So 20% (at least) of all Auckland houses were sold to foreigners.
Not a problem, says that moron Judith “Oravida” Collins, because nationally the rate is just 3%.
what an idiot. The constant denial of reality by National – both in government and now in opposition – shows how much the left underestimates the influence of the mad and bad American right on the NZ right, and how the dangerous fantasy land of Judith Collins should warn us how close National is to going into a full Trump rogue mode, like the US Republicans have.
What she’s really worried about is that here idol’s vanity project MoBIE will be picked apart from the outside inwards. Housing & Urban Dev a good start.
I think that the 20% figure applies only to Auckland Central and perhaps the North Shore and that other property hotspot Queenstown? Auckland wide the figure was nearer 10% and nationwide it’s 3%.
“However the actual number of overseas buyers may be significantly higher because the figures do not capture sales made to corporate entities such as companies, which accounted for around 10% of sales in the March quarter.”
Just another layer of baffling opaqueness Pat which seems to make it impossible to get a fix on how foreign buyers are affecting the market. Which, of course, suits those who want free rein.
Why they dont (or are unable to) include companies/corporates in their data capture is odd….but as you note there are those who would be happier all round if none of it was measured
And having lived in Queenstown for nearly nine years it’s worth pointing out that there at least, the largest foreign buyer group is most likely Australians and they aren’t going to be impacted by any moves the government makes to curtail foreign buyers. They’re attracted by the advantages of exchange rate differentials and not having to pay Stamp Duty and Capital Gains Tax.
It’s not just the foreign buyers, it is also the amount of new residents who were bought into NZ under the Key government. NZ was one of the highest per capita in the world – the other countries doing the same thing, are countries like Israel who have a political agenda about their immigration policy and it could be considered a replacement one at the very least displacement.
Whether intentional or not, and you can’t blame the migrants but our government adopted this policy of displacement. For what ever reason they have replaced poor Maori/Pacific/Pakeha with mostly low waged Indians and the Pakeha middle class with Chinese/Koreans and also got a few rich migrants from any country they could manage. If the government bothered to get any real statistics about ethnicity as well as new residents/citizens then it would clearly show this at ground zero, Auckland.
Whether that is a good or bad thing is up for debate, but increasingly, like Meth, climate change, smoking, there is no debate because lobbyists just keep the debate on the surface arguing about statistics and what they say is true on their flawed models, rather than what can be seen before people’s eyes from any who visits Auckland.
That is before we get onto why you would do that to the infrastructure and purposely overload hospitals, schools… etc
It’s the government’s fault and they have abused the system just like the Meth Con scandal for their own ends.
But what to do from now, continue to displace people – 90,000 came in last year and how to integrate completely different cultures into something socially cohesive and who should pay for it, when there seems to be a new class of people who are new to the country, have a rich lifestyle, but qualify for welfare somehow?
I agree @ Draco. Amid a housing ‘crisis’ – an admission that had to be prised out of them with a crowbar – even 3% is fucking high. You’ll note that all they have to ride on at the moment is that claims of figures over and above (say 30%) was outrageous, alongside all that ‘Chinese sounding names’ fiasco.
They rely on the lack of statistics – which, of course, was by design (by them).
And at Jude’s straw-clutching best, she comes out with claims such as parents buying housing for their international student sons and daughters in support of billions of dollars of an export industry. I luv her! She’s ekshully the gift that keeps on giving, and if she relocated to the mainland at co-ordinates between 39 and 49 North, I’d be the first to wish her any sort of life longevity. I ‘spose she could always hide behind a Kauri tabletop though.
(Btw, one day some ‘entrepreneurial’ journalist – Hark! – I mean member of the 4th Estate, might go into a cost benefit analysis of all of that which would include the decline in tertiary rankings).
There goes a Jude, perfectly happy for parents of international students enrolled in shitty PTE courses to trump people sleeping in doorways and cars, and whose children struggle to even get a decent primary and secondary edjikayshun (going forward).
Sincerely! I hope she keeps it up. If I were her, I’d seriously be considering keeping my head down but then I guess she’s so fucking clever, she’s relying on the inadequacies and under-resourcing of a public service media, just as under-resourcing a civil service was all by ideological design.
And then of course, “Dunks and Richo” and the token talked-down bimbo in the third chair who probably still has a reasobaly large mortgage to pay, will be there to prop Jude’s saggy arse up amid Dunk and Rich thickery.
But then, as we’ve discussed before – the mathematics of it all don’t really stack up and I suspect much of their current outbursts are driven by fear (or maybe just born-to-rule, once was blue-rinse and Tim-nice-but dim Tory arrogance, )
And if she gets desperate, there’ll always be (what the gay community refer to as) a BoQ from the Eastern Wellington suburbs – the ultimate wannabe snob trying to deflect everyone else’s attitude as snobbery.
The gNatz and their propper-uppers really are becoming something worthy of a reality TV show.
The “National” Party ffs.
Christ! even the likes of Jim Bolger, McKinnon and others know what a completely fucked up gathering of self-indulgent, self-promoting, unimaginative organisms slithering around trying to make connections it’s become.
But …. she’s not the worst of them Draco. The best thing about Jude is that we can be pretty sure of her agenda, based on her record. Others are far more slippery – often as thick as pigshit but who’ve managed to slip their way into positions of what they think is power by way of ‘elite connections’.
No doubt there’ll be a ScottGN, or a James, or even a Mullet along shortly.
With housing constantly in the news, I suppose we have to get used to Judith Collins’ trivial sneering. I do wonder however, whether trivial sneering is going to find favour with the electorate.
Sounds like you have a warm feeling in your nethers for Judith Collins — always leaping to her defence whenever the nasty Lefties start disparaging her. Keep it up, Lancelot. I’m sure she’ll acknowledge your existence one day.
more likely James is paid to be a pom pom bearing cheer girl for Judith, no one of sane mind would willingly do that for free, PR is the lowest of the low jobs one can succumb to, the lack of ethics and morality, the cheerleading for idiots and big upping complete stupidity not to mention the lying, deceiving and trolling the public for a living = Scum of the earth propagandists.
Lolz James, if anything I probably gave my mummy and daddy issues.
My folks are the bee’s knee’s, am very lucky, they taught me to look after people, no matter who they are, as everyone is important and we have no idea of others struggles.
“… I do wonder however, whether trivial sneering is going to find favour with the electorate…”
In our deeply polarised and uneven society Collins has set herself to be the voice of the solid 33% of us who no longer care about the poor, or care about the housing crisis, or care about our massive incarceration rate, or care about massive underfunding of health and education, since they don’t know anyone poor and benefit from housing speculation and they can afford good security, Southern Cross and to live in a good school zone.
Collins is the spokesperson for this new neoliberal grasping class, the mid-range Audi drivers in ready to wear Barkers clothing and branded leisure wear who aspire to three rental homes, a fibreglass speedboat and a place place at Omaha.
What people with empathy see as trivial sneering is the red meat that feeds the psychopathology of her base.
That is why I hope she becomes leader of National. She will keep the base solid and fanatically loyal, and about 6% short of government forever.
Amazing how we can not get accurate data, I worked in the Real Estate Industry in Auckland 6-7 years ago and looked up the owners on every property over 2 x suburbs through the Property Guru Program/Website. It was very difficult to get any correlation with property owners names to telephone numbers in the phone book, also many properties are held in trusts and lawyers names. Also a very high % of Asian names on the property ownership details. Likewise attending Auctions in Auckland Central on a weekly basis up to 80-90% of the attendees were of Asian ethnicity.
When you have successive Governments saying they can not get accurate data, that indicates to me we have a problem with regards to who is buying up our housing stocks, especially when we have witnessed rabid house price inflation over the past 20 years and we can not provide affordable housing for our own people ?
Of course they can get accurate data Tamati, you’ve hit the nail on the head. They’ve been snowballing us and IMO Labour are either now complicit or too poor with numbers to see what’s been going on.
Jesus Christ when did title transfers become property sales?
Stats report this for the March quarter;
“There were 40,740 property transfers, including 32,880 home transfers, in the March 2018 quarter.”
REINZ report the following residential property sales for the March quarter;
December 5903
January 4366
February 6373
March 7768
Total 24,410
Now REINZ don’t say whether their data includes private sales but it’s likely since they have access to QV data and other sources. There could also be a time lag between sales and title transfers but it still indicates a possible 25% margin of error in the stats which is unacceptable. At the very least it needs an explanation.
You can tell that Stats don’t like what’s going on by the amount of times they use the word ‘transfer’ in their press release;
I just hope that statistics NZ lift the lid on non residents purchasing homes. To an extent residents here under 5 years as well. Some regions are telling.
Stats NZ can only do what they’re instructed, what’s needed there is for someone to wise up and give them the right instructions. They’re professional statisticians with no biases, if they’re given the mandate they will produce the true statistics on overseas buyers.
Just because you don’t own the house you’re in, it doesn’t mean the owner is an overseas landlord.
Just because someone was born overseas, it doesn’t mean they’re not a NZer.
You’d have to look at the LINZ data, and flip that through to the directors/majority shareholdings of landowning firms from the companies register. So your big data system, write it up in a locked room and hope your code compiles when they run it to see if they can tell you the answer…
“here under 5 years as well”.
Why stop there?
Why not forbid anyone who cannot trace their ancestry back to someone living here in the nineteenth century from buying a home?
That would certainly catch a few of those nasty people who buy houses wouldn’t it?
I don’t think the non residents are the biggest problem. The real problem is the new residents who are buying up, putting their assets into Tom/Dick/Harry/Trust/company x names as it suits them and then claiming they have no income or assets and expecting the Kiwis to support their Accomodation supplement, WFF, retirement care, health, education, social welfare…
The biggest expense of a person’s life is the first 3 years and the last 3 years… so with our baby boom, and stories of people flying into NZ, 7 months pregnant, shopping at Gucci and then spending time in NZ to give birth here, or getting on Tinder and starting a relationship and family to gain residency as we can’t leave the child ‘fatherless’ blah, blah, one recent migrant having multiple children at the same time to different migrant women but not a problem says immigration, the stories keep popping up…
In a few years (and judging by the retirement villages popping up everywhere in a construction boom of them), which charge $1000 p/w+ plus if you are ‘poor’ as your assets are in trusts etc the taxpayer pay all your care, and of course you get free health care with residency…
Voting rights of course come with residency so that is wonderful for the Natz if corruption and nepotism is what you are used to in your home country …
We ain’t seem nothing yet. Time to stop the loopholes of these routs once and for all so we don’t end up like Greece or Fiji!
Sadly the biggest fixation for many in Auckland poltics is how to get a quicker railway line from the airport, (which of course the local Aucklander’s are paying for) so that we can make the journey and wealth transfer smoother from airport to residency lawyer to real estate agency to trust lawyer to WINZ…
Then they wonder why we have more lawyers per capita than the UK which is known as a financial hub!
The real problem is the new residents who are buying up, putting their assets into Tom/Dick/Harry/Trust/company x names as it suits them and then claiming they have no income or assets and expecting the Kiwis to support their Accomodation supplement, WFF, retirement care, health, education, social welfare…
Yes that’s right, because it is only immigrants who do this sort of thing. What’s more, they’re all doing, them imgrints .
Remember this ? https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/twyford-s-racist-cynical-chinese-property-buyer-statistics-de-bunked-q00964
Barfoot & Thompson boss Peter Thompson agreed the data was unreliable.
“We know there’s been a large portion of Asians buying property but there’s no way to tell if they’re one of three categories: NZ born, foreign-born NZ citizens or foreign-born foreign citizens. If you asked me about Asian non-residents, I’d probably say between 5 and 8 per cent.” https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11519706
Peter Thompson, of Barfoot & Thompson, blames financial instability in China for the dip in those bidding – partly fuelling the market slowdown. “There are a lot less Chinese in the auction room at the moment and at the open homes,” he said.
So they don’t have information as to their client base but then a few months later can point that the slow down is caused by the same clients that they have no info. on. Funny that…. Keep high sales volumes and the realestate coys just keep on clipping the ticket
At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist I think that that beat up of an article on Kelvin Davis speaks more to the attitudes of some in the media to the current government than it does to Davis’ abilities as a minister.
In the 9 years National was in government you would have lost count of the number of times National ministers treated select committee with disdain or disrespect and yet how often did that ever really make it onto the news cycle?
Its was just a stuff story generated by the nats who lined up the quotes and the sub leads.
of course its unlikely Davis could match the detail and enlightenment of Dear leader when he was Minister of Tourism and appearing before select committee ( where
his Mps would have the majority and be there to fluff his pillows)
Silly people! They complain because Kelvin says they will have to wait for detail as it has yet to be decided. So what is wrong with that?
Silly buggers. Facile and transparent are Nat MPs!.
Its almost like Labour MPs are trying to have a race to see who can be the most embarrassing, first it Hipkins and his “math”, then Twyford, then Curran, then Twyford again and now Davis
Curran most be happy though as she now doesn’t look that bad, mind you this probably give Jacinda some good experience at raising kids 🙂
Advance voting daily numbers dropped back a bit this week, likely the rainy weather. But totals are still ahead of general election numbers for the same period.
Could be 10,000 advance votes. Hoping it shows a strong turnout on Sat. Big turnouts always help labour as their supporters may be working weekends or have transport difficulties
The Labour canvassers I have spoken to seem quite jaunty. But plenty of approving toots from late model cars to the Nat placard wavers at major intersections.
Early voting has been going on steadily with more booths for early voting than the General. The booth near the Warehouse in Birkenhead Mall has had somebody voting most times I have been past. Unlike most of the North Shore, Northcote has some pockets of hardship and you see some sign of it at the Warehouse. I have had 2 Labour door knockers but no Nats (though I’m probably on their blacklist so they avoid me). Transport congestion is the thing that most people talk about, though I suspect that there are deeper concerns they won’t talk about. Onewa Rd is a worsening mess.
So really hard to tell. My pick is Nats by 1200 to 1500.
You two-timer.
A couple of days ago you were proclaiming you undying devotion to Judith.
Now you are trying to move in on my turf and are professing devotion for Sophia.
You will break Judith’s heart.
With the Canadian Senate about to hand back the amended marijuana legalization bill back to the Lower House, this opinion on the inevitable corporate beneficiaries of legalization was worth checking, in preparation for our own referendum:
A very good article thanks Ad. It does raise some interesting questions and high light some area’s for concern that would need to be considered should NZ decide to go down the legalisation route.
As an ex smoker (haven’t had weed since before I joined the NZDF 20 years ago) I don’t have a huge issue with normalisation. The people I knew and know who enjoy a smoke came from all walks of life. Weed is already normalised just not legal.
There should be no anxiety over the chubby little Windbag Judith Collins.
The same girl that did all sorts of favours for a chinese chap (on tax payers) that turned out to be her bread and butter. All very very naughty and unsavoury stuff. Even the twisted Key had to find a big shelf to put her on. For some years.
But the Collins Windbag, along with some silly Simon, is carrying on the cultivated Genocide of the Poor, the Middle Class, the Homeless and the Illiterate as they have done now for over ten years .
Action will be taken against The Herald which is supporting this Genocide. As will action against RNZ and TV3 and Heads of all National appointed Departments.
The Corporates will also have action taken against them. The Banks too.
Watch our little chubby Windbag Collins squirm . Watch Key and English too.
I’d imagine the women on here are more forgiving of the rage and desperation of the disadvantaged bubbling out in an OTT fashion and including unacceptable insults like ‘chubby’, than they are of the cynical and selective adoption of feminist rhetoric by people like you.
“I’d imagine the women on here are more forgiving of the rage and desperation of the disadvantaged bubbling out in an OTT fashion and including unacceptable insults like ‘chubby’, than they are of the cynical and selective adoption of feminist rhetoric by people like you.”
You’ve missed the point entirely (I suspect deliberately) that David Morrison was making, by not saying anything to Observer Tokoroa you’ve condoned his comments
Nope – I think “unacceptable insult” is a well-balanced comment showing that I thought OT was being a bit of a dick.
And on top of that, the other thing I won’t ‘walk past’, is 3rd-rate Tory boys smirking behind their hands while pretending to be feminists.
Shes a beautiful women and an example of a pre-raphalite stunner. However her attractiveness does not and should not detract from her considerable intelligence, her calmness and poise under pressure and obvious leadership credentials.
So please stop trying to discredit her simply because shes attractive
‘Shes (sic) a beautiful women’… Why the plural?
Are you implying bi-polarity? Schizophrenia? The Jeckyll – Hyde thing? Or just recognising that she is two-faced, as her lies about the Oravida thing made clear?
” happy calling women chubby or a trout etc ”
But James every post you’ve made today has been an a intended insult to someone.
You really are having a bad day.
Should we offer you sympathy?
Because none of us know what bad times you’re going through right now.
Questions arise after Housing NZ boss Andrew McKenzie flurry of interviews with the press
If tenants safety concerns are first and foremost, why, from the end of last year, did the agency stop evicting tenants from supposedly meth contaminated homes?
In December 2017, the minister said if methamphetamine traces were found, support, not eviction, would be the first approach.
Furthermore, he didn’t explain how the standard used was misused. Instead of its intended use as a target to clean a lab to, it was used as a trigger to start clean ups, even if meth had only been used and not manufactured at a property.
You would think that Judith Collins would have had more more than enough guts (to put it politely ) to get the Chinese Military Spy out of our Parliament. She knows what a mandarin looks like for god’s sake.
But no. She did not have the guts or the spine. So National will go down in History as the Government who breached Security. And How. They are all Tarred with same Black Chow Brush – National is. The Stinkpot Nationals.
How high China Collins – is their mascot. phew !
Also, You would think she could write (can she write? ) a little letter in Mandarin to her beloved Maoists saying Fuck you Mr Pigtail, for putting dangerous low standard steal in our most important overhead Bridges. Where it still remains.
I mean where does this little woman stand ! She is a creep. A hapless, woeful waste of time. Even Bill English is a bit better than her.
“Finnish children start school when they are seven, only spend four hours a day in class and don’t get homework until they are teenagers, yet outstrip New Zealand in international test results.
What’s more, these high results don’t come from just a handful of elite schools, they come from all schools regardless of socioeconomic factors…..
..University of New South Wales professor of education policy, and Finnish education expert, Pasi Sahlberg, is a worldwide authority on education reform currently visiting New Zealand as a guest of the University of Auckland….
..”I think lack of equity or inequity is one of the biggest issues in your school system.”
Rather than focusing on achievement he thinks wellbeing should be the first focus. It’s a concept gaining traction in New Zealand…”
Excellent analysis – cut straight through all the National Party’s lies about education and focus on the real issue: children bring their circumstances to school.
Hekia Parata reckoned that the circumstances children brought to school could be mitigated by having excellent teachers. Excellent teachers who would do what she and her Ministry told them to do, and would do what parents told them to do.
Seven hours with an excellent teacher to undo all the undesirable stuff which happened in the other 17 hours in the day for a child? How did he magic plan go? Did it include majicking up masses of magic teachers to do her special trick?
Here is a interesting article from the Australian ABC about Climate Change related HADR missions on the rise for the ADF and no doubt it is very similar to what is happening with the NZDF.
There is a graph within the article showing an upward trend for HADR and for Warlike operations which is little bit disturbing, but in saying that I have 3-4 books in my library along with some Staff College papers that I have found online that have predicted the rise in HADR and Warlike operations associated with Climate Change.
Very much EKF. Canterbury is now considered one of the most vital operational assets the NZDF have. Not just because of her listed capabilities but because she has already proven a number of times that she can deploy and provide HADR relief in real circumstances. Most exercises and training these days in some way references disaster relief.
Yes the Canterbury is good ship with all it’s limitations due to the bloody insane budget that the Navy was given and the political ideology of certain members of that government that nobble Project Protector in-particular to the Canterbury ie the lack of a docking well. Just imagine the Canterbury having a docking well and to do ship to shore transfers up to sea state 6, then I would’ve been a bloody great ship just need a few more NH-90’s as well.
Defence said climate change could magnify regional instabilities, causing security problems for Australia.
“Climate change can act as a ‘threat multiplier’.”
“Climate change may also eventually contribute to greater irregular migration pressure in vulnerable countries to Australia’s north, potentially becoming a substantial security threat for Australia.”
The Senate report concluded that “the consensus from the evidence (is) that climate change is exacerbating threats and risks to Australia’s national security”.
That’s not a ‘could’ but a will. When people can no longer stand the heat, when the local area doesn’t produce enough food and there isn’t enough water due to that heat then people will act. Some will emigrate while other will attack neighbours to decrease demand upon local resources. This latter will, inevitably, force yet more to try and emigrate.
And it won’t be just Australia that will have concerns because of them.
Yes DTB I fully agree with your comments and when you throw in some of the possible side effects of Globalisation it could get really untidy. The Katapo Ex’s on the West Coast is good foundation for the NZDF and again to due people’s political ideology they missing the point to those Ex’s because the next skill set above HADR missions is Peace Support/ Peacekeeping and Peace Stabilisation Missions. Those two Mission skill sets are going to be to quite more common in the future and only needs to look at some of the case studies involving the West Coast after Alpine Fault ruptures.
Couple of other books in my library and papers I’ve seen have mentioned/ talked about the possibility of Civil War or total collapse of Law and Order during/ after Natural Disaster or during HARD Mission in other words a Low Level Warlike Operation then it will get real messy for everyone concerned and may take years for a full recovery.
She rejects his claim that it has announced 122 reviews and says the number is 38 reviews or working groups that involve external agencies and work beyond the normal business of Government.
To paraphrase Rick the bar owner, “I don’t have much against a trougher, but I despise a cut-rate one”…
It’s a thinner part of the wedge from near-private meetings for $5k, but it’s still the same wedge.
But then, fundraising is an essential part of political action, unless we remove that part of the equation from politics. So this is one reason I’m not completely dismissive of things like publicly financed election campaigns – it would largely eliminate the temptation to blur the lines between party and public office.
I think/hope its a salutary lesson to politicians, from both sides, that you don’t have to comment on every little thing that happens or what goes around comes around
I don’t want publicly funded campaigns because, apart from the potential for shenanigans, paying for a political party to get into power just doesn’t sit right with me but I see your point
Thing is, if someone’s paying $5k for a near-private meeting with the cabinet member in their field and it’s advertised as an opportunity for facetime with a minister, that’s not a little thing. It’s a pretty fucking corrupt thing.
A dinner is less private, but it’s still basically buying access that all relevant stakeholders should get free of charge. Is the text of the speech he gave even available?
There is nothing wrong with either. If people want to part with their hard earned cash to listen to politicians, that’s their business. The hypocrisy is the howls of condemnation when the nats did it.
You’re advocating open slather on using money in politics in a democratic society and you want to talk about hypocrisy!
Consistent I suppose with your essentially corrupt and regressive values. Your leaders have to be able to use money because their policies are manifestly contrary to the public interest.
You see her as skinny. Other see hear as chubby. Still others see her as a politician who ripped Kiwis off. For which she got shelved.
As for you Gosman, you should have complained about the Spy in Parliament.
But then why should you ever do anything ? You are National . Helpless and Hopeless.
You are involved in the destruction of the people who do the work – you hopeless Man.
You don’t like her or her policies or past behaviour or whatever thats fine, talk about that but please stop with the commenting on her body or otherwise as it has nothing to do with what you dislike about her you’re merely diminishing her (and all other women) to the sum of her body parts
Were you angry at me because i said your close friends were cheating us over steel specifications. The Steel we in good faith put into our overhead Bridges.
It’s one thing not being able to trust your nonsense Gosman. But our chinese trading partners should not falsify their specifications.
Even if they have thousands of houses here.
Please do not lose you rag again Gosman. You waste my time.
Gossie chows is slang for Chinese, just like horis are maoris, pinkies or pakehas (white fleas) are europeans, coconuts are islanders and ragheads are indians, you need to get out and socialise a bit more and get up with the play.
Puckish Rogue says; ” please stop with the commenting on her body” while earlier saying; “Shes a beautiful women and an example of a pre-raphalite stunner”
Confused, much? Blinded by love and a burning desire?
Poor Puck!
In all seriousness body shaming needs to be frowned on. I don’t think banning people for it is the answer but if everyone on here (left and right) let people know its unacceptable maybe those continuing it will learn why its wrong
I’ve noticed some female contributors haven’t posted for awhile (Weka especially) and i don’t know if its anything to do with body shaming but if it is thats not good as the more posters the merrier
Yes (before anyone points it out) it was especially prevalent during the last Labour government and it was wrong then as its wrong now
And now back to the irreverent Puck..
Judes an angel blessed with the patience of a saint and I now she will forgive my transgressions as I’m only human and, even worse, merely a man
“merely a man” – we accept your apology, Pucky.
Obersver Tokora (Observer Tokoroa)? makes the observation that there’s a Spy in the House; surely “Pre-Raphaelite” Judy has had harsh words to share on that matter? Pucky?
Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis has apologised to an MP for calling her “hysterical” after she asked him a question about his portfolio at a parliamentary committee.
“I apologise for making that remark and for any offence caused,” Davis said in a statement today.
As the estimable paragon of greatness put it:
“That sort of patronising, sexist comment is something we National women get a lot from, particularly, the Labour party,” Collins said.
“This is the deputy leader of the Labour Party speaking to a senior MP who has been around for quite some time and a former minister as though she was a naughty little girl who should sit back in her little box and take her turn.”
I think Kelvin forgot he was at a Parliamentary Select Committee and not on a marae.
In Parliament he can’t just tell an uppity woman to sit at the back and keep quiet with impunity.
Bloody disgrace that anyone should be allowed to question him about his portfolio of course. Who do those people think they are?
The spectacle of a lying cow trying to make out she’s a caring lamb is quite funny.
She’s on about Kelvin Davis being patronising to Jacqui Dean as if she was ‘a naughty little girl who should sit back in her little box and take her turn.’
To make her point Judith treats Davis like he was a naughty little boy who should sit back in his little box and take her turn.
If disingenuity was money Collins would be a zillionaire a million times over and if pandering to moronic National followers was an art the Louvre and La Scala would be dedicated solely to her work.
For the record, Pucky, I don’t believe you admire Collins anywhere near as much as you profess. I’m certain you’re primarily taunting, or believe you are taunting readers here.
Have you ever had a scenario when you go to buy something from a shop a car parts shop and you know the attending is lying to you we it happen today.
You see I had already rang the call centre and they told me that the product was at this shop I went to the shop and he lied and said that the good product was sold out and the whole franchise had none left only the smaller product was available. I new he was lieing so I rang the call center again found another shop that said they had the product I booked it and got his name and told him I would make a complaint if the product was sold.
And this is why I say the sandflys are all the same as the Rotorua sandflys do this to ECO MAORI all the time they have nothing better to do than to harass me. Here some music to the sandflys
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New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
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So 20% (at least) of all Auckland houses were sold to foreigners.
Not a problem, says that moron Judith “Oravida” Collins, because nationally the rate is just 3%.
what an idiot. The constant denial of reality by National – both in government and now in opposition – shows how much the left underestimates the influence of the mad and bad American right on the NZ right, and how the dangerous fantasy land of Judith Collins should warn us how close National is to going into a full Trump rogue mode, like the US Republicans have.
In an amazing coincidence, 3% is also her preferred PM score.
I find her repellent, which I guess she would regard as a victory.
What she’s really worried about is that here idol’s vanity project MoBIE will be picked apart from the outside inwards. Housing & Urban Dev a good start.
I Doubt she would give you even a thought.
You’re right about that. But then when things all go tits up she’ll be bleating and screaming and crying how unfair everything is.
I think that the 20% figure applies only to Auckland Central and perhaps the North Shore and that other property hotspot Queenstown? Auckland wide the figure was nearer 10% and nationwide it’s 3%.
“However the actual number of overseas buyers may be significantly higher because the figures do not capture sales made to corporate entities such as companies, which accounted for around 10% of sales in the March quarter.”
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/94168/overseas-house-buyer-activity-concentrated-places-auckland-and-queenstown
Just another layer of baffling opaqueness Pat which seems to make it impossible to get a fix on how foreign buyers are affecting the market. Which, of course, suits those who want free rein.
Why they dont (or are unable to) include companies/corporates in their data capture is odd….but as you note there are those who would be happier all round if none of it was measured
What happens if you are posted to Auckland for 3 years and if you do not go your job could be terminated?
There is a high price to pay. And you were paying a mortgage in an affordable area. And you sell your home.
What is the position you are now in?
You have been put back 5 years.
It is not easy being a long distance landlord and raising children is expensive.
And having lived in Queenstown for nearly nine years it’s worth pointing out that there at least, the largest foreign buyer group is most likely Australians and they aren’t going to be impacted by any moves the government makes to curtail foreign buyers. They’re attracted by the advantages of exchange rate differentials and not having to pay Stamp Duty and Capital Gains Tax.
It’s not just the foreign buyers, it is also the amount of new residents who were bought into NZ under the Key government. NZ was one of the highest per capita in the world – the other countries doing the same thing, are countries like Israel who have a political agenda about their immigration policy and it could be considered a replacement one at the very least displacement.
Whether intentional or not, and you can’t blame the migrants but our government adopted this policy of displacement. For what ever reason they have replaced poor Maori/Pacific/Pakeha with mostly low waged Indians and the Pakeha middle class with Chinese/Koreans and also got a few rich migrants from any country they could manage. If the government bothered to get any real statistics about ethnicity as well as new residents/citizens then it would clearly show this at ground zero, Auckland.
Whether that is a good or bad thing is up for debate, but increasingly, like Meth, climate change, smoking, there is no debate because lobbyists just keep the debate on the surface arguing about statistics and what they say is true on their flawed models, rather than what can be seen before people’s eyes from any who visits Auckland.
That is before we get onto why you would do that to the infrastructure and purposely overload hospitals, schools… etc
It’s the government’s fault and they have abused the system just like the Meth Con scandal for their own ends.
But what to do from now, continue to displace people – 90,000 came in last year and how to integrate completely different cultures into something socially cohesive and who should pay for it, when there seems to be a new class of people who are new to the country, have a rich lifestyle, but qualify for welfare somehow?
The brighter future was for the new residents.
And 3% is 100% too much.
The only reason why foreigners are buying NZ houses is so that they can bludge off of NZers.
National is all about increasing that bludging of course.
I agree @ Draco. Amid a housing ‘crisis’ – an admission that had to be prised out of them with a crowbar – even 3% is fucking high. You’ll note that all they have to ride on at the moment is that claims of figures over and above (say 30%) was outrageous, alongside all that ‘Chinese sounding names’ fiasco.
They rely on the lack of statistics – which, of course, was by design (by them).
And at Jude’s straw-clutching best, she comes out with claims such as parents buying housing for their international student sons and daughters in support of billions of dollars of an export industry. I luv her! She’s ekshully the gift that keeps on giving, and if she relocated to the mainland at co-ordinates between 39 and 49 North, I’d be the first to wish her any sort of life longevity. I ‘spose she could always hide behind a Kauri tabletop though.
(Btw, one day some ‘entrepreneurial’ journalist – Hark! – I mean member of the 4th Estate, might go into a cost benefit analysis of all of that which would include the decline in tertiary rankings).
There goes a Jude, perfectly happy for parents of international students enrolled in shitty PTE courses to trump people sleeping in doorways and cars, and whose children struggle to even get a decent primary and secondary edjikayshun (going forward).
Sincerely! I hope she keeps it up. If I were her, I’d seriously be considering keeping my head down but then I guess she’s so fucking clever, she’s relying on the inadequacies and under-resourcing of a public service media, just as under-resourcing a civil service was all by ideological design.
And then of course, “Dunks and Richo” and the token talked-down bimbo in the third chair who probably still has a reasobaly large mortgage to pay, will be there to prop Jude’s saggy arse up amid Dunk and Rich thickery.
But then, as we’ve discussed before – the mathematics of it all don’t really stack up and I suspect much of their current outbursts are driven by fear (or maybe just born-to-rule, once was blue-rinse and Tim-nice-but dim Tory arrogance, )
And if she gets desperate, there’ll always be (what the gay community refer to as) a BoQ from the Eastern Wellington suburbs – the ultimate wannabe snob trying to deflect everyone else’s attitude as snobbery.
The gNatz and their propper-uppers really are becoming something worthy of a reality TV show.
The “National” Party ffs.
Christ! even the likes of Jim Bolger, McKinnon and others know what a completely fucked up gathering of self-indulgent, self-promoting, unimaginative organisms slithering around trying to make connections it’s become.
But …. she’s not the worst of them Draco. The best thing about Jude is that we can be pretty sure of her agenda, based on her record. Others are far more slippery – often as thick as pigshit but who’ve managed to slip their way into positions of what they think is power by way of ‘elite connections’.
No doubt there’ll be a ScottGN, or a James, or even a Mullet along shortly.
Any hidden costs were not factored in.
Hidden costs
Housing.
Education.
Health care.
Unemployment.
Immigration.
Traffic congestion.
Jail muster.
Sniff.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/govts-foreign-buyer-ban-will-destroy-the-housing-market-collins/ar-AAymaWw?ocid=spartanntp
Twyford lost again.
With housing constantly in the news, I suppose we have to get used to Judith Collins’ trivial sneering. I do wonder however, whether trivial sneering is going to find favour with the electorate.
The only reason she angled for the Housing portfolio was because it would put her in the middle of a near constant news stream.
And the faction backing Bridges must have been too weak to deny her.
The constant news stream is how bad National managed housing.
Collins can try and defend the indefensible. Still out of touch and will remain so.
Judith is speaking to her constituents and they applaud her. She means to taunt people like us.
Left in opposition taunting and does not have mature boundaries. Her constituents can have her.
She will never be PM, way too polarising and most women can’t stand her.
A PM should be akin to a mum or a dad, a person that genuinely cares about all the people whom they govern.
Not judith, that woman doesn’t appear to have a maternal bone in her body.
It sounds like you have mummy or daddy issues.
Sounds like you have a warm feeling in your nethers for Judith Collins — always leaping to her defence whenever the nasty Lefties start disparaging her. Keep it up, Lancelot. I’m sure she’ll acknowledge your existence one day.
more likely James is paid to be a pom pom bearing cheer girl for Judith, no one of sane mind would willingly do that for free, PR is the lowest of the low jobs one can succumb to, the lack of ethics and morality, the cheerleading for idiots and big upping complete stupidity not to mention the lying, deceiving and trolling the public for a living = Scum of the earth propagandists.
Lolz James, if anything I probably gave my mummy and daddy issues.
My folks are the bee’s knee’s, am very lucky, they taught me to look after people, no matter who they are, as everyone is important and we have no idea of others struggles.
Mums and dads are there to look around the corners. Collins has not looked around corners unless they were her own example Orivida and kauri.
“… I do wonder however, whether trivial sneering is going to find favour with the electorate…”
In our deeply polarised and uneven society Collins has set herself to be the voice of the solid 33% of us who no longer care about the poor, or care about the housing crisis, or care about our massive incarceration rate, or care about massive underfunding of health and education, since they don’t know anyone poor and benefit from housing speculation and they can afford good security, Southern Cross and to live in a good school zone.
Collins is the spokesperson for this new neoliberal grasping class, the mid-range Audi drivers in ready to wear Barkers clothing and branded leisure wear who aspire to three rental homes, a fibreglass speedboat and a place place at Omaha.
What people with empathy see as trivial sneering is the red meat that feeds the psychopathology of her base.
That is why I hope she becomes leader of National. She will keep the base solid and fanatically loyal, and about 6% short of government forever.
35 years of neoliberalism turns 1/3 of the population into selfish wannabes.
Neoliberalism turns people onto The spice Girls, thats probably the most compelling argument you’ve made
Amazing how we can not get accurate data, I worked in the Real Estate Industry in Auckland 6-7 years ago and looked up the owners on every property over 2 x suburbs through the Property Guru Program/Website. It was very difficult to get any correlation with property owners names to telephone numbers in the phone book, also many properties are held in trusts and lawyers names. Also a very high % of Asian names on the property ownership details. Likewise attending Auctions in Auckland Central on a weekly basis up to 80-90% of the attendees were of Asian ethnicity.
When you have successive Governments saying they can not get accurate data, that indicates to me we have a problem with regards to who is buying up our housing stocks, especially when we have witnessed rabid house price inflation over the past 20 years and we can not provide affordable housing for our own people ?
Of course they can get accurate data Tamati, you’ve hit the nail on the head. They’ve been snowballing us and IMO Labour are either now complicit or too poor with numbers to see what’s been going on.
Jesus Christ when did title transfers become property sales?
Stats report this for the March quarter;
“There were 40,740 property transfers, including 32,880 home transfers, in the March 2018 quarter.”
REINZ report the following residential property sales for the March quarter;
December 5903
January 4366
February 6373
March 7768
Total 24,410
Now REINZ don’t say whether their data includes private sales but it’s likely since they have access to QV data and other sources. There could also be a time lag between sales and title transfers but it still indicates a possible 25% margin of error in the stats which is unacceptable. At the very least it needs an explanation.
You can tell that Stats don’t like what’s going on by the amount of times they use the word ‘transfer’ in their press release;
https://stats.govt.nz/information-releases/property-transfer-statistics-march-2018-quarter
Their language is quite different to that which LINZ used in their (earlier) reports. (LINZ blithely referred to every transfer as a sale.)
I just hope that statistics NZ lift the lid on non residents purchasing homes. To an extent residents here under 5 years as well. Some regions are telling.
Stats NZ can only do what they’re instructed, what’s needed there is for someone to wise up and give them the right instructions. They’re professional statisticians with no biases, if they’re given the mandate they will produce the true statistics on overseas buyers.
Are you saying that info on the recent census can be with held?
Would an official information request reveal the size of the problem of non residents purchasing homes.
I don’t think so.
Just because you don’t own the house you’re in, it doesn’t mean the owner is an overseas landlord.
Just because someone was born overseas, it doesn’t mean they’re not a NZer.
You’d have to look at the LINZ data, and flip that through to the directors/majority shareholdings of landowning firms from the companies register. So your big data system, write it up in a locked room and hope your code compiles when they run it to see if they can tell you the answer…
“here under 5 years as well”.
Why stop there?
Why not forbid anyone who cannot trace their ancestry back to someone living here in the nineteenth century from buying a home?
That would certainly catch a few of those nasty people who buy houses wouldn’t it?
I did not call anyone nasty. Housing in NZ needs to be obtainable, affordable and not profit driven by people who have not contributed.
A line has to be drawn somewhere, just like with NZ Super Annuation.
I don’t think the non residents are the biggest problem. The real problem is the new residents who are buying up, putting their assets into Tom/Dick/Harry/Trust/company x names as it suits them and then claiming they have no income or assets and expecting the Kiwis to support their Accomodation supplement, WFF, retirement care, health, education, social welfare…
The biggest expense of a person’s life is the first 3 years and the last 3 years… so with our baby boom, and stories of people flying into NZ, 7 months pregnant, shopping at Gucci and then spending time in NZ to give birth here, or getting on Tinder and starting a relationship and family to gain residency as we can’t leave the child ‘fatherless’ blah, blah, one recent migrant having multiple children at the same time to different migrant women but not a problem says immigration, the stories keep popping up…
In a few years (and judging by the retirement villages popping up everywhere in a construction boom of them), which charge $1000 p/w+ plus if you are ‘poor’ as your assets are in trusts etc the taxpayer pay all your care, and of course you get free health care with residency…
Voting rights of course come with residency so that is wonderful for the Natz if corruption and nepotism is what you are used to in your home country …
We ain’t seem nothing yet. Time to stop the loopholes of these routs once and for all so we don’t end up like Greece or Fiji!
Sadly the biggest fixation for many in Auckland poltics is how to get a quicker railway line from the airport, (which of course the local Aucklander’s are paying for) so that we can make the journey and wealth transfer smoother from airport to residency lawyer to real estate agency to trust lawyer to WINZ…
Then they wonder why we have more lawyers per capita than the UK which is known as a financial hub!
The real problem is the new residents who are buying up, putting their assets into Tom/Dick/Harry/Trust/company x names as it suits them and then claiming they have no income or assets and expecting the Kiwis to support their Accomodation supplement, WFF, retirement care, health, education, social welfare…
Yes that’s right, because it is only immigrants who do this sort of thing. What’s more, they’re all doing, them imgrints .
Remember this ?
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/twyford-s-racist-cynical-chinese-property-buyer-statistics-de-bunked-q00964
Barfoot & Thompson boss Peter Thompson agreed the data was unreliable.
“We know there’s been a large portion of Asians buying property but there’s no way to tell if they’re one of three categories: NZ born, foreign-born NZ citizens or foreign-born foreign citizens. If you asked me about Asian non-residents, I’d probably say between 5 and 8 per cent.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11519706
Peter Thompson, of Barfoot & Thompson, blames financial instability in China for the dip in those bidding – partly fuelling the market slowdown. “There are a lot less Chinese in the auction room at the moment and at the open homes,” he said.
So they don’t have information as to their client base but then a few months later can point that the slow down is caused by the same clients that they have no info. on. Funny that…. Keep high sales volumes and the realestate coys just keep on clipping the ticket
Bit of a mystery aye.!
Kelvin Davis being very quiet over the problems in Auckland prison so I guess he must have been busy elsewhere
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104542844/mps-consider-recalling-kelvin-davis-to-select-committee-over-vacant-answers
Yup there he is 🙂
More trivial sneering……
At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist I think that that beat up of an article on Kelvin Davis speaks more to the attitudes of some in the media to the current government than it does to Davis’ abilities as a minister.
In the 9 years National was in government you would have lost count of the number of times National ministers treated select committee with disdain or disrespect and yet how often did that ever really make it onto the news cycle?
Its was just a stuff story generated by the nats who lined up the quotes and the sub leads.
of course its unlikely Davis could match the detail and enlightenment of Dear leader when he was Minister of Tourism and appearing before select committee ( where
his Mps would have the majority and be there to fluff his pillows)
Silly people! They complain because Kelvin says they will have to wait for detail as it has yet to be decided. So what is wrong with that?
Silly buggers. Facile and transparent are Nat MPs!.
Ah, right – the MSM distributing National’s propaganda yet again.
Obviously been busy doing more important stuff.
Its almost like Labour MPs are trying to have a race to see who can be the most embarrassing, first it Hipkins and his “math”, then Twyford, then Curran, then Twyford again and now Davis
Curran most be happy though as she now doesn’t look that bad, mind you this probably give Jacinda some good experience at raising kids 🙂
Baby time! 🙂
You are a wretched miserable troll
All you are capable of is ‘trivial sneering.’
Is trivial sneering your meme for the day Ed – you have used it a couple of times today and it’s just 9:30.
How about going outside – getting some sun and coming back when you are less rude to people.
Or at least try to comment on the comment.
Or perhaps a Galloway YouTube clip ?
James @ 2.2.1 you replied to Cinny
“It sounds like you have mummy or daddy issues.”
Your reply to Ed was equally childish.
Please stop wasting The Standard’s data download allocation.
Hi Chris
How is that most creeps are called Chris? Are You Christine, Christopher, Christ, ? or what?
I mean you are rubbishing some top guys and girls but you don’t seem to know your own name.
Typical little national brat – i guess.
You could book into a kindergarten – and get a bit of tuition.
How are things feeling on the ground in Northcote?
Re Northcote I am betting Red by a nose.
Advance voting daily numbers dropped back a bit this week, likely the rainy weather. But totals are still ahead of general election numbers for the same period.
Could be 10,000 advance votes. Hoping it shows a strong turnout on Sat. Big turnouts always help labour as their supporters may be working weekends or have transport difficulties
I wish I could share your optimism. National will hold the seat. I just hope people don’t prattle about “moral victories”. No such thing.
How much are you betting?
If the Green voters realise that voting for the Green candidate is particularly stupid.
The Labour canvassers I have spoken to seem quite jaunty. But plenty of approving toots from late model cars to the Nat placard wavers at major intersections.
Early voting has been going on steadily with more booths for early voting than the General. The booth near the Warehouse in Birkenhead Mall has had somebody voting most times I have been past. Unlike most of the North Shore, Northcote has some pockets of hardship and you see some sign of it at the Warehouse. I have had 2 Labour door knockers but no Nats (though I’m probably on their blacklist so they avoid me). Transport congestion is the thing that most people talk about, though I suspect that there are deeper concerns they won’t talk about. Onewa Rd is a worsening mess.
So really hard to tell. My pick is Nats by 1200 to 1500.
Anyone know when the results will come in for Northcote please?
Cinny
Preliminary Results progressively available from 7pm on http://www.electionresults.govt.nz.
Targets for release are:
By 7.30pm, all advance vote results. By 9.00pm, results from 50% of voting places. By 10.00pm, Results from 100% of voting places.
Hey Ad have you had any word on the baby yet, boy or girl ?
Also have you got any names in mind ?
“We’ll name him Nate … if it’s a boy”
Sophia if it’s a girl since it means wisdom.
Sophia is a lovely name
You two-timer.
A couple of days ago you were proclaiming you undying devotion to Judith.
Now you are trying to move in on my turf and are professing devotion for Sophia.
You will break Judith’s heart.
If its a boy, the name is Winston. It was in the coalition agreement.
With the Canadian Senate about to hand back the amended marijuana legalization bill back to the Lower House, this opinion on the inevitable corporate beneficiaries of legalization was worth checking, in preparation for our own referendum:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/06/canada-cannabis-legalization-corporate-influence-music
A very good article thanks Ad. It does raise some interesting questions and high light some area’s for concern that would need to be considered should NZ decide to go down the legalisation route.
As an ex smoker (haven’t had weed since before I joined the NZDF 20 years ago) I don’t have a huge issue with normalisation. The people I knew and know who enjoy a smoke came from all walks of life. Weed is already normalised just not legal.
A Windfall from a Windbag
There should be no anxiety over the chubby little Windbag Judith Collins.
The same girl that did all sorts of favours for a chinese chap (on tax payers) that turned out to be her bread and butter. All very very naughty and unsavoury stuff. Even the twisted Key had to find a big shelf to put her on. For some years.
But the Collins Windbag, along with some silly Simon, is carrying on the cultivated Genocide of the Poor, the Middle Class, the Homeless and the Illiterate as they have done now for over ten years .
Action will be taken against The Herald which is supporting this Genocide. As will action against RNZ and TV3 and Heads of all National appointed Departments.
The Corporates will also have action taken against them. The Banks too.
Watch our little chubby Windbag Collins squirm . Watch Key and English too.
Wow – how to the women on here feel knowing people like observer tokoroa feel that’s it’s ok to insult them regarding their weight to others ?
So you thinks it’s all ok to attach “chubby” to their name ?
Or do you find this insulting ?
There are several on here of late I have noted (since weka disappeared) who are happy calling women chubby or a trout etc and it’s disgusting.
I hope you are all ok with others doing that to your wives and daughters.
I’d imagine the women on here are more forgiving of the rage and desperation of the disadvantaged bubbling out in an OTT fashion and including unacceptable insults like ‘chubby’, than they are of the cynical and selective adoption of feminist rhetoric by people like you.
Enablers like you who are willing to overlook it simply because it suits your own prejudices are just as bad.
No wonder so many women have commented that The Standard becomes a place they are not comfortable.
Pointing out your rather obvious and self-serving cynicism is not ‘overlooking’ anything.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Morrison
This is an address by the Australian Chief of Army at the International Women’s Day Conference (2013) its long but this sentence sums it all up
“The standard you walk past, is the standard you accept.”
Quite – that’s why I didn’t walk past James showing faux outrage and pretending to believe in feminist principles.
“I’d imagine the women on here are more forgiving of the rage and desperation of the disadvantaged bubbling out in an OTT fashion and including unacceptable insults like ‘chubby’, than they are of the cynical and selective adoption of feminist rhetoric by people like you.”
You’ve missed the point entirely (I suspect deliberately) that David Morrison was making, by not saying anything to Observer Tokoroa you’ve condoned his comments
Nope – I think “unacceptable insult” is a well-balanced comment showing that I thought OT was being a bit of a dick.
And on top of that, the other thing I won’t ‘walk past’, is 3rd-rate Tory boys smirking behind their hands while pretending to be feminists.
“Nope – I think “unacceptable insult” is a well-balanced comment showing that I thought OT was being a bit of a dick.”
It wasn’t to Observer Tokoroa though was it, it was part of a comment to james so Observer Tokoroa might not even read it
“And on top of that, the other thing I won’t ‘walk past’, is 3rd-rate Tory boys smirking behind their hands while pretending to be feminists.”
But you will walk past lefties body shaming
That’s why most women are more comfortable with Cameron Slater at Whale Oil and David Farrar at Kiwiblog.
Shes a beautiful women and an example of a pre-raphalite stunner. However her attractiveness does not and should not detract from her considerable intelligence, her calmness and poise under pressure and obvious leadership credentials.
So please stop trying to discredit her simply because shes attractive
#allwomenarebeautiful
‘Shes (sic) a beautiful women’… Why the plural?
Are you implying bi-polarity? Schizophrenia? The Jeckyll – Hyde thing? Or just recognising that she is two-faced, as her lies about the Oravida thing made clear?
Heckle and Chide
” happy calling women chubby or a trout etc ”
But James every post you’ve made today has been an a intended insult to someone.
You really are having a bad day.
Should we offer you sympathy?
Because none of us know what bad times you’re going through right now.
Are you happy with racist and body shaming names ?
Just curious as you seem to be happy to ignore them.
I note that you didn’t address any of his other points. That Collins is fronting for the oppression of the poor.
Why engage in bodyshaming Observer Tokoroa?
Do you think people should be harassed for the way they look?
Should have guessed you’d hitch your troll wagon to James’ horse. Ever the opportunist eh, Gossie?
Cut back on the body shaming will you.
Questions arise after Housing NZ boss Andrew McKenzie flurry of interviews with the press
If tenants safety concerns are first and foremost, why, from the end of last year, did the agency stop evicting tenants from supposedly meth contaminated homes?
In December 2017, the minister said if methamphetamine traces were found, support, not eviction, would be the first approach.
Furthermore, he didn’t explain how the standard used was misused. Instead of its intended use as a target to clean a lab to, it was used as a trigger to start clean ups, even if meth had only been used and not manufactured at a property.
The Face Of Collins
You would think that Judith Collins would have had more more than enough guts (to put it politely ) to get the Chinese Military Spy out of our Parliament. She knows what a mandarin looks like for god’s sake.
But no. She did not have the guts or the spine. So National will go down in History as the Government who breached Security. And How. They are all Tarred with same Black Chow Brush – National is. The Stinkpot Nationals.
How high China Collins – is their mascot. phew !
Also, You would think she could write (can she write? ) a little letter in Mandarin to her beloved Maoists saying Fuck you Mr Pigtail, for putting dangerous low standard steal in our most important overhead Bridges. Where it still remains.
I mean where does this little woman stand ! She is a creep. A hapless, woeful waste of time. Even Bill English is a bit better than her.
She knows what a mandarin looks like ?
Oh please do inform us – what does one look like ?
As for your other comments (and your prev post) you seem very aggressive towards women.
You should seek help.
What is a “Black Chow Brush”?
Are you using “Chow” in the derogatory anti-Chinese sense of the word or in another way?
If you are using the racist meaning of the word, why are you doing so?
OT you are getting a bit OTT on our beloved China Doll.
Keep up the momentum Chris Hipkins.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/06/07/114822/four-hours-a-day-in-class-and-success?preview=1
Excellent analysis – cut straight through all the National Party’s lies about education and focus on the real issue: children bring their circumstances to school.
Hekia Parata reckoned that the circumstances children brought to school could be mitigated by having excellent teachers. Excellent teachers who would do what she and her Ministry told them to do, and would do what parents told them to do.
Seven hours with an excellent teacher to undo all the undesirable stuff which happened in the other 17 hours in the day for a child? How did he magic plan go? Did it include majicking up masses of magic teachers to do her special trick?
…until they start attending partnership schools.
Oh wait…
Here is a interesting article from the Australian ABC about Climate Change related HADR missions on the rise for the ADF and no doubt it is very similar to what is happening with the NZDF.
There is a graph within the article showing an upward trend for HADR and for Warlike operations which is little bit disturbing, but in saying that I have 3-4 books in my library along with some Staff College papers that I have found online that have predicted the rise in HADR and Warlike operations associated with Climate Change.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-08/adf-sees-climate-change-related-disaster-relief-demands-rise/9842458
Very much EKF. Canterbury is now considered one of the most vital operational assets the NZDF have. Not just because of her listed capabilities but because she has already proven a number of times that she can deploy and provide HADR relief in real circumstances. Most exercises and training these days in some way references disaster relief.
Yes the Canterbury is good ship with all it’s limitations due to the bloody insane budget that the Navy was given and the political ideology of certain members of that government that nobble Project Protector in-particular to the Canterbury ie the lack of a docking well. Just imagine the Canterbury having a docking well and to do ship to shore transfers up to sea state 6, then I would’ve been a bloody great ship just need a few more NH-90’s as well.
That’s not a ‘could’ but a will. When people can no longer stand the heat, when the local area doesn’t produce enough food and there isn’t enough water due to that heat then people will act. Some will emigrate while other will attack neighbours to decrease demand upon local resources. This latter will, inevitably, force yet more to try and emigrate.
And it won’t be just Australia that will have concerns because of them.
Yes DTB I fully agree with your comments and when you throw in some of the possible side effects of Globalisation it could get really untidy. The Katapo Ex’s on the West Coast is good foundation for the NZDF and again to due people’s political ideology they missing the point to those Ex’s because the next skill set above HADR missions is Peace Support/ Peacekeeping and Peace Stabilisation Missions. Those two Mission skill sets are going to be to quite more common in the future and only needs to look at some of the case studies involving the West Coast after Alpine Fault ruptures.
Couple of other books in my library and papers I’ve seen have mentioned/ talked about the possibility of Civil War or total collapse of Law and Order during/ after Natural Disaster or during HARD Mission in other words a Low Level Warlike Operation then it will get real messy for everyone concerned and may take years for a full recovery.
Any one here upset about this?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/104524940/labour-hosts-business-and-lobbyists-at-600ahead-dinners-in-exclusive-private-clubs
Why not ask the people who commented about it yesterday on Daily Review?
Because I am asking here.
It’s a bad thing – the infection begun by Key is spreading – time for a penicillin injection.
I’m quite enjoying the lefts self-inflicted wounds 🙂
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12066247
She rejects his claim that it has announced 122 reviews and says the number is 38 reviews or working groups that involve external agencies and work beyond the normal business of Government.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018636926
Govt announces 39 reviews, groups, investigations in 5 months
That was 20 March
Babies.
Answer for the next 3 months to every single question.
I’d love to say you’re wrong but…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/104484898/pm-jacinda-ardern-has-false-alarm-as-babys-due-date-approaches
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/06/newshub-investigates-what-will-jacinda-ardern-s-baby-look-like.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/104552656/jacinda-ardern-reveals-best-and-worst-motherhood-advice-shes-received
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104533715/pm-says-she-is-chugging-along-one-week-before-her-baby-is-due
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/jacinda-ardern-releases-additional-details-surrounding-upcoming-birth-child
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/destination-jacinda-arderns-babys-first-outing-world-stage-revealed
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/06/revealed-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-s-big-plans-after-giving-birth.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/baby/104422486/jacinda-this-is-what-a-typical-hospital-birth-is-like
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/most-read-jacinda-ardern-travel-hospital-birth-any-other-new-zealander-would-arrive-clarke-gayford-likely-drive
Might just be right on that
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/most-read-jacinda-ardern-travel-hospital-birth-any-other-new-zealander-would-arrive-clarke-gayford-likely-drive
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/06/revealed-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-s-big-plans-after-giving-birth.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104467973/jacinda-ardern-to-remain-in-charge-of-nz-until-she-gets-to-hospital
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/baby/104422486/jacinda-this-is-what-a-typical-hospital-birth-is-like
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/104486487/am-show-im-not-the-first-woman-to-give-birth–prime-minister-jacinda-ardern
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/details-of-jacinda-arderns-birth-plans-revealed/
To be fair I almost forgot she was having a baby
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/104484898/pm-jacinda-ardern-has-false-alarm-as-babys-due-date-approaches
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/06/newshub-investigates-what-will-jacinda-ardern-s-baby-look-like.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/104552656/jacinda-ardern-reveals-best-and-worst-motherhood-advice-shes-received
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104533715/pm-says-she-is-chugging-along-one-week-before-her-baby-is-due
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/jacinda-ardern-releases-additional-details-surrounding-upcoming-birth-child
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/destination-jacinda-arderns-babys-first-outing-world-stage-revealed
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/home/video/2017/08/ardern–it-is–totally-unacceptable–to-ask-women-about-baby-pla.html
Media going to media 🙂
still 4400$ less then you would have to fork out to get your hair pulled by Key.
so, nah.
your concern is noted and considered invalid.
So $5000 is “bad” but $600 is ok?
To paraphrase Rick the bar owner, “I don’t have much against a trougher, but I despise a cut-rate one”…
It’s a thinner part of the wedge from near-private meetings for $5k, but it’s still the same wedge.
But then, fundraising is an essential part of political action, unless we remove that part of the equation from politics. So this is one reason I’m not completely dismissive of things like publicly financed election campaigns – it would largely eliminate the temptation to blur the lines between party and public office.
I think/hope its a salutary lesson to politicians, from both sides, that you don’t have to comment on every little thing that happens or what goes around comes around
I don’t want publicly funded campaigns because, apart from the potential for shenanigans, paying for a political party to get into power just doesn’t sit right with me but I see your point
Thing is, if someone’s paying $5k for a near-private meeting with the cabinet member in their field and it’s advertised as an opportunity for facetime with a minister, that’s not a little thing. It’s a pretty fucking corrupt thing.
A dinner is less private, but it’s still basically buying access that all relevant stakeholders should get free of charge. Is the text of the speech he gave even available?
“Is the text of the speech he gave even available?”
Is something like that covered by the OIA?
Should be covered by a press release.
Either way, not too many fans of clubs or dinners hereabouts. But some tory will try to keep it going in OM tomorrow, too.
Whereas the nats will probably have done something else bloody stupid or despicable…
Oh the hypocrisy is delicious.
No it is unacceptable. See you can think both were wrong. Strange concept for you I know Bubba Gump.
There is nothing wrong with either. If people want to part with their hard earned cash to listen to politicians, that’s their business. The hypocrisy is the howls of condemnation when the nats did it.
The righties need the freedom to use money corruptly – they cannot make a rational public interest argument for anything they want.
Your comment is hilariously hypocritical given the discussion is about a LABOUR politician’s actions.
Gosh – take a look in the mirror, sleazeball.
You’re advocating open slather on using money in politics in a democratic society and you want to talk about hypocrisy!
Consistent I suppose with your essentially corrupt and regressive values. Your leaders have to be able to use money because their policies are manifestly contrary to the public interest.
Crooks can’t win a straight game.
You see her as skinny. Other see hear as chubby. Still others see her as a politician who ripped Kiwis off. For which she got shelved.
As for you Gosman, you should have complained about the Spy in Parliament.
But then why should you ever do anything ? You are National . Helpless and Hopeless.
You are involved in the destruction of the people who do the work – you hopeless Man.
You don’t like her or her policies or past behaviour or whatever thats fine, talk about that but please stop with the commenting on her body or otherwise as it has nothing to do with what you dislike about her you’re merely diminishing her (and all other women) to the sum of her body parts
These things are always relative to the observer – no doubt compared to Pucky’s generous otaku endomorphism she’s practically anorexic.
Now Gosman !
Were you angry at me because i said your close friends were cheating us over steel specifications. The Steel we in good faith put into our overhead Bridges.
It’s one thing not being able to trust your nonsense Gosman. But our chinese trading partners should not falsify their specifications.
Even if they have thousands of houses here.
Please do not lose you rag again Gosman. You waste my time.
I merely asked you in what way were you using the word “Chow”. Do you have an answer?
Gossie chows is slang for Chinese, just like horis are maoris, pinkies or pakehas (white fleas) are europeans, coconuts are islanders and ragheads are indians, you need to get out and socialise a bit more and get up with the play.
Chow, Hori, coconut, pinkies and ragheads – I guess that makes you a equally opportunity racist.
Tamati Tautuhi gets called “racist” because he used slang.
James also used that slang, therefore…
long bow there robert even for you.
Hopefully we will be suing the suppliers and getting them to rectify the problem ?
Puckish Rogue says; ” please stop with the commenting on her body” while earlier saying; “Shes a beautiful women and an example of a pre-raphalite stunner”
Confused, much? Blinded by love and a burning desire?
Poor Puck!
In all seriousness body shaming needs to be frowned on. I don’t think banning people for it is the answer but if everyone on here (left and right) let people know its unacceptable maybe those continuing it will learn why its wrong
I’ve noticed some female contributors haven’t posted for awhile (Weka especially) and i don’t know if its anything to do with body shaming but if it is thats not good as the more posters the merrier
Yes (before anyone points it out) it was especially prevalent during the last Labour government and it was wrong then as its wrong now
And now back to the irreverent Puck..
Judes an angel blessed with the patience of a saint and I now she will forgive my transgressions as I’m only human and, even worse, merely a man
“merely a man” – we accept your apology, Pucky.
Obersver Tokora (Observer Tokoroa)? makes the observation that there’s a Spy in the House; surely “Pre-Raphaelite” Judy has had harsh words to share on that matter? Pucky?
Observer Tokora appears to have worked himself into such a state thats hes saying whatever pops into his head
There’s a Chinese spy in his head?
Well maybe theres another reason…
https://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bugbitten/2016/04/15/toxoplasma-common-parasite-makes-angry/
Maybe he has read the book “In the Jaws of the Dragon” ?
In all seriousness, you do have a rather disturbing obsession with Judith Collins and Jacinda Adern’s baby.
If Pucky was Pussy, Jude would be catnip.
https://giphy.com/gifs/cat-amazing-catnip-paMVbhw7bnZLi
Selfie, Pucky?
Just a typical Saturday night for me
Thank Bastet you don’t comment on TS while in that state!
Hang on! Some of your “Judith” comments indicate that you do!
I stand by each and every single one of my Jude comments
“stand”?
On your furry hind legs?
Jealous?
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-chronicles-of-narnia-the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe-james-157135614.html
Hoof’n’hair’s not paw’n’fur.
Hugs not drugs
We’re back to discussing catnip, I see.
Gosh, getting a bit ahead of yourselves arent you?
“The National Party is warning it might disestablish the Government’s new housing ministry if it doesn’t perform.”
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/104550866/housing-minister-sets-up-ministry-to-advise-on-house-prices-and-homelessness
Just because it was not their idea ?
I give kelvin a little bit of a serve on here because lets face it hes a bit useless however good on him for this
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12066932
Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis has apologised to an MP for calling her “hysterical” after she asked him a question about his portfolio at a parliamentary committee.
“I apologise for making that remark and for any offence caused,” Davis said in a statement today.
As the estimable paragon of greatness put it:
“That sort of patronising, sexist comment is something we National women get a lot from, particularly, the Labour party,” Collins said.
“This is the deputy leader of the Labour Party speaking to a senior MP who has been around for quite some time and a former minister as though she was a naughty little girl who should sit back in her little box and take her turn.”
I think Kelvin forgot he was at a Parliamentary Select Committee and not on a marae.
In Parliament he can’t just tell an uppity woman to sit at the back and keep quiet with impunity.
Bloody disgrace that anyone should be allowed to question him about his portfolio of course. Who do those people think they are?
Good thing big Trev wasn’t around to hear it
The spectacle of a lying cow trying to make out she’s a caring lamb is quite funny.
She’s on about Kelvin Davis being patronising to Jacqui Dean as if she was ‘a naughty little girl who should sit back in her little box and take her turn.’
To make her point Judith treats Davis like he was a naughty little boy who should sit back in his little box and take her turn.
If disingenuity was money Collins would be a zillionaire a million times over and if pandering to moronic National followers was an art the Louvre and La Scala would be dedicated solely to her work.
For the record, Pucky, I don’t believe you admire Collins anywhere near as much as you profess. I’m certain you’re primarily taunting, or believe you are taunting readers here.
https://imgur.com/gallery/IOwNd
Carrie Fisher spins your buns as well , Pucky?
She’d have been a helluva hoot to sit next to at a dinner party, I bet she’d have some stories to tell
There were those long nights on Alpha Centauri A with Chewbacca…
She certainly has ample … buns!
and a sense of humour 🙂
http://gawker.com/the-guy-who-played-chewbacca-really-wanted-to-bang-carr-1500029662
Have you ever had a scenario when you go to buy something from a shop a car parts shop and you know the attending is lying to you we it happen today.
You see I had already rang the call centre and they told me that the product was at this shop I went to the shop and he lied and said that the good product was sold out and the whole franchise had none left only the smaller product was available. I new he was lieing so I rang the call center again found another shop that said they had the product I booked it and got his name and told him I would make a complaint if the product was sold.
And this is why I say the sandflys are all the same as the Rotorua sandflys do this to ECO MAORI all the time they have nothing better to do than to harass me. Here some music to the sandflys
https://youtu.be/ktvTqknDobU
Ka kite ano
The sandflys tried to throw me a curve ball while I was going through Huntly but I foiled it Ka kite ano
Who are the sandflies, bro? Is it the police you are talking about?