no disenfranchisement there. The head of the panel makes a valid point on this issue in the article:
Allowing political parties to determine electoral matters is a conflict of interest.
That’s an interesting position to take. If Parliament cannot determine electoral matters then who can (or should)?
I’ve had an (growing) unease about the power of political parties in democracy and the democratic processes and have been meaning to write a Post about this for quite some time. I recently read On the Abolition of All Political Parties by Simone Weil (see https://thestandard.org.nz/kerekere-quits-greens/#comment-1948834) and this almost made me write it but perhaps Election Year is not the most appropriate time to start kicking against the political establishment and parties
One would only have to note the USA practice as to what could go wrong if political parties (in government) had determination of electoral and election matters. Less of it, rather than more.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/491476/retail-crime-worst-it-s-ever-been-with-dozens-of-incidents-daily-foodstuffs
In desperate times people get desperate. You'd expect right wingers to understand this.
The rate of increase in theft is about the same as the supermarkets profit margin:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/04/group-of-supermarket-suppliers-speak-out-as-it-s-revealed-how-much-kiwis-are-paying-for-their-goods.html
Wage theft is a much more significant issue, and is yet to be a crime:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/132099945/wage-theft-its-widespread-its-ugly-its-a-bloodsport-in-our-country
Who would have thought supermarket retail crime increases when supermarkets price gouge the public.
Tomatoes $13.99/kg at New World yesterday.
One could argue that such profit gouging is a form of theft in itself.
In certain trading situations – shortages, prices escalate to ration supply by price. The retailer will claim if there more tomatoes they could sell at a smaller mark-up and maintain the same sort of overall return for tomatoes.
The same retailers have their (negotiated as one of two – duopoly market) supply contracts to prevent growers doing to them, what they do to their own customers.
Governance includes the option of windfall profits taxation after national disasters/pandemic events (QE and increased supply of cheap money as per banks).
The government has aided independent chemists with the end of prescription charges – reducing the risk of a big chemist retail monopoly.
It needs to constantly work on measures in the food supply sector to maintain competition – other outlets for suppliers (online, local markets etc) as well as regulatory vigilance of monopolies in their management of their relations with suppliers (as they would employers as to employees – including contractors and migrants).
I though that's what the story was going to be about when I saw the headline, tbh.
Out of season tomatoes are more expensive. Who would have guessed!
Totally! But if you really really want tomatoes out of season, they come in tins. $1.09 at our local Coundown last week.
Have you not heard of greenhouses?
You mean the ones heated by gas, oil or electricity to grow out of season produce?
And of course any of those are really cheap to create a temperate environment out of season.
Costs of greenhouse supply are going up.
https://www.grower2grower.co.nz/bali-and-jasse-sahota-tomato-and-cucumber-growers/
The consequence of closing the refinery.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/129094501/tomato-grower-eyes-innovative-workaround-after-co2-shortage-cuts-production-20
Have you not heard of eating seasonally?
Wait- the Nats have looked at their success here and overseas (as in their absolute failure) and want more private- public partnerships here!
Someone needs to make a graph or a visual description comparing the scale of Wood’s shares and Luxon’s properties as Luxon has been making up policy on the fly which benefits home owners…
Soil health is important to sequestering carbon:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2376827-underground-fungi-absorb-up-to-a-third-of-our-fossil-fuel-emissions/
It's a complicated topic: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/2018891321/the-complexities-of-soil
It's good to see our farmers looking to revitalise our soils:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/2018890905/get-your-hands-dirty-says-soil-advocate-and-farmer
Wanting health soils structure is not new, we been talking about worms ,root depths and growing mor clover for years.
Of interest my work just got a paddock to farm next door that was in potatoes last year, lifeless with no soil structure at all, boss reckons it takes years to turn these type of paddocks around.
Absolutely but the evidence is stacking up that our current practices aren't helping, too much monoculture, too many chemical amendments, a more holistic approach is necessary as is more diversity, raising animal and plants in a more circular nature-replicating process.
It does take years to improve soils, so best we start now!
https://attra.ncat.org/publication/integrating-livestock-and-crops-improving-soil-solving-problems-increasing-income/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929139316304954
https://phys.org/news/2023-05-key-future-soil-carbon-solutions.html
Follow potatoes with a crop of lupins dug back in, plus sea grass and bio chat and compost, for root veg, followed by brassicas. Cheers 1/3 each year on rotation.
I'll keep it in mind if I get to be boss
And so it begins.
NACT reveal their governing modus operandi – exploit migration worker numbers to place upward pressure on property values and downward pressure on wages (growing the gap between haves and have nots). And while low wage workers are struggling to afford rents let alone own their homes – divert attention from this with this sort of politics.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/richard-prebble-wholl-do-all-the-work-if-the-jobseekers-wont/QYRKRVJD3ZBO7JNBMNATUDGXVY/
It's a sideshow of building more prisons to house those they would not employ into jobs.
It's the Americanisation of our society.
People under 25 on the benefit placed under the care of (faith based provider, fear and obey regime) overseers who decide whether they are deserving poor. The period of pre employment trial on the jobs (guess what happens to those who join unions).
Be nice if the current govt differed on this issue, sadly they also seek to supress wages by maintaining immigration levels which will exacerbate the number of crises which already have insufficient infrastructure spending:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/the-bulletin/23-05-2023/welcome-to-the-immigration-resurgence
At the neo-liberal policy setting a bit of commonality.
But the divergence is in how the disparity is then managed. One mitigates it, the other places the jackboot on the neck of the poor.
He seems to fail to note a connection to there being an underclass (cannot afford stuff and or in motels etc) and those who organise to escape this, via crime.
As in the 1980's USA in Volcker's recession and subsequent family break-up, levels of crime rose as a last resort to fulfil the American dream
There is no evidence that any of these have suddenly got worse in recent months.
NACT and Seymour of course blame it on Labour for letting people out of prison and not puting them back (Seymour calls them "criminals as if they are a class branded") in there asap.
Is NACT proposing an end to parole? And then a return for any infringement upon release (thus a form of 2 tier legal system) as a crime prevention programme?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/06/foodstuffs-boss-says-crime-hitting-supermarkets-is-not-acceptable-amid-spike-in-thefts.html
Even Muldoon
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2107/S00037/on-when-nationals-leaders-had-a-more-enlightened-approach-to-gangs.htm
But back then National was not seeking to Americanise our society.
https://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/122389/allan-barber-reports-key-markets-demand-fake-meat-sharply-lower-while-demand-real
We've just had a 30% drop in the warming effect of methane!!!
It pays to read any link before posting..'cos despite reading like a puff-piece for the flesh industries..your one is quite bullish on the red meat gives you cancer evidence..
And claims in it that 'fake meat' is 25 times more polluting than cow flesh …is just total horseshit…
Here's the pre-print the figure was taken from. Refute away.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.21.537778v1.full
(from your link)
Didya read the bit where it said that due to environmental costs/pressures..that beef production should be eliminated…?
Didya read that bit…?
Yet no refutal of the paper's assertion that the GWP of all purified scenarios ranged from 246 to 1,508 kg of CO2e per kilogram of ACBM which is 4 to 25 times greater than the median GWP of retail beef.
Weak.
I'm well aware of your views Mr Ure and respect your right to air them.
Moderation is key to meat consumption, and at today's prices that's easy.
Maybe. But its no reason, for critics of farmers doiing anything, to pull out of agreements here that connect to our meeting international commitments.
There is somewhat of a play for time aspect to that, because of research to find a measure to reduce methane from livestock. If that does result in 50% reductions – based on a seasonal dose, then with this latest calculation that would significantly impact determination of the emissions from pastoral farming.
As some might point out, as to nutrition and meat alternative comparisons (including emissions), they object to the farming of animals on other grounds.
In the abstract of that UC Davis paper Barber refers to, the final sentence is spot on.
Barber's comment about "unreasonable constraints" on agriculture is intriguing. I support his plea that "politicians need to follow the science" – now, if not sooner, imho.
He Waka Eke Noa? Not if Luxon can help it. Will he "follow the science", or feed us more repeal and delay ‘policy’? Time “to go back to the drawing board“? Time will tell.
National has withdrawn from the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/national-says-he-waka-eke-noa-climate-change-farming-emissions-group-is-dead/CKQ3GCTSLZAO7MHRPEEHAE3ZUY/
In Oz, women noted that the Liberal caucus was misogynist and loved coal, so they formed the Teals, and the Alban elbowed his way into government.
Who here will note the
fart/frat boy boarding school pack nature of the National caucus and spare us their return to government.Another charity captured by Gender Ideology.
"In June 2021, The Telegraph reported on an Oxfam staff training document called ‘Learning About Trans Rights and Inclusion’.
This manual claimed that “Mainstream feminism centres on privileged white women and demands that ‘bad men’ be fired or imprisoned”, which, it adds, “Legitimises criminal punishment, harming black and other marginalised people”. The text was accompanied by a cartoon of a weeping white woman.
The training manual was drawn up after the Oxfam’s LGBT+ network wrote to the leadership team, demanding that it must publicly support trans rights. The letter stated, “To argue that trans-inclusivity would undermine the vital work we do for women and girls is not only transphobic, but also perpetuates the white saviour complex that assumes that we know best for the people we work with”. It went on to claim that it is ‘transphobic’ to question whether men who identify as women could pose a threat to women and that discussions around identity within the charity exposed ‘queer’ employees to ‘harm’.
The training manual Oxfam subsequently produced told staff that protecting single-sex spaces for women “Contributed to transphobia and undermining of trans rights”. It added that “Oxfam stands actively against any implication that the realization of trans rights and inclusion poses a threat to creating a safe environment for all”."
https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/oxfam-when-misogyny-is-the-mission?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&fbclid=IwAR2BeTQKgsLTecEGo2DV4ZXw_6Ega4JCmrmoTR9psu0ih9fbwg0RjeKrikA
We remember how Oxfam failed to protect women and girls from sexual exploitation from its own staff in Haiti – including the former Oxfam "Country director" and not only failed to investigate allegations about the sexual abuse of children, but repeatedly fell below expected standards of safeguarding and tried to cover up the Haiti scandal and failed to care for the victims.
Maybe they should be updating those manuals instead.
Thanks for all the information Visubversa. I have a learnt a lot about this topic thanks to you and others about this concerning issue.
Turns out the gender critical characterisation of feminism is superfluous?
Austerity muppets
Closing child care facilities where the savings likely won’t even meet the costs of shuttering the centres. Heck of a job.