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’?
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Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Michael Cowling, CQUniversity AustraliaWe’ve probably all been there. We buy some new smart gadget and when we plug it in for the first time it requires an update to work. So we end up spending hours downloading and updating before we can even play with our new toy. But ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
The Green Party is already delivering on its commitment for cleaner, climate-friendly transport through our Cooperation Agreement with the Government. ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
The Government is delivering on its first tranche of election promises to take action on climate change with a raft of measures that will help meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target, create new jobs and boost innovation. “This will be an ongoing area of action but we are moving ...
The Government is investing up to $10 million to support 30 of the country’s top early-career researchers to develop their research skills. “The pandemic has had widespread impacts across the science system, including the research workforce. After completing their PhD, researchers often travel overseas to gain experience but in the ...
A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “This $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai Poland “New Zealand’s relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...
The green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
It’s easy to sacrifice John Banks. It’s a lot harder for brands, sports organisations and government to truly stop funding racism. Are they willing to try?Yesterday John Banks, the former Auckland mayor and MP, became subject to one of the fastest firings in media history when audio covering his approving ...
A community is outraged after Auckland Council granted consent for a row of trees planted by local kids to be removed along a revitalised waterway in South Auckland, reports Justin Latif. An Auckland Council decision to give contractors the all-clear to chop down 12 mānuka and kānuka trees shading Māngere’s Tararata ...
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu hopes that the recent changes to Oranga Tamariki leadership present an opportunity for a long overdue paradigm shift that will place whānau at the heart of the child welfare sector. Pouārahi Helen Leahy says that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rice, Professor of Management, University of New England Elon Musk is now the world’s richest person, edging out previous title holder Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. His rocketing fortune is due to the booming share price of Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles ...
There are now three returnees who contracted the virus in the Auckland isolation facility then left into the community while positive. These are some of the questions that need to be resolved. At 10.20pm last night the Ministry of Health confirmed that the two cases they’d been treating as probable ...
Having a hard time remembering to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app when you’re out and about? Get this song stuck in your head and you’ll never forget again.Learn the lyrics:Aotearoa, it’s time to get scanning!I mean if you think about it, it never really wasn’t time we ...
We conclude our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with a review of his stories by John Newton Roger Hickin’s Cold Hub Press is one of the small miracles of contemporary New Zealand publishing. Over the last decade, on what can only be a shoe-string budget, the ...
Thursday 28th January, AUCKLAND: Drive Electric, the not-for-profit with one mission – making electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand mainstream, welcomes the announcement by the Government today as a sign of what’s to come through 2021, and we are confident ...
The Government announced today key policy decisions on the proposed clean car policies. The MIA has stated on many occasions that we support well thought out and constructive policies that will lead to an increased rate in the reduction of CO2 emissions from ...
Get wild, get cultured, get fed and then get to bed: the essential guide to a perfect few days in the southern city. There’s one thing that preoccupies the staff of The Spinoff almost as much as arranging popular food items into arbitrary lists, and that’s Dunedin. A quite remarkable ...
John Banks’ racist exchange with a Magic Talk listener on Tuesday was the latest in nearly 50 years of talkback controversies. Donna Chisholm has the receipts.John Banks axed over Māori ‘stone age culture’ comments on Magic Talk1972: On Radio I, sports talkback host Tim Bickerstaff launches a “Punch a Pom ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission.Two new community Covid-19 cases have been identified as the more infectious South African variant, but Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sayit would be "premature to go into lockdown now". The two new cases of Covid-19 identified in the ...
Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine in Southland to Fonterra’s ...
KiwiRail STOP Hauling COAL Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Dunn, Associate professor, University of Sydney The government is rolling out a new public information campaign this week to reassure the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which one expert has said “couldn’t be more crucial” to people actually getting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University The COVID vaccine rollout has placed the issue of vaccination firmly in the spotlight. A successful rollout will depend on a variety of factors, one of which is vaccine acceptance. One potential hurdle to vaccine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury Kiwis know what it’s like when life throws curveballs. We’ve had major quakes, floods, fires, an eruption, a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. In those situations, it’s the ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Irwin, Emeritus professor, Murdoch University While we continue to be occupied with the COVID pandemic, another life-threatening disease has emerged in northern Australia, one that’s cause for considerable alarm for the millions of dog owners around the country. This disease — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan University Almost half of Australian adults struggle with reading. Similar levels of struggling readers are reported in the United Kingdom and United States. This does not mean all struggling readers are illiterate. It means they often struggle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abbas Shieh, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Islamic Azad University The industrial revolution transformed cities, resulting in places of residence and work becoming more distant than ever before. This spatial segregation is still largely embedded in the design of our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke Historically, when a sequel to a film was greenlit, you could rest assured this was because the first film made a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates.The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Two people who left managed isolation on January 15 have been confirmed as positive Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health urging anyone who visited the same locations during the same time period as the infected pair in Auckland to ...
The watchlist of 'offensive or unreasonable' babies' names is to be reviewed, to include more names from other languages. Generations of the Īhaka family have played a meaningful role in bringing Te Reo and stories of Māori to our wider community. Archdeacon Sir Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka (Te Aupōuri, 1921-93) was known as the orator of ...
After Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020 war broke out between the two sides. In the midst of this war Tauranga based Ballance Agri-Nutrients has decided to carry on importing phosphate ...
Nicholas Agar suggests that our handling of the pandemic could be partly down to our distinctive Treaty of Waitangi relationship, and Māori ideas that enabled us to make it through without tens of thousands of deaths A mission for universities in the coming decade will be a deep understanding of the meaning ...
A young girl who once sent $5 to an embattled America's Cup team is now among the women on the water helping run the contest for the Auld Mug. As an eager and generous nine-year-old, Melanie Roberts posted a letter, with a $5 note, to OneAustralia’s America’s Cup team. It was 1995, ...
At 5am today, cock’s crow, the embargo lifted on the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. Here are the books in the race, followed by thoughts from poetry editor Chris Tse and books editor Catherine Woulfe. A shortlist of four books in each category will be announced March 3, with ...
Ignoring those QR codes when you drop into the supermarket? Can’t be bothered when you grab a coffee? The people serving you notice, and you’re freaking them out.So far, New Zealanders’ use of the Covid-19 Tracer app has been notably woeful. Food industry workers who’ve watched streams of customers walk ...
Steve Braunias reveals the longlist of the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards Apart from one or two unfortunate omissions which cast doubt on the sanity and intellectual acumen of judges, especially the nobodies who judged this year's non-fiction, the longlist for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand book awards is ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea’s biggest hospital is straining to provide medical services to the growing population of the capital Port Moresby – with an estimated growth rate of 3 percent annually, a medical executive says. Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Nationals who attend Thursday’s memorial service in Tweed Heads for Doug Anthony, who died last month aged 90, may muse on the contrast between the state of their party when he led it and now. ...
Returning to quarantine-free travel in 2021 doesn't just need a vaccine, but a way to check whether arriving passengers are actually immune to the virus. A smart Kiwi science start-up is working with a global biometrics giant to make that happen. A deal signed between Kiwi research and development company Orbis Diagnostics, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlyn Forster, PhD Candidate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney This summer’s wetter conditions have created great conditions for flowering plants. Flowers provide sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, attracting many insects, including bees. Commercial honey bees are also thriving: ...
Lotto scratchie tickets featuring the pop band Six60 are being withdrawn after a public backlash. In a statement, Lotto NZ said there had been a mutual decision made with the band to remove the tickets from sale following the negative feedback, and it offered an apology. The band faced criticism, both ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New England Shell-crushing predation was already in full swing half a billion years ago, as our new research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals. A hyena devouring ...
Vodafone has suspended advertising on the radio station amid calls for talkback host John Banks to be taken off air after yet another racist outburst. Alex Braae reports. In an alarming segment of talkback radio, former Auckland mayor John Banks endorsed the views of a caller who described Māori as a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Welch, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland When a COVID-19 case was found in Northland last Sunday, Aotearoa’s second-longest period with no detected community case came to an end. ESR scientists worked late into Sunday night to obtain a whole genome sequence ...
He has the perfect moustache, an exceptional mullet, and he uses terms like ‘face hole’ on national TV. Who or what is Dr Joel Rindelaub?I was drawn in by the moustache, but it was the mullet that really kept me there. Watching TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning I was fixated. Often, ...
We’ll never be royals with nearly a quarter of declined baby names featuring “Royal” in some form or another. Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs has released the list of names declined in 2020 by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and ...
After a raft of inquiries delving into and recommending what should be done about the politically beleaguered Orangi Tamaraki, along with the briefing papers we suppose he has been given, we imagined Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis would have no more need for expert advice. Wrong. He has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University There’s a common assumption men take longer than women to poo. People say so on Twitter, in memes, and elsewhereonline. But is that right? What could explain it? And if ...
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace.First published November 17, 2020.Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff.“A ...
Sam Brooks wasn’t allowed to watch kids TV as a kid. Now, as a 30 year old man, he watches it for the first time.My mother’s approach to parenting was unorthodox. I wrote weekly book reports on top of my actual homework, I did maths equations in Roman numerals and ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk More leading Indonesian figures have made racial slurs against Natalius Pigai, former chair of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) – and all West Papuans, says United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda. “Since the illegal Indonesian invasion in 1963, Indonesian ...
“The Government’s failure to even conduct a standard cost-benefit analysis for the most expensive infrastructure project in New Zealand’s history is mind-bogglingly arrogant,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “A ...
The Ministry of Health is today drawing backlash from the local New Zealand vaping industry following its release of proposed regulations for the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act. Vaping Trade Association New Zealand (VTANZ) President, ...
Sophie Gilmour and Simon Day are joined by special guest Hugo Baird, co-owner of Grey Lynn’s Honey Bones and Lilian, to talk about opening new pub Hotel Ponsonby.Auckland is a city of many bars but few really good pubs – the kind of places you’d be just as comfortable going ...
The appointment of an advisory board for Oranga Tamariki is welcome and should be a step toward a total transformation of the care and protection system to a by Māori, for Māori approach, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft said today. Minister ...
Taking control of your financial wellbeing can have cascading positive impacts for your life and it can also be fun. With the help of the team at Kiwi Wealth, we’ve compiled some simple tricks for balancing your books in 2021. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, especially after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology As we know, getting into New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult. There are practicalities, such as high airfare and managed isolation costs. And there are legal requirements, including pre-flight testing, mandatory ...
New Zealand faces the risk of a generation being locked out of the housing market unless land is freed up and more houses built, National Party leader Judith Collins says. ...
On Sunday, Stuff published a months-long investigation by Alison Mau detailing allegations of harassment and exploitation within the local music industry.The piece, ‘Music industry professionals demand change after speaking out about its dark side’, includes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power by male artists, international acts and executives; ...
“The Government is all at sea on timelines for Australia and New Zealand’s respective vaccine roll-outs, with the worst news coming from the mouth of Pfizer Australia CEO Anne Harris,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Yesterday, under increasing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Higgins, Senior Research Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised the US would demonstrate “global leadership on refugees”. Once elected, he pledged to vastly increase refugee resettlement in the US. If history is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Baumann, Casual Academic, School of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University Among the many hard truths exposed by COVID-19 is the huge disparity between the world’s rich and poor. As economies went into freefall, the world’s billionaires increased their already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jan Lanicek, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History and Jewish History, UNSW On January 27 communities worldwide commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz — the largest complex of concentration camps and extermination centres during the Holocaust. This is the first year the International ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University The summer break is over, marking a return to the office. For some, this ends almost a year of working from home in lockdown. Some analysts are predicting it might also mark an enduring ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 27, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato New Zealand has a strong history of protecting and promoting human rights at home and internationally, and prides itself on being an outspoken critic and global leader in this area. So, when the most ...
Good morning and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins outlines the plan forward for National, no spread of Covid spotted yet in Northland, and students return for climate protest.In front of a Rotary Club at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, National leader Judith Collins yesterday set out her ...
*This articlefirst appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The tourism industry isn't holding its breath for a trans-Tasman travel bubble being in place after Australia temporarily closed its borders to New Zealand. New Zealanders could be waiting even longer for a full trans-Tasman bubble, with the ...
We continue our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with an essay by Anahera Gildea on cultural appropriation Every night at 7pm sharp, my Irish Catholic father and his eight siblings would have to kneel on the carpet of the living room, facing the freshly polished nudity of ...
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.”
Liar No.47 Simon Mercep: “Coming up in a few minutes, The Panel. …. Whoever they are, quality broadcasting will ensue.”
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 🙂
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?