TVNZ scoured the country to find a hard done by granny to go on TV and found one in Huntly.
But reunifying families is not primarily what this is about.
This is a return to BAU.
Imagine Incognito, if you will, that the government instead of spending tens of millions subsidising air travel, the government as major shareholder withdrew all support and shut Air NZ down, and instead had put that eye watering amount of money into setting up a high speed ferry service to compete with the air carriers.
A high speed ferry crossing of the Tasman would take roughly 24 hours, compared to the 3 hours by air. Obviously much longer, but no longer than a transcontinental flight to Europe, which Kiwis quite regularly bear. And if the ticket on the ferry was at half the price of an airfare, it could be quite attractive to many cross Tasman families tourists included. Especially as most high speed ocean crossing ferries of the size and power needed to cross the Tasman come with a roll on cargo deck for cars.
Now imagine even further, if all the laid off Air New Zealand staff and facilities were redeployed to set up and run this service.
If not done now. Eventually this measure, or something very close to it, will have to be done by a future generation. By then, it will be too little too late.
We will never Build Back Better, we will continue to miss opportunities like this to do so. The BAU imperitive is why nothing meaningful will ever be done about climate change, condemning the coming generation to a terrible future
If it is not in the media, it doesn’t exist or is only minor!? So Zen, or so ignorant.
Your comment is just one big ‘imagine this, imagine that’, full of irrelevant reckons, but you dodged the very basic question because it didn’t suit your narrative, that much is clear.
we don't need to go back to Bau – we never left it.
cue the election promise to the national voters taht the labour party was courting.
"No increase in benefits".
The Labour Party is Party of business as usual, they are not the solution they are part of the problem, specifically the current one. It is not that they are incompetent, its that they are so full of their own horsemanure they have started to believe the crap they sprout.
And everyone but them carries the risk, loses their jobs, their businesses and their homes, and they are there and will tell you over and over like a mantra, be nice, be kind, be gentle, and above all don't bother me. Waiting for Labour to do something meaningful is like waiting on National to do something meaningful.
It certainly makes a mockery of the government's 'Gen Less' campaign to reduce consumption. I should walk to the supermarket apparently, so a bunch of woskers can fly into Queenstown.
Nope, you should walk to the supermarket because it is good for you and for the environment. Framing it at as a zero sum game and us vs. them is divisive and counter-productive.
It is us against them – thirty years of neoliberal failure sure as hell wasn't in my interests. We're poor because a bunch of totally fith economist wonks and their enabling politicians chose to make it so – and it's about time those worthless mofos were made to pay for it.
you should walk to the supermarket because it is good for you and for the environment
That depends on the geographical features of where one lives. I bet even you would be thinking twice about walking back with a load of groceries up the hill where I live.
I did not suggest it – it is the recommendation of Genless – because over the course of perhaps ten years, these pedestrian journeys will add up to enough to balance out one foreign tourist flying into Queenstown.
But Stuart, if you are REALLY so concerned about ones impact upon climate change, maybe you should practise what you preach and refrain from internet use? As per the attached article (the science on this is very clear), take just one quote:
The carbon footprint of our gadgets, the internet and the systems supporting them account for about 3.7% of global greenhouse emissions, according to some estimates. It is similar to the amount produced by the airline industry globally,
Hmm, the carbon footprint of Greta Thurnberg must be massive. Trouble is, this is all an inconvenient truth to those who preach how the rest of us should live!
It's just a matter of consistency – an overseas flight typically represents one of the largest carbon expenditures ordinary people undertake, and tourism, unlike grocery shopping, is discretionary. 11% of annual totals was the BBC estimate.
practise what you preach and refrain from internet use
I never advocated anything of the kind – but I'm sure that if you do the quality of discourse will be measurably improved.
Stuart, apologies if it seemed like I was preaching or being a smart****.
I guess my point was that tackling climate change is a very complex thing, and at the end of the day it involves many trade offs. I just get very annoyed with the hypocrisy and populist bs on this matter (not referring to you specifically, but the name 'Greta' does loom large).
Yes, tourism is discretionary, but does it add value to the world? I would have thought international tourism has done wonders for breaking down cultural bigotry and racism for example. China is a classic. 40 years ago the Chinese were largely alien to us and us to them. Has tourism not brought the people closer and broken down many barriers? I would have thought so.
I'm sure the argument can be made – though tourism is a heading covering a lot of different activities, some of which might be better avoided.
If we are serious about climate change, longer term moves to reduce the bigger impacts, like air travel, are very desirable. One of the obvious candidates is transtasman passenger shipping. Ferries like the Busan-Shimonoseki run manage a comfortable though not palatial service that is pretty economical of both cash and carbon.
I am less sanguine about tourism as a vehicle for cultural mixing – more because some kinds of tourism don't do it very much – externally hosted coach tours for example, though lots of genuine interactions occur in more backpacker formats.
I expect the govt. is reluctant to see air travel fall off, because highend perishable exports like crayfish and tyee presently depend upon it. It's a relatively poor reason to preserve a sunset industry like mass air travel, when there are other ways to ship such products, which, properly developed, would open the incalculably large Asian markets to our mussel surplus.
That bit about cutting out short car trips has two sides to it. The image shows someone with a skateboard? If these people want to really be green, they could try walking. Oh but the footpaths are full of people on skateboards going faster than walkers which makes walking stressful even hazardous. The footpaths are not places that you can safely take a quiet stroll.
Males are the biggest user of footpaths on skateboards, bikes, battery powered machines of various kinds. Walking is so last century. Now there are skateboards on person power and soon there will be a condition of assymetrical leg muscles, one riding and the other pushing forward. But the smart person just stands on something and whizzes along the footpath. There are also the bikes some as fast as cars, and without registration, and few controls if any.
So to whom it may concern, stick your great ideas up both your nostrils, and don't come up with great schemes that suit the self-involved pushy males and aggressive females in what is supposed to be a society.
Here is a nice interview with Glenn Greenwald, without doubt the most effective journalist in the world today, discussing his new book "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro’s Brazil," and his leading role in dismantling the Bolsonaro govt and freeing the most important Left wing leader in the World Lula da Silva from prison.
His courage in doing this type of journalism just cannot be understated, he is a shining example of what can be done in journalism when it is pursued with integrity and a high social purpose as its moral guide can achieve.
He also discusses the rise of, and destructive power of the woke liberal movement in the West, which as we know has been having an extremely corrosive effect on free discourse, but is proving to be extremely effective in creating divisiveness across all political/social spectrums.
But the buses spewing black soot, as the electrical buses were exchanged against diesel will be allowed.
Are we then enriching the parking company by having to pay astronomical amounts when leaving the car at the city limits or even parking on the city council lots around train stations when coming to Wellington from areas where a bike ride takes days?
The transport system is absolute terrible, it could well be that you are stuck in town when those unreliable buses and trains are something to go by. Better not to go at all.
Why not address the urgent items first. You know the ones we actually need to pass the test of being a civilization and pay rates that have increased by double digits?
I was extremely unhappy with the replacement of the trolley busses without having the next generation of electric busses in place beforehand. This hopefully gets changed within the next years (as well as the car issue, e-scooter issue…).
Didn't know parking in the CBD is free at the moment. So it will move from within the CBD to the CBD fringe. Taking into account a significant portion of cars simply drives through the CBD instead of doing business within the CBD, parking fees doesn't apply to those cars… maybe the introduction of a congestion charge for vehicles driving through the CBD could cover that?
I would also suggest a very frequent inner CBD free public transport, similar to Melbourne, so people don't require a car in the city at all. Some of the freed road space can be used for bicycle / e-scooter etc. to free up the footpaths for pedestrians, for example in Germany e-scooters are not allowed on footpaths.
As far as I can see there are significantly more bike going into the CBD now compared to 10 years ago, especially e-bikes. So many people moved beyond the "car über alles" sentiment we have here in NZ. Public transport will improve when more people are going to use it and public transport is not stuck within car traffic.
I also strongly believe that the road rules have to be properly enforced here, so pedestrians and bike riders can feel safe. And isn't it time to adjust road fines by at least inflation since they were set last time (late 1990s!)?
Coming from a city where you do not need a car at all – true! – with a population size half of NZ, I know that Wellington is so far behind the 8-ball it isn't funny anymore. But we have wasted so much money on stupid things that one could cry. Besides, who wants to live in a place where sewage can be your morning greeting at any minute and your drinking water is being sold rather then flowing through maintained pipes. I do not harbour any hope that this will see any improvement in the next 20-30 years.
I have moved out of Wellington and so glad I did. Perhaps a visit once or twice a year will do me just fine.
you know they are circleing the plughole when one sad entitled git writing about another sad entitled git from the same organisation is a featured headline. the herald is jumping the shark.
Not the best way to get on side with Kiwis – a Taupo boutique lodge manager complains "sorry to say, Kiwis are tight arses, to be honest" (Stuff 8 April page 13). Perhaps Kiwis are happy spending their money at a nice motel, not a hyper expensive boutique lodges, and spending their money also on experiences etc.
also go's on to say that aussies dont stay their much either. hmmm, great business plan ,if you need people to cross the equator, maybe time to lower your prices.it doesnt sound like a sustainable business, long term.
Grant Robertson really seems to be out of touch with reality and not taking advice from treasury etc. So if landlords raise rents, he said tenants should simply look elsewhere like this tenant.
By the sounds of the article she is doing exactly that and selling all five properties. Seems a bit knee jerk to me as the interest deductibility is being phased in not next tax year will only cost a bit more.
It seems to me interest deductibility is an anomaly in the Income Tax Act, so she cannot complain about its removal. However, had depreciation not become non deductible she would probably have been OK. Depreciation is a legitimate expense and, therefor removing its deductibility was, I believe, a mistake. I suspect though that margins in property investment are so low that wiping out depreciation allowances would wipe out profits altogether.
Perhaps it is time to rationalize the situation and make rental property investment tax free, and all the related expenses non deductible.
How can depreciation be a legitimate expense in this case, when property values increase ?? There is, under housing no loss in value. There are rules that the IRD follow to determine what is valid R&M verse capital cost, and R&M is a deductible expense to reduce tax.
I thought the changes to depreciation for housing was necessary.
"Depreciation is an accounting method of allocating the cost of a tangible or physical asset over its useful life or life expectancy. Depreciation represents how much of an asset's value has been used up."
I thought the changes to depreciation for housing was necessary.
It wasn't really necessary. The book value of a property equals original cost less depreciation allowed prior to sale, though depreciation is not applicable to land, only to the house. When a property is sold one would treat any difference between the sale price and the book value of the house as capital gain. After all, what would one do if the property had been sold for less than book value. Would one continue to regard depreciation as non deductible inf that situation.
In the case quoted above depreciation, being a non cash expense, might have helped to ease Ms Goodman's flow problems until the houses were sold had depreciation been deductible – even if there had been an excess depreciation claw back rule in place.
From what I understand plenty are getting out asap as they feel the market is at a peak.
Im no expert but I'm fairly worried that inflationary pressure is going to arrive and the real effects of what is a global slow down masked by printed money will hit hard.
Or Landlords are rushing to change things out of panic.
How long has she had the properties? She is getting a 12 month lead in and a staggered rate over four years, so her reasons for selling up seem political at this stage. The comment regarding double glazing shows there was no contingency fund.
Would selling 1 home pay the interest on the other homes?
At some point a landlord is going to cash up. Blaming the recent changes for not being a landlord is going to far in this case. Maybe just having the 1 home and paying off the interest on the loan could be to much once the tax deduction on interest is cut for some with a big mortgage on an investment property.
Were the sale price on a rental home start to drop will landlords cash up?
Your blaming Grant R for that? Most “business” owners have some compassion and in a case like this wouldn’t evict a terminally ill person. Shame on the landlord. Shame, shame on him
but then Grant boy will never have to go looking elsewhere should his housing costs go up as the Tax payer is paying him such a good wage that this is not one of his concerns. Like his collegues he too is well fed, well heeled, and well housed, and that is what matters.
So yeah, shame to the greedy landlord, and shame to the Finance Minister who obviously has no idea what he is talking about. But then, its on par with what someone else said a few years ago.
"I don't think the issue of someone living in a homeless situation is new – it's been there for a very long period of time. But we are there to provide support as best we can. All I can say to people if somebody is homeless they should go see Winz."
They are virtually the same comments, one in blue one in red, and both just take the piss at the misery of those that finance their lives. The citizens and taxpayers of this country.
You obviously didn't watch the video. Even the tenants were not blaming the landlord. She owns five properties and rents to low income people with pets, so I would say she's actually a pretty reasonable landlord.
Women’s health is being “held together by fax machine,” with Jacinda Ardern’s Government rejecting three years of funding requests to bring New Zealand’s cervical screening programme into the 21st century.
Documents obtained under the Official Information Act reveal the Government has known the nationwide cervical screening programme – that is, cytology testing, or the pap smear test – is not the best way of saving lives since at least May 2016.
Doctors have had the physical ability to carry out a better test, known as the HPV viral DNA test, with at least 15 per cent more effectiveness at detecting cancer and reducing deaths, since 2008.
At least 30 cancers each year could have been prevented with a new programme using this test. A 2019 external review said the risks to women grew greater with each delay. …………………..
The National Cervical Screening Register (NCSR) was built in 1990 to receive results through fax, and doctors still have to call or fax to check on patients. Both the technology and the law currently prohibit GPs from looking up results in a centralised system.
Sources spoken to by Stuff say the ministry’s register is commonly referred to as being “held together by fax machine,” and doctors and district health boards are angry at the programme’s continual delay.
Some DHBs have offered to roll out their own self-testing programmes, recorded on Excel spreadsheets. ………………….
In June 2018, its delay was announced by the ministry’s National Screening Unit director Dr Jane O'Hallahan, who said a “fit-for-purpose IT solution,” was needed.
But sources spoken to by Stuff say attempts to get the programme funded in 2018, 2019 and again in 2020 were rejected, with those close to the process told it was because there was no money left after $197m went into bowel cancer screening.
In early 2018, the ministry told then Associate Minister Julie Anne Genter the new register would take 18 months to develop and implement once it had been funded. It was projected it could be finished by 2021.
It has still not been funded. Sources say projected costs sat between $60-$160m.
good grief. IS this a case of can't or won't?
For people like Kiri who obviously do not like anyone to poke about their business, the ability to perform a self test could have been potentially a deal breaker and rather then undergoing Stage 3 cancer treatment she would have had alternatives that would be less invasive, and lasting.
Robertson also said efforts to get more people to use screening procedures for cervical cancer and HPV were ongoing, but he was non-committal regarding the introduction of self-swabbing tests, which were supposed to be rolled out three years ago.
"I know there is some advice coming through to us on that … and that's all now part of the process that we work through with the budget," he said.
The issue was brought into focus this week with news that Conservation Minister Kiri Allan is battling stage 3 cervical cancer.
Yep, its not that they can't, they simply don't, won't and don't give no dime. Kinder gentler, Yeah, right Labour!
Nope we had no pandemic in 2017 – 2018. The health sector is so underfunded that people will die. And Kiri – who has been open about not liking to go to a OBGYN or a GP for a papsmear could have done it by herself and thus prevented the thousands upon thousands it will now cost in surgery and chemo therapy etc.
And dear Grant still gives no fuck.
It sounds like the Pandemic is to Labour what Helen Clark was to John Key.
Any encouragement to get a cervical test for a cancer or a pre cancer which has a high likely hood of being detected with a do it yourself procedure or the current method used no excuse to not fully fund it.
National are pushing the panic buttons when we need to be patient until we know that vaccines are effective against variants and safe administration is keeping an eye on adverse reactions during administration of vaccines there is no need to rush vaccine roll outs or opening borders.
Especially when countries where vast numbers of people are dying who need the vaccine more urgently reflects on National's selfishness.
Bringing people from the Pacific Islands who could be trapped here vice versa travel opening travel to Pacific islands until they are vaccinated/immunised could devistate indigenous populations who are far more susceptible to c19 as well as not having health systems that barely exist now.NZ 's health system is overloaded now with out an outbreak.
Rory Mac Illroy speaks out about voter suppression in Georgia Lee Travino boycotted the Masters at the height of his career because of the racism at the Masters.
Ah ha. Come in you rich people with great ideas that sound good to greenies, future looking, diversifying, yes you can buy our piece of land to add to your various hideouts around the world. Just get your foot in the door, and NZ will never push you out again, they aren't 'robust' enough (and always looking for a quick buck, don't be fooled by the greenwash.)
I think with cases currently nearing 100 it wont be long until we have to shut down everything again. Then we print some more money and add another 16 billion dollars to the debt mountain. niiice….
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/solar-geoengineering-climate-change_n_605c765dc5b67593e055ff9d …It is, quiteliterally, the stuff of science fiction. But on Thursday the United States inched closer to realizing what, depending on where you fall, could be considered a dream of environmental engineering or a dystopian nightmare: devising a plan to artificially cool the planet if humans fail to cut climate-changing emissions quickly enough.
In a 329-page report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine outlined its vision for a federal program to study what’s collectively known as solar geoengineering ― a handful of techniques to reflect sunlight back into space or manipulate cloud coverage to temporarily alleviate the effects of pollution-fueled heating.…
Ju-darth's days must be numbered. Dick Prebble the other day, and now National Party embedded journalist, Claire Trevett have both begun the process of leadership change.
If the choice is between Chris Lucks-in and Soimon, or both, as Trevett suggests, then the Nats have a long, long way to go.
They may find she's as hard to be rid of as a cockroach infestation. With no plausible leaders in the offing, and a rank and file so lacking in talent it has room for Smith & Brownlee, the National Party is waiting for Godot – boredom incarnate without the redeeming literary merit.
What i would like to know is if the people that are currently not being allowed to board a plane in India will have some recompensation for their flights, and their booked isolation facilities. Will other people be allowed in on short notice to use the space up? And why are we freaking out because 100 people in isolation have covid. Are we not prepared for that number? Are our hospitals not capable now or are we still worried that our already collapsing health care system would collapse in sight of all and everyone, one year after the closure of the border.
Meh, I feel nothing but pity for the people that shelled out good money to get back here, who waited a month or several for a spot in isolation just to be fobbed of like that.
These are risky times. There’s a global pandemic raging. It is not BAU. Maybe this will act as a warning for wannabe travelers in the Oz-NZ bubble. I feel pity for people who have lost loved ones to Covid-19 but fortunately only 26 so far in NZ.
-are the travelers just to absorb the costs? a wet hand shake? uncertain times?
-will the freed up beds allocated to others who have been on the waiting line?
is our healthcare sector in such bad shape that we close to travelers who have planned this trip for the better part of the last year.
i don't care much about people coming back to the country before full vaccination but these gap stop actions are kind of rude to anyone who has put in the effort of actually getting here. Cause it ain't easy.
As i said, i don't want anyone to come before at least we have had a chances at getting the vaccines to everyone, but i guess that is going to take a bit longer for while. And yes, 2020 was rude for most of us, it helps to keep that in mind when holding awesome powers.
I think that we all have a right to be safe and if it is found that 80% of travelers from a country (any country) are arriving in NZ infected, the NZ population also has the right to say no, you have to be virus free if you come to these shores. If you look at the visitor cards for immigration, any foreign material or organism is not allowed into NZ. A carrier of a virus with such known devastating effect on health, lives and economic impact qualifies. I really don't care who these people are, everybody has a right to have predictable consequences affecting lives avoided at all costs.
I think it is to protect Border workers and quarantine from being swamped. 7×24 in a day might mean 148 in a week, or 296 in a fortnight. That is pushing the envelope. I am pleased they are alert to changes happening overseas. Most airlines are allowing rebooking. This is the new reality. Buyer beware!!
Daily new COVID-19 case numbers in India have surged in the last month (126,315 new cases on 7 April, the highest number ever reported outside the USA). In the last few days the daily new case numbers have been consistently higher than during the mid-Sept peak of India's first wave, and trending sharply upwards.
The travel ban is precautionary – wouldn’t be surprised if it is extended, and of course any disruption and grief it causes is regrettable.
Wouldn't be surprised also if some opposition National party MP pipes up soon and opines that the Government should have put this travel ban in place sooner.
"Wouldn't be surprised also if some opposition National party MP pipes up soon and opines that the Government should have put this travel ban in place sooner."
Gotta say, the opposition are fairly tragic.They make me think of one of the 5000 that were fed with five loaves and two fish that there wasn't a gluten free option.
Daily new covid cases are surging pretty much everywhere as the old variant is being replaced by the new UK variant.
And everyone who got a vaccine so far hopes and prays to any deity that wants to listen that it works.
In the meantime in NZ we still stuck at lockdown mentality cause that is all we got.
So i really hope dear leader will close the borders to Europeans, US America (75% of all cases are now the UK variant) and everywhere else where the virus is on the march again, just to fair. …..and equal, and maybe just to watch that stench of 'racism' and 'panic' of.
Again, a hundered cases in the country, non in our crumbling hospital system and they panic. How bad is our hospital system? Worse then it was before lockdown?
Ardern has just announced that there will be no entry by kiwis from India till the end of the month.
Best to fact-check Chris T's fake news. The travel ban hasn't started yet, and the intention is end the ban on 28 April (although it could be extended if necessary), so initially it’s an 18-day ban, not a 22-day ban (until the end of the month.)
Most NZers will see this as a strategic decision, courtesy of epidemiological analyses, to ensure that our much admired COVID-19 elimination strategy continues to work for the team of nearly five million.
4 pm on 11 April is 3 days on my calendar. You shortened it so much it was grossly misleading but I assume that was entirely unintentional and accidental.
Chris T, imho your sole motive for commenting here is to stir ("This will turn ugly").
You can't count well enough to tell the difference between 22 days ("till the end of the month") and 18 days (11 – 28 April) – why would anyone trust your judgement?
Poor widdle Chris T, earlier in the day he’s been whinging about the PM being too scared and running from tough questions and then our brave PM fronts the country (again) with strong and brave leadership to make an announcement to protect our country. You can't catch a break eh sweetie. She also said the delay will give them time to pass the necessary laws, I assume to cover your fear mongering yadda yadda yadda, but I’m sure you’ll be back here regularly with your Faux outrage and Chicken Little conspiracies.
All your combined comments continue to highlight your outrage my very wise and thoughtful friend. You are quite right I am very simple minded, in fact generally I'm as dumb as a box of rocks, but I know right from wrong and sincere from insincere and that keeps me a very content and happy simpleton.
The man who would be Q is a guy by the name of Ron Watkins. Ron is the son of Jim Watkins, the owner of the imageboard 8chan. They live in the Philipines and have for years. Ron is the administrator of 8kun, the successor to 8chan. Both men have been intimately involved in the spread of QAnon content on boards like 4Chan, 8chan, and 8kun, so much so that for a while the main theory for the identity of Q was one or both of the Watkinses.
The previously camera-shy Watkins — who runs 8kun alongside his father, Jim — has long been the key suspect for the identity of Q. In fact, anybody really paying attention all but knew it.
Oh, I see now, you took 2 days off at the end, not at the beginning, or maybe you did both or would it be pedantic to assume that? Your stirring is starting to waste our time here. Are you going to apologise for that too? I think you should.
I apologise for for not including the time at the beginning.
Now can I please get some apologies from all those that didn't ake into account some travellers from places in India can take over 24 hours and even more if they are travelling by boat, so these places will need to stop people leaving earlier.
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The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
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Yay the tourists are back.
Burn a ton of jet fuel to see the melting Tasman glaciers.
As are the happily reuniting families. Got a problem with that too?
TVNZ scoured the country to find a hard done by granny to go on TV and found one in Huntly.
But reunifying families is not primarily what this is about.
This is a return to BAU.
Imagine Incognito, if you will, that the government instead of spending tens of millions subsidising air travel, the government as major shareholder withdrew all support and shut Air NZ down, and instead had put that eye watering amount of money into setting up a high speed ferry service to compete with the air carriers.
A high speed ferry crossing of the Tasman would take roughly 24 hours, compared to the 3 hours by air. Obviously much longer, but no longer than a transcontinental flight to Europe, which Kiwis quite regularly bear. And if the ticket on the ferry was at half the price of an airfare, it could be quite attractive to many cross Tasman families tourists included. Especially as most high speed ocean crossing ferries of the size and power needed to cross the Tasman come with a roll on cargo deck for cars.
Now imagine even further, if all the laid off Air New Zealand staff and facilities were redeployed to set up and run this service.
If not done now. Eventually this measure, or something very close to it, will have to be done by a future generation. By then, it will be too little too late.
We will never Build Back Better, we will continue to miss opportunities like this to do so. The BAU imperitive is why nothing meaningful will ever be done about climate change, condemning the coming generation to a terrible future
If it is not in the media, it doesn’t exist or is only minor!? So Zen, or so ignorant.
Your comment is just one big ‘imagine this, imagine that’, full of irrelevant reckons, but you dodged the very basic question because it didn’t suit your narrative, that much is clear.
we don't need to go back to Bau – we never left it.
cue the election promise to the national voters taht the labour party was courting.
"No increase in benefits".
The Labour Party is Party of business as usual, they are not the solution they are part of the problem, specifically the current one. It is not that they are incompetent, its that they are so full of their own horsemanure they have started to believe the crap they sprout.
And everyone but them carries the risk, loses their jobs, their businesses and their homes, and they are there and will tell you over and over like a mantra, be nice, be kind, be gentle, and above all don't bother me. Waiting for Labour to do something meaningful is like waiting on National to do something meaningful.
Meanwhile Savage is spinning in his grave.
It certainly makes a mockery of the government's 'Gen Less' campaign to reduce consumption. I should walk to the supermarket apparently, so a bunch of woskers can fly into Queenstown.
Nope, you should walk to the supermarket because it is good for you and for the environment. Framing it at as a zero sum game and us vs. them is divisive and counter-productive.
It is us against them – thirty years of neoliberal failure sure as hell wasn't in my interests. We're poor because a bunch of totally fith economist wonks and their enabling politicians chose to make it so – and it's about time those worthless mofos were made to pay for it.
\shrug
That depends on the geographical features of where one lives. I bet even you would be thinking twice about walking back with a load of groceries up the hill where I live.
Clearly, it is an option for Stuart Munro otherwise he would not have suggested it, would he?
I did not suggest it – it is the recommendation of Genless – because over the course of perhaps ten years, these pedestrian journeys will add up to enough to balance out one foreign tourist flying into Queenstown.
Yippee!
But Stuart, if you are REALLY so concerned about ones impact upon climate change, maybe you should practise what you preach and refrain from internet use? As per the attached article (the science on this is very clear), take just one quote:
Hmm, the carbon footprint of Greta Thurnberg must be massive. Trouble is, this is all an inconvenient truth to those who preach how the rest of us should live!
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think#:~:text=Those%20scraps%20of%20energy%2C%20and,emissions%2C%20according%20to%20some%20estimates.
It's just a matter of consistency – an overseas flight typically represents one of the largest carbon expenditures ordinary people undertake, and tourism, unlike grocery shopping, is discretionary. 11% of annual totals was the BBC estimate.
practise what you preach and refrain from internet use
I never advocated anything of the kind – but I'm sure that if you do the quality of discourse will be measurably improved.
Stuart, apologies if it seemed like I was preaching or being a smart****.
I guess my point was that tackling climate change is a very complex thing, and at the end of the day it involves many trade offs. I just get very annoyed with the hypocrisy and populist bs on this matter (not referring to you specifically, but the name 'Greta' does loom large).
Yes, tourism is discretionary, but does it add value to the world? I would have thought international tourism has done wonders for breaking down cultural bigotry and racism for example. China is a classic. 40 years ago the Chinese were largely alien to us and us to them. Has tourism not brought the people closer and broken down many barriers? I would have thought so.
I'm sure the argument can be made – though tourism is a heading covering a lot of different activities, some of which might be better avoided.
If we are serious about climate change, longer term moves to reduce the bigger impacts, like air travel, are very desirable. One of the obvious candidates is transtasman passenger shipping. Ferries like the Busan-Shimonoseki run manage a comfortable though not palatial service that is pretty economical of both cash and carbon.
I am less sanguine about tourism as a vehicle for cultural mixing – more because some kinds of tourism don't do it very much – externally hosted coach tours for example, though lots of genuine interactions occur in more backpacker formats.
I expect the govt. is reluctant to see air travel fall off, because highend perishable exports like crayfish and tyee presently depend upon it. It's a relatively poor reason to preserve a sunset industry like mass air travel, when there are other ways to ship such products, which, properly developed, would open the incalculably large Asian markets to our mussel surplus.
Ta
Do you mean this?
https://genless.govt.nz/moving/lower-energy-transport/say-no-to-short-car-trips/
Yes.
Thanks for the tyee link Stuart. I'd missed reports about that. Very interesting.
That bit about cutting out short car trips has two sides to it. The image shows someone with a skateboard? If these people want to really be green, they could try walking. Oh but the footpaths are full of people on skateboards going faster than walkers which makes walking stressful even hazardous. The footpaths are not places that you can safely take a quiet stroll.
Males are the biggest user of footpaths on skateboards, bikes, battery powered machines of various kinds. Walking is so last century. Now there are skateboards on person power and soon there will be a condition of assymetrical leg muscles, one riding and the other pushing forward. But the smart person just stands on something and whizzes along the footpath. There are also the bikes some as fast as cars, and without registration, and few controls if any.
So to whom it may concern, stick your great ideas up both your nostrils, and don't come up with great schemes that suit the self-involved pushy males and aggressive females in what is supposed to be a society.
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change
Here is a nice interview with Glenn Greenwald, without doubt the most effective journalist in the world today, discussing his new book "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro’s Brazil," and his leading role in dismantling the Bolsonaro govt and freeing the most important Left wing leader in the World Lula da Silva from prison.
His courage in doing this type of journalism just cannot be understated, he is a shining example of what can be done in journalism when it is pursued with integrity and a high social purpose as its moral guide can achieve.
He also discusses the rise of, and destructive power of the woke liberal movement in the West, which as we know has been having an extremely corrosive effect on free discourse, but is proving to be extremely effective in creating divisiveness across all political/social spectrums.
Glen Greenwald on Syria
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/glenn-greenwald-revving-us-war-machine-wont-help-syrias-suffering-civilians
Fr out this mental health hiding stats from the normal report thing is looking a bit of a joke.
Andrew Little is getting reamed on the AM show and Garner usually spends most of his interviews with this government sucking up.
I haven't seen so many bullshit excuses from a Minister in a long time.
I’m waiting for something like this for a decade now:
Wellington car-free CBD
Naturally, there will be strong opposition to the plans.
And where exactly is every on supposed to go at the end of the Motorway?
lol you're so close to understanding some of the positive flow-on effects.
But the buses spewing black soot, as the electrical buses were exchanged against diesel will be allowed.
Are we then enriching the parking company by having to pay astronomical amounts when leaving the car at the city limits or even parking on the city council lots around train stations when coming to Wellington from areas where a bike ride takes days?
The transport system is absolute terrible, it could well be that you are stuck in town when those unreliable buses and trains are something to go by. Better not to go at all.
Why not address the urgent items first. You know the ones we actually need to pass the test of being a civilization and pay rates that have increased by double digits?
I was extremely unhappy with the replacement of the trolley busses without having the next generation of electric busses in place beforehand. This hopefully gets changed within the next years (as well as the car issue, e-scooter issue…).
Didn't know parking in the CBD is free at the moment. So it will move from within the CBD to the CBD fringe. Taking into account a significant portion of cars simply drives through the CBD instead of doing business within the CBD, parking fees doesn't apply to those cars… maybe the introduction of a congestion charge for vehicles driving through the CBD could cover that?
I would also suggest a very frequent inner CBD free public transport, similar to Melbourne, so people don't require a car in the city at all. Some of the freed road space can be used for bicycle / e-scooter etc. to free up the footpaths for pedestrians, for example in Germany e-scooters are not allowed on footpaths.
As far as I can see there are significantly more bike going into the CBD now compared to 10 years ago, especially e-bikes. So many people moved beyond the "car über alles" sentiment we have here in NZ. Public transport will improve when more people are going to use it and public transport is not stuck within car traffic.
I also strongly believe that the road rules have to be properly enforced here, so pedestrians and bike riders can feel safe. And isn't it time to adjust road fines by at least inflation since they were set last time (late 1990s!)?
Coming from a city where you do not need a car at all – true! – with a population size half of NZ, I know that Wellington is so far behind the 8-ball it isn't funny anymore. But we have wasted so much money on stupid things that one could cry. Besides, who wants to live in a place where sewage can be your morning greeting at any minute and your drinking water is being sold rather then flowing through maintained pipes. I do not harbour any hope that this will see any improvement in the next 20-30 years.
I have moved out of Wellington and so glad I did. Perhaps a visit once or twice a year will do me just fine.
NZME has Soper writing about Hosk in granny.
The NZ media in a nutshell: manufacture content from within your owned media assets.
Yep just posted on it. Clearly they were after clicks.
you know they are circleing the plughole when one sad entitled git writing about another sad entitled git from the same organisation is a featured headline. the herald is jumping the shark.
Not the best way to get on side with Kiwis – a Taupo boutique lodge manager complains "sorry to say, Kiwis are tight arses, to be honest" (Stuff 8 April page 13). Perhaps Kiwis are happy spending their money at a nice motel, not a hyper expensive boutique lodges, and spending their money also on experiences etc.
it is a very rude way of saying that most Kiwis are broke as. 🙂
Agreed Sabine, made the very comment to "him indoors".
also go's on to say that aussies dont stay their much either. hmmm, great business plan ,if you need people to cross the equator, maybe time to lower your prices.it doesnt sound like a sustainable business, long term.
Grant Robertson really seems to be out of touch with reality and not taking advice from treasury etc. So if landlords raise rents, he said tenants should simply look elsewhere like this tenant.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/04/terminally-ill-woman-winz-families-asked-to-vacate-homes-by-hamilton-landlord-after-government-crackdown-on-property-investors.html
Best Ms Goodwin gets off the pot and gives someone more competent an opportunity to pee.
By the sounds of the article she is doing exactly that and selling all five properties. Seems a bit knee jerk to me as the interest deductibility is being phased in not next tax year will only cost a bit more.
It seems to me interest deductibility is an anomaly in the Income Tax Act, so she cannot complain about its removal. However, had depreciation not become non deductible she would probably have been OK. Depreciation is a legitimate expense and, therefor removing its deductibility was, I believe, a mistake. I suspect though that margins in property investment are so low that wiping out depreciation allowances would wipe out profits altogether.
Perhaps it is time to rationalize the situation and make rental property investment tax free, and all the related expenses non deductible.
How can depreciation be a legitimate expense in this case, when property values increase ?? There is, under housing no loss in value. There are rules that the IRD follow to determine what is valid R&M verse capital cost, and R&M is a deductible expense to reduce tax.
I thought the changes to depreciation for housing was necessary.
"Depreciation is an accounting method of allocating the cost of a tangible or physical asset over its useful life or life expectancy. Depreciation represents how much of an asset's value has been used up."
I thought the changes to depreciation for housing was necessary.
It wasn't really necessary. The book value of a property equals original cost less depreciation allowed prior to sale, though depreciation is not applicable to land, only to the house. When a property is sold one would treat any difference between the sale price and the book value of the house as capital gain. After all, what would one do if the property had been sold for less than book value. Would one continue to regard depreciation as non deductible inf that situation.
In the case quoted above depreciation, being a non cash expense, might have helped to ease Ms Goodman's flow problems until the houses were sold had depreciation been deductible – even if there had been an excess depreciation claw back rule in place.
She owns the houses. She can sell them whenever she likes and can also ask tenants to leave to help with doing that.
It’s been a while since I saw somebody wheel out the ‘pretty legal’ excuse here. Typically, by a simpleton or by a RW stirrer.
A panicking ninny,?
Or a scummy little right wing tool making shit up to try damage the government?
From what I understand plenty are getting out asap as they feel the market is at a peak.
Im no expert but I'm fairly worried that inflationary pressure is going to arrive and the real effects of what is a global slow down masked by printed money will hit hard.
Or Landlords are rushing to change things out of panic.
How long has she had the properties? She is getting a 12 month lead in and a staggered rate over four years, so her reasons for selling up seem political at this stage. The comment regarding double glazing shows there was no contingency fund.
Would selling 1 home pay the interest on the other homes?
At some point a landlord is going to cash up. Blaming the recent changes for not being a landlord is going to far in this case. Maybe just having the 1 home and paying off the interest on the loan could be to much once the tax deduction on interest is cut for some with a big mortgage on an investment property.
Were the sale price on a rental home start to drop will landlords cash up?
Your blaming Grant R for that? Most “business” owners have some compassion and in a case like this wouldn’t evict a terminally ill person. Shame on the landlord. Shame, shame on him
shame on the landlord.
and shame on Grant Robertson to sprout something so profoundly tone deaf and stupid and down right dumb as
but then Grant boy will never have to go looking elsewhere should his housing costs go up as the Tax payer is paying him such a good wage that this is not one of his concerns. Like his collegues he too is well fed, well heeled, and well housed, and that is what matters.
So yeah, shame to the greedy landlord, and shame to the Finance Minister who obviously has no idea what he is talking about. But then, its on par with what someone else said a few years ago.
They are virtually the same comments, one in blue one in red, and both just take the piss at the misery of those that finance their lives. The citizens and taxpayers of this country.
You obviously didn't watch the video. Even the tenants were not blaming the landlord. She owns five properties and rents to low income people with pets, so I would say she's actually a pretty reasonable landlord.
IS there anything this government actually likes to fund? I mean seriously, why is this not funded?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300271227/womens-health-held-together-by-fax-machine-as-ardern-govt-fails-to-fund-modern-hpv-testing
good grief. IS this a case of can't or won't?
For people like Kiri who obviously do not like anyone to poke about their business, the ability to perform a self test could have been potentially a deal breaker and rather then undergoing Stage 3 cancer treatment she would have had alternatives that would be less invasive, and lasting.
yeah, and Grant boy answered the Question, its We Won't.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/woman-battling-cancer-has-to-pay-64k-for-drug-cytoxan-theyre-making-money-out-of-me-dying/LORD6PAJSPWOZKG5RJXOZILSI4/
Yep, its not that they can't, they simply don't, won't and don't give no dime. Kinder gentler, Yeah, right Labour!
They gave an extra 800 000 000 to health.. what have the DHBs done with it? Raised
pay? Hired specialists? Being DHBs your guess is as good as mine.
Could be the little matter of the Pandemic elimination strategy?
Nope we had no pandemic in 2017 – 2018. The health sector is so underfunded that people will die. And Kiri – who has been open about not liking to go to a OBGYN or a GP for a papsmear could have done it by herself and thus prevented the thousands upon thousands it will now cost in surgery and chemo therapy etc.
And dear Grant still gives no fuck.
It sounds like the Pandemic is to Labour what Helen Clark was to John Key.
Is another Cartwright inquiry needed?
Any encouragement to get a cervical test for a cancer or a pre cancer which has a high likely hood of being detected with a do it yourself procedure or the current method used no excuse to not fully fund it.
National are pushing the panic buttons when we need to be patient until we know that vaccines are effective against variants and safe administration is keeping an eye on adverse reactions during administration of vaccines there is no need to rush vaccine roll outs or opening borders.
Especially when countries where vast numbers of people are dying who need the vaccine more urgently reflects on National's selfishness.
Bringing people from the Pacific Islands who could be trapped here vice versa travel opening travel to Pacific islands until they are vaccinated/immunised could devistate indigenous populations who are far more susceptible to c19 as well as not having health systems that barely exist now.NZ 's health system is overloaded now with out an outbreak.
Rory Mac Illroy speaks out about voter suppression in Georgia Lee Travino boycotted the Masters at the height of his career because of the racism at the Masters.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/440003/hollywood-director-james-cameron-s-enviro-farm-turns-to-dairy-cow-grazing
Ah ha. Come in you rich people with great ideas that sound good to greenies, future looking, diversifying, yes you can buy our piece of land to add to your various hideouts around the world. Just get your foot in the door, and NZ will never push you out again, they aren't 'robust' enough (and always looking for a quick buck, don't be fooled by the greenwash.)
My pick is hes tired of topping up his project with his movie money and has decided to be economic he needs to go conventional.
Yes I'll bet he had that up his sleeve. Organic (enviro?) farming isn't exciting enough for a movie man.
Pop
https://twitter.com/minhealthnz/status/1379927454479904769
Oh dear, here we go again. So this is what we learn from the 1pm press conference
1. the border work was not vaccinated
2. they didn’t refuse the vaccine but
3. there were “logistical” issues.
Where have we heard this before? Maybe the PPE saga, the we’re doing weekly tests / no we’re not saga, the MIQ escape saga …
MOH makes the policy,the DHB implements the policy.
Ask the DHB why not.
I think with cases currently nearing 100 it wont be long until we have to shut down everything again. Then we print some more money and add another 16 billion dollars to the debt mountain. niiice….
Paul Crutzen – one of today's great people. Now RIP though – since 28 January 2021.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-29/the-scientist-who-warned-of-ozone-hole-then-named-our-climate-age
https://www.mpg.de/16360356/obituary-paul-j-crutzen –
.
(Max Planck Institute – https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bpplan.html)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/solar-geoengineering-climate-change_n_605c765dc5b67593e055ff9d
…It is, quite literally, the stuff of science fiction. But on Thursday the United States inched closer to realizing what, depending on where you fall, could be considered a dream of environmental engineering or a dystopian nightmare: devising a plan to artificially cool the planet if humans fail to cut climate-changing emissions quickly enough.
In a 329-page report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine outlined its vision for a federal program to study what’s collectively known as solar geoengineering ― a handful of techniques to reflect sunlight back into space or manipulate cloud coverage to temporarily alleviate the effects of pollution-fueled heating.…
Ju-darth's days must be numbered. Dick Prebble the other day, and now National Party embedded journalist, Claire Trevett have both begun the process of leadership change.
If the choice is between Chris Lucks-in and Soimon, or both, as Trevett suggests, then the Nats have a long, long way to go.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/claire-trevett-is-a-simon-bridges-christopher-luxon-leadership-ticket-on-the-cards/DSCBWYHFH2CGYCA3ONHAFOMDHE/
They may find she's as hard to be rid of as a cockroach infestation. With no plausible leaders in the offing, and a rank and file so lacking in talent it has room for Smith & Brownlee, the National Party is waiting for Godot – boredom incarnate without the redeeming literary merit.
Ardern has just announced that there will be no entry by kiwis from India till the end of the month.
This will turn ugly
In what way do you mean 'will turn ugly'?
It will start arguments about it being against international law……yadda yadda yadda.
At leat she was at pains to highlight the “temporarily” bit, so may not be that bad.
That and they look a bit stupid given Megan Woods comments the other day when Hamish Walker moaned about Indians going into MIQ down south.
"“I think it’s disgraceful and reprehensible. It’s scaremongering and frankly it’s racist,”"
Lol
You seem to be having a great time!?
What international laws are you talking about? Sounds like you’re making it up as you go, which wouldn’t be the first time. Therefore, I add this:
[link required]
there is a right to return in NZ, but as expected this can be stopped or amended to protect the people here. From AUT here https://news.aut.ac.nz/news/the-legal-rights-of-kiwis-coming-home
What i would like to know is if the people that are currently not being allowed to board a plane in India will have some recompensation for their flights, and their booked isolation facilities. Will other people be allowed in on short notice to use the space up? And why are we freaking out because 100 people in isolation have covid. Are we not prepared for that number? Are our hospitals not capable now or are we still worried that our already collapsing health care system would collapse in sight of all and everyone, one year after the closure of the border.
Meh, I feel nothing but pity for the people that shelled out good money to get back here, who waited a month or several for a spot in isolation just to be fobbed of like that.
These are risky times. There’s a global pandemic raging. It is not BAU. Maybe this will act as a warning for wannabe travelers in the Oz-NZ bubble. I feel pity for people who have lost loved ones to Covid-19 but fortunately only 26 so far in NZ.
the questions raised still stand tho.
-are the travelers just to absorb the costs? a wet hand shake? uncertain times?
-will the freed up beds allocated to others who have been on the waiting line?
i don't care much about people coming back to the country before full vaccination but these gap stop actions are kind of rude to anyone who has put in the effort of actually getting here. Cause it ain't easy.
"-are the travelers just to absorb the costs? a wet hand shake? uncertain times?"
They could start by talking to their travel insurance company.
"-will the freed up beds allocated to others who have been on the waiting line?"
Maybe the beds stay empty and the workers can have a break.
I think it’ll depend on insurance and refund policies of airlines, et cetera.
I’d assume any freed-up empty beds will be put to good use.
The temporary measures are to protect both travellers and MIQ facilities.
Is it considered rude to protect people and others from catching Covid-19? If so, 2020 was the ‘rudest’ year on record.
Nobody has said it is easy!
As i said, i don't want anyone to come before at least we have had a chances at getting the vaccines to everyone, but i guess that is going to take a bit longer for while. And yes, 2020 was rude for most of us, it helps to keep that in mind when holding awesome powers.
Somehow, I don’t think “rude’ is the word you’re looking for.
I think that we all have a right to be safe and if it is found that 80% of travelers from a country (any country) are arriving in NZ infected, the NZ population also has the right to say no, you have to be virus free if you come to these shores. If you look at the visitor cards for immigration, any foreign material or organism is not allowed into NZ. A carrier of a virus with such known devastating effect on health, lives and economic impact qualifies. I really don't care who these people are, everybody has a right to have predictable consequences affecting lives avoided at all costs.
They gave an extra 800 000 000 to health.. what have the DHBs done with it? Raised
pay? Hired specialists? Being DHBs your guess is as good as mine.
Could be the little matter of the Pandemic elimination strategy?
I think it is to protect Border workers and quarantine from being swamped. 7×24 in a day might mean 148 in a week, or 296 in a fortnight. That is pushing the envelope. I am pleased they are alert to changes happening overseas. Most airlines are allowing rebooking. This is the new reality. Buyer beware!!
Daily new COVID-19 case numbers in India have surged in the last month (126,315 new cases on 7 April, the highest number ever reported outside the USA). In the last few days the daily new case numbers have been consistently higher than during the mid-Sept peak of India's first wave, and trending sharply upwards.
The travel ban is precautionary – wouldn’t be surprised if it is extended, and of course any disruption and grief it causes is regrettable.
Wouldn't be surprised also if some opposition National party MP pipes up soon and opines that the Government should have put this travel ban in place sooner.
"Wouldn't be surprised also if some opposition National party MP pipes up soon and opines that the Government should have put this travel ban in place sooner."
Gotta say, the opposition are fairly tragic.They make me think of one of the 5000 that were fed with five loaves and two fish that there wasn't a gluten free option.
Daily new covid cases are surging pretty much everywhere as the old variant is being replaced by the new UK variant.
And everyone who got a vaccine so far hopes and prays to any deity that wants to listen that it works.
In the meantime in NZ we still stuck at lockdown mentality cause that is all we got.
So i really hope dear leader will close the borders to Europeans, US America (75% of all cases are now the UK variant) and everywhere else where the virus is on the march again, just to fair. …..and equal, and maybe just to watch that stench of 'racism' and 'panic' of.
Again, a hundered cases in the country, non in our crumbling hospital system and they panic. How bad is our hospital system? Worse then it was before lockdown?
Please inform yourself before you comment here, thanks.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/124786540/covid19-what-the-numbers-say-about-the-india-travel-ban
Best to fact-check Chris T's fake news. The travel ban hasn't started yet, and the intention is end the ban on 28 April (although it could be extended if necessary), so initially it’s an 18-day ban, not a 22-day ban (until the end of the month.)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/440052/new-zealand-temporarily-suspending-travel-from-india-pm-jacinda-ardern
Collins can only hope.
Most NZers will see this as a strategic decision, courtesy of epidemiological analyses, to ensure that our much admired COVID-19 elimination strategy continues to work for the team of nearly five million.
Oh my god! I shorten it by 2 days to make it easier to write!
4 pm on 11 April is 3 days on my calendar. You shortened it so much it was grossly misleading but I assume that was entirely unintentional and accidental.
Chris T, imho your sole motive for commenting here is to stir ("This will turn ugly").
You can't count well enough to tell the difference between 22 days ("till the end of the month") and 18 days (11 – 28 April) – why would anyone trust your judgement?
Poor widdle Chris T, earlier in the day he’s been whinging about the PM being too scared and running from tough questions and then our brave PM fronts the country (again) with strong and brave leadership to make an announcement to protect our country. You can't catch a break eh sweetie. She also said the delay will give them time to pass the necessary laws, I assume to cover your fear mongering yadda yadda yadda, but I’m sure you’ll be back here regularly with your Faux outrage and Chicken Little conspiracies.
Where have I been outraged over it my simple minded friend?
I agree with doing it.
All your combined comments continue to highlight your outrage my very wise and thoughtful friend. You are quite right I am very simple minded, in fact generally I'm as dumb as a box of rocks, but I know right from wrong and sincere from insincere and that keeps me a very content and happy simpleton.
Just don't mention Greta.
Or the mental health report on here and expect justification for it's "tinkering"
https://twitter.com/Shayan86/status/1378916248063463428
https://www.themarysue.com/did-q-really-out-himself-we-investigate/
https://mashable.com/article/q-identity-revealed-hbo-documentary/
I deeply apologise for any offence I may have caused by saying end of month and not 2 days before the end of the month.
But if we are going to get pedantic about it, some flights from India take 24 hours, so presumably they will stop them going 24 hours before
Oh, I see now, you took 2 days off at the end, not at the beginning, or maybe you did both or would it be pedantic to assume that? Your stirring is starting to waste our time here. Are you going to apologise for that too? I think you should.
Of course.
I apologise for for not including the time at the beginning.
Now can I please get some apologies from all those that didn't ake into account some travellers from places in India can take over 24 hours and even more if they are travelling by boat, so these places will need to stop people leaving earlier.
Thanks in advance
Fact is, people traveling from India are not doing enough to protect New Zealand from Covid.
This is one of the best things JA has done all year. Sends a message.