What part of supply and demand does our coalition govt not understand?? It has tripled the housing problem since taking office:
The waitlist for public housing hit a new record in May, with close to 18,000 eligible households waiting for a state or community home. Of the 17,982 households waiting over 16,000 were “Priority A” – meaning they had been identified as being in urgent need. The waitlist has ballooned in recent years, trebling from the 5844 households on the waitlist when the current Government was elected in September 2017. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300050573/waitlist-for-public-housing-hits-new-record-as-coronavirus-economic-crash-bites
This is a classic case of left/right collusion, and organised whining from both sides in an attempt to distract the public just makes Labour/National irresponsibility more evident. Commentators here may even figure it out. Eventually. Clue:
What part of "let's keep moving" in the wrong direction don't Labour folk understand?? When you import three or four times as many people as the number waiting for a house to live in, you make the problem three or four times worse. Government MPs will require remedial courses in primary school arithmetic to work this out! 🤢
I am willing to bet, amongst the landlord politicians, there is nothing wrong with their maths when it comes to: rental income, tax write-offs, interest rate %….
Do we believe in ghosts? They have plenty of dwellings going spare.
Much simpler would have been TOP's CCT that ensures all assets are taxed at a certain minimum rate on an annual basis. It might not fully eliminate the problem of ghost houses, but it would certainly increase the incentive to balance the cash flow by ensuring the home was occupied.
That's true enough, although without those fixed costs there might also be a lot more empty houses.
The way a CCT works though is well adapted to this problem. Take your average $1m Auckland house. It would be deemed to have a 'risk free rate of return' of 3% or $30,000 pa income that would be treated as an imputed income, and bundled into the owners total tax position even if they earned no income from the house.
If however the property earned the same $30,000 as real income from a tenant, then none of the CCT would apply, the real income would be taxed instead. There's a pretty powerful psychological incentive at work too.
I have to think a CCT would move the needle in the right direction, even if it only halved the number of ghost houses, this would still be a good thing.
How do you propose stopping Kiwis returning to NZ? Apparently, there are about one million waiting to hop on the plane back home. That will screw up any plan trying to deal with ‘demand & supply’. The problem with this ‘debate’ is that people seem to assume that net migration is mostly driven by people from ‘India, Pakistan, or Korea’. Those people should vote National or NZF, the parties for the un-thinking.
I wouldn't stop them. You make a fair point. Does our stats dept publish separate numbers for returning kiwis? If so, we can quantify the proportional effect. I cited the past couple of years because it constitutes most of the period that the coalition was enacting its housing policy. Those figures allow us to contrast the appearance of solving the problem with the appearance of immigration stats making it worse…
So, National via new spokesperson, Nicola Willis has told us that they were wrong to sell state housing during their last term in government.
Is this the beginning of a blood-letting purge of the stupidity of that nine year shameful shambles?
Is this the result of Paula Bennett's resignation and consequent reallocation of portfolios with Muller's accession?
Is this a tacit admission by National that it can't win in 2020 and instead is flensing, sloughing off and discarding all that dross of poor management and policy?
Problem is, it's still the same people just moved up the ladder a little as others got pushed off.
Where's the philosophic, spiritual and psychic renewal they need? From the religious right?
They need a good penitential progress, with flagellation and the tolling of beads………..
RNZ news item at 8 am today. News item with Willis also speaking. "We were wrong". She wants to continue building state houses, rather than let the numbers actually decline, as they did. She has tacitly admitted that current government policy to build up housing stock is a correct policy.
Willis admits the nats were wrong to sell state houses but thinks we're better to go back to them because they'll now build more state houses. Unbelievable, Nicola, just unbelievable.
Ms Willis sounds like she preloaded on coffee for this interview. She lies by omission several times, and is plain wrong on other points. Salvation Army and other social agencies would not touch Nationals flogged off state houses with the proverbial.
More people are on the waiting list now because they see a possible chance of securing a home with the Labour Govt. whereas National was on a “defund–run down–sell off” strategy regarding state housing.
Salvation Army's discussion's with Key's government fell over because they couldn't reach a deal – good result but was disappointing the discussions took place at all.
What did happen was that the filthy rich and despicably corporate community organisation called IHC stepped in, under its disguise 'Accessible Housing', and bought a whole stack of state houses. Price for IHC is no barrier because they're loaded. They then got to work kicking tenants out they didn't like to make way for their grandiois plans of dominating the disability housing sector with the aim of fattening its ill-gained coffers even more.
IHC operate under the “Idea Services” name in my area, and they are not great employers or service providers. Given that they substantially run on taxpayer funding they should be more accountable.
Idea Services, like Accessible Housing, are companies wholly owned by the overarching incorporated society IHC. The law reports are littered with employment dispute cases. Their hands are filthy.
IMO, the whole point, from some politicians view, of having a private outfit run on taxpayers money is so that they aren't accountable. Much easier to fleece the taxpayer that way.
Can we send her a list of all the other things Nact should not have done so that she can do a bulk apology and reset. BTW does John Key have much influence over the current nat management of Todd & Nikki?
It appears from the Stats March 2020 figures quoted by Dennis that offshore NZers reacted earlier than previously assumed to the threat of Covid and started coming back well before lockdown and resident NZers changed their minds about leaving equally early. Maybe we are more intelligent and aware than we give ourselves credit for. Of course the evidence that this is true is our reaction to the compliance with lockdown compared to just about every other country in the world.
There may be some real basis for your reasoning but seems to me it would only account for a small proportion of the whole. The stats I cited go back to March 2018 which was early in their term, eh?
I just had a look: “migrant arrivals in the March 2020 year, New Zealand citizens were the largest group with 42,800 (± 800) arrivals… For migrant departures in the March 2020 year, New Zealand citizens were the largest group with 35,700 (± 600) departures.”
So net returning kiwis around 7,000, about 10% of net incoming migrants the past year…
You have to add the pressure from 300 000 temporary visa holders and 3 million tourist arrivals to that mix also. Examplified by the addition of former air b and b's to the available housing stock.
Reply to Mac1:
Discarding the poor management and policy? So, let me think about that.
They had the genius of Key and English and Joyce, et al, wizards of the age (not to mention Nick Smith, chuckle) and their grand Comprehensive Housing Plan. Turns out that was shit.
Now they have the A Team, made up largely of flunkies from the last lot (not to mention Nick S) who have The Answers and I am to believe and trust them.
She was part of the renewal flouted with Bridges standing meaningfully grouped in the corridors of power. She is right to abjure the previous policy, of course. National's problem is partly that it is factionalised, and a sizeable contingent of illiberal and rural men competes with a group of liberals including some women like Willis. No way because the will to change properly is not there in the broader party.
Lprent summed it up very well in a post yesterday talking about middle management style and practice- there is little room in National for expansive and coherent long term thinking and planning.
I talked about this with the tradesman working here. I mentioned the middle management style of some firms like Fonterra whose practice was to delay bill paying to creditors when in business.
Surely a bit harsh with 'limited men of limited vision and goals.' The vision's there, about that trade being their road to the bigger bach, bigger car, more expensive house. Bugger about the holiday in Hawaii this year.
Mammon, Peter, Mammon. The vision itself is limiting. It's not only what they envision, it's that the vision limits their possible understanding that there is more than their own greed.
A person looking down a telescope of course has good vision; but of what, of how much, since so much is unseen?
Central to the pamphlet’s argument are two contentious claims: first that border restrictions are likely doomed to fail as a pandemic-busting strategy, and second that long-lasting border rules of the current form are economically unsustainable. Here is where a genuine conversation might start, if indeed the authors were serious about it.
On the first point, the pamphlet says simply “at what point will New Zealanders accept less than absolute elimination? Such a goal is likely unrealistic over a long term”. That’s the full extent of argument offered. Yet elsewhere the authors acknowledge absolute elimination is possible if "we are prepared to continue aggressive and foolproof testing and quarantine at the border for a long time". So having Covid-19 reintroduced into the community at a "predetermined very low level" is a choice, not destiny.
Something these 're-open the border' calls seem to ignore is the strong likelihood of some sort of vaccine or treatment or prophylaxis getting developed in a very short time period from now. The current situation of the disease continuing at unacceptably high levels overseas making our strict border controls the right answer is unlikely to be the new normal.
So a bit of patience to see what plays out is in order here, rather than a rush to take on a lot of risk for the sake of a few benefits flowing mostly to the already-privileged parts of our society.
Considering that young adults in the USA have deemed it more important to party than protect their community, I'm punting that they'll head to the worst case outcome … more than 200m cases and 1 -2m deaths. Not to mention tens of millions with long term complications. Combine this with an election that has no good outcomes on offer, a generation determined to have a social justice revolution and anything could happen.
That will take the USA offline from a global perspective for around a decade; and what happens next is unlikely to be pretty. We are heading into dangerous territory and the correct response is caution and watchfulness; we may have to adapt to some bad surprises very quickly.
Events here in Australia are alarming, it looks like Victoria is close to loosing control and the first new cases arrived in NSW this morning. This astonishingly adapted virus exploits every possible weakness in our defenses.
I'm punting that they'll head to the worst case outcome … more than 200m cases and 1 -2m deaths.
Perhaps it'll wake them up to the failure that is capitalism and individualism. After all, if they'd acted as a community rather than warring tribes, things wouldn't have gotten so bad.
Don't rely on any promises of a vaccine. It appears that the only survivors of Covid that have longer lasting antibodies are the ones that got near lethal doses of the disease, it therefore follows that possibly any vaccine to be effective will have to induce a very strong reaction to the dose. Polio as I recall had the same problems and in fact my father and sister had quite severe reactions to it with high fevers and feeling dreadful for a few days. Admittedly that was over 60 years ago and I'm sure the technology has improved but if it is the case that I'm even half right the anti-vaxxers and the chattering classes will quickly undermine any effective rollout.
My bet is that there may have to rely on a treatment rather than an effective vaccine.
The death rates and immunity are two different things. The first was allegedly caused by poor management and exposure of vulnerable people. The second may be induced by exposure of invulnerable people. Given that nobody really knows how an individual might respond to infection it seems prudent to limit exposure to anyone even if they have no known risk factors.
Wearing a mask in NZ now won't do any harm, and may give you a bit of protection from catching colds and flu. Plus, people won't think you're weird like they might have three months ago.
But for now, COVID had been eliminated within NZ (all current known cases have been detected in isolation facilities and the patients kept in quarantine) so COVID is just not a concern for anyone going about their daily business here.
Thanks Andre. I have been going around trustingly, but there is so much to think about without Covid that I am wondering if I should make an effort and not get all relaxed but keep a level of wariness.
And it gets out and about so readily, looking at Victoria, NSW. Here we only have to get a maddened National party-animal roaming the streets and who knows who it would affect. May have to be brought down with a tranquiliser dart full of spirulina juice before it bit someone.
This should be the end of the open plan, hot desking office hopefully.
At the bottom end the chairs and screens need massive readjusting each time and at the top end I've seen close to bare knuckle fights from some who didn't want to be near certain individuals (even though they carried nothing infectious.
Back when the polio vaccine was being developed, the only real options were killed or weakened viruses. Now there's a whole lot of other options – of the 17 candidates that wikipedia lists as already in human trials, only three are based on inactivated virus, and none on weakened virus.
It is indeed possible that idiot anti-vaxxers will hinder the uptake of a potential vaccine. After all, idiot anti-vaxxers basically killed the rollout of a vaccine against Lyme disease. But the impact of COVID is so substantial I suspect that if an effective vaccine actually gets developed, idiot anti-vaxxers will be more nuisance than real obstacle.
Here's a useful quick summary of the current state of COVID vaccine development.
The big open question at the moment is whether anyone anywhere will take a step into the ethical minefield of doing challenge trials, where vaccinated volunteers are deliberated exposed to the disease. As opposed to the usual method of simply following the vaccine trial participants to see how many get infected just going about their lives. Getting data the usual way for a disease that's still as rare as COVID still is would take fkn forever, so there's quite a lot of pressure to go to challenge trials.
But in any case, to be useful to the point of enabling the resumption of trade and tourism, a vaccine or treatment or prophylaxis doesn't have to be completely effective. The existence of modestly effective prophylaxis against malaria makes tourism to tropical areas feasible. Even though quite a few tourists still get malaria, the prophylaxis knocks the risk down to acceptably low levels, and takes a bit of an edge off the disease for most of those who do get it making treatment and recovery easier and faster.
So if a vaccine and/or treatment and/or prophylaxis simply reduced the effects of COVID down to the level of being just like a bad flu, that would be enough for resumption of a lot of what is on hold right now.
Influenza spreads around the world in yearly outbreaks, resulting in about three to five million cases of severe illness and about 290,000 to 650,000 deaths.
Your prophylaxis will make it so that fewer will die but some still will. Still, it may be low enough for business as usual to make a profit.
The point being that's it's not necessary to reduce the risk to effectively zero – in fact it would be foolish to expect that. What is needed is to reduce the risks and harms to a level a bit lower than we routinely accept for other health issues. If we get a further reduction in risk and harm at negligible extra cost – bonus!
Too often we as a society hold ourselves back and impose silly costs on ourselves by requiring extremely stringent risk and harm reduction in one area, while being astonishingly lax in other broadly similar areas. GMOs being a case in point where we have effectively banned them here while allowing mutation-bred organisms with barely a batted eyelid.
That's the easy answer for NZers wanting to travel overseas. The tougher question is protecting NZers from overseas people that want to visit here.
Hypothetically, if a vaccine is developed, we could require proof of vaccination before allowing entry, as some countries still do for yellow fever vaccination and some used to require for cholera. Even though the cholera vaccine was fairly low effectiveness (60%ish) and didn't last long (a couple of years).
Another Twyford stuff up, hiring health economists to do a complex logistics/transport analysis.
As if it not enough the idiotic Twyford stuffed up Auckland Light Rail and Kiwibuild, the PM allows him to continue and waste yet more money on inappropriate reports that go nowhere. I guess the $2M wasted is not real money though, just taxpayers money.
Even a retarded chipmunk could see that using Manakau Harbour is a non starter.
With Twyford, Kelvin Davis and that other idiot Lees-Galloway still there, I think Labour will struggle in September.
Browns report was biased in favour of Northland simply because he had vested interests there being an elected official and therefore it skirted over the other possibilities.
If the Government had taken Browns report as verbatim it would be accused of not looking at other options, so Twyford did do the right thing to get another opinion.
I think Northport is the only one that makes sense though.
Agree re Browns bias and need for a second report, but Health Economists to study a complex and long term logistics policy?
The inadequacies of the consultants for the role handled to them is pretty obvious. Manakau is never going to be a starter, due to shallowness, bar and shifting sands and environmental impact, access for road and rail and so on.
The report quoted was, for all but one paragraph, an attack based on Brown's opinions. He of course has expertise in the matter but it is his report that is being criticised for not reporting on all options.
There is, in this whole report, one paragraph which gives the view of the government.
It is this.
"However, Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Phil Twyford approved $2m for another report after stating Brown's study had left unanswered questions about alternatives."
Alternatives plural, note. Brown's report was incomplete, they say. Let's see the entire picture, they say.
Imagine this scenario. "Government goes ahead on plans for new port based on incomplete report".
The article is another attempted 'gotcha' piece, and has little objectivity in putting government's point of view.
Did the reporter read any report, discuss with Robertson, before pronouncing?
He acknowledged that Twyford was unavailable for comment and that Goff was not well informed enough to comment.
So we get an attack piece because reporter could not wait for more complete information.
I'd say that we all could have waited a short time for more informed comment than a reportedly '’grumpy’ writer of a rejected first report.
Hey Peter, since you're happy to criticize ministers for actively trying to make improvements, I was interested in your opinion on on the Christchurch rebuild, and how competent the then Govt was rebuilding the city, I've certainly seen many comments myself, none portrays a competent Govt response, so. what's your view since your so quick to critisise other ministers for attempting to be Thourough.
"Hey Peter, since you're happy to criticize ministers for actively trying to make improvements,………"
Sorry to say @ Just Is, but I'd pick you up on the first part – i.e. the "actively trying to make improvements"
More like a Minister that's a damn sight better than anything the gNatz might dream up BUT deciding the easiest option is to kick the can down the road a teeny weenie bit further and call for another report.
Come on …………. ffs. Even the shipping companies are saying that getting insurance if this sort of diversionary shit goes ahead will be difficult.
Probably the only thing Manukau might be good for is shipping cement from the SI West Coast – but oops – that's right, they even did away with that.
The rebuild by the then government was ok. The CCC effort has not been.
And you think it is somehow wrong to criticize lame duck Ministers like Davis, Lee's Galloway, Twyford and Clark? So you think it should be government by a flag, whether blue or red, rather than competency?
Peter, I shifted your comment about charities out of the front end, because it was borderline whether it might cause legal problems for the people that own TS and I wanted other authors to take a look at it.
You may have meant Peter chch. I praise all Ministers (including the Prime one) doing their homework. I mean it's essential. They could do everything the CasinoKeyJoyce way.
However, you look at a map to the Auckland region and see the Manukau Harbour and say, "That could the the major port of Auckland." Then you look at history, topography, geography and reality and say, "but that would be the most bloody insane idea in ever come up with."
Do we know who commissioned the first report (Brown's), and why that report came back 'incomplete'?
If that's down to Twyford too then the whole thing is a cluster-f like Kiwibuild and light rail. Too much of what he does is controversial and that's just in the procurement phase. What's with this ambushing of process which has happened with Infratil and light rail, and now two competing reports for a new port?
Twyford gets these reports done but hasn't told anyone the overall vision!
I thought you were supposed to have a vision and framework about what you wanted to achieve, then get a report which looked at all the options within that framework, and then vote on the best one.
Twyford seems to haven no idea what is best practice on how to make a decision. Perhaps after Kiwibuild he's scared of pulling the trigger. If so, have to get rid of him and Chippie can do it.
Christ! There goes that "best practice" again. That was trotted out this morning by Worksafe – who in their defense as to questioning over their inability to investigate complete bloody fuckups said: "It's best practice".
I'd hate to think what a bloody shambles would be like. But then again, in the absence of a Minister interested in supporting investigative journalism, I guess the next best thing is for the dispossessed to resort to PR spin. And prostitution is after all legal – unless of course you're a stuck immigrant trying to feed yourself and wondering what's going to happen with the next visa application at great cost.
I was asked to appear last night on Te Ao with Moana on Maori TV to discuss the rising phenomena of the NZ Public Party which is led by the charismatic Billy Te Kahika.
Firstly it’s important to state that I don’t think Billy is being deceitful or malicious, he genuinely believes the things he’s saying and I’ve seen him play guitar. I don’t think you can play guitar that well and have a spiteful soul. I think Billy is a product of the post-knowledge death of experts culture we now live in.
The allegation, as I was able to piece together, is that Covid 19 is a bioengineered virus weapon that is helped in its spread by 5G technology (which apparently weakens your immune system) and was purposely released in Chinese labs to help inspire chaos that would allow for a shadowy one world Government to come out of the UN to take over the planet.
In fact there have been dozens of accidental releases from the L4 Labs and the risk analysis suggests that there is an 80% chance once every 12 years that a dangerous pathogen will be accidentally released from an L4 lab. The L3 and 4 Labs in Wuhan were working on the bat virus and there were complaints in 2018 that they weren’t secure enough.
China’s obtuseness about when and where the virus started doesn’t help of course. Their claim that it originated at the Wuhan wet market simply isn’t true. The timeline clearly shows the virus circulated into the Wuhan wet market and super spread from there and the latest research suggests it had been floating around well before then.
Occam’s Razor suggests what is most likely to have happened is probably what has happened, and I don’t think Billy TK appreciates how incompetent the UN is.
Your average classroom of 5 year olds would have more chance of an armed bank robbery while kidnapping the Prime Minister than the UN does of setting up a shadowy one world Government.
Bomber goes on to several further paragraphs explaining why some global conspiracies are better than others. Great to see him in fine form, getting readers properly revved up on a cold wintry morn… 🤩
"I think Billy is a product of the post-knowledge death of experts culture we now live in."
I'd like to see more elaboration and discussion of this which flies in the face of the entire education I received regarding knowledge and logical reasoning.
Is it that single issue campaigners and conspiracy theorists are at odds with knowledge and reasoning, and populist politicians are giving them credence?
Thank God for science and reasoning, I say. 66 days without Covid-19 community transmission, informed by proper science, good advice from civil servants, listened to by compassionate political leaders, compared to what populist politicians who pay more attention to their egos have allowed elsewhere.
Essentially it presents the idsa, in education anyway. that teachers will tend to acknkwledge and address pupils they share cultural and class understandings with and overlook others therefore disadvantaging them.
Estimates of the global death toll from Spanish flu range from 17 – 50 million, at a time when the global population was ~1.9 billion. So probably at least 1% of all humans succumbed to Spanish flu.
I hope that 100 years of scientific and technological development/evolution will mean that the global death toll from Covid-19 will be less than 80 million (roughly 1% of the current global population). But it's not the same virus, and there are no guarantees – viruses evolve too!
"Farmed salmon offers a very compelling environmental and human health story by comparison with other farming systems in New Zealand. Farmed salmon has a very low carbon footprint, low water use and low ‘land use’ from input of raw materials compared to all other animal farming systems. Farmed salmon are a very healthy choice for consumers offering significant health benefits over other animal protein sources. These two factors mean that there is and will continue to be a growing demand for farmed raised salmon for the foreseeable future."
I don't know where to look these days so as not to feel sad or guilty or despairing. That image of a polar bear perched on some ice is so telling. We could save the small group of cattle on that piece of hillside near Kaikoura. We can kill off coral at a distance, but the polar bears and other animals we can see that adapted to ice is hard to see; some are raiding rubbish tins on land. We need to learn the trade; that is all that will be left for many of us as the financiers frig around with out trade and systems and laws and personal initiative and intelligence.
We have to learn to make-do with the resources in our own area and cut our utter reliance on overseas trade. And bring in a good local currency to enable people to find their own trading networks. We will be similar to the polar bear with shrinking resources. Get good family and/or friend and neighbour interacting networks is the way. You can't always rely on family, but need to look at people to see if they are genuine and get the support going. Townspeople could get friendly with horticulturalists, smallholders, and help out at busy times, spend some time on the farm. Put them up when they have to come in for day visits to hospital etc. or just enjoy some event in town.
Air NZ putting a hold on bookings so quarantine systems are not overloaded. Instead of opening up faster we are having to dial it back for a while. Is this 'shambolic' or just another case of the well-being of New Zealanders being reliant on doing the opposite of what the National Party wants?
National are all in favour of more quarantine facilities … as long as they're not in Rotorua or Queenstown or Auckland Central or anywhere else with a local National MP.
Labour: Strongest Booth: Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate, Otara, Manukau East, South Auckland. Labour Party-Vote 82%.
All contenders were low income / heavily Pasifika areas, including booths in Eastern Porirua, Mangere & (above all) other Otara booths. Pasifika populations ranged from a little over 60% in the catchment area around Cannons Creek School (Porirua), to more than 70% in parts of Mangere & more than 80% around each of the Otara booths.
A fitting stronghold given Sir Ed's affinity with the Labour Party & involvement in the Citizens for Rowling Campaign in 1975.
Otara, of course, is one of the poorest urban areas in New Zealand – wasn't for nothing that Pauly Fuemana ironically styled his pop duo Otara Millionaires Club. The median Personal Income was (2014) around just $15,000, compared to $30,000 in Auckland as a whole, $35,000 in Devonport-Takapuna on the North Shore, and $43,000 in East Auckland. (What's more, within Otara, the neighbourhood around the Ed Hillary booth stands out for having a particularly low median Personal Income – $13,500).
Similarly, Otara suffers unusually high Unemployment – around 22% compared to Auckland's 8% … scores a maximum 10 on the Deprivation Index, is home to unusually high proportions of manual labourers and very low numbers of Managers and Professionals,
The neighbourhood surrounding Cannons Creek School, meanwhile, is clearly Labour’s stronghold within the Wellington region.
National: Strongest Booth: Lee Stream School. 40km NW of Dunedin, Clutha-Southland. National Party-Vote: 96%.
Other contenders included Poolburn in Central Otago's Ida Valley (Nats 92.5%), the small South Taranaki settlement of Pihama (90.7%) & Dorie in the South Rakaia area of Mid-Canterbury (90%).
Unsurprisingly, all rural communities.
If I remember rightly, Whitford, Stonefields & one of the Remmers booths were the Bluest places not only in Auckland but within Urban NZ as a whole.
Greens: Strongest Booth: Onekaka, Golden Bay, West Coast-Tasman. Green Party-Vote: 54.7%.
Golden Bay Hippie / New Age community. Many Neils, not so many Riks, Vyvians or Mikes.
Other contenders: Aro Valley (a state unto itself), Wellington Central (45.4%). Wellington High School, Mt Cook, Wellington Central (40.8%), St Paul's Lutheran Church, Mt Cook, Wellington Central (37.7%).
Never got around to doing NZF. Ultimately lost interest in the whole thing.
That was 2014 … these days, with huge numbers voting in Advanced Booths, pinpointing strongholds becomes are much more difficult task.
* I combined both the General Electorate & Maori Electorate vote to capture all voters within each booth's catchment area.
I wonder if in those 90% plus Nat communities whether people run around giving each other the evil eye trying to work out who actually doesn't "support the team".
Personal favourite though was the remote SI booth a couple of decades back that voted 100% to legalise cannabis.
Vaguely remember that … West Coast-Tasman booth IIRR … & what made it particularly poignant was that it was one of the old mining Labour strongholds of the early-mid 20C … have a feeling it was either Denniston or Millerton but can't be entirely sure … from staunch Labour to Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis bastion.
On National intimidation of voters … apparently quite a lot of that in Rangitikei in the late 70s after Bruce Beetham scored his spectacular By-Election victory in a traditional Nat stronghold. Voters in certain communities there were threatened by young farmer activists that the Muldoon Govt would know who they were if they defected to Social Credit. And there’d be serious consequences.
That's interesting I wonder how much of that mentioning ‘serious consequences’ still goes on. Quiet, standover tactics.
I read through the summary of the McDonald-Guy case and was amazed at the damage that McD was prepared to do and someone go with him to help or was he pushed? And then there was a report that all had been cleared up and settled between McDonald and the Guy family so they were on good terms again. But the wife had had her puppies bashed on the head or something, and I don't think one would ever forgive or forget that. In town the cops would be round. What happens in the country? Does the one resident cop miles away, say okay I've made a note, let us know if it happens again? And they had a place set on fire too.
I encountered strange behaviour when driving through a quiet farm area – chap passed me and made the hand gesture of shooting in the head, apparently I had been going too slow. Violence by gesture, antipathy anyway.
I wonder how much intrinsic violence lurks amongst those green and pleasant lands.
Foreign students will not be allowed to stay in the US this autumn if their universities have moved classes fully online, unless they switch to a course with in-person tuition.
I mean, where to start with this? The one-word vocabulary? The nonsensical line that more Kiwis are coming back because of the quarantine facilities? As opposed to say, escaping from countries in the grip of a pandemic? The facilities are under pressure because people are in them. Where else would they be in Todd-land? It doesn't make any kind of sense … political, medical, mathematical, anything.
Zombie economics requires us to be open to community spread and the death of the aged and infirm.
Todd Muller will oppose the euthanasia legislation becauase he is pro life, but he is encouraging risk to the lives of fellow New Zealanders because he serves mammon.
The life of the god of the haves and sacrifice of the weak, its called herd immunity becuase the herd goes on its way and the weak are left behind to be eaten by predators (in this case a pandemic virus ravaging the body).
To use a past National campaign ad, throwing the old and infirm overboard.
But Todd has 'business experience' – so he can instantaneously and 'seamlessly' scale complex systems to handle increased load without any deleterious effects. 'Business experience' turns dull boys into magicians.
Todd's unimaginative repetition is bland and boring, but it does reflect his conservative and visionless persona quite well. Simon Bridges word salads were far more entertaining.
When NZ announced a 4 week lockdown from 26 March there were many on both sides of the Tasman saying NZ had got it wrong and you didn't need to be so strict because, the economy or something.
We eradicated the disease with this approach and our government was widely praised for it but still there were critics many pointing to Victoria's much less strict Covid 19 measures.
We had the National Party who got very upset at the positive coverage Jacinda Ardern got for our strategy.
The breaking news today is Victoria is considering a 4 week lockdown of its own, as if they have finally realised what is required to get on top of this pernicious disease.
Imagine how much better the health and economic outcomes for Victoria would have been if they'd just done what NZ did in the first place.
Sure, I was alarmed in early March when the world started shutting down. I felt at the time certain countries were over-reacting. That changed of course when the full picture became clear.
I keep on thinking that the cooperation of the 5 million is down to the remarkable leadership of Jacinda and Bloomfield. Just amazing that so many were on side!
Wherever there is expansion of infection there is indecisive leadership and Muller is demonstrating just how awful his leadership would have been
And his continuing undermining of the confidence of New Zealanders is unforgivable.
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
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The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
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Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
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What part of supply and demand does our coalition govt not understand?? It has tripled the housing problem since taking office:
This is a classic case of left/right collusion, and organised whining from both sides in an attempt to distract the public just makes Labour/National irresponsibility more evident. Commentators here may even figure it out. Eventually. Clue:
There was "annual net migration gain – 55,800 (± 1,600), up from 50,200 (± 200)." https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/international-migration-april-2019
And then there was " annual net migration gain – 71,500 (±1,700), up from 49,600 (± 200). https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/international-migration-march-2020
What part of "let's keep moving" in the wrong direction don't Labour folk understand?? When you import three or four times as many people as the number waiting for a house to live in, you make the problem three or four times worse. Government MPs will require remedial courses in primary school arithmetic to work this out! 🤢
I am willing to bet, amongst the landlord politicians, there is nothing wrong with their maths when it comes to: rental income, tax write-offs, interest rate %….
Do we believe in ghosts? They have plenty of dwellings going spare.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/latest/116105066/ghost-houses-on-the-rise-a-problem-of-our-own-making
Perhaps it is time for squatters rights with a sunset clause tied to the waiting list for housing.
Much simpler would have been TOP's CCT that ensures all assets are taxed at a certain minimum rate on an annual basis. It might not fully eliminate the problem of ghost houses, but it would certainly increase the incentive to balance the cash flow by ensuring the home was occupied.
Sounds like rates to me and these, together with fixed bills for water, power, insurance, etc., have not prevented those ghost houses.
That's true enough, although without those fixed costs there might also be a lot more empty houses.
The way a CCT works though is well adapted to this problem. Take your average $1m Auckland house. It would be deemed to have a 'risk free rate of return' of 3% or $30,000 pa income that would be treated as an imputed income, and bundled into the owners total tax position even if they earned no income from the house.
If however the property earned the same $30,000 as real income from a tenant, then none of the CCT would apply, the real income would be taxed instead. There's a pretty powerful psychological incentive at work too.
I have to think a CCT would move the needle in the right direction, even if it only halved the number of ghost houses, this would still be a good thing.
How do you propose stopping Kiwis returning to NZ? Apparently, there are about one million waiting to hop on the plane back home. That will screw up any plan trying to deal with ‘demand & supply’. The problem with this ‘debate’ is that people seem to assume that net migration is mostly driven by people from ‘India, Pakistan, or Korea’. Those people should vote National or NZF, the parties for the un-thinking.
I wouldn't stop them. You make a fair point. Does our stats dept publish separate numbers for returning kiwis? If so, we can quantify the proportional effect. I cited the past couple of years because it constitutes most of the period that the coalition was enacting its housing policy. Those figures allow us to contrast the appearance of solving the problem with the appearance of immigration stats making it worse…
Yes they do:
http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/Migration/provisional-international-travel-statistics.aspx#weekly&gsc.tab=0
About one to two weeks behind. But in the past month it's gone from under 1000 per week, to over 3,000.
I've done a first order guess elsewhere, about half of the 200,000 kiwis in Australia who don't qualify for any assistance will return this year.
And of the 400,000 other ex-pat kiwis living and working around the world, maybe 25% will return over the next two years.
That's a total of maybe 200,000 returning kiwis over a period of about 70 weeks, or about 3,000 pw. That's the rate we've hit already.
So, National via new spokesperson, Nicola Willis has told us that they were wrong to sell state housing during their last term in government.
Is this the beginning of a blood-letting purge of the stupidity of that nine year shameful shambles?
Is this the result of Paula Bennett's resignation and consequent reallocation of portfolios with Muller's accession?
Is this a tacit admission by National that it can't win in 2020 and instead is flensing, sloughing off and discarding all that dross of poor management and policy?
Problem is, it's still the same people just moved up the ladder a little as others got pushed off.
Where's the philosophic, spiritual and psychic renewal they need? From the religious right?
They need a good penitential progress, with flagellation and the tolling of beads………..
Link?
RNZ news item at 8 am today. News item with Willis also speaking. "We were wrong". She wants to continue building state houses, rather than let the numbers actually decline, as they did. She has tacitly admitted that current government policy to build up housing stock is a correct policy.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300050892/national-party-admits-it-sold-too-many-state-houses
Willis admits the nats were wrong to sell state houses but thinks we're better to go back to them because they'll now build more state houses. Unbelievable, Nicola, just unbelievable.
Ms Willis sounds like she preloaded on coffee for this interview. She lies by omission several times, and is plain wrong on other points. Salvation Army and other social agencies would not touch Nationals flogged off state houses with the proverbial.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018753809/national-party-says-public-housing-demand-shows-government-failure
More people are on the waiting list now because they see a possible chance of securing a home with the Labour Govt. whereas National was on a “defund–run down–sell off” strategy regarding state housing.
Salvation Army's discussion's with Key's government fell over because they couldn't reach a deal – good result but was disappointing the discussions took place at all.
What did happen was that the filthy rich and despicably corporate community organisation called IHC stepped in, under its disguise 'Accessible Housing', and bought a whole stack of state houses. Price for IHC is no barrier because they're loaded. They then got to work kicking tenants out they didn't like to make way for their grandiois plans of dominating the disability housing sector with the aim of fattening its ill-gained coffers even more.
IHC operate under the “Idea Services” name in my area, and they are not great employers or service providers. Given that they substantially run on taxpayer funding they should be more accountable.
Idea Services, like Accessible Housing, are companies wholly owned by the overarching incorporated society IHC. The law reports are littered with employment dispute cases. Their hands are filthy.
IMO, the whole point, from some politicians view, of having a private outfit run on taxpayers money is so that they aren't accountable. Much easier to fleece the taxpayer that way.
More likely, get the new kid to say we don't do it again, so we can deny it when we do it again.
Can we send her a list of all the other things Nact should not have done so that she can do a bulk apology and reset. BTW does John Key have much influence over the current nat management of Todd & Nikki?
Not happening. They're conservatives and its their job to conserve all the bad stuff that everyone else realises is bad.
It appears from the Stats March 2020 figures quoted by Dennis that offshore NZers reacted earlier than previously assumed to the threat of Covid and started coming back well before lockdown and resident NZers changed their minds about leaving equally early. Maybe we are more intelligent and aware than we give ourselves credit for. Of course the evidence that this is true is our reaction to the compliance with lockdown compared to just about every other country in the world.
There may be some real basis for your reasoning but seems to me it would only account for a small proportion of the whole. The stats I cited go back to March 2018 which was early in their term, eh?
I just had a look: “migrant arrivals in the March 2020 year, New Zealand citizens were the largest group with 42,800 (± 800) arrivals… For migrant departures in the March 2020 year, New Zealand citizens were the largest group with 35,700 (± 600) departures.”
So net returning kiwis around 7,000, about 10% of net incoming migrants the past year…
You have to add the pressure from 300 000 temporary visa holders and 3 million tourist arrivals to that mix also. Examplified by the addition of former air b and b's to the available housing stock.
Einstein
indeed.
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/105905/march-number-people-leaving-country-has-exceeded-those-arriving-substantial-margin
Reply to Mac1:
Discarding the poor management and policy? So, let me think about that.
They had the genius of Key and English and Joyce, et al, wizards of the age (not to mention Nick Smith, chuckle) and their grand Comprehensive Housing Plan. Turns out that was shit.
Now they have the A Team, made up largely of flunkies from the last lot (not to mention Nick S) who have The Answers and I am to believe and trust them.
Where there is a Willis there is a 'No Way.'
She was part of the renewal flouted with Bridges standing meaningfully grouped in the corridors of power. She is right to abjure the previous policy, of course. National's problem is partly that it is factionalised, and a sizeable contingent of illiberal and rural men competes with a group of liberals including some women like Willis. No way because the will to change properly is not there in the broader party.
Lprent summed it up very well in a post yesterday talking about middle management style and practice- there is little room in National for expansive and coherent long term thinking and planning.
I talked about this with the tradesman working here. I mentioned the middle management style of some firms like Fonterra whose practice was to delay bill paying to creditors when in business.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country/355322/fonterra-named-and-shamed-over-invoice-payments
My tradesman knows about this style of business by the wealthy, giving me chapter and verse of the non-practice of wealthy local businessmen clients.
Limited men of limited vision and goals.
Surely a bit harsh with 'limited men of limited vision and goals.' The vision's there, about that trade being their road to the bigger bach, bigger car, more expensive house. Bugger about the holiday in Hawaii this year.
Mammon, Peter, Mammon. The vision itself is limiting. It's not only what they envision, it's that the vision limits their possible understanding that there is more than their own greed.
A person looking down a telescope of course has good vision; but of what, of how much, since so much is unseen?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mRo3Hnlqik
Lol "Where there is a Willis there is a No Way" Brilliant.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/every-degree-of-openness-at-the-border-adds-risk
haven’t read all of this yet. But the first two paragraphs were a good start.
Something these 're-open the border' calls seem to ignore is the strong likelihood of some sort of vaccine or treatment or prophylaxis getting developed in a very short time period from now. The current situation of the disease continuing at unacceptably high levels overseas making our strict border controls the right answer is unlikely to be the new normal.
So a bit of patience to see what plays out is in order here, rather than a rush to take on a lot of risk for the sake of a few benefits flowing mostly to the already-privileged parts of our society.
Considering that young adults in the USA have deemed it more important to party than protect their community, I'm punting that they'll head to the worst case outcome … more than 200m cases and 1 -2m deaths. Not to mention tens of millions with long term complications. Combine this with an election that has no good outcomes on offer, a generation determined to have a social justice revolution and anything could happen.
That will take the USA offline from a global perspective for around a decade; and what happens next is unlikely to be pretty. We are heading into dangerous territory and the correct response is caution and watchfulness; we may have to adapt to some bad surprises very quickly.
Events here in Australia are alarming, it looks like Victoria is close to loosing control and the first new cases arrived in NSW this morning. This astonishingly adapted virus exploits every possible weakness in our defenses.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/cdcs-worst-case-coronavirus-model-210m-infected-1-7m-dead.html
Perhaps it'll wake them up to the failure that is capitalism and individualism. After all, if they'd acted as a community rather than warring tribes, things wouldn't have gotten so bad.
They risk a revisit of the year 1918.
The Spanish flu began in Jan 1918. But a lot of people died in the second wave Sept-Dec 1918.
Don't rely on any promises of a vaccine. It appears that the only survivors of Covid that have longer lasting antibodies are the ones that got near lethal doses of the disease, it therefore follows that possibly any vaccine to be effective will have to induce a very strong reaction to the dose. Polio as I recall had the same problems and in fact my father and sister had quite severe reactions to it with high fevers and feeling dreadful for a few days. Admittedly that was over 60 years ago and I'm sure the technology has improved but if it is the case that I'm even half right the anti-vaxxers and the chattering classes will quickly undermine any effective rollout.
My bet is that there may have to rely on a treatment rather than an effective vaccine.
Incorrect. You should not limit your thinking about immunity to Covid to antibodies only but also include immune cells such as T-cells.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-immunity-covid-higher-shown.html
I think you'll find this piece in Scoop very interesting.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2006/S00215/comparing-denmark-versus-sweden-on-coronavirus.htm
Comparing Denmark Versus Sweden On Coronavirus
Tuesday, 30 June 2020, 11:04 am
Article: Eric Zuesse
Some good stats from the end but all worthy of study:
Whereas Denmark’s death-rate on June 28th is 104, Sweden’s is 523. Denmark’s rose from 103 to 104, and Sweden’s rose from 499 to 523.
Sweden’s unemployment rate rose from 6% in December 2019 to 9% in May 2020. Denmark’s was 3.7% till February 2020 and shot up to 5.4% by April 2020.
.
And – Sweden and T-cells giving longer coverage than antibodies.
Jul.2/20 https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/122011921/coronavirus-was-sweden-right-study-suggests-significantly-higher-covid19-immunity
.
And further down in Scoop page – a new aspect: Binoy Kampmark:
Welcome Deaths: Coronavirus And The Open Plan Office
Ta
The death rates and immunity are two different things. The first was allegedly caused by poor management and exposure of vulnerable people. The second may be induced by exposure of invulnerable people. Given that nobody really knows how an individual might respond to infection it seems prudent to limit exposure to anyone even if they have no known risk factors.
So as an older person I should wear the simple mask I have whenever I go out you reckon. I'd like to think I was safe but all the same, not yet?
Do you live in Sweden?
But I got the idea that there were people out there who were able to pass it on though not having signs, perhaps these invulnerable people.
We are going to have to keep opening up at the border for some various reasons and might not be able to catch all the 'carriers'.
And I wonder what the attitudes of the international floating population are. They come in quietly in their yachts, boats and possibly some virus too.
You should do what’s best for you under the circumstances and depending on your condition. You may want to ask your GP.
And what Andre said @ 2:52 pm.
Wearing a mask in NZ now won't do any harm, and may give you a bit of protection from catching colds and flu. Plus, people won't think you're weird like they might have three months ago.
But for now, COVID had been eliminated within NZ (all current known cases have been detected in isolation facilities and the patients kept in quarantine) so COVID is just not a concern for anyone going about their daily business here.
Thanks Andre. I have been going around trustingly, but there is so much to think about without Covid that I am wondering if I should make an effort and not get all relaxed but keep a level of wariness.
And it gets out and about so readily, looking at Victoria, NSW. Here we only have to get a maddened National party-animal roaming the streets and who knows who it would affect. May have to be brought down with a tranquiliser dart full of spirulina juice before it bit someone.
This should be the end of the open plan, hot desking office hopefully.
At the bottom end the chairs and screens need massive readjusting each time and at the top end I've seen close to bare knuckle fights from some who didn't want to be near certain individuals (even though they carried nothing infectious.
Back when the polio vaccine was being developed, the only real options were killed or weakened viruses. Now there's a whole lot of other options – of the 17 candidates that wikipedia lists as already in human trials, only three are based on inactivated virus, and none on weakened virus.
It is indeed possible that idiot anti-vaxxers will hinder the uptake of a potential vaccine. After all, idiot anti-vaxxers basically killed the rollout of a vaccine against Lyme disease. But the impact of COVID is so substantial I suspect that if an effective vaccine actually gets developed, idiot anti-vaxxers will be more nuisance than real obstacle.
Here's a useful quick summary of the current state of COVID vaccine development.
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/coronavirus-vaccine-are-we-close-to-finding-one-heres-whats-happening/
The big open question at the moment is whether anyone anywhere will take a step into the ethical minefield of doing challenge trials, where vaccinated volunteers are deliberated exposed to the disease. As opposed to the usual method of simply following the vaccine trial participants to see how many get infected just going about their lives. Getting data the usual way for a disease that's still as rare as COVID still is would take fkn forever, so there's quite a lot of pressure to go to challenge trials.
But in any case, to be useful to the point of enabling the resumption of trade and tourism, a vaccine or treatment or prophylaxis doesn't have to be completely effective. The existence of modestly effective prophylaxis against malaria makes tourism to tropical areas feasible. Even though quite a few tourists still get malaria, the prophylaxis knocks the risk down to acceptably low levels, and takes a bit of an edge off the disease for most of those who do get it making treatment and recovery easier and faster.
So if a vaccine and/or treatment and/or prophylaxis simply reduced the effects of COVID down to the level of being just like a bad flu, that would be enough for resumption of a lot of what is on hold right now.
A 'bad flu' kills.
Your prophylaxis will make it so that fewer will die but some still will. Still, it may be low enough for business as usual to make a profit.
The point being that's it's not necessary to reduce the risk to effectively zero – in fact it would be foolish to expect that. What is needed is to reduce the risks and harms to a level a bit lower than we routinely accept for other health issues. If we get a further reduction in risk and harm at negligible extra cost – bonus!
Too often we as a society hold ourselves back and impose silly costs on ourselves by requiring extremely stringent risk and harm reduction in one area, while being astonishingly lax in other broadly similar areas. GMOs being a case in point where we have effectively banned them here while allowing mutation-bred organisms with barely a batted eyelid.
Is it possible that before travelling you will get an innoculation as is the case with a lot of diseases that need protecting against?
That's the easy answer for NZers wanting to travel overseas. The tougher question is protecting NZers from overseas people that want to visit here.
Hypothetically, if a vaccine is developed, we could require proof of vaccination before allowing entry, as some countries still do for yellow fever vaccination and some used to require for cholera. Even though the cholera vaccine was fairly low effectiveness (60%ish) and didn't last long (a couple of years).
Good story – points out some major flaws and issues they didn't even bother addressing.
I can see us getting better testing and cheaper do it yourself checks ( spit on the paper strip daily) before we have widespread vaccinations.
Another Twyford stuff up, hiring health economists to do a complex logistics/transport analysis.
As if it not enough the idiotic Twyford stuffed up Auckland Light Rail and Kiwibuild, the PM allows him to continue and waste yet more money on inappropriate reports that go nowhere. I guess the $2M wasted is not real money though, just taxpayers money.
Even a retarded chipmunk could see that using Manakau Harbour is a non starter.
With Twyford, Kelvin Davis and that other idiot Lees-Galloway still there, I think Labour will struggle in September.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12346001
Browns report was biased in favour of Northland simply because he had vested interests there being an elected official and therefore it skirted over the other possibilities.
If the Government had taken Browns report as verbatim it would be accused of not looking at other options, so Twyford did do the right thing to get another opinion.
I think Northport is the only one that makes sense though.
Agree re Browns bias and need for a second report, but Health Economists to study a complex and long term logistics policy?
The inadequacies of the consultants for the role handled to them is pretty obvious. Manakau is never going to be a starter, due to shallowness, bar and shifting sands and environmental impact, access for road and rail and so on.
The report quoted was, for all but one paragraph, an attack based on Brown's opinions. He of course has expertise in the matter but it is his report that is being criticised for not reporting on all options.
There is, in this whole report, one paragraph which gives the view of the government.
It is this.
"However, Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Phil Twyford approved $2m for another report after stating Brown's study had left unanswered questions about alternatives."
Alternatives plural, note. Brown's report was incomplete, they say. Let's see the entire picture, they say.
Imagine this scenario. "Government goes ahead on plans for new port based on incomplete report".
The article is another attempted 'gotcha' piece, and has little objectivity in putting government's point of view.
Did the reporter read any report, discuss with Robertson, before pronouncing?
He acknowledged that Twyford was unavailable for comment and that Goff was not well informed enough to comment.
So we get an attack piece because reporter could not wait for more complete information.
I'd say that we all could have waited a short time for more informed comment than a reportedly '’grumpy’ writer of a rejected first report.
Doing a comprehensive study before committing billions to a transport project is simple common sense. Unlike just, "build more roads".
Manukau is so ludicrous it shouldn't have even made it to the non-starters list.
Whoever has suggested it will probably move on to suggesting a 2.5km aeroplane runway be constructed on the top of Mt Everest.
Hey Peter, since you're happy to criticize ministers for actively trying to make improvements, I was interested in your opinion on on the Christchurch rebuild, and how competent the then Govt was rebuilding the city, I've certainly seen many comments myself, none portrays a competent Govt response, so. what's your view since your so quick to critisise other ministers for attempting to be Thourough.
"Hey Peter, since you're happy to criticize ministers for actively trying to make improvements,………"
Sorry to say @ Just Is, but I'd pick you up on the first part – i.e. the "actively trying to make improvements"
More like a Minister that's a damn sight better than anything the gNatz might dream up BUT deciding the easiest option is to kick the can down the road a teeny weenie bit further and call for another report.
Come on …………. ffs. Even the shipping companies are saying that getting insurance if this sort of diversionary shit goes ahead will be difficult.
Probably the only thing Manukau might be good for is shipping cement from the SI West Coast – but oops – that's right, they even did away with that.
The rebuild by the then government was ok. The CCC effort has not been.
And you think it is somehow wrong to criticize lame duck Ministers like Davis, Lee's Galloway, Twyford and Clark? So you think it should be government by a flag, whether blue or red, rather than competency?
Peter, I shifted your comment about charities out of the front end, because it was borderline whether it might cause legal problems for the people that own TS and I wanted other authors to take a look at it.
You may have meant Peter chch. I praise all Ministers (including the Prime one) doing their homework. I mean it's essential. They could do everything the CasinoKeyJoyce way.
However, you look at a map to the Auckland region and see the Manukau Harbour and say, "That could the the major port of Auckland." Then you look at history, topography, geography and reality and say, "but that would be the most bloody insane idea in ever come up with."
Do we know who commissioned the first report (Brown's), and why that report came back 'incomplete'?
If that's down to Twyford too then the whole thing is a cluster-f like Kiwibuild and light rail. Too much of what he does is controversial and that's just in the procurement phase. What's with this ambushing of process which has happened with Infratil and light rail, and now two competing reports for a new port?
Twyford gets these reports done but hasn't told anyone the overall vision!
I thought you were supposed to have a vision and framework about what you wanted to achieve, then get a report which looked at all the options within that framework, and then vote on the best one.
Twyford seems to haven no idea what is best practice on how to make a decision. Perhaps after Kiwibuild he's scared of pulling the trigger. If so, have to get rid of him and Chippie can do it.
Twyford.
Christ! There goes that "best practice" again. That was trotted out this morning by Worksafe – who in their defense as to questioning over their inability to investigate complete bloody fuckups said: "It's best practice".
I'd hate to think what a bloody shambles would be like. But then again, in the absence of a Minister interested in supporting investigative journalism, I guess the next best thing is for the dispossessed to resort to PR spin. And prostitution is after all legal – unless of course you're a stuck immigrant trying to feed yourself and wondering what's going to happen with the next visa application at great cost.
Seems that the problem was that the first report was BS and that it should be Brown giving the money back.
I suppose, if they did increase the port in Manukau, the canals would be back as a viable option.
Moving PoA to Northland is now dead in the water. This report was commissioned solely to kill it off.
Bomber does cultural analysis of new political party: https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/07/07/the-special-madness-of-the-nz-public-party/
Bomber goes on to several further paragraphs explaining why some global conspiracies are better than others. Great to see him in fine form, getting readers properly revved up on a cold wintry morn… 🤩
"I think Billy is a product of the post-knowledge death of experts culture we now live in."
I'd like to see more elaboration and discussion of this which flies in the face of the entire education I received regarding knowledge and logical reasoning.
Is it that single issue campaigners and conspiracy theorists are at odds with knowledge and reasoning, and populist politicians are giving them credence?
Thank God for science and reasoning, I say. 66 days without Covid-19 community transmission, informed by proper science, good advice from civil servants, listened to by compassionate political leaders, compared to what populist politicians who pay more attention to their egos have allowed elsewhere.
You have to realise that not everyone eats at the same table in the education system – have you come across the concept of cultural capital?
No. I see from a quick scan it's a 70's sociological concept. I never studied sociology and I predate that anyway in terms of Uni. Any pointers?
Essentially it presents the idsa, in education anyway. that teachers will tend to acknkwledge and address pupils they share cultural and class understandings with and overlook others therefore disadvantaging them.
I predate it too but I went back again as a 'mature student' lol
I would praise the sound reasoning too – we're using the same simple public health measures that worked in a pandemic one hundred years ago.
But 100 years of scientific development hasn't been much help to us at all.
Estimates of the global death toll from Spanish flu range from 17 – 50 million, at a time when the global population was ~1.9 billion. So probably at least 1% of all humans succumbed to Spanish flu.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu
I hope that 100 years of scientific and technological development/evolution will mean that the global death toll from Covid-19 will be less than 80 million (roughly 1% of the current global population). But it's not the same virus, and there are no guarantees – viruses evolve too!
"Farmed salmon offers a very compelling environmental and human health story by comparison with other farming systems in New Zealand. Farmed salmon has a very low carbon footprint, low water use and low ‘land use’ from input of raw materials compared to all other animal farming systems. Farmed salmon are a very healthy choice for consumers offering significant health benefits over other animal protein sources. These two factors mean that there is and will continue to be a growing demand for farmed raised salmon for the foreseeable future."
https://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/dmsdocument/40778/direct
Meanwhile, Antarctic animals starve as krill are plundered so we can enjoy that nice, pink salmon.
I don't know where to look these days so as not to feel sad or guilty or despairing. That image of a polar bear perched on some ice is so telling. We could save the small group of cattle on that piece of hillside near Kaikoura. We can kill off coral at a distance, but the polar bears and other animals we can see that adapted to ice is hard to see; some are raiding rubbish tins on land. We need to learn the trade; that is all that will be left for many of us as the financiers frig around with out trade and systems and laws and personal initiative and intelligence.
We have to learn to make-do with the resources in our own area and cut our utter reliance on overseas trade. And bring in a good local currency to enable people to find their own trading networks. We will be similar to the polar bear with shrinking resources. Get good family and/or friend and neighbour interacting networks is the way. You can't always rely on family, but need to look at people to see if they are genuine and get the support going. Townspeople could get friendly with horticulturalists, smallholders, and help out at busy times, spend some time on the farm. Put them up when they have to come in for day visits to hospital etc. or just enjoy some event in town.
Marvelous…many people are saying..
https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1280189253637607424
Morans.
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/1280164763507572736
The infamous Civil War general and slave owner.
Update: no community transfer of Covid in NZ. Over 60 days since last case.
13 days since leader of the opposition said he suspected community transfer.
2 days since he sat in a large crowd at a rugby game, with no mask.
Air NZ putting a hold on bookings so quarantine systems are not overloaded. Instead of opening up faster we are having to dial it back for a while. Is this 'shambolic' or just another case of the well-being of New Zealanders being reliant on doing the opposite of what the National Party wants?
The well-being of NZers is almost always dependent upon doing the opposite of what National wants.
Draco, ha!!!
National are all in favour of more quarantine facilities … as long as they're not in Rotorua or Queenstown or Auckland Central or anywhere else with a local National MP.
From an unfinished 2014 draft post on my Blog:
Pinpointing Party Strongholds :
Labour: Strongest Booth: Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate, Otara, Manukau East, South Auckland. Labour Party-Vote 82%.
All contenders were low income / heavily Pasifika areas, including booths in Eastern Porirua, Mangere & (above all) other Otara booths. Pasifika populations ranged from a little over 60% in the catchment area around Cannons Creek School (Porirua), to more than 70% in parts of Mangere & more than 80% around each of the Otara booths.
A fitting stronghold given Sir Ed's affinity with the Labour Party & involvement in the Citizens for Rowling Campaign in 1975.
Google Maps Streetview of Sir Ed Booth.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-36.9518419,174.877251,3a,75y,87.84h,93.23t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sn9ldVWEz_BLbu4g51_zmFQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Otara, of course, is one of the poorest urban areas in New Zealand – wasn't for nothing that Pauly Fuemana ironically styled his pop duo Otara Millionaires Club. The median Personal Income was (2014) around just $15,000, compared to $30,000 in Auckland as a whole, $35,000 in Devonport-Takapuna on the North Shore, and $43,000 in East Auckland. (What's more, within Otara, the neighbourhood around the Ed Hillary booth stands out for having a particularly low median Personal Income – $13,500).
Similarly, Otara suffers unusually high Unemployment – around 22% compared to Auckland's 8% … scores a maximum 10 on the Deprivation Index, is home to unusually high proportions of manual labourers and very low numbers of Managers and Professionals,
The neighbourhood surrounding Cannons Creek School, meanwhile, is clearly Labour’s stronghold within the Wellington region.
National: Strongest Booth: Lee Stream School. 40km NW of Dunedin, Clutha-Southland. National Party-Vote: 96%.
Google Maps Streetview of Lee Stream booth.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-45.7820022,170.0969832,3a,90y,130.02h,81.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCc73K80DzBLkdkCQeBbLXQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Other contenders included Poolburn in Central Otago's Ida Valley (Nats 92.5%), the small South Taranaki settlement of Pihama (90.7%) & Dorie in the South Rakaia area of Mid-Canterbury (90%).
Unsurprisingly, all rural communities.
If I remember rightly, Whitford, Stonefields & one of the Remmers booths were the Bluest places not only in Auckland but within Urban NZ as a whole.
Greens: Strongest Booth: Onekaka, Golden Bay, West Coast-Tasman. Green Party-Vote: 54.7%.
Golden Bay Hippie / New Age community. Many Neils, not so many Riks, Vyvians or Mikes.
Other contenders: Aro Valley (a state unto itself), Wellington Central (45.4%). Wellington High School, Mt Cook, Wellington Central (40.8%), St Paul's Lutheran Church, Mt Cook, Wellington Central (37.7%).
Never got around to doing NZF. Ultimately lost interest in the whole thing.
That was 2014 … these days, with huge numbers voting in Advanced Booths, pinpointing strongholds becomes are much more difficult task.
* I combined both the General Electorate & Maori Electorate vote to capture all voters within each booth's catchment area.
2014?
Do us a favour and catch up with yourself.
Yes 2014. Interesting to make comparisons. Swordfish keeps good stats. Don't bite the hands that feeds you.
LOL
Love it.
I wonder if in those 90% plus Nat communities whether people run around giving each other the evil eye trying to work out who actually doesn't "support the team".
Personal favourite though was the remote SI booth a couple of decades back that voted 100% to legalise cannabis.
Vaguely remember that … West Coast-Tasman booth IIRR … & what made it particularly poignant was that it was one of the old mining Labour strongholds of the early-mid 20C … have a feeling it was either Denniston or Millerton but can't be entirely sure … from staunch Labour to Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis bastion.
On National intimidation of voters … apparently quite a lot of that in Rangitikei in the late 70s after Bruce Beetham scored his spectacular By-Election victory in a traditional Nat stronghold. Voters in certain communities there were threatened by young farmer activists that the Muldoon Govt would know who they were if they defected to Social Credit. And there’d be serious consequences.
Yeah I can imagine national doing that.
I always wondered if the cops raided that west coast settlement on Monday morning. They were prone to doing things like that back then.
That's interesting I wonder how much of that mentioning ‘serious consequences’ still goes on. Quiet, standover tactics.
I read through the summary of the McDonald-Guy case and was amazed at the damage that McD was prepared to do and someone go with him to help or was he pushed? And then there was a report that all had been cleared up and settled between McDonald and the Guy family so they were on good terms again. But the wife had had her puppies bashed on the head or something, and I don't think one would ever forgive or forget that. In town the cops would be round. What happens in the country? Does the one resident cop miles away, say okay I've made a note, let us know if it happens again? And they had a place set on fire too.
I encountered strange behaviour when driving through a quiet farm area – chap passed me and made the hand gesture of shooting in the head, apparently I had been going too slow. Violence by gesture, antipathy anyway.
I wonder how much intrinsic violence lurks amongst those green and pleasant lands.
Atlas Bludged.
https://twitter.com/PatFitzgerald23/status/1280217058677084160
Awww, cute, just like our own bastions of the free market & supermen, The Tax Payer Bozos.
191 new cases in Victoria today.
https://www.twitter.com/chelsea_hetho/status/1280332212529885186
Odds on the bluebloods getting locked down in their macmansions with the police all around?
At 2550km that is a tough border to police. How are the cobbers going to do it?
Breakdown of today's new cases in Victoria. 37 linked to known outbreaks. 154 under investigation. Zero from returning overseas travelers.
Foreign students will not be allowed to stay in the US this autumn if their universities have moved classes fully online, unless they switch to a course with in-person tuition.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53315651
OK, now I'm starting to believe he really is satire:
National Party leader Todd Muller has again described the government's handling of border quarantine as shambolic.
In response to the Air New Zealand announcement, Muller said any New Zealander who wanted to come home should be allowed to return.
He said it was the government's shambolic handling of the border in recent weeks which had put the facilities under pressure.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/420658/air-nz-putting-a-temporary-hold-on-new-international-bookings-to-nz
I mean, where to start with this? The one-word vocabulary? The nonsensical line that more Kiwis are coming back because of the quarantine facilities? As opposed to say, escaping from countries in the grip of a pandemic? The facilities are under pressure because people are in them. Where else would they be in Todd-land? It doesn't make any kind of sense … political, medical, mathematical, anything.
I wonder what the one word to describe muller's party leadership might be? The word to be used incessantly in place of any more nuanced criticism?
deflating?
anaemic?
Maybe a portmanteau: hambolic? lackadaisedandconfused?
Absentibolic
Sham bucolic?
Sham hyperbolic?
allbollocks
Thinking musically for going up and down, in and out and all about – Sneezebox, Conz-iteena, Harmoniker.
Zombie economics requires us to be open to community spread and the death of the aged and infirm.
Todd Muller will oppose the euthanasia legislation becauase he is pro life, but he is encouraging risk to the lives of fellow New Zealanders because he serves mammon.
The life of the god of the haves and sacrifice of the weak, its called herd immunity becuase the herd goes on its way and the weak are left behind to be eaten by predators (in this case a pandemic virus ravaging the body).
To use a past National campaign ad, throwing the old and infirm overboard.
But Todd has 'business experience' – so he can instantaneously and 'seamlessly' scale complex systems to handle increased load without any deleterious effects. 'Business experience' turns dull boys into magicians.
To Todd Conehead it makes political sense – as does endlessly repeating the word "shambolic" he is an arsehole end of story
Todd's unimaginative repetition is bland and boring, but it does reflect his conservative and visionless persona quite well. Simon Bridges word salads were far more entertaining.
When NZ announced a 4 week lockdown from 26 March there were many on both sides of the Tasman saying NZ had got it wrong and you didn't need to be so strict because, the economy or something.
We eradicated the disease with this approach and our government was widely praised for it but still there were critics many pointing to Victoria's much less strict Covid 19 measures.
We had the National Party who got very upset at the positive coverage Jacinda Ardern got for our strategy.
The breaking news today is Victoria is considering a 4 week lockdown of its own, as if they have finally realised what is required to get on top of this pernicious disease.
Imagine how much better the health and economic outcomes for Victoria would have been if they'd just done what NZ did in the first place.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2020/07/australian-state-considering-four-week-lockdown.html
Weren't you arguing for no or little lock down in NZ and likening this corona virus to a bit of a 'flu' just a few months ago ?
Diversion trolling much there SM?
DNFTT!
Sure, I was alarmed in early March when the world started shutting down. I felt at the time certain countries were over-reacting. That changed of course when the full picture became clear.
Red card, Melbourne. Six week suspension.
What about NSW, Queensland, SA, WA etc. Only reason Vic is in the poo is lax isolation protocol. Hmmm that sounds like something I have heard before.
NZ got bloody lucky, Vic not so much
You must have been hiding from the news for ages if you think what happened in Victoria "sounds like" NZ in any way at all.
I can teach you how to use a search engine called Google, it will give you all the details, just ask.
I'm sure you are disappointed and you need the virus spreading in NZ, but you'll just have to keep watching the 1 pm updates and hoping for the worst.
Or, the breach in NZ was not as serious as those in VIC and the holes in procedure were not as serious either.
More likely you have been captured by our tabloid like media.
"NZ got bloody lucky,…"
No luck involved, good leadership from good advice, followed by high levels of compliance, compassion, care and patience.
I keep on thinking that the cooperation of the 5 million is down to the remarkable leadership of Jacinda and Bloomfield. Just amazing that so many were on side!
Wherever there is expansion of infection there is indecisive leadership and Muller is demonstrating just how awful his leadership would have been
And his continuing undermining of the confidence of New Zealanders is unforgivable.
Muller. You are fired!
Hamish Walker supplied the spreadsheet of those in quarantene and supplied by Michelle Boag!
Oh boy!
Wonder how Boag got the spreadsheet? If it was done in a way that looks / is malicious (as opposed to ‘shambles’), then Nats are done for. Yay!
Kia Ora
Newshub.
Support for drug addiction is needed.
That's is cool investing $761 million dollars to help council fix their water infrastructure.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora
Te Ao Maori Marama.
Te Kaumara never says how sweet it is.
Read NZ that's cool telling Matariki storys with high profile tangata and orchestra music.
Congratulations Rangi for your prize in teaching Maori tamariki science.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora
The Am Show.
Global warming is causing all sorts of problems around the world.
Science has great subjects for tamariki to study.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora
Te Ao Maori Marama.
In a few years time we will see all this good mahi of planting trees and other plants in the wetlands and around Awa thriving and filtering the Wai
Its good to see some Iwi getting compensation for their Tipuna loss.
Ka kite Ano