Goldsmith raises not extending the franchise to 16 year olds to youth crime. Doesn't Goldsmith think that practicing civics and letting them have a say might help empower some disempowered young people?
Government looks set to ditch Jacinda Ardern's attempt to lower voting age
Glenn McConnell05:00, Mar 08 2022
….it’s a distraction of officials’ time. Simply, they should be focused on violent crime, youth crime and delays in the court system.”
[Goldsmith]
I can almost hear. tough on crime torys like Goldsmith calling for harsher penalties for your offenders, chanting; 'if you can't do the time don't do the crime.'
Young people deserve adult punishment, but not the right to vote which might empower disempowered young people to lift their horizons above the immediate?
16 year olds are mostly still at school, have not finished their education,worked, or paid taxes. I do not want adult votes cancelled out by someone with a sense of me/me entitlement who gets all their information from social media.
votes cancelled out by someone with a sense of me/me entitlement who gets all their information from social media
Can you please explain how a 16 year old who is still at school, and will be part of a (presumed) civics curriculum if this happens, will be any different, or more of a threat to our democracy, than a very large portion of the current over 18 electorate.
I read a piece a couple of years ago around the start of the things arguing that civics curriculum and 16 were closely linked because it would be more relevant.
In my education we got a very good civics component (Upper form at Kelston Boys in early 70’s) and were engaged enough to see right through the Dancing Cossacks in 1975.
they should start teaching it now in depth whether the vote gets lowered or not. Start at the beginning of high school. It's such a basic for democracy.
I don't remember being taught it at all, but I might not have been paying attention either. I did vote the year I turned 18 in the general election.
Well, it all depends on what you mean by "Civics" – NZ government and comparative governmental systems are already covered in the NZ social studies curriculum – in several ways at several different ages/stages.
Here, for example in Level 5 (which is roughly equivalent to Year10)
Understand how systems of government in New Zealand operate and affect people’s lives, and how they compare with another system.
Understand how the Treaty of Waitangi is responded to differently by people in different times and places.
Understand how cultural interaction impacts on cultures and societies.
Understand that people move between places and how this has consequences for the people and the places.
Understand how economic decisions impact on people, communities, and nations.
Understand how people’s management of resources impacts on environmental and social sustainability.
Understand how the ideas and actions of people in the past have had a significant impact on people’s lives.
Understand how people seek and have sought economic growth through business, enterprise, and innovation.
Understand how people define and seek human rights.
Year 10 is the last year where AFAIK Social studies is mandatory – once kids are in Year 11 (what used to be 5th form), they are starting to make choices about subjects, and can opt away from soft sciences.
There were probably some enlightened secondary schools teaching Civics then. I recall it being suggested that it should be taught in all secondary schools and the then Prime Minister, Rob Muldoon vetoed it straight away as being an insidious communist plot.
I'd guess there are plenty of 16 year-olds who would think that's a good idea.
Although I am slightly uncomfortable about 16-year-olds voting, I'm not really convinced that the majority of them lack some necessary component that the majority of adults actually have – or that such a lack could be addressed by civics education.
In reality, civics education would become a contested space like the compulsory teaching of NZ history – ripe with culture war opportunities and filled with denunciations of 'wokeness'.
It's an academic argument anyway – most adults oppose it because they are scared that 16 year-olds would legislate to take their stuff away and stop them eating meat or flying on aeroplanes more than once a year.
I was thinking of the basics like how MMP works, and what local government does. Shouldn't be hard to teach that in a neutral way (assuming there was a will to neutrality!)
I'm relieved it's not a goer tbh. It's a complicated issue with lots of aspects factoring into it. For me it's mostly why 16 and not 17 or 14. Or 5, lol, to which one progresssive I know said he supported young children voting.
Yeah the thing about boundaries is a headache. It's a playground for reductio ad absurdum arguments that can run in all directions – "if 16, why not 10" or "if 18 why not 30", or "if we don't start till 18 why not stop at 60"?
It would be best to settle on an agreed age of adulthood and apply that everywhere. What cuts across that compromise though, is the idea of inter-generational fairness. If young people cannot vote – should there be some auditing of legislation for inter-generational fairness, just as there is for compliance with the BORA? (But the results of the BORA-compliance audits are often ignored I believe)
auditing for generational fairness makes sense. We should be doing this anyway. However I'm not convinced that people who have the right to vote get treated fairly in that regard eg Māori adults can vote but are outvoted by Pākehā interests. Wealthy mainstream people have more sway than poor and fringe people. And so on.
I'm in favour of increasing democracy by participatory means. One person one vote really is a low form of democracy.
Not sure about the age of adulthood. Sex, drinking, military, driving, leaving school, youth rates, lots of things don't match up neatly by age. How would we decide which ones to change?
edit to add: Admittedly I am unable to find the content also. All of the curriculum is undergoing a refresh that will be implemented fully in 2026 apparently.
Year 10 is the last year where AFAIK Social studies is mandatory – once kids are in Year 11 (what used to be 5th form), they are starting to make choices about subjects, and can opt away from soft sciences.
AFAIK there is nothing that tells a teacher how to teach a topic in the NZ curriculum.
It's outcome focused – and is deliberately designed to be non-specific.
"Understand how systems of government in New Zealand operate and affect people’s lives, and how they compare with another system."
So, at the end of the 'teaching' the student should be able to demonstrate that they understand how systems of government work in NZ – and compare these to those in other countries.
There are lots of different ways a teacher might approach teaching this topic – and lots of different resources they might use for the compare and contrast element.
When my son did this last year, they used print, online and film resources. And, were required to produce a report contrasting NZ political systems and their-country-of-choice (each one in the class had to choose a different one) – in a range of specific areas (from memory these included: Political structure (Democracy, Monarchy, Oligarchy, Autocracy, etc.); popular involvement (who can vote, does your vote make a difference); Decision-making structure (who runs the government, courts, etc.) — and a whole lot more – I think there were 10 questions which had to be covered.
This was IIRC about a 4-6 week block of work in the Social Studies curriculum.
Having said that – I'm sure there are lots of targeted resources on the Dept of Education sites – to assist with resourcing teaching in this area.
I recall the so called 'civic lessons' we had at my high school during election season. But not fondly.
In the '70's the Cold War was at its height and our teachers were earnestly trying teach us the value of democracy. In social studies class we were made to take part in a mock election. Not allowed to debate any real issues. Not allowed to take part in the real ballot we were given a fake ballot. The lesson I took,was no one cared what we thought. The whole thing was pointless and disempowering. We felt patronised and we let the teacher know it.
I hope things aren't done that way any more.
Because this is not how civics should be taught, or how civics is learnt.
Civics is learnt in the doing.
If you don't give people a voice, they never learn to use it.
If you don't give people choices they never learn to make them.
A large portion of over 16yr olds or "adult votes" get their sense of me/me entitlement from equally entitled radio and TV personalities. I don't think it's a policy worth dieing in a ditch over but there are equal arguments for and against. I'm not sure my vote preference would've changed between 16 and 18.
Mine certainly did. I was raised in a very middle class environment and the first political action I was involved with (at 17yo) was a demonstration IN FAVOUR of New Zealand's involvement in the Vietnam War. I had a placard with a quote from Churchhill! However, after the demo – my companion and I got talking with a couple of chaps from the PYM (Progressive Youth Movement) who were demonstrating on the other side of the road, and we decided that they had the better arguement. Next Friday evening we were on their side of the pavement – and that is where I have been ever since.
Where do people who grew up before homosexual law reform, still "remember the war" and whose parents called England "home" get their info from? Radio Rhema? Maybe their votes should be stripped as well.
How about immigrants? Maybe those that work in: <farming><arts><government> should be disenfranchised.
What about anyone that has Facebook – were the VFF nutters all 16yos?
I was 36 years old when Homosexual Law Reform came in – I remember the Vietnam War and I certainly do not listen to any religious radio. Nobody is talking about "stripping votes" I hope – this is about extending the franchise. The rest is hyperbole.
A few people make the argument for removing the vote from retirees. It's a piece of political inanity that demonstrates they don't understand the developmental differences between an old person and a child. Differences which are at the heart of why not that many people support lowering the age.
I know of quite a few 16 and younger that do pay income tax, let alone GST.
As for entitlement and selfishness being a barrier to voting, surely that includes landlords.
TBF, I would suggest most vote for their self interest, but we have elected and re-elected governments that have only paid lip service to CC. Perhaps having a few more idealists vote would be a circuit breaker.
An interesting discussion here between 10.30 min and 16.30 min on Australian aspiration culture, how it evolved politically post 90's to drive electorate decision-making. Now, in the last 6 months, particularly with the housing crisis, this aspirational viewpoint is switching to concern by many voters about their future financial security.
Think there are parallels in parts to our own political trends and messaging.
There are a great many young people today who are so much better informed and who are more intelligent and mature than their senior counterparts.
But on balance, I don't see any desperate need to lower the age to 16. Waiting two more years is nothing. My generation had to wait until we turned 21 and if – like me – you turned 21 soon after an election – tough bickies. I didn't get my first vote until I was closing in on 24.
To RosieLee at 1.1 : Your comment shows it's own me/me frame-of-reference. I am not a teenager taking umbrage, but in my tenth decade, acutely concerned for my greatgrandchildren ( one sixteen, more soon to be ) and their peers in their future.
I find much understanding of important issues in teenagers I know.
Please consult those teens in your own circle when you find a relaxed conversational moment. I think you might be surprised, even comforted.
A nasty generalisation and slur made against the young people of this country, by RosieLee
"I do not want adult votes cancelled out by someone with a sense of me/me entitlement…" RosieLee
Young people with no right to vote on the issue, will inherit from us a badly degraded biosphere. Not having the vote, they have rallied in their thousands in our cities' streets for real government action on climate change. Of course this generation would want young people's voices cancelled out, so we can carry on doing what we are doing..
I want youth voices cancelled out by someone with a sense of me/me entitlement….
There you go Rosie, fixed it for you. No don't thank me.
Rosie, I don't want to get my adult (retiree) vote cancelled by other older citizens who get their daily brainwashing from nothing more than ZB Newstalk and their Natz sycophants.
You don't want people with a me me entitlement who get most of their information from social media from voting ?
That describes the majority of voters on both the left and the right.
Also teenagers pay tax but if not paying enough tax should exclude people from voting there's a lot of people in NZ who shouldn't vote.
Why shouldn't the people who will have to pay for and live with the consequences of decisions made by today's governments get a vote when the citizens who won't live for the consequences or pay for the policies of today's governments get a vote.
If 16 year olds can't get a say, why should pensioners? Why should the rich or unemployed vote? In fact let's make it so noone can vote till they pay their student loans.
Next Should we require voting eligibility be granted only to those who pay more into the tax system than they get out? This would make many working class and working poor families and many who are on subsidized medications and regularly using subsidized healthcare ineligible for voting.
I wondered whether we could have 'youth' MPs, a couple of seats in the current Parliament set aside specifcally for 16-20 y voters, similar to the Māori seats. Like the Māori electoral roll, those 18-20 could opt either to join this roll or the main electoral roll.
I'm not convinced about lowering the voting age to 16, but this idea of a youth roll and seats in parliament is good. Not sure it would work because of the numbers, but I like the thinking. It's a transition, from childhood to adulthood. It would increase awareness of youth issues and encourage youth to stand in general seats/lists. It could up awareness of how MMP works. Lots to like.
I think lowering it to 17 makes sense. That includes 6th form and is an age when many people start to understand what is going on in the world and have opinions.
Oh please, no! An upper house strikes me as a layer of pigs in troughs we do not need, as we are not a federal democracy. Even worse, a crony-laden, bloated House of entitled Lords!
Keep it simple, and easily accountable. I like our government structure a lot, MMP, Māori seats and all. The only wobbly bit is the strategic stand-down of one party to safeguard a coalition partner, eg. Epsom.
RNZ morning report today covered the anomalous position of banks as the four largest profit-making concerns in NZ. This is not usual in other OECD countries. There is a push for a Commerce Commission enquiry to investigate how and why this happens. RNZ asked about the influence of ex-politicians in bank directorships as a contributing factor to their political power.
This is relevant also regarding windfall profit tax.
Why are you so worried? As far as I am aware there is only one former MP on a Bank Board in New Zealand. Just one.
I would think it would be more useful if we looked at the directors of some of the failing SOEs in New Zealand to see whether there would be something to gain by replacing former political party hacks on their boards. Railways might be a good place to start. What role have they played in not planning for the Cook Strait ferries to be replaced. Were they asleep at the wheel and didn't look at the ferries getting old to the extent that they are now collapsing regularly and spend most of their time moored in Wellington.
Were we right to put old political relics like Mike Williams and Maryan Street on the Board?
Who owns the ferries Alwyn? What do "Supply lines" mean to you? Do your homework. The new terminals are designed to take hybrid rail ferries from 2025, and are part of a planned programme to replace an aging fleet. Your slurs are just deflection of the poorest kind.
Banking needs to offer ten and fifteen year mortgages. The gouging has to stop.
NZ has Australian owned banks who cream it, aided by such as Key. 200+ points above the base, and slow to pass that to savers. A Commission of Inquiry, which in Australia showed many sharp and even unlawful banking practices, would reveal the same here no doubt.
Simon Power was working for the ANZ at one stage.The big 4 pay no tax in NZ and are pushing services in NZ that were deemed illegal by the Australian banking enquiry resulting in huge fines against all the big banks and AMP.NZ allows Cartels free reign in our unregulated markets .NZ has no real competition in any sector making NZ one of the most expensive countries to live in.The free market policies were supposed to free up competition the reverse has happened.NZ would be better served by having an economic union with Australia at least their SEC has the clout to make the banks do the right thing.NZ just gives the supermarkets,Banks,fuel cos,Power cos, a god telling off but the reality is that nothing changes.Just spin.
The big 4 banks pay enormous amounts of tax in New Zealand. ANZ in the year to 30/09/2021 paid $750 million and was New Zealand's biggest corporate taxpayer. WBC paid $A402 million in 2019 in NZ (about $420 million NZD). BNZ paid $514 million in the year to September 2021.
I really don't think that I can be bothered pointing out the rest of your fallacies. If you really think you are stating facts please supply your evidence
RNZ asked about the influence of ex-politicians in bank directorships as a contributing factor to their political power.
Or their employment sinecure. In the USA people leave the Pentagon for positions within the MIC.
Another example two National Party interns get their first job out of university in the same corporate affairs job with an international tobacco company. Then become MP's. The same company has connections to Mr Whale (CS) and presumably funding to certain friendly to vaping organisations/unions etc.
That's raising an entirely different issue – the question of whether any political retreads should be employed in the senior levels of the corporate sector or in the civil service – immediately after exiting parliament. Or whether there should be a mandatory stand-down period (as there is in many other countries)
Most recently (and blatantly) controversially involving Kris Faafoi setting up a political lobbying consultancy immediately after resigning from government.
And, pointing out again, that Simon Power was never a bank director – he was a senior employee on the management team – so his employment situation is entirely irrelevant to the RNZ story.
The RNZ interviewed Adrian Stubbs over the bank review, who has questioned ex-politico appointments to banks before. Most OECD countries have a sensible 'restraint of trade' period of at least 3 years before you can move into the finance sector at director level after leaving Parliament.
The story you link to has nothing to do with whether Key should be able to be a bank director because he had been an MP.
It was whether key, as the ANZ NZ Board chairman, along with the BNZ chairman should be able to be on the Main Boards of the ANZ and NAB, who own the BNZ, in Australia. Being on both boards could be a conflict of interest as the ANZ (NZ) and ANZ Group interests could differ. The same applies to BNZ and NAB
It was nothing to do with Key's previous occupation.
James Bolger Kiwi Bank (contrarian vs the others – the black mirror glass ones)
Jennifer Shipley NZ board of the China Construction Bank.
Don Brash ANZ
Simon Power Westpac
John Key ANZ Bank.
OK William English (just about everywhere not bank), so not all former party leaders (Todd Corporation Limited and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets probably do as much investment in business as the retail property mortgage banks).
Who the bloody hell, decided to scrap a one of the Ferries instead of refitting her because it was cheaper to her scrap her?
Then fluffed around realising, oh shit we need a replacement but instead of doing the more sensible & smart thing to do & order new one RO/RO Rail Ferries!
Let's buy a one 2nd hand one trick lemon & delay the replacement process as much as possible?
Would you please explain what NZG was in power at the time & why they didn't want to spend a single cent on critical infrastructure such as new RO/RO Rail Ferries?
Obviously they saw no reason to do anything in haste and took three and a half years to order new ferries to replace those which are now almost worn out. that means only wasting about two and a half years I suppose.
It appears that they actually started the work in early 2017. I guess that was when National were the Government. Here was the announcement of their plans in 2018 when the then CEO said they had been working on the proposal for eighteen months.
In July 1941 the US decided they would build a single building for the military. Design was complete by September and construction started in September 1941. It was finished 16 months later in January 1943. Why does everything take so ling these days?
It's was Labour & the NZF Coalition that finally ordered the 2 new Ferries (should've been 3) but costs blew out because the Nat's fart ass about delaying like old women at Country Women's Association meeting!
If you want proof mate? I'll go back through my NZ Rail Observer, Oz Rail Digest Magazines & bombard you like Ukraine Artillery Fire Mission. Plus throw in Winnie's press releases before the election & after the election for shits & giggles.
Who were quite damming in National's stupidity & arrogance at delaying the ordering for the new Ferries but hey we aka National want to be better economic managers than Labour!
Just like National not wanting to invest in Defence Infrastructure & especially in new Defence Married Quarters & Living In Quarters for NZDF Personal. so let's cap NZDF Married Quarters Tenancy for 6yr to save money & boot service personnel after 6yr!!
The Muppets tired to do it on the cheap when they paid off one instead of putting it into a refit to get through until the new ones entered service, as it was cheaper to buy or lease a 2nd hand lemon that has KiwiRail & taxpayers more $$$ than the cost of the refit of the paid off ferry.
Now the lemon has finally been paid off, which should've never entered service in the first place because bastards (National & Treasury) didn't what to do the job properly & spend money to do it right in the 1st place.
Because they all had an Anti Rail Agenda until Kaikoura Earthquakes blew up in respective faces & realise Rail is part of NZ's Logistics Chain! But they still starved it of decent funding, which is still going to bite NZ in the ass in future regardless who's in Government!
So if polytechs are centralised now and run by the state, high school is run by the state, and intermediate and primary school is run by the state, and we already subsidise early childhood education up the wazoo, why is the early childhood sector in private hands and not run by the state?
It's time to nationalise early childhood education.
What and take money off the Wright family, so they cannot fund a right wing propaganda network … . National is a fan on private profit making from government funded/subsidised service delivery.
But given the government's former focus on fees free tertiary study it does seem an oversight.
Because this way we can pretend it's personal choice that both parents and or single parents don't have to be out working to survive, if we made them public we'd be admitting that work is more important than raising our kids personally.
When it was instituted FDR called for a minimum wage that is a living wage, since then the two have diverged in meaning and practice.
no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.
– Franklin Roosevelt's Statement on the National Industrial Recovery Act, June 16, 1933
Does anyone know the maths of how our MMP parliament would be shaped in the event that a large party received the vast majority of their vote share as electorate votes?
I reran it with a more completed outline and this time there were only 7(!) overhang seats.
I used 2020 results and changed Labours party vote to 30% and upped te Pāti Māori, the Greens and ACTs. This meant Labour would have 46 seats plus the Greens 19 and Pāti Māori with 9. An enormous 74 seat government, which is probably highly unlikely too sadly.
Styles is great. The big, glaringly obvious difference between him and some other big act musicians trying to push the boundaries on gender norms, is that he looks like he's having a lot of fun and being real.
If representation were a criterion only the upper income quartile and Treasury wonks would pay tax – government doesn't pay any attention to anyone else.
Given the nature of the social media global village we live in this is not surprising
In the US Congress the new speaker Joseph McCarthy has formed a committee to stalk people in government positions on Capitol Hill (and is also removing some Democrat Reps from their committee positions).
And at the same time, they come for Campbell, Maharey and Dyson here …
It begins with mobs on the streets and ends with the installation of a government to complete the job (over there no more “stolen” elections).
Hope there's a proper investigation into the chemcouriers truck which went up in flames today.
Was it carrying what it shouldn't be ? Had incompatible categories of chemicals together ? Serious questions as that could've been alongside much denser population close to the motorway as it moved north.
The theme for this year's IWD, 'Embracing Equity', highlights this. What it's saying is that for women – as with every other group of people who face disadvantage, discrimination and bias – equality is not enough. It's also acknowledging that women – just like men – are not one homogenous group: there's intersectionality at play here, too. Giving everyone a pair of shoes is one thing; making sure everyone has a pair of shoes that fits is another.
International Women's Day, also known as IWD for short, grew out of the labour movement to become a recognised annual event by the United Nations (UN).
The seeds of it were planted in 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. A year later, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman's Day.
The idea to make the day international came from a woman called Clara Zetkin, communist activist and advocate for women's rights. She suggested the idea in 1910 at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. There were 100 women there, from 17 countries, and they agreed on her suggestion unanimously.
It was first celebrated in 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. The centenary was celebrated in 2011, so this year we're technically celebrating the 111th International Women's Day.
Things were made official in 1975 when the United Nations started celebrating the day. The first theme adopted by the UN (in 1996) was; Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future.
International Women's Day has become a date to celebrate how far women have come in society, in politics and in economics, while the political roots of the day mean strikes and protests are organised to raise awareness of continued inequality.
Hopefully our leaders will take note of stress within the hospitals and rethink the Dunedin rebuild, but then again the same people who have reduced the scope of Dunedin are still there. Perhaps the govt needs to think long term and to make better decisions, we can only hope 😢.
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Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
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Extending the franchise.
Nah.
Goldsmith raises not extending the franchise to 16 year olds to youth crime. Doesn't Goldsmith think that practicing civics and letting them have a say might help empower some disempowered young people?
I can almost hear. tough on crime torys like Goldsmith calling for harsher penalties for your offenders, chanting; 'if you can't do the time don't do the crime.'
Young people deserve adult punishment, but not the right to vote which might empower disempowered young people to lift their horizons above the immediate?
16 year olds are mostly still at school, have not finished their education,worked, or paid taxes. I do not want adult votes cancelled out by someone with a sense of me/me entitlement who gets all their information from social media.
Can you please explain how a 16 year old who is still at school, and will be part of a (presumed) civics curriculum if this happens, will be any different, or more of a threat to our democracy, than a very large portion of the current over 18 electorate.
it's the presumed civics question that interests me. Is that an actual thing?
Can we make adults do it too?
I read a piece a couple of years ago around the start of the things arguing that civics curriculum and 16 were closely linked because it would be more relevant.
In my education we got a very good civics component (Upper form at Kelston Boys in early 70’s) and were engaged enough to see right through the Dancing Cossacks in 1975.
they should start teaching it now in depth whether the vote gets lowered or not. Start at the beginning of high school. It's such a basic for democracy.
I don't remember being taught it at all, but I might not have been paying attention either. I did vote the year I turned 18 in the general election.
looks like its voluntary in the school curriculum currently.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/443400/civics-and-citizenship-education-being-left-to-chance-academic
Well, it all depends on what you mean by "Civics" – NZ government and comparative governmental systems are already covered in the NZ social studies curriculum – in several ways at several different ages/stages.
Here, for example in Level 5 (which is roughly equivalent to Year10)
https://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Social-sciences/Achievement-objectives#collapsible5
Year 10 is the last year where AFAIK Social studies is mandatory – once kids are in Year 11 (what used to be 5th form), they are starting to make choices about subjects, and can opt away from soft sciences.
There were probably some enlightened secondary schools teaching Civics then. I recall it being suggested that it should be taught in all secondary schools and the then Prime Minister, Rob Muldoon vetoed it straight away as being an insidious communist plot.
I'd guess there are plenty of 16 year-olds who would think that's a good idea.
Although I am slightly uncomfortable about 16-year-olds voting, I'm not really convinced that the majority of them lack some necessary component that the majority of adults actually have – or that such a lack could be addressed by civics education.
In reality, civics education would become a contested space like the compulsory teaching of NZ history – ripe with culture war opportunities and filled with denunciations of 'wokeness'.
It's an academic argument anyway – most adults oppose it because they are scared that 16 year-olds would legislate to take their stuff away and stop them eating meat or flying on aeroplanes more than once a year.
I was thinking of the basics like how MMP works, and what local government does. Shouldn't be hard to teach that in a neutral way (assuming there was a will to neutrality!)
I'm relieved it's not a goer tbh. It's a complicated issue with lots of aspects factoring into it. For me it's mostly why 16 and not 17 or 14. Or 5, lol, to which one progresssive I know said he supported young children voting.
thinking about it you are probably right. How to teach Te Tiriti without making some people's heads explode.
Yeah the thing about boundaries is a headache. It's a playground for reductio ad absurdum arguments that can run in all directions – "if 16, why not 10" or "if 18 why not 30", or "if we don't start till 18 why not stop at 60"?
It would be best to settle on an agreed age of adulthood and apply that everywhere. What cuts across that compromise though, is the idea of inter-generational fairness. If young people cannot vote – should there be some auditing of legislation for inter-generational fairness, just as there is for compliance with the BORA? (But the results of the BORA-compliance audits are often ignored I believe)
auditing for generational fairness makes sense. We should be doing this anyway. However I'm not convinced that people who have the right to vote get treated fairly in that regard eg Māori adults can vote but are outvoted by Pākehā interests. Wealthy mainstream people have more sway than poor and fringe people. And so on.
I'm in favour of increasing democracy by participatory means. One person one vote really is a low form of democracy.
Not sure about the age of adulthood. Sex, drinking, military, driving, leaving school, youth rates, lots of things don't match up neatly by age. How would we decide which ones to change?
We learned all that stuff at school in the 60's – even practised mock court sessions to understand how the legal system worked as well.
Even learned about tsunami's even though we lived hundreds of miles from the sea.
Didn't realise they'd stopped teaching this stuff.
apparently something is in the curriculum, in Social Studies, but it's voluntary (for the school I guess?). I couldn't find the actual content.
This is the online portal: https://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Social-sciences
edit to add: Admittedly I am unable to find the content also. All of the curriculum is undergoing a refresh that will be implemented fully in 2026 apparently.
Try this one
Here, for example in Level 5 (which is roughly equivalent to Year10)
https://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Social-sciences/Achievement-objectives#collapsible5
Year 10 is the last year where AFAIK Social studies is mandatory – once kids are in Year 11 (what used to be 5th form), they are starting to make choices about subjects, and can opt away from soft sciences.
where’s the bit that tells the teacher how to teach this,
AFAIK there is nothing that tells a teacher how to teach a topic in the NZ curriculum.
It's outcome focused – and is deliberately designed to be non-specific.
"Understand how systems of government in New Zealand operate and affect people’s lives, and how they compare with another system."
So, at the end of the 'teaching' the student should be able to demonstrate that they understand how systems of government work in NZ – and compare these to those in other countries.
There are lots of different ways a teacher might approach teaching this topic – and lots of different resources they might use for the compare and contrast element.
When my son did this last year, they used print, online and film resources. And, were required to produce a report contrasting NZ political systems and their-country-of-choice (each one in the class had to choose a different one) – in a range of specific areas (from memory these included: Political structure (Democracy, Monarchy, Oligarchy, Autocracy, etc.); popular involvement (who can vote, does your vote make a difference); Decision-making structure (who runs the government, courts, etc.) — and a whole lot more – I think there were 10 questions which had to be covered.
This was IIRC about a 4-6 week block of work in the Social Studies curriculum.
Having said that – I'm sure there are lots of targeted resources on the Dept of Education sites – to assist with resourcing teaching in this area.
are you saying that this is literally the only guidance given?
What guidance do you need?
It's an outcome – which is intended to be able to be objectively measured.
The curriculum gives deducational outcomes which have to be achieved/demonstrated – it doesn't tell a teach how to teach.
I recall the so called 'civic lessons' we had at my high school during election season. But not fondly.
In the '70's the Cold War was at its height and our teachers were earnestly trying teach us the value of democracy. In social studies class we were made to take part in a mock election. Not allowed to debate any real issues. Not allowed to take part in the real ballot we were given a fake ballot. The lesson I took,was no one cared what we thought. The whole thing was pointless and disempowering. We felt patronised and we let the teacher know it.
I hope things aren't done that way any more.
Because this is not how civics should be taught, or how civics is learnt.
Civics is learnt in the doing.
If you don't give people a voice, they never learn to use it.
If you don't give people choices they never learn to make them.
The answer is an emphatic, No!
A large portion of over 16yr olds or "adult votes" get their sense of me/me entitlement from equally entitled radio and TV personalities. I don't think it's a policy worth dieing in a ditch over but there are equal arguments for and against. I'm not sure my vote preference would've changed between 16 and 18.
Mine certainly did. I was raised in a very middle class environment and the first political action I was involved with (at 17yo) was a demonstration IN FAVOUR of New Zealand's involvement in the Vietnam War. I had a placard with a quote from Churchhill! However, after the demo – my companion and I got talking with a couple of chaps from the PYM (Progressive Youth Movement) who were demonstrating on the other side of the road, and we decided that they had the better arguement. Next Friday evening we were on their side of the pavement – and that is where I have been ever since.
Not wanting people with a sense of me me entitlement cuts most voters out!!!
Where do people who grew up before homosexual law reform, still "remember the war" and whose parents called England "home" get their info from? Radio Rhema? Maybe their votes should be stripped as well.
How about immigrants? Maybe those that work in: <farming><arts><government> should be disenfranchised.
What about anyone that has Facebook – were the VFF nutters all 16yos?
I was 36 years old when Homosexual Law Reform came in – I remember the Vietnam War and I certainly do not listen to any religious radio. Nobody is talking about "stripping votes" I hope – this is about extending the franchise. The rest is hyperbole.
A few people make the argument for removing the vote from retirees. It's a piece of political inanity that demonstrates they don't understand the developmental differences between an old person and a child. Differences which are at the heart of why not that many people support lowering the age.
I know of quite a few 16 and younger that do pay income tax, let alone GST.
As for entitlement and selfishness being a barrier to voting, surely that includes landlords.
TBF, I would suggest most vote for their self interest, but we have elected and re-elected governments that have only paid lip service to CC. Perhaps having a few more idealists vote would be a circuit breaker.
An interesting discussion here between 10.30 min and 16.30 min on Australian aspiration culture, how it evolved politically post 90's to drive electorate decision-making. Now, in the last 6 months, particularly with the housing crisis, this aspirational viewpoint is switching to concern by many voters about their future financial security.
Think there are parallels in parts to our own political trends and messaging.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2023/mar/08/guardian-essential-report-do-cost-of-living-pressures-change-how-people-vote
The other side of the coin:
There are a great many young people today who are so much better informed and who are more intelligent and mature than their senior counterparts.
But on balance, I don't see any desperate need to lower the age to 16. Waiting two more years is nothing. My generation had to wait until we turned 21 and if – like me – you turned 21 soon after an election – tough bickies. I didn't get my first vote until I was closing in on 24.
To RosieLee at 1.1 : Your comment shows it's own me/me frame-of-reference. I am not a teenager taking umbrage, but in my tenth decade, acutely concerned for my greatgrandchildren ( one sixteen, more soon to be ) and their peers in their future.
I find much understanding of important issues in teenagers I know.
Please consult those teens in your own circle when you find a relaxed conversational moment. I think you might be surprised, even comforted.
A nasty generalisation and slur made against the young people of this country, by RosieLee
"I do not want adult votes cancelled out by someone with a sense of me/me entitlement…" RosieLee
Young people with no right to vote on the issue, will inherit from us a badly degraded biosphere. Not having the vote, they have rallied in their thousands in our cities' streets for real government action on climate change. Of course this generation would want young people's voices cancelled out, so we can carry on doing what we are doing..
I want youth voices cancelled out by someone with a sense of me/me entitlement….
There you go Rosie, fixed it for you. No don't thank me.
Rosie, I don't want to get my adult (retiree) vote cancelled by other older citizens who get their daily brainwashing from nothing more than ZB Newstalk and their Natz sycophants.
And left wing don't want their vote cancelled by right wing, (and vice versa)
You don't want people with a me me entitlement who get most of their information from social media from voting ?
That describes the majority of voters on both the left and the right.
Also teenagers pay tax but if not paying enough tax should exclude people from voting there's a lot of people in NZ who shouldn't vote.
Why shouldn't the people who will have to pay for and live with the consequences of decisions made by today's governments get a vote when the citizens who won't live for the consequences or pay for the policies of today's governments get a vote.
If 16 year olds can't get a say, why should pensioners? Why should the rich or unemployed vote? In fact let's make it so noone can vote till they pay their student loans.
Next Should we require voting eligibility be granted only to those who pay more into the tax system than they get out? This would make many working class and working poor families and many who are on subsidized medications and regularly using subsidized healthcare ineligible for voting.
Fair is fair!!
I wondered whether we could have 'youth' MPs, a couple of seats in the current Parliament set aside specifcally for 16-20 y voters, similar to the Māori seats. Like the Māori electoral roll, those 18-20 could opt either to join this roll or the main electoral roll.
I'm not convinced about lowering the voting age to 16, but this idea of a youth roll and seats in parliament is good. Not sure it would work because of the numbers, but I like the thinking. It's a transition, from childhood to adulthood. It would increase awareness of youth issues and encourage youth to stand in general seats/lists. It could up awareness of how MMP works. Lots to like.
I think lowering it to 17 makes sense. That includes 6th form and is an age when many people start to understand what is going on in the world and have opinions.
also when many people start to have to think about adult shit like income and housing.
That is a great idea tWiggle.
After all, we tell them their future is bleak, but "hey keep waiting to have a say in our direction."
If we had an upper house we could do this, it wouldn't have the powers of the HoR but would be a start.
Oh please, no! An upper house strikes me as a layer of pigs in troughs we do not need, as we are not a federal democracy. Even worse, a crony-laden, bloated House of entitled Lords!
Keep it simple, and easily accountable. I like our government structure a lot, MMP, Māori seats and all. The only wobbly bit is the strategic stand-down of one party to safeguard a coalition partner, eg. Epsom.
RNZ morning report today covered the anomalous position of banks as the four largest profit-making concerns in NZ. This is not usual in other OECD countries. There is a push for a Commerce Commission enquiry to investigate how and why this happens. RNZ asked about the influence of ex-politicians in bank directorships as a contributing factor to their political power.
This is relevant also regarding windfall profit tax.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018880868/calls-growing-louder-for-inquiry-into-banks
"ex-politicians in bank directorships".
Why are you so worried? As far as I am aware there is only one former MP on a Bank Board in New Zealand. Just one.
I would think it would be more useful if we looked at the directors of some of the failing SOEs in New Zealand to see whether there would be something to gain by replacing former political party hacks on their boards. Railways might be a good place to start. What role have they played in not planning for the Cook Strait ferries to be replaced. Were they asleep at the wheel and didn't look at the ferries getting old to the extent that they are now collapsing regularly and spend most of their time moored in Wellington.
Were we right to put old political relics like Mike Williams and Maryan Street on the Board?
Who owns the ferries Alwyn? What do "Supply lines" mean to you? Do your homework. The new terminals are designed to take hybrid rail ferries from 2025, and are part of a planned programme to replace an aging fleet. Your slurs are just deflection of the poorest kind.
Banking needs to offer ten and fifteen year mortgages. The gouging has to stop.
NZ has Australian owned banks who cream it, aided by such as Key. 200+ points above the base, and slow to pass that to savers. A Commission of Inquiry, which in Australia showed many sharp and even unlawful banking practices, would reveal the same here no doubt.
Simon Power was working for the ANZ at one stage.The big 4 pay no tax in NZ and are pushing services in NZ that were deemed illegal by the Australian banking enquiry resulting in huge fines against all the big banks and AMP.NZ allows Cartels free reign in our unregulated markets .NZ has no real competition in any sector making NZ one of the most expensive countries to live in.The free market policies were supposed to free up competition the reverse has happened.NZ would be better served by having an economic union with Australia at least their SEC has the clout to make the banks do the right thing.NZ just gives the supermarkets,Banks,fuel cos,Power cos, a god telling off but the reality is that nothing changes.Just spin.
Oh dear, where do I begin?
Simon Power never worked for ANZ.
The big 4 banks pay enormous amounts of tax in New Zealand. ANZ in the year to 30/09/2021 paid $750 million and was New Zealand's biggest corporate taxpayer. WBC paid $A402 million in 2019 in NZ (about $420 million NZD). BNZ paid $514 million in the year to September 2021.
I really don't think that I can be bothered pointing out the rest of your fallacies. If you really think you are stating facts please supply your evidence
https://www.anz.com/content/dam/anzcom/shareholder/2021-FY-new-zealand-full-year-results.pdf
https://www.westpac.co.nz/assets/About-us/sustainability-community/documents/Group-Tax-Transparency-Report-Westpac-NZ.pdf
https://blog.bnz.co.nz/2021/11/fy21-result-strong-and-stable-bnz-backing-business
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/56131/commerce-minister-simon-power-joining-westpac-heading-banking-services-its-wealthy
You did read what tricledrown wrote did you?
"Simon Power was working for the ANZ at one stage".
Well he didn't, which is what I said.
The topic at hand.
From your article, it seems clear that Power was an employee (albeit a senior one on the management team), not a board member.
Two very different things.
Or their employment sinecure. In the USA people leave the Pentagon for positions within the MIC.
Another example two National Party interns get their first job out of university in the same corporate affairs job with an international tobacco company. Then become MP's. The same company has connections to Mr Whale (CS) and presumably funding to certain friendly to vaping organisations/unions etc.
That's raising an entirely different issue – the question of whether any political retreads should be employed in the senior levels of the corporate sector or in the civil service – immediately after exiting parliament. Or whether there should be a mandatory stand-down period (as there is in many other countries)
Most recently (and blatantly) controversially involving Kris Faafoi setting up a political lobbying consultancy immediately after resigning from government.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/130147021/kris-faafois-unwelcome-move-into-lobbying
And, pointing out again, that Simon Power was never a bank director – he was a senior employee on the management team – so his employment situation is entirely irrelevant to the RNZ story.
It isn't just Key aiding and abetting.
Claire Matthews, RNZ's go-to on all things banks, thinks they make big profits 'coz they are big businesses…
No mention of creating credit/debt by entering keystrokes nor anything about fractional reserve banking.
Ugh?
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/113222943/reserve-bank-governor-adrian-orr-questions-sir-john-keys-anz-directorship
The RNZ interviewed Adrian Stubbs over the bank review, who has questioned ex-politico appointments to banks before. Most OECD countries have a sensible 'restraint of trade' period of at least 3 years before you can move into the finance sector at director level after leaving Parliament.
The story you link to has nothing to do with whether Key should be able to be a bank director because he had been an MP.
It was whether key, as the ANZ NZ Board chairman, along with the BNZ chairman should be able to be on the Main Boards of the ANZ and NAB, who own the BNZ, in Australia. Being on both boards could be a conflict of interest as the ANZ (NZ) and ANZ Group interests could differ. The same applies to BNZ and NAB
It was nothing to do with Key's previous occupation.
James Bolger Kiwi Bank (contrarian vs the others – the black mirror glass ones)
Jennifer Shipley NZ board of the China Construction Bank.
Don Brash ANZ
Simon Power Westpac
John Key ANZ Bank.
OK William English (just about everywhere not bank), so not all former party leaders (Todd Corporation Limited and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets probably do as much investment in business as the retail property mortgage banks).
Bank of China New Zealand Chairman Chris Tremain
OMFG,
Who the bloody hell, decided to scrap a one of the Ferries instead of refitting her because it was cheaper to her scrap her?
Then fluffed around realising, oh shit we need a replacement but instead of doing the more sensible & smart thing to do & order new one RO/RO Rail Ferries!
Let's buy a one 2nd hand one trick lemon & delay the replacement process as much as possible?
Would you please explain what NZG was in power at the time & why they didn't want to spend a single cent on critical infrastructure such as new RO/RO Rail Ferries?
Labour have been the Government for, if I remember correctly, five and a half years.
Obviously they saw no reason to do anything about getting new ferries to replace those which are now almost worn out.
Why on earth did they ignore reality?
I'd have thought you'd be better informed. New ferries have been ordered.
https://www.irex.co.nz/new-ferries
I shall correct the second sentence.
Obviously they saw no reason to do anything in haste and took three and a half years to order new ferries to replace those which are now almost worn out. that means only wasting about two and a half years I suppose.
It appears that they actually started the work in early 2017. I guess that was when National were the Government. Here was the announcement of their plans in 2018 when the then CEO said they had been working on the proposal for eighteen months.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/107729669/investing-in-interislander-fleet-crucial-to-future-of-nz-inc
In July 1941 the US decided they would build a single building for the military. Design was complete by September and construction started in September 1941. It was finished 16 months later in January 1943. Why does everything take so ling these days?
It's was Labour & the NZF Coalition that finally ordered the 2 new Ferries (should've been 3) but costs blew out because the Nat's fart ass about delaying like old women at Country Women's Association meeting!
If you want proof mate? I'll go back through my NZ Rail Observer, Oz Rail Digest Magazines & bombard you like Ukraine Artillery Fire Mission. Plus throw in Winnie's press releases before the election & after the election for shits & giggles.
Who were quite damming in National's stupidity & arrogance at delaying the ordering for the new Ferries but hey we aka National want to be better economic managers than Labour!
Just like National not wanting to invest in Defence Infrastructure & especially in new Defence Married Quarters & Living In Quarters for NZDF Personal. so let's cap NZDF Married Quarters Tenancy for 6yr to save money & boot service personnel after 6yr!!
Do you want some proof for as well?
Just buy the latest Nth & Sth Mag for that btw.
They didn’t ignore reality, Scud. Seems like the ones we have are on stopgap lease until new ones arrive in 1-2 years.
https://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/information-release/official-information-regarding-kiwirails-purchase-new-ferries-information-release
The Muppets tired to do it on the cheap when they paid off one instead of putting it into a refit to get through until the new ones entered service, as it was cheaper to buy or lease a 2nd hand lemon that has KiwiRail & taxpayers more $$$ than the cost of the refit of the paid off ferry.
Now the lemon has finally been paid off, which should've never entered service in the first place because bastards (National & Treasury) didn't what to do the job properly & spend money to do it right in the 1st place.
Because they all had an Anti Rail Agenda until Kaikoura Earthquakes blew up in respective faces & realise Rail is part of NZ's Logistics Chain! But they still starved it of decent funding, which is still going to bite NZ in the ass in future regardless who's in Government!
So if polytechs are centralised now and run by the state, high school is run by the state, and intermediate and primary school is run by the state, and we already subsidise early childhood education up the wazoo, why is the early childhood sector in private hands and not run by the state?
It's time to nationalise early childhood education.
Good point well made.
What and take money off the Wright family, so they cannot fund a right wing propaganda network … . National is a fan on private profit making from government
funded/subsidised service delivery.But given the government's former focus on fees free tertiary study it does seem an oversight.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/cheaper-after-school-care-on-the-cards/UZPPHI7YSCQJVB3XY4ZKFZJAC4/#:~:text=Current%20costs%20of%20after%2Dschool,cent%20of%20the%20average%20wage.
https://www.live-work.immigration.govt.nz/live-in-new-zealand/education-and-schooling/before-and-after-school-care
Maybe free education 9-3 and subsidy for charging for pre school and after school care.
Agree.
Especially since we already have some state ECE in kindergartens.
That’s a drum I’ve been banging for a while.
Because this way we can pretend it's personal choice that both parents and or single parents don't have to be out working to survive, if we made them public we'd be admitting that work is more important than raising our kids personally.
A good counterpoint well made.
When it was instituted FDR called for a minimum wage that is a living wage, since then the two have diverged in meaning and practice.
https://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/odnirast.html
That's closer to where I am at on this.
Like 'aged care', ECE is a euphamism for love. Best provided by whanau.
The crux of the issue is low wages, making it awkward for folk to give their time.
Yes.
Erin Brokovich flagged as a terrorist. What a sick little world we live in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSY9mgj6kNI
At first there were thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands then millions under threat assessment watch.
https://www.dhs.gov/fusion-centers
She's been labeled with a bit more than, being a threat to watch.
Does anyone know the maths of how our MMP parliament would be shaped in the event that a large party received the vast majority of their vote share as electorate votes?
It wuz rigged!
https://elections.nz/stats-and-research/mmp-seat-allocation-calculator/
Ta.
Seems the calculator doesn't expect the results I was testing, it led to 27 overhang seats haha.
Did you account for the fact that there are only 72 electorates?
Yes, admittedly mine was initially broad and extremely unlikely
how many electorates did Labour win?
I reran it with a more completed outline and this time there were only 7(!) overhang seats.
I used 2020 results and changed Labours party vote to 30% and upped te Pāti Māori, the Greens and ACTs. This meant Labour would have 46 seats plus the Greens 19 and Pāti Māori with 9. An enormous 74 seat government, which is probably highly unlikely too sadly.
I hope Chris Trotter is surrounded by family today, he will need the support.
Think Styles was pipped, powerfully, by Danes
Alien Weaponry in Denmark heavy metal youtube
Hard to see Emma Tween and her anxious helicopter mum at that one…
Styles is great. The big, glaringly obvious difference between him and some other big act musicians trying to push the boundaries on gender norms, is that he looks like he's having a lot of fun and being real.
"No tax without representation." So perhaps persons 17 and under shouldn't have to pay tax if they are earning.
If representation were a criterion only the upper income quartile and Treasury wonks would pay tax – government doesn't pay any attention to anyone else.
Given the nature of the social media global village we live in this is not surprising
In the US Congress the new speaker
JosephMcCarthy has formed a committee to stalk people in government positions on Capitol Hill (and is also removing some Democrat Reps from their committee positions).And at the same time, they come for Campbell, Maharey and Dyson here …
It begins with mobs on the streets and ends with the installation of a government to complete the job (over there no more “stolen” elections).
Hope there's a proper investigation into the chemcouriers truck which went up in flames today.
Was it carrying what it shouldn't be ? Had incompatible categories of chemicals together ? Serious questions as that could've been alongside much denser population close to the motorway as it moved north.
Spray cans +
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-southern-motorway-truck-fire-south-auckland-residents-on-evacuations-fireballs-and-blast-zones/PYQ5C6ZG5ZFUPHJ4COTHQJ744U/
Sounds like the truck itself caught fire. Alot more common than folks think with the friction at high speed of steel on steel etc on longer hauls.
They don't even have to be carrying dangerous goods and boom up they go.
Today is International Womens Day:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/stories/2018880607/four-reasons-why-we-still-need-international-women-s-day
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/theme
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-64723201
Hopefully our leaders will take note of stress within the hospitals and rethink the Dunedin rebuild, but then again the same people who have reduced the scope of Dunedin are still there. Perhaps the govt needs to think long term and to make better decisions, we can only hope 😢.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/131068018/fight-looming-over-proposed-cuts-to-dunedin-hospital-rebuild
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/emergency-departments-under-pressure-ambulance-staff-called-in-to-help-patient-beds-overflow-into-hospital-cafe/YK5D2XBGBBGE3CQMRUBAUXTMGE/