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.
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
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: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Climate denial is dead. Renewable energy denial is here. As “alternative facts” become the norm, it’s worth looking at what actual facts tell us about how renewable energy sources like solar and wind are lowering the price of electricity. As ...
SIR GEOFFREY PALMER is worried about democracy. In his Newsroom website post of 27 January 2025 he asserts that “the future of democracy across the world now seems to be in question.” Following a year of important electoral contests across the world, culminating in Donald Trump’s emphatic recapture of the ...
The Government hasn’t stopped talking about growth since the Prime Minister made his “yes” speech at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week. But so far, the measures announced would seem hardly likely to suddenly pitch New Zealand into the fast-growth East Asian league. The digital nomad announcement hardly deserved ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
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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.