Does this really sound like an education to you or does it sound more like a Ponzi scheme, like you’ve been scammed?
Do I understand how all this works? No. I’m no expert on the subject. What anyone should be able to see, however, is that the promise of higher education has, in this century, sunk low indeed and that what your generation has been learning how to endure while still in school is a form of peonage. I’d binge drink, too, under the circumstances!
As that system, awash in plutocratic contributions to politics and taxpayer contributions to the military-industrial-homeland-security complex, morphs into something else, so will you, whether you realize it or not. Though never thought of as such, your debt is part of the same system. A society that programmatically trains its young into debt and calls that “higher education” is as corrupt as a wealthy country that won’t rebuild its own infrastructure.
Yep, in the US the salaries and numbers of administrators and managers has been shooting up for years, while the salaries and numbers of faculty have been cut and squeezed – unless you work in an area favoured by corporate money.
Student fees have been climbing and climbing as has student debt. Then they changed the rules in the US where students have to pay increasing interest on their debt – far more than bankers have to pay – and you cannot get out of student debt by declaring bankruptcy. The debt follows you to the grave.
And this in an environment where graduates are lucky to get a full time minimum wage job.
Marinaleda: Yeah, that’s the kind of place/way I’d like to live, if the only alternative was NZ’s existing reality/dominant culture and perspective.
Two stand-out points to me were the flat rate of wage, “because every position is important to the whole”; and making decisions based on considering what is good for those who have the least, before thinking about what is good for those that have the most. If NZ governments adopted that last point in isolation, it would solve many of NZ’s problems overnight. Once they did try that approach, now they reject it completely.
“A Socialist Utopia” is a good description of it – a both negative (ultimately limited) and positive (major advancement on status quo) euphemism – because there are plenty of flaws in the plan; and the guy talking glosses over some historical points that if they were explained to NZders, they might not be so enthusistic to superimpose the struggle here; but this is Sunday morning, so why not just revel in the possibility instead?
In Germany, one of the most successful economy in the world, house prices are flat. It is considered a failure if house prices rise because housing is a speculative investment that adds nothing to the economy.
Predictions for 2014 for Germany were price increases for property were 6%, with prices the the two years prior increasing by 9.8% per annum for existing stock and 7.7% per annum for new builds.
Reasons being? Demand in larger cities outstripping supply. Low interest rates and increased economic activity. Strong labour markets and rising immigration.
Germany, historically, has a completely different approach to rentals, where some families live 20+ years in rented accommodation (flats or houses). The money is in the rent return, not the property resale. The way mortgages are set-up and structured are different too.
To top it all off, German Super has always been sufficient to live off in retirement, there was little need or desire to invest/speculate in property for that old-age nest egg.
All up, you can’t compare the German approach and New Zealand one.
Max Keiser & Stacey Herbert talk UK property bubble
They mention in comparison that Berlin has just introduced maximum rent caps. That German ministers see “investment” flowing into ever increasing house prices as a waste of productive financial capital which should instead go into industry. This is of course a road to a ponzi economy and eventual economic collapse.
How UK policies of house ownership and rental subsidies have helped push up the property price bubble further, as well as encouraging home owners and rentier capitalists to vote Conservative.
Max Keiser also mentions how banks create money in the economy by extending loans which instantly become deposits in bank accounts.
The housing problem has only just started really. You can’t create all this extra money and have it stay in Auckland. Newly rich Jafas are already buying up large outside of Auckland and driving up prices elsewhere. Those cashed up sellers will themselves start pushing up prices even further.
I’ve been watching house prices in areas close to Auck – south an arc from Hamilton to Tauranga and north SH1 areas up to Whangarei & surrounds. The speed at which low priced properties have been selling is just incredible. The only houses not selling are those in rough streets.
It must be hugely distressing for those lower income earners saving to buy a home. They’re seeing their future disappearing right in front of their eyes.
No you cant and it is true that their social security system is (or was) – I am sorry to say – superior to that in NZ.
But what you omit is that, Germany has had more then 1 Million (!) immigrants/refugees per year entering the country and housing certainly has a different meaning when looking at these figures.
Vandalism of properties that was unheard of has increased and there are areas where you rather don’t want to go, let alone live because of the ghetto building from different ethnicity. Naturally, the situation is a lot more volatile then in NZ. And with that the social security system that has worked on the basis that people have to contribute in order to get a benefit, thus being a collective approach and really a cultural way of thinking about your neighbor, is being destroyed. Perhaps a geopolitical game to make it equal to the Anglo saxen approach that is in my point of view barbaric.
Wait until Germany suffers an economic downturn, then with mass immigration you will see the rise of white supremacist neonazi sentiment on the upswing.
Just saw something on Zero Hedge which said 2 out of 3 low paid jobs created by the US economic “upturn” has gone to illegal migrants. Local populations are going to become more restive.
White supremacists are already there. All immigrants are being supported by the state, hence the unrest. The moneys are not there anymore. The downturn has already started.
Mind you, I wonder what NZ would do if such influx of immigrants would happen here. Infrastructure and benefits would dry up in a flash. It would lead to aggression, latent or obvious.
The US is a completely different culture – they have no real sense of social coherency. 230 odd years in the making vs thousands of years in Germany.
The jobs they have created are low wage, no guarantied hours jobs. Sounds familiar?
Germans are underestimated with their sheer will to see things through if the going is tough.
@ Colonial R
Someone wrote that a large number of the employed in USA are guarding wealthy people’s property. It could be a good job for a migrant to get. The low starting wage could be an indication of that.
USA Security guards employed, 1,077,520 at May 2014 mean hourly wage $13.48 (from $8.52, 25% percentile $9.64, 90% percentile $21.25-annual $44,200) http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes339032.htm
USA Cleaning and janitor jobs 2,324,000 for year 2012 @ $10.73 an hour
USA manufacturing stats – they were declining before 2008 and from then to 2010 they took a nosedive.
Manufacturing employment stats at Jan 2008 13,725,000, at Jan 2010 11,460,000.
Jan 2015 12,318,000. http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES3000000001
the rich people in the gated compounds think that their armed security guards are going to protect them when the real decline comes. I think those armed security guards just as likely to take over the gated compounds for their own extended families and eject the useless 1%, when the time comes.
Please excuse my ignorance, but considering the continuing threat of climate change, it’s causes & likely outcomes, are there social media sites that younger New Zealanders participate in on this issue?
I ask only to be able to listen to their voice, not to participate.
There’s also 350 Aotearoa, and you can find the latest things theyre doing on their facebook pages.
I’d like to see a senior citizens activist group on climate change as well. After all they have had a lifetime of fossil fuel at their convenience and it will be their grandkids who will have to do the heavy lifting to adapt and change society to work in a different climate.
How much of the Auckland property ‘boom’ is being used for money-laundering?
How many of the empty 22,000 ‘ghost city’ private sector houses in Auckland (according to the 2013 Census), have been used for money-laundering?
Whose job is it to check on how real estate – especially Auckland real estate – is used for money-laundering?
The Organised and Financial Crime Agency of NZ (OFCANZ)?
Who failed to carry out any ‘due diligence’ on the increased risk of money-laundering arising from the NZ International Convention Act?
————————————————————————
Bernard Hickey: Dodgy deals to come out
The New Zealand Herald
A task force wants lawyers and agents to verify sources of overseas funds used to buy property.
By Bernard Hickey
The Government’s pre-Budget announcement of its two-year “bright line” tax on capital gains surprised a few people and captured headlines.
But the accompanying news that non-residents buying property would first have to open a bank account here, get an IRD number and declare their own passport and home tax details may have a bigger impact.
The Government is pointing to this measure as having the most potential to reduce foreign demand for Auckland properties and Prime Minister John Key has indicated information on non-resident buying would be gathered and published.
He said New Zealand tax authorities would also share these details with foreign tax authorities.
The elephant in the room of Auckland’s property debate is whether some of the money pouring into Auckland, from China in particular, is money laundering of ill-gotten funds.
Without any data, the debate is fuelled by anecdote and rumour, but the issue is capturing global attention.
In November, China’s President Xi Jinping asked for Key’s help to track down a number of Chinese nationals who had fled to New Zealand with allegedly corruptly obtained funds. This was part of Xi’s campaign to crack down on the “tigers and flies” officials and their cronies. Chinese authorities say New Zealand is the third most popular destination for such fugitives.
The issue of money laundering from China is heating up in Australia, too, where data on how much property is bought by non-residents is collected.
More than 25 per cent of all new and existing homes sold last year in Sydney and Melbourne were sold to non-residents, leaving many across the Tasman asking where the money came from.
It is a clever ploy by the Government to turn the Auckland housing problem into a Law & Order issue. Any place where large sums of money easily ‘change hands’ such as casinos and real estate is attractive to money launderers. However, this doesn’t mean that money laundering is a driving force behind Auckland’s housing woes. Is the Government now also proposing for Sky Casino to demand seeing and recording IRD numbers, bank account details, and home tax details?
Liar No. 46 Julia Gillard: “I have got a lot of respect for people who whistle-blow, ummm….” http://thestandard.org.nz/ope-mike-08022015/#comment-965394
Liar No. 45 Zara Potts: “Sir Bob Geldof has assembled the best of modern musicians for this year’s record, including Ed Sheeran and One Direction.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11112014/#comment-924196
More liars HERE….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09102014/#comment-907232
Time Magazine: Belgium removes all age limits on euthansasia
Says children should have same rights to choose death as adults. In the Netherlands, children aged 12-16 can choose death with parental consent. Activists in the Netherlands say that age limit should be reduced or removed.
Gardasil Survivors in Ireland Launch Support Group
Activist Post
The R.E.G.R.E.T. Support Group was launched recently in Ireland by parents of chronically ill teenage girls. These parents blame an injection the girls received at school as the cause of their daughters’ illness. The drug in question is called Gardasil and is being marketed as an anti-cancer vaccine. R.E.G.R.E.T. is an acronym for “Reactions and Effects of Gardasil Resulting in Extreme Trauma”.
Members of ten families from all over the country came together to share experiences and express their exasperation at the inability of health authorities to recognise the pattern of serious adverse reactions being suffered by children who, up until receiving the Gardasil injection, enjoyed an active healthy lifestyle.
One of the main complaints raised at the meeting was that the information provided by the HSE (as part of the ‘informed consent’ process) is extremely misleading, particularly with regard to how safe the vaccine is.
A high incidence of serious reactions have been reported in the U.S ever since Gardasil was released there in 2006. Even the drug manufacturer’s own clinical trials reveal a 1 in 40 (2.5%) incidence of a serious adverse reaction*, yet Irish parents are still told by the HSE that Gardasil is ‘very safe’.
Although its cancer-preventing properties have never been proven, the HSE insists that the benefits of Gardasil outweigh the risks and even claim that it has been ‘fully tested’.
This is despite the limited safety testing that took place as a result of this “life-Gardasil Survivors in Ireland Launch Support Group
Activist Post
The R.E.G.R.E.T. Support Group was launched recently in Ireland by parents of chronically ill teenage girls. These parents blame an injection the girls received at school as the cause of their daughters’ illness. The drug in question is called Gardasil and is being marketed as an anti-cancer vaccine. R.E.G.R.E.T. is an acronym for “Reactions and Effects of Gardasil Resulting in Extreme Trauma”.
Members of ten families from all over the country came together to share experiences and express their exasperation at the inability of health authorities to recognise the pattern of serious adverse reactions being suffered by children who, up until receiving the Gardasil injection, enjoyed an active healthy lifestyle. One of the main complaints raised at the meeting was that the information provided by the HSE (as part of the ‘informed consent’ process) is extremely misleading, particularly with regard to how safe the vaccine is.
A high incidence of serious reactions have been reported in the U.S ever since Gardasil was released there in 2006. Even the drug manufacturer’s own clinical trials reveal a 1 in 40 (2.5%) incidence of a serious adverse reaction*, yet Irish parents are still told by the HSE that Gardasil is ‘very safe’.
Although its cancer-preventing properties have never been proven, the HSE insists that the benefits of Gardasil outweigh the risks and even claim that it has been ‘fully tested’.
This is despite the limited safety testing that took place as a result of this “life-saving vaccine” being fast-tracked through the regulatory approval process. HSE did not inform parents that Gardasil contains genetically engineered non-human recombinant DNA, the effects of which are unknown and unpredictable when injected into a human host saving vaccine” being fast-tracked through the regulatory approval process.
HSE did not inform parents that Gardasil contains genetically engineered non-human recombinant DNA, the effects of which are unknown and unpredictable when injected into a human host.
This is a healthcare disaster and another example of how corporatised establishment medical thinking has led families down the wrong track, a track which transfers billions in tax payers money to big pharma while the vast majority of young women receiving the treatment will obtain zero life saving benefits.
I have just watched that disgusting display by Boag on The Nation, dressed like a bill board for a large carton of Fries. A theme I see that is beginning to develop from the right is:- “You don’t have a right,” In this discussion, if you can call it that with this hysterical female dressed like a packet of chips, Boag said “You don’t have a right” to owning a house.
Is this going to be a common theme to get us all conditioned so when they spy on us it will be a case of “You don’t have a right to privacy.” Also what gives winebox Boag the right to say “you don’t have a right”
Shit we will be told next We don’t have the right to breath
Yes, and what I saw is a lady with an American accent attacking NZ systems, a raged young man who just has bought a property in Wellington and one articulate young man trying to convince us that the rental laws need changing.
Here is what I took away from this:
Once more the future rich are making a dash for funds and asking for a RIGHT to own a house with the golden age of 22 in the dress circle of Auckland.
For them the old are guilty of everything because they have not facilitated them to get what they want (hissy fit follows), when they want it and how they want it.
Of cause they should give up their poultry weekly income of $ 320 smackers. Surely they can do without.
They have not figured out that the situation is a lot more volatile then they belief and there are many more deserving then they are. I am talking about families with small children – one that just died due to substandard accommodation.
If they really want to address any problems, maybe the should investigate and find out what drives the pricing and equally what the average age of an an average wage earner is when they buy. Perhaps they could start working within the community and not outside it with this sense of entitlement that only is ever seen by people of privilege.
Yes, the housing market is out of kilter, not because a pensioner owns his/her home, but because speculators driving this. (mostly from overseas with question marks of money laundering) OH, yes no question of those university educated people there.
The law is not designed to protect the wider public from shanty houses developing – again no question form the side of the younger generation who are suppose to be sooo educated, all they do is their “fair” share.
Most NZ people buy their house at the age of around 30 or later.
On the question of voting: they don’t because they don’t get what they want.. (stumping feet behind the podium?)
Educated? Really? Or just spoiled and dragged through Uni because there was money to be made…
There giving kohanga and its tyrant leader a very nice puff piece on marae
In the same week that a very good reporter resigns over her TV channel not letting her do a story on kohanga.
It’s possible to conclude that the Labour Party review document was leaked because otherwise it was never going to be shared in its entirety with the membership; rather it was going to be edited, censored, summarised and released selectively piecemeal. Contrary to popular opinion, maybe on balance we’ve been done a favour by the leaker.
CR.
definitely better to have it out in public 100% or there was always going to keep media busy wondering out loud about what wasnt being said/released
That would be a credible theory CV, except for the fact that it was leaked to Gower. If the leaker wanted to serve the membership or Labour’s best interests, there were far better places/people to leak it to.
I have no doubt that regional conferences were verbally told of the contents of, or at least the outline of, the majority of the report. Your comment and my comment are not mutually exclusive.
”The Government won’t support “extreme measures” like warrant of fitness checks for all houses because it will drive up rent and push housing stock out of the market, says Finance Minister Bill English.”
and
”But Housing Minister Nick Smith is reluctant to extend the warrants to all public and private rentals because if the Government prohibited the rental of home unless they were fully insulated, it would mean taking 100,000 homes off the market.”
Please correct me if wrong but the bill would give landlords five years to get rental houses up to a liveable standard and it was never the intention that housing stock would be taken off the rental market during that period.
But they are downplaying the scale and severity of the problem and only because they can’t use plausible denial any longer. I look forward to hearing more from Bill English about “something practical and affordable that will start lifting the standard”.
“We’re not going to adopt extreme measures, we want to get something practical and affordable that will start lifting the standard,” he said.
To be able to lift standards you a) need to know where you’re at at the moment an b) set some standards that need to be reached. National not doing either of these things is setting up to fail.
I also note the propagandising use of extreme measures. It’s being used in such a way as to make people think that having liveable homes is an extreme idea and thus not doable.
Mrs Lagarde must stop playing the role of a diplomat. She must take off her European hat and speak instead for the organisation she leads and for the world.
She must confront the EMU creditors head on and in public. She must tell them, in blunt language, that they share much of the blame for the current impasse.
She must make it clear to them that Greece needs sweeping debt relief – as a matter of economic science, whatever the morality – and that the refusal of the creditors to face up to this elemental fact is now the chief impediment to a solution. And she should tell them that the IMF will no longer play any part in their deceitful charade.
If she does not do so, and if the lack of leadership by Europe’s political class leads to a catastrophic denouement on every level, then let it be on her head too.
Both The Great Depression and the Great Recession produced winners and losers. Interestingly, the winners should have been the losers in both cases.
Corporations would get to comment on any new regulatory attempts, and enforce this regulatory straitjacket through a dispute mechanism similar to the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) process in other trade agreements, where they could win money equal to “expected future profits” lost through violations of the regulatory cap.
For an example of how this would work, let’s look at financial services. It too has a “standstill” clause, which given the unpredictability of future crises could leave governments helpless to stop a new and dangerous financial innovation. In fact, Switzerland has proposed that all TiSA countries must allow “any new financial service” to enter their market. So-called “prudential regulations” to protect investors or depositors are theoretically allowed, but they must not act contrary to TiSA rules, rendering them somewhat irrelevant.
Most controversially, all financial services suppliers could transfer individual client data out of a TiSA country for processing, regardless of national privacy laws. This free flow of data across borders is true for the e-commerce annex as well; it breaks with thousands of years of precedent on locally kept business records, and has privacy advocates alarmed.
Just in case you weren’t aware that the corporations have several methods in play to take away our ability to govern ourselves and thus make us corporate serfs.
Guess which was the ONLY NZ political party to support ‘facilitation payments’ being included as BRIBES in the Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill?
—————————————————————————-
The (——) Party supports the majority of the Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill in its current form.
The (——) Party intends to continue with its support of this bill; it will bring us in line with our obligations under various international treaties and conventions dealing with national and international organised crime and corruption, and it will strengthen our ability to effectively respond to people trafficking and private sector corruption.
However, the (——) Party holds the view that this bill is a missed opportunity to address the issue of facilitation payments, which will still be excepted from the foreign bribery offence under section 105C(3) of the Crimes Act 1961–
(3)This section does not apply if—
(a)the act that is alleged to constitute the offence was committed for the sole or primary purpose of ensuring or expediting the performance by a foreign public official of a routine government action; and
(b)the value of the benefit is small.
The Ministry of Justice departmental report refers to these payments as being for things such as “small payments relating to the grant of a permit or licence, the provision of utility services, or loading or unloading cargo.” The Ministry commented that these payments do not yield an “undue advantage”, and that measures in the bill to ensure the recording of these payments mitigate any concerns that the exception may be abused.
However, the select committee heard persuasive submissions on the issue from the Human Rights Commission, Transparency International New Zealand and Michael Macaulay, Director of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Government.
These ‘grease’ payments are bribes, no matter their size, and help breed a culture where low-level corruption is permitted and accepted, contrary to international guidance from groups like the Serious Fraud Office, the UNCAC Implementation Review Group, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the OECD.
New Zealand is seen as a leader in public sector ethics and transparency, and we are proud of that legacy. It is disappointing that when provided an opportunity to take a strong stance on a controversial and unethical practice like facilitation payments – a stance already taken by the United Kingdom and Australia, and allegedly being pursued in China and India – we choose to split hairs about semantics and ‘balance’, leaving the door open for facilitation payments and subtly undermining our international reputation for honesty and transparency.
————————————————————
Could National’s Minister of Trade – in my opinion – ‘sheepish’ Murray McCully’s sordid Saudi ‘bribe’ have had anything to do with this Government’s apparent opposition to ‘facilitation payments’ being regarded as BRIBE$?
New Zealand – ‘perceived’ to be the SECOND ‘least corrupt country in the world’, according to the 2014 (arguably meaningless) Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’?
Ha! Bomber’s gone into a Whale Oil style meltdown over at TDB, deleting comments that don’t blow smoke up his perfectly coiffured arse. He really is a sensitive wee sausage.
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1/ Join community / common cause organisations Find organisations you resonate with. Join them and/or donate. In the fight against the state, it’s critical we pool together in all cases. If you don’t have the financial resources, sign up for information & updates. Knowledge is power. These groups, and the ...
Long story short: Aotearoa-NZ now has to make some difficult and probably expensive decisions about how we work and trade with China and the United States, our two largest trading partners. That’s because Donald Trump just overturned 80 years of certainty about how the US deals with and protects the ...
People killin', people dyin'Children hurt, and you hear them cryin'Can you practice what you preach?And would you turn the other cheek?Father, father, father, help usSend some guidance from above'Cause people got me, got me questioningWhere is the love?Songwriters: will.i.am, Justin Timberlake, Taboo, apl.de.ap, Printz Board, Michael Fratantuno, George Pajon, Jr.Where ...
A Bully in a China Shop?It is a mystery what Donald Trump learned when he did his BA in economics at the University of Pennsylvania in the mid-1960s. The Ivy League college has a good economics reputation, but even had Trump been a top student – unlikely or he would ...
The conflict we can see echoing across the world is being imported directly into New Zealand by outside powers and monetary influences that we don't want in our politics. It makes our politics messy and confusing, but untangling the puppet strings can help make sense of how we got here.This ...
Questions1. The poem that offers the immortal words The boy stood on the burning deck is about what?a. Eskimo Nell’s younger brotherb. The Reichstag firec. One of Napoleon’s shipsd. Christopher Luxon’s first year as Prime Minister2. What happens to the boy in the poem?a. Goes on an absolute bender in ...
I decided not to bother listening to the Reserve Bank’s appearance at FEC yesterday morning. After all, the OCR decision had been much as expected and foreshadowed, the forecast tracks etc hadn’t changed much, and – with all due respect to some new FEC members – how searching was any ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedQuote of the day:Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published“Our primary duty, I believe, is to maintain our water, our lakes, our rivers in a form in nature that supports life, ecosystems, communities, and, indeed, it ...
NZ’s peaceful and historic Hikoi for Maori rights and bottom, London police arrest environmental protestorsPeaceful protesters around the world are being jailed for years for nothing more than turning up or planning a protestAusralian climate change protesters To continue to receive posts like this, consider becoming a free or paid ...
And mama said mmmmh, mmmmhWhy don't the newscasters cryWhen they read about people who dieAt least they could be decent enoughTo put just a tear in their eyesAnd mama saidIt's just make-believeYou can't believe everything you seeSo baby, close your eyes to the lullabiesOn the news tonightSongwriters: Jack Hody Johnson.The ...
Hi,With the United States of America currently going down in a giant ball of flames like the Hindenburg disaster, it seemed like a good idea to get on a blimp. That line is basically meaningless, but it sounded good in my head so I went with it as an opener. ...
(My apologies. The version sent earlier this morning had the audio of last week’s podcast attached. It was good, but not that good. I have now updated with this week’s podcast. This is my error and please accept my apologies.)The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including:, Helen Clark and on the week in geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s wrecking of the post-WW II politicial landscape; and, ...
Open access notables Long-lasting intense cut-off lows to become more frequent in the Northern Hemisphere, Mishra et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Cut-off Lows are slow-moving mid-latitude storms that are detached from the main westerly flow and are often harbingers of heavy and persistent rainfall. The assessment of Cut-off Lows ...
On Tuesday, the "Independent" Police Conduct Authority issued an extraordinary report, proposing a complete rewrite of protest law to enable the police to restrict public protests and ban them at a whim. While packaged with several complaints in an appendix, the focus of the "thematic review" was clearly the provision ...
Data released today by Statistics New Zealand showed the urgent problem facing Aotearoa New Zealand in tackling child poverty, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “Child poverty is estimated by Stats NZ on three measures – before housing costs, after housing costs, and material poverty. All three central ...
It is almost never an (unconditionally) good thing if an official policy interest rate (in our case the OCR) is being adjusted in large bites, whether that is (for example) 175 basis points of cuts in the last six months or 375 basis points of increases in just twelve months ...
Here are your morning catch ups in health, workplace, environment and politics.And then later, amust read critical piece from No Right Turn on the government’s attempt to expand police powers follows. ENVIRONMENTNew Zealand's glaciers have shrunk by 29% since 2000: The grim news - published in scientific journal Nature ...
And when we first came hereWe were cold, and we were clearWith no colours in our skinUntil we let the spectrum inSay my nameAnd every colour illuminatesWe are shiningAnd we will never be afraid againSongwriters: Florence Leontine Mary Welch / Paul Epworth.“What did Gerry say?”To be honest, with multiple people ...
Long story short, I spoke to Core Logic Head of Research Nick Goodall & Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) CEO Jen Baird for a 15 minute mini-Hoon last night after the Reserve Bank of New Zealandannounced it had cut the Official Cash Rate 50 bps to 3.75% ...
There is a widening fear in Wellington that the Cook Islands – China deal is in danger of becoming a foreign policy crisis. Foreign Minister Winston Peters yesterday delivered a blunt assessment of the situation saying that New Zealand wanted to reset and restate the formal parameters of the relationship ...
Good to see that this year, the New Zealand film societies are celebrating what would have been Sam Peckinpah’s 100th birthday with what they are calling “Peckinpah’s West” – a tribute consisting of screenings of The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. That’s where the good part ...
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
All your life is Time magazineI read it tooWhat does it mean?PressureI'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationaleBut here you are with your faithAnd your Peter Pan adviceYou have no scars on your faceAnd you cannot handle pressureSongwriter: Billy Joel.Christopher Luxon is under pressure from all sides. The reviews are ...
After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
The Government has spent $3.6 million dollars on a retail crime advisory group, including paying its chair $920 a day, to come up with ideas already dismissed as dangerous by police. ...
The Green Party supports the peaceful occupation at Lake Rotokākahi and are calling for the controversial sewerage project on the lake to be stopped until the Environment Court has made a decision. ...
ActionStation’s Oral Healthcare report, released today, paints a dire picture of unmet need and inequality across the country, highlighting the urgency of free dental care for all New Zealanders. ...
The Golden Age There has been long-standing recognition that New Zealand First has an unrivalled reputation for delivering for our older New Zealanders. This remains true, and is reflected in our coalition agreement. While we know there is much that we can and will do in this space, it is ...
Labour Te Atatū MP Phil Twyford has written to the charities regulator asking that Destiny Church charities be struck off in the wake of last weekend’s violence by Destiny followers in his electorate. ...
Bills by Labour MPs to remove rules around sale of alcohol on public holidays, and for Crown entities to adopt Māori names have been drawn from the Members’ Bill Ballot. ...
The Government is falling even further behind its promised target of 500 new police officers, now with 72 fewer police officers than when National took office. ...
This morning’s Stats NZ child poverty statistics should act as a wake-up call for the government: with no movement in child poverty rates since June 2023, it’s time to make the wellbeing of our tamariki a political priority. ...
Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson’s Consumer Guarantees Right to Repair Amendment Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament this evening. ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
As the world marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced additional sanctions on Russian entities and support for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. “Russia’s illegal invasion has brought three years of devastation to Ukraine’s people, environment, and infrastructure,” Mr Peters says. “These additional sanctions target 52 ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced the Government’s plan to reform the Overseas Investment Act and make it easier for New Zealand businesses to receive new investment, grow and pay higher wages. “New Zealand is one of the hardest countries in the developed world for overseas people to ...
Associate Health Minister Hon Casey Costello is traveling to Australia for meetings with the aged care sector in Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney next week. “Australia is our closest partner, so as we consider the changes necessary to make our system more effective and sustainable it makes sense to learn from ...
The Government is boosting investment in the QEII National Trust to reinforce the protection of Aotearoa New Zealand's biodiversity on private land, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. The Government today announced an additional $4.5 million for conservation body QEII National Trust over three years. QEII Trust works with farmers and ...
The closure of the Ava Bridge walkway will be delayed so Hutt City Council have more time to develop options for a new footbridge, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Mayor of Lower Hutt, Campbell Barry. “The Hutt River paths are one of the Hutt’s most beloved features. Hutt locals ...
Good afternoon. Can I acknowledge Ngāti Whātua for their warm welcome, Simpson Grierson for hosting us here today, and of course the Committee for Auckland for putting on today’s event. I suspect some of you are sitting there wondering what a boy from the Hutt would know about Auckland, our ...
The Government will invest funding to remove the level crossings in Takanini and Glen Innes and replace them with grade-separated crossings, to maximise the City Rail Link’s ability to speed up journey times by rail and road and boost Auckland’s productivity, Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown ...
The Government has made key decisions on a Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) framework to enable businesses to benefit from storing carbon underground, which will support New Zealand’s businesses to continue operating while reducing net carbon emissions, Energy and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Economic growth is a ...
Minister for Regulation David Seymour says that outdated and burdensome regulations surrounding industrial hemp (iHemp) production are set to be reviewed by the Ministry for Regulation. Industrial hemp is currently classified as a Class C controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act, despite containing minimal THC and posing little ...
The Ministerial Advisory Group on transnational and serious organised crime was appointed by Cabinet on Monday and met for the first time today, Associate Police Minister Casey Costello announced. “The group will provide independent advice to ensure we have a better cross-government response to fighting the increasing threat posed to ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will travel to Viet Nam next week, visiting both Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, accompanied by a delegation of senior New Zealand business leaders. “Viet Nam is a rising star of Southeast Asia with one of the fastest growing economies in the region. This ...
The coalition Government has passed legislation to support overseas investment in the Build-to-Rent housing sector, Associate Minister of Finance Chris Bishop says. “The Overseas Investment (Facilitating Build-to-Rent Developments) Amendment Bill has completed its third reading in Parliament, fulfilling another step in the Government’s plan to support an increase in New ...
The new Police marketing campaign starting today, recreating the ‘He Ain’t Heavy’ ad from the 1990s, has been welcomed by Associate Police Minister Casey Costello. “This isn’t just a great way to get the attention of more potential recruits, it’s a reminder to everyone about what policing is and the ...
No significant change to child poverty rates under successive governments reinforces that lifting children out of material hardship will be an ongoing challenge, Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says. Figures released by Stats NZ today show no change in child poverty rates for the year ended June 2024, reflecting ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the most common family names given to newborns in 2024. “For the seventh consecutive year, Singh is the most common registered family name, with over 680 babies given this name. Kaur follows closely in second place with 630 babies, while ...
A new $3 million fund from the International Conservation and Tourism Visitor Levy will be used to attract more international visitors to regional destinations this autumn and winter, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston says. “The Government has a clear priority to unleash economic growth and getting our visitor numbers ...
Good Evening Let us begin by acknowledging Professor David Capie and the PIPSA team for convening this important conference over the next few days. Whenever the Pacific Islands region comes together, we have a precious opportunity to share perspectives and learn from each other. That is especially true in our ...
The Reserve Bank’s positive outlook indicates the economy is growing and people can look forward to more jobs and opportunities, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Bank today reduced the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points. It said it expected further reductions this year and employment to pick up ...
Agriculture Minister, Todd McClay and Minister for Māori Development, Tama Potaka today congratulated the finalists for this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy, celebrating excellence in Māori sheep and beef farming. The two finalists for 2025 are Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust and Tawapata South Māori Incorporation Onenui Station. "The Ahuwhenua Trophy is a prestigious ...
The Government is continuing to respond to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care by establishing a fund to honour those who died in care and are buried in unmarked graves, and strengthen survivor-led initiatives that support those in need. “The $2 million dual purpose fund will be ...
A busy intersection on SH5 will be made safer with the construction of a new roundabout at the intersection of SH28/Harwoods Road, as we deliver on our commitment to help improve road safety through building safer infrastructure, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Safety is one of the Government’s strategic priorities ...
The Government is turbo charging growth to return confidence to the primary sector through common sense policies that are driving productivity and farm-gate returns, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “The latest Federated Farmers Farm Confidence Survey highlights strong momentum across the sector and the Government’s firm commitment to back ...
Improving people’s experience with the Justice system is at the heart of a package of Bills which passed its first reading today Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says. “The 63 changes in these Bills will deliver real impacts for everyday New Zealanders. The changes will improve court timeliness and efficiency, ...
Returning the Ō-Rākau battle site to tūpuna ownership will help to recognise the past and safeguard their stories for the benefit of future generations, Minister for Māori Crown Relations Tama Potaka says. The Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passed its third reading at ...
A new university programme will help prepare PhD students for world-class careers in science by building stronger connections between research and industry, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “Our Government is laser focused on growing New Zealand’s economy and to do that, we must realise the potential ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today announced funding of more than $14 million to replace the main water supply and ring mains in the main building of Auckland City Hospital. “Addressing the domestic hot water system at the country’s largest hospital, which opened in 2003, is vitally important to ensure ...
The Government is investing $30 million from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy to fund more than a dozen projects to boost biodiversity and the tourist economy, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. “Tourism is a key economic driver, and nature is our biggest draw card for international tourists,” says ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will travel to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, Mongolia, and the Republic of Korea later this week. “New Zealand enjoys long-standing and valued relationships with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both highly influential actors in their region. The visit will focus on building ...
Minister for Rail Winston Peters has announced director appointments for Ferry Holdings Limited – the schedule 4a company charged with negotiating ferry procurement contracts for two new inter-island ferries. Mr Peters says Ferry Holdings Limited will be responsible for negotiating long-term port agreements on either side of the Cook Strait ...
Ophthalmology patients in Kaitaia are benefiting from being able to access the complete cataract care pathway closer to home, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. “Ensuring New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare is a priority for the Government. “Since 30 September 2024, Kaitaia Hospital has been providing cataract care ...
The foreign minister will be raising the matters of the warships and the controversial Cook Islands deals in three high-level meetings in Beijing this week. ...
The Prime Minister has arrived for his first trade mission of the year, with a business delegation of tech, food and beverage, and education heavy-hitters in tow. ...
If there is one hard lesson we in New Zealand know all too well, it’s that when hate spreads online, it doesn’t stay there. There’s an information war going on in the world right now. And we are losing.Elon Musk and Donald Trump, supported by an army of bots, ...
The foreign minister is meeting with his Chinese equivalent in Beijing today, as New Zealand and Australia express concerns over Chinese naval exercises in the Tasman Sea. Here’s what you need to know. So Winston Peters is in Beijing this week – what’s he doing there? Like most international trips ...
Comment: The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on imports to the United States, a controversial decision that will rock numerous economies directly affected. They will also likely backfire on the US.Economists don’t like tariffs because countries are much better off producing and exporting goods in which they have a comparative ...
The truth is rarely simple. And in season two of Fractured, the shocking revelations will leave you questioning medicine, justice and the devastating power of a single diagnosis.Award-winning investigative journalist Melanie Reid returns with the next chapter of Fractured, the podcast rocking legal and medical assumptions in New Zealand and beyond.In season ...
Freshwater protections have been bolstered by the outcomes of two recent court cases, but the Government now looks set to give industry bodies a workaround in its Resource Management Act changes.Industry groups have welcomed the proposed reforms while conservationists warn they could undermine water quality protections and the core tenets ...
Whanganui was in a mood for change in 2004. The incumbent mayor, Chas Poynter, a bookseller and the son of a bookseller, had been in office since 1986, a total of 18 years. He had gained some credit among right-wing voters for his staunch opposition to the occupation of Moutoa ...
It’s unclear if Ngāi Tahu’s farms can meet stringent freshwater limits being promoted by an ecological expert in the tribe’s High Court case.The case, in its third week, seeks a series of declarations from the court, including Crown recognition of its rangatiratanga (chiefly authority) over wai māori (freshwater) within its ...
Israel has now banned another European Union parliamentarian from entering the country, reports Al Jazeera. The government gave no reasons why Lynn Boylan, who chairs the European Parliament EU-Palestine delegation, was denied entry. “This utter contempt from Israel is the result of the international community failing to hold them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ivan Vinogradov, Animal Behaviour Researcher, Australian National University Turner Brockman/iNaturalist, CC BY-SA We humans often underestimate the intelligence of other animals. You’ve probably seen videos of monkeys, ravens or parrots solving puzzles. But fish also possess impressive problem-solving skills, despite the ...
The Treaty Principles Bill will "whitewash" the Crown and Māori partnership, and "elevate the oppression of my people", says the daughter of Joe Hawke, who led the Bastion Point land occupation. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dirk Baur, Professor of Finance, The University of Western Australia The gold price has surged to a new all-time high above US$2,900 (A$4,544) an ounce this month. It has risen by 12% since the start of the year and clearly outperformed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leigh Carriage, Senior Lecturer in Music, Southern Cross University The multi-Grammy award winner Roberta Flack has passed away at 88. Her approach and sound were a unique combination of soul, folk, rhythm and blues, jazz, pop and musicianship, and arranging skills so ...
Everything you missed from day nine of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard 14 hours of submissions across two sessions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.Simultaneous oral submissions on the Treaty principles bill were heard over eight hours on Tuesday – one in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philippa Collin, Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University Shutterstock Ahead of the Australian election, candidates, advisers and political parties might be paying attention to what young people think. And if they’re not, they should be. This election ...
By Christina Persico, RNZ Pacific bulletin editor Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa has survived a vote of no confidence after weeks of political turmoil. In a vote today, she defeated the motion by 34 votes in favour and 15 against. The motion was prompted by a split in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Wesselbaum, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Otago Piyaset/Shutterstock Climate change is no longer a distant threat. It’s here, it’s real and it increasingly affects us all. But predicting climate change and its associated costs, particularly over long ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yi Li, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Macquarie University udra11, Shutterstock When you’re deciding what to eat for lunch or dinner, do you consider the meal’s greenhouse gas emissions? How do you compare the carbon footprint of a beef sandwich with that ...
Liv Sisson reviews the latest instalment of the Christchurch music festival with a growing reputation as one of the best in the country. There were plenty of memorable outfits at Electric Avenue, but one stuck out for me. On day two I saw a guy, maybe mid-50s, dancing hard while ...
“The Chinese state is an authoritarian nightmare with an aggressive plan for military spending and zero regard for human rights. The experiences in Hong Kong and Xinjiang should be evidence for how much respect China has for basic rights and freedoms”, ...
Alex Casey talks to access coordinator Felicity Hamil about one of the newest jobs in the screen industry, and why it’s been a long time coming. From the very first moments of Sight Unseen, it is clear it isn’t your average documentary series. “At a ski field, a person wearing ...
In the third episode of Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club, the pair head into the heart of Ōtepoti’s student quarter to find out how young singletons are faring. Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club is a new documentary series for The Spinoff following award-winning comedians and friends Brynley Stent ...
Heading into the heart of Ōtepoti’s student party scene, Bryn and Ku find insights about modern romance and hook-up culture at the bottom of a beer funnel. Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club follows comedians Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester as they head out on a cross-country quest to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aaron J. Cavosie, Senior lecturer, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University A view of the Utopia Planitia region on Mars which is believed to be the site of an ancient ocean. ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA In the 1970s, images ...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-06/america-ponzi-scheme-commencement-speech-scammed
Does this really sound like an education to you or does it sound more like a Ponzi scheme, like you’ve been scammed?
Do I understand how all this works? No. I’m no expert on the subject. What anyone should be able to see, however, is that the promise of higher education has, in this century, sunk low indeed and that what your generation has been learning how to endure while still in school is a form of peonage. I’d binge drink, too, under the circumstances!
Yes, NZ is well on it’s way down the same path.
Yep, in the US the salaries and numbers of administrators and managers has been shooting up for years, while the salaries and numbers of faculty have been cut and squeezed – unless you work in an area favoured by corporate money.
Student fees have been climbing and climbing as has student debt. Then they changed the rules in the US where students have to pay increasing interest on their debt – far more than bankers have to pay – and you cannot get out of student debt by declaring bankruptcy. The debt follows you to the grave.
And this in an environment where graduates are lucky to get a full time minimum wage job.
In Texas for example,the highest paid in public office are sports coaches,and orthopedics specialists.
http://salaries.texastribune.org/
For those with some time on their hands on Sunday morning to ponder on alternatives to current economic models IRL: Marinaleda and Mondragon.
Marinaleda: Yeah, that’s the kind of place/way I’d like to live, if the only alternative was NZ’s existing reality/dominant culture and perspective.
Two stand-out points to me were the flat rate of wage, “because every position is important to the whole”; and making decisions based on considering what is good for those who have the least, before thinking about what is good for those that have the most. If NZ governments adopted that last point in isolation, it would solve many of NZ’s problems overnight. Once they did try that approach, now they reject it completely.
“A Socialist Utopia” is a good description of it – a both negative (ultimately limited) and positive (major advancement on status quo) euphemism – because there are plenty of flaws in the plan; and the guy talking glosses over some historical points that if they were explained to NZders, they might not be so enthusistic to superimpose the struggle here; but this is Sunday morning, so why not just revel in the possibility instead?
In Germany, one of the most successful economy in the world, house prices are flat. It is considered a failure if house prices rise because housing is a speculative investment that adds nothing to the economy.
– Keiser Report E767
+1 link to this below
Predictions for 2014 for Germany were price increases for property were 6%, with prices the the two years prior increasing by 9.8% per annum for existing stock and 7.7% per annum for new builds.
Reasons being? Demand in larger cities outstripping supply. Low interest rates and increased economic activity. Strong labour markets and rising immigration.
http://m.welt.de/finanzen/immobilien/article123300858/Auch-2014-steigen-die-Mieten-und-Wohnungspreise.html
Germany, historically, has a completely different approach to rentals, where some families live 20+ years in rented accommodation (flats or houses). The money is in the rent return, not the property resale. The way mortgages are set-up and structured are different too.
To top it all off, German Super has always been sufficient to live off in retirement, there was little need or desire to invest/speculate in property for that old-age nest egg.
All up, you can’t compare the German approach and New Zealand one.
Max Keiser & Stacey Herbert talk UK property bubble
They mention in comparison that Berlin has just introduced maximum rent caps. That German ministers see “investment” flowing into ever increasing house prices as a waste of productive financial capital which should instead go into industry. This is of course a road to a ponzi economy and eventual economic collapse.
How UK policies of house ownership and rental subsidies have helped push up the property price bubble further, as well as encouraging home owners and rentier capitalists to vote Conservative.
Max Keiser also mentions how banks create money in the economy by extending loans which instantly become deposits in bank accounts.
The housing problem has only just started really. You can’t create all this extra money and have it stay in Auckland. Newly rich Jafas are already buying up large outside of Auckland and driving up prices elsewhere. Those cashed up sellers will themselves start pushing up prices even further.
I’ve been watching house prices in areas close to Auck – south an arc from Hamilton to Tauranga and north SH1 areas up to Whangarei & surrounds. The speed at which low priced properties have been selling is just incredible. The only houses not selling are those in rough streets.
It must be hugely distressing for those lower income earners saving to buy a home. They’re seeing their future disappearing right in front of their eyes.
No you cant and it is true that their social security system is (or was) – I am sorry to say – superior to that in NZ.
But what you omit is that, Germany has had more then 1 Million (!) immigrants/refugees per year entering the country and housing certainly has a different meaning when looking at these figures.
Vandalism of properties that was unheard of has increased and there are areas where you rather don’t want to go, let alone live because of the ghetto building from different ethnicity. Naturally, the situation is a lot more volatile then in NZ. And with that the social security system that has worked on the basis that people have to contribute in order to get a benefit, thus being a collective approach and really a cultural way of thinking about your neighbor, is being destroyed. Perhaps a geopolitical game to make it equal to the Anglo saxen approach that is in my point of view barbaric.
Wait until Germany suffers an economic downturn, then with mass immigration you will see the rise of white supremacist neonazi sentiment on the upswing.
Just saw something on Zero Hedge which said 2 out of 3 low paid jobs created by the US economic “upturn” has gone to illegal migrants. Local populations are going to become more restive.
White supremacists are already there. All immigrants are being supported by the state, hence the unrest. The moneys are not there anymore. The downturn has already started.
Mind you, I wonder what NZ would do if such influx of immigrants would happen here. Infrastructure and benefits would dry up in a flash. It would lead to aggression, latent or obvious.
The US is a completely different culture – they have no real sense of social coherency. 230 odd years in the making vs thousands of years in Germany.
The jobs they have created are low wage, no guarantied hours jobs. Sounds familiar?
Germans are underestimated with their sheer will to see things through if the going is tough.
@ Colonial R
Someone wrote that a large number of the employed in USA are guarding wealthy people’s property. It could be a good job for a migrant to get. The low starting wage could be an indication of that.
USA Security guards employed, 1,077,520 at May 2014 mean hourly wage $13.48 (from $8.52, 25% percentile $9.64, 90% percentile $21.25-annual $44,200)
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes339032.htm
USA Cleaning and janitor jobs 2,324,000 for year 2012 @ $10.73 an hour
USA manufacturing stats – they were declining before 2008 and from then to 2010 they took a nosedive.
Manufacturing employment stats at Jan 2008 13,725,000, at Jan 2010 11,460,000.
Jan 2015 12,318,000.
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES3000000001
USA population at 29/4/2015 – 318,857,056
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
the rich people in the gated compounds think that their armed security guards are going to protect them when the real decline comes. I think those armed security guards just as likely to take over the gated compounds for their own extended families and eject the useless 1%, when the time comes.
Please excuse my ignorance, but considering the continuing threat of climate change, it’s causes & likely outcomes, are there social media sites that younger New Zealanders participate in on this issue?
I ask only to be able to listen to their voice, not to participate.
http://www.generationzero.org/blog
Thanks.
welcome. one place to start. they do good campaigning.
There’s also 350 Aotearoa, and you can find the latest things theyre doing on their facebook pages.
I’d like to see a senior citizens activist group on climate change as well. After all they have had a lifetime of fossil fuel at their convenience and it will be their grandkids who will have to do the heavy lifting to adapt and change society to work in a different climate.
While not specifically senior citizens, this group seems to represent the ones who’ve done well out of fossil fuels.
http://wiseresponse.org.nz/
Seen this ?
How much of the Auckland property ‘boom’ is being used for money-laundering?
How many of the empty 22,000 ‘ghost city’ private sector houses in Auckland (according to the 2013 Census), have been used for money-laundering?
Whose job is it to check on how real estate – especially Auckland real estate – is used for money-laundering?
The Organised and Financial Crime Agency of NZ (OFCANZ)?
Who failed to carry out any ‘due diligence’ on the increased risk of money-laundering arising from the NZ International Convention Act?
————————————————————————
Bernard Hickey: Dodgy deals to come out
The New Zealand Herald
A task force wants lawyers and agents to verify sources of overseas funds used to buy property.
By Bernard Hickey
The Government’s pre-Budget announcement of its two-year “bright line” tax on capital gains surprised a few people and captured headlines.
But the accompanying news that non-residents buying property would first have to open a bank account here, get an IRD number and declare their own passport and home tax details may have a bigger impact.
The Government is pointing to this measure as having the most potential to reduce foreign demand for Auckland properties and Prime Minister John Key has indicated information on non-resident buying would be gathered and published.
He said New Zealand tax authorities would also share these details with foreign tax authorities.
The elephant in the room of Auckland’s property debate is whether some of the money pouring into Auckland, from China in particular, is money laundering of ill-gotten funds.
Without any data, the debate is fuelled by anecdote and rumour, but the issue is capturing global attention.
In November, China’s President Xi Jinping asked for Key’s help to track down a number of Chinese nationals who had fled to New Zealand with allegedly corruptly obtained funds. This was part of Xi’s campaign to crack down on the “tigers and flies” officials and their cronies. Chinese authorities say New Zealand is the third most popular destination for such fugitives.
The issue of money laundering from China is heating up in Australia, too, where data on how much property is bought by non-residents is collected.
More than 25 per cent of all new and existing homes sold last year in Sydney and Melbourne were sold to non-residents, leaving many across the Tasman asking where the money came from.
…………
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Very interesting thanks Penny
It is a clever ploy by the Government to turn the Auckland housing problem into a Law & Order issue. Any place where large sums of money easily ‘change hands’ such as casinos and real estate is attractive to money launderers. However, this doesn’t mean that money laundering is a driving force behind Auckland’s housing woes. Is the Government now also proposing for Sky Casino to demand seeing and recording IRD numbers, bank account details, and home tax details?
+100 Penny
Liars of Our Time
No. 50: CAMERON “BLUBBERGUTS” SLATER
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“I’m sick to death of people trying to set me up. I don’t break the law, and that’s the end of the story.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—Cameron “Blubberguts” Slater snarls defiance at a reporter, RadioLIVE 12 o’clock news, Saturday 6 June 2015
Liar No. 49 Jay Carney: ““He [Edward Snowden] is not a human rights activist. He is not a dissident.”
Liar No. 48 Jim Mora: “Fantastic! I’ll have a listen to the full version [of Tony Doe’s new song] after The Panel.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/ope-mike-08022015/#comment-978969
Liar No.47 Simon Mercep: “Coming up in a few minutes, The Panel. …. Whoever they are, quality broadcasting will ensue.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18022015/#comment-970927
Liar No. 46 Julia Gillard: “I have got a lot of respect for people who whistle-blow, ummm….” http://thestandard.org.nz/ope-mike-08022015/#comment-965394
Liar No. 45 Zara Potts: “Sir Bob Geldof has assembled the best of modern musicians for this year’s record, including Ed Sheeran and One Direction.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11112014/#comment-924196
More liars HERE….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09102014/#comment-907232
Time Magazine: Belgium removes all age limits on euthansasia
Says children should have same rights to choose death as adults. In the Netherlands, children aged 12-16 can choose death with parental consent. Activists in the Netherlands say that age limit should be reduced or removed.
http://time.com/7565/belgium-euthanasia-law-children-assisted-suicide/
Sweet, caring, compassionate, misunderstood Judith Collins – read all about her in Woman’s Weekly. Next chapter of PR campaign.
Seen this?
Gardasil Survivors in Ireland Launch Support Group
Activist Post
The R.E.G.R.E.T. Support Group was launched recently in Ireland by parents of chronically ill teenage girls. These parents blame an injection the girls received at school as the cause of their daughters’ illness. The drug in question is called Gardasil and is being marketed as an anti-cancer vaccine. R.E.G.R.E.T. is an acronym for “Reactions and Effects of Gardasil Resulting in Extreme Trauma”.
Members of ten families from all over the country came together to share experiences and express their exasperation at the inability of health authorities to recognise the pattern of serious adverse reactions being suffered by children who, up until receiving the Gardasil injection, enjoyed an active healthy lifestyle.
One of the main complaints raised at the meeting was that the information provided by the HSE (as part of the ‘informed consent’ process) is extremely misleading, particularly with regard to how safe the vaccine is.
A high incidence of serious reactions have been reported in the U.S ever since Gardasil was released there in 2006. Even the drug manufacturer’s own clinical trials reveal a 1 in 40 (2.5%) incidence of a serious adverse reaction*, yet Irish parents are still told by the HSE that Gardasil is ‘very safe’.
Although its cancer-preventing properties have never been proven, the HSE insists that the benefits of Gardasil outweigh the risks and even claim that it has been ‘fully tested’.
This is despite the limited safety testing that took place as a result of this “life-Gardasil Survivors in Ireland Launch Support Group
Activist Post
The R.E.G.R.E.T. Support Group was launched recently in Ireland by parents of chronically ill teenage girls. These parents blame an injection the girls received at school as the cause of their daughters’ illness. The drug in question is called Gardasil and is being marketed as an anti-cancer vaccine. R.E.G.R.E.T. is an acronym for “Reactions and Effects of Gardasil Resulting in Extreme Trauma”.
Members of ten families from all over the country came together to share experiences and express their exasperation at the inability of health authorities to recognise the pattern of serious adverse reactions being suffered by children who, up until receiving the Gardasil injection, enjoyed an active healthy lifestyle. One of the main complaints raised at the meeting was that the information provided by the HSE (as part of the ‘informed consent’ process) is extremely misleading, particularly with regard to how safe the vaccine is.
A high incidence of serious reactions have been reported in the U.S ever since Gardasil was released there in 2006. Even the drug manufacturer’s own clinical trials reveal a 1 in 40 (2.5%) incidence of a serious adverse reaction*, yet Irish parents are still told by the HSE that Gardasil is ‘very safe’.
Although its cancer-preventing properties have never been proven, the HSE insists that the benefits of Gardasil outweigh the risks and even claim that it has been ‘fully tested’.
This is despite the limited safety testing that took place as a result of this “life-saving vaccine” being fast-tracked through the regulatory approval process. HSE did not inform parents that Gardasil contains genetically engineered non-human recombinant DNA, the effects of which are unknown and unpredictable when injected into a human host saving vaccine” being fast-tracked through the regulatory approval process.
HSE did not inform parents that Gardasil contains genetically engineered non-human recombinant DNA, the effects of which are unknown and unpredictable when injected into a human host.
———————————————————————————————–
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
This is a healthcare disaster and another example of how corporatised establishment medical thinking has led families down the wrong track, a track which transfers billions in tax payers money to big pharma while the vast majority of young women receiving the treatment will obtain zero life saving benefits.
+100 Penny and CR
I have just watched that disgusting display by Boag on The Nation, dressed like a bill board for a large carton of Fries. A theme I see that is beginning to develop from the right is:- “You don’t have a right,” In this discussion, if you can call it that with this hysterical female dressed like a packet of chips, Boag said “You don’t have a right” to owning a house.
Is this going to be a common theme to get us all conditioned so when they spy on us it will be a case of “You don’t have a right to privacy.” Also what gives winebox Boag the right to say “you don’t have a right”
Shit we will be told next We don’t have the right to breath
“don’t talk to me about evidence”
#pffft
Yes, and what I saw is a lady with an American accent attacking NZ systems, a raged young man who just has bought a property in Wellington and one articulate young man trying to convince us that the rental laws need changing.
Here is what I took away from this:
Once more the future rich are making a dash for funds and asking for a RIGHT to own a house with the golden age of 22 in the dress circle of Auckland.
For them the old are guilty of everything because they have not facilitated them to get what they want (hissy fit follows), when they want it and how they want it.
Of cause they should give up their poultry weekly income of $ 320 smackers. Surely they can do without.
They have not figured out that the situation is a lot more volatile then they belief and there are many more deserving then they are. I am talking about families with small children – one that just died due to substandard accommodation.
If they really want to address any problems, maybe the should investigate and find out what drives the pricing and equally what the average age of an an average wage earner is when they buy. Perhaps they could start working within the community and not outside it with this sense of entitlement that only is ever seen by people of privilege.
Yes, the housing market is out of kilter, not because a pensioner owns his/her home, but because speculators driving this. (mostly from overseas with question marks of money laundering) OH, yes no question of those university educated people there.
The law is not designed to protect the wider public from shanty houses developing – again no question form the side of the younger generation who are suppose to be sooo educated, all they do is their “fair” share.
Most NZ people buy their house at the age of around 30 or later.
On the question of voting: they don’t because they don’t get what they want.. (stumping feet behind the podium?)
Educated? Really? Or just spoiled and dragged through Uni because there was money to be made…
this might help explain things
http://i.imgur.com/EY8aHA1.jpg
If you’re unemployed it’s not because there isn’t any work
There giving kohanga and its tyrant leader a very nice puff piece on marae
In the same week that a very good reporter resigns over her TV channel not letting her do a story on kohanga.
It’s possible to conclude that the Labour Party review document was leaked because otherwise it was never going to be shared in its entirety with the membership; rather it was going to be edited, censored, summarised and released selectively piecemeal. Contrary to popular opinion, maybe on balance we’ve been done a favour by the leaker.
CR.
definitely better to have it out in public 100% or there was always going to keep media busy wondering out loud about what wasnt being said/released
That would be a credible theory CV, except for the fact that it was leaked to Gower. If the leaker wanted to serve the membership or Labour’s best interests, there were far better places/people to leak it to.
That;s funny because we were told the majority of what was in report at Regional Conference. Did you not get the update from President in your region?
I have no doubt that regional conferences were verbally told of the contents of, or at least the outline of, the majority of the report. Your comment and my comment are not mutually exclusive.
Is National scaremongering again?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/69168659/english-wont-adopt-labours-extreme-warrant-of-fitness-for-housing
”The Government won’t support “extreme measures” like warrant of fitness checks for all houses because it will drive up rent and push housing stock out of the market, says Finance Minister Bill English.”
and
”But Housing Minister Nick Smith is reluctant to extend the warrants to all public and private rentals because if the Government prohibited the rental of home unless they were fully insulated, it would mean taking 100,000 homes off the market.”
Please correct me if wrong but the bill would give landlords five years to get rental houses up to a liveable standard and it was never the intention that housing stock would be taken off the rental market during that period.
Oh dear. Sounds like the Government accepts Labour’s position that there is a huge quality and livability problem with NZ’s housing stock.
But they are downplaying the scale and severity of the problem and only because they can’t use plausible denial any longer. I look forward to hearing more from Bill English about “something practical and affordable that will start lifting the standard”.
BTW, the story was last updated at 16.18 o’clock.
To be able to lift standards you a) need to know where you’re at at the moment an b) set some standards that need to be reached. National not doing either of these things is setting up to fail.
I also note the propagandising use of extreme measures. It’s being used in such a way as to make people think that having liveable homes is an extreme idea and thus not doable.
IMF has betrayed its mission in Greece, captive to EMU creditors
Both The Great Depression and the Great Recession produced winners and losers. Interestingly, the winners should have been the losers in both cases.
The Scariest Trade Deal Nobody’s Talking About Just Suffered a Big Leak
Just in case you weren’t aware that the corporations have several methods in play to take away our ability to govern ourselves and thus make us corporate serfs.
FYI
Guess which was the ONLY NZ political party to support ‘facilitation payments’ being included as BRIBES in the Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill?
—————————————————————————-
The (——) Party supports the majority of the Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill in its current form.
The (——) Party intends to continue with its support of this bill; it will bring us in line with our obligations under various international treaties and conventions dealing with national and international organised crime and corruption, and it will strengthen our ability to effectively respond to people trafficking and private sector corruption.
However, the (——) Party holds the view that this bill is a missed opportunity to address the issue of facilitation payments, which will still be excepted from the foreign bribery offence under section 105C(3) of the Crimes Act 1961–
(3)This section does not apply if—
(a)the act that is alleged to constitute the offence was committed for the sole or primary purpose of ensuring or expediting the performance by a foreign public official of a routine government action; and
(b)the value of the benefit is small.
The Ministry of Justice departmental report refers to these payments as being for things such as “small payments relating to the grant of a permit or licence, the provision of utility services, or loading or unloading cargo.” The Ministry commented that these payments do not yield an “undue advantage”, and that measures in the bill to ensure the recording of these payments mitigate any concerns that the exception may be abused.
However, the select committee heard persuasive submissions on the issue from the Human Rights Commission, Transparency International New Zealand and Michael Macaulay, Director of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Government.
These ‘grease’ payments are bribes, no matter their size, and help breed a culture where low-level corruption is permitted and accepted, contrary to international guidance from groups like the Serious Fraud Office, the UNCAC Implementation Review Group, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the OECD.
New Zealand is seen as a leader in public sector ethics and transparency, and we are proud of that legacy. It is disappointing that when provided an opportunity to take a strong stance on a controversial and unethical practice like facilitation payments – a stance already taken by the United Kingdom and Australia, and allegedly being pursued in China and India – we choose to split hairs about semantics and ‘balance’, leaving the door open for facilitation payments and subtly undermining our international reputation for honesty and transparency.
————————————————————
Could National’s Minister of Trade – in my opinion – ‘sheepish’ Murray McCully’s sordid Saudi ‘bribe’ have had anything to do with this Government’s apparent opposition to ‘facilitation payments’ being regarded as BRIBE$?
New Zealand – ‘perceived’ to be the SECOND ‘least corrupt country in the world’, according to the 2014 (arguably meaningless) Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’?
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Ha! Bomber’s gone into a Whale Oil style meltdown over at TDB, deleting comments that don’t blow smoke up his perfectly coiffured arse. He really is a sensitive wee sausage.
I’d link, but what’s the point?