Through a recent staff survey, ANZ found that “overall trust” in senior leadership at the bank has fallen to 49 per cent. And only 60 per cent of bank employees said they feel able to raise issues and concerns within ANZ “without fear of negative consequences”.
That measure fell from 86 per cent before Hisco’s departure.
Staff satisfaction also dropped to 69 per cent from 83 per cent, while 71 per cent of employees said they would recommend the bank as a place to work to friends and family, down from 87 per cent previously.
ANZ distributed the results of the “My Voice” survey to staff by email last week; a source within the bank shared them with Stuff, but requested anonymity fearing reprisal. ANZ has warned staff against speaking to the press.
We've known about the consequences of John Key's “leadership” for some time. Now it looks like the rest are catching up, especially ANZ employees.
Don't embarrass John Key or you will lose your job.
Are you seriously arguing Hisco didn't deserve to be turfed?
[I cannot for the world tell how you can read that into that comment and thus conclude that you are twisting and distorting words and effectively putting words into another commenter’s mouth. Your twin-twister was given a week off for this and I like to be fair to you. Take a week off – Incognito]
Thanks Incognito. I'm getting tired of the propensity of a few r.w. antagonists trying to up-end reasonable comments of other contributors. I conclude they are attempting to drive these commenters away from TS.
The "twin twister" was getting close to stalking me around this site in recent weeks. 🙁
As you know, I am a strong advocate of self-moderation. I tend to wait & see, letting things run their course, before I start warning. Rather than stomping around like an elephant with a toothache, I largely rely on the TS community to self-regulate and –moderate; a (fine) balance between top-down and bottom-up moderation. This could mean commenters ignoring certain other commenters rather than giving them attention (oxygen), which literally eats into TS bandwidth. Unfortunately, this does not happen enough IMHO. That said, I hear you and I may become a little more ‘assertive’ as moderator if (my) time allows it.
She's told you why: communications between parties aren't government documents. Neither party will want inter-party discussions exposed to their political opponents (which will also be why said opponents are making attempts to get them exposed). No doubt those opponents will complain to the Ombudsman, and it will be interesting to see if he finds her mistaken use of parliamentary letterhead outweighs the nature of the content.
I guess we'll find out if she "must" release it. Unless the Ombudsman forces her to release it, she'd be stupid to do so – it would mean voluntarily allowing her mistake to benefit the Greens' political opponents. That's something that should only happen involuntarily.
Julie Anne said, in the House, that she would release it, if asked to by the Ombudsman. She also made it very clear that her letter was describing the Green Party's view, not that of her Ministerial office. That distinction will be obscured as much as possible by National, despite them knowing it to be the truth. Using the wrong letterhead was a mistake made by an MP new to office and my expectation is that the Ombudsman will recognise that and rule accordingly. I reckon he/she will not require the letter to be released. But I'm just guessing
Agree Robert.
A storm in a tea-cup by the Opposition trying to create a sense of sinister machinations. Ministers are extremely busy people who don't always have the opportunity to discuss mutual portfolio concerns face to face so they put pen to paper. Of course the Nat minsters did the same thing when they were in government.
The current furore around the Labour Party staffer who appears to have misbehaved (it's yet to be established how serious it was) is another case in point. I recall a similar situation inside the National Party a few years ago where a National Party activist "misbehaved " at a function. The Nats dealt with the matter internally and no more was heard about it.
Now they're crying foul – or at least their media lackeys on their behalf.
It's time for Labour to remind voters about that previous incident and show up the profound hypocrisy of the Nats.
I don't care if she signed it Humpty-Dumpty. So she grabbed the nearest bit of paper which happened to be a piece of ministerial stationary with the official letter head at the top and her ministerial title at the bottom. So what? That doesn't mean it is either intended for… or should be made available for public consumption.
In my view it’s a damm sight more important that ministers and co-ministers are able to keep in touch any way they choose to ensure they understand one another and are on the same page.
I can't understand why inter-government deliberations, discussions and opinions should be made available to the public and the Oppos. unless government chooses. Why should Ms Genter reveal her communications with Mr Twyford? It is unreasonable to demand this.
20. Strengthen New Zealand’s democracy by increasing public participation, openness, and transparency around official information.
This from p6 also seems relevant:
It is agreed that where briefings are provided to the Green Party, or where they are involved in a consultative arrangement with regard to legislation or policy, all such discussions shall be confidential unless otherwise agreed.
Well this is a first. I have never before heard anyone argue, that the OIA is an ass of a law. From the lunatic right fringe, to pure social democrats, there is consensus that a functioning democracy should have open and transparent government.
That principle is crystallised in the OIA, and I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone who believes in democracy would be offended by that law.
We could move to a society where the public has no right to question what their government is up to, or just emigrate to China where that is already the case.
The law is a defence to the police theory of government.
Huxley's analysis on David Hume where he argues on the governed to see the way opinion is formed is as relevant today as 150 years ago.
As Hume says with profound truth in the fourth essay, On the First Principles of Government:—
"As force is always on the side of the governed, the governors have nothing to support them but opinion. It is, therefore, on opinion only that government is founded; and this maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments, as well as to the most free and the most popular."—(III. 31.)
But if the whole fabric of social organisation rests on opinion, it may surely be fairly argued that, in the interests of self-preservation, if for no better reason, society has a right to see that the means of forming just opinions are placed within the reach of every one of its members; and, therefore, that due provision for education, at any rate, is a right and, indeed, a duty, of the state.
What a load of rubbish. Free and frank discussion between the members of government is necessary so they understand each other's positions. They may need to adjust their own, or seek to do so with others, because of reasons that they explain but don't want to provide to their enemies who will look for anything they can to make a furore about.
People coming up with simple comments to the negative would not be able to run an open and honest committee for a cake stall.
And saying 'because we live in a democracy' – so prim and proper and saying the dogma; fatuous when we see democracy decimated every day, a little or a lot. It's an empty word when not backed up with respect and practicality to make it work for and by the people. That includes discussing the problems arising, and about what can be transparent and what should be kept as private discussion.
That's an interesting view. One I respectfully disagree with.
We should be promoting and demanding the accountability of Ministers. When one Minister writes to another Minister, Parliament has a right to know what was said.
We have an Official Information Act which is one of the cornerstones of our democracy and allows the opposition and the media (or what you have describe as "enemies"), to hold the executive and government to account.
There is a clear Principle (that you appear to disagree with) that the Executive Government’s (i.e Ministers) have responsibility to Parliament.
They should not be able to hide behind a fictitious claim that their letter written on ministerial letter head, signed as a minister, and sent to another minister, was actually written from a Green party perspective.
We should be promoting and demanding the accountability of Ministers. When one Minister writes to another Minister, Parliament has a right to know what was said.
What you're positing comes within the realms of a police state. George Orwell's "Animal Farm" comes to mind. If the day arrives when a minister can't talk/write to another minister in confidence without revealing what was said to a populace who have no more right to know than the ministers have… to demand to know of the conversations of the populace then God help us.
A political discussion of this nature should always be oral. She should have simply met the relevant person and discussed her concerns.
In my view writing on Ministerial letterhead means it is ministerial. Every MP has MP letterhead, even when they are ministers. They should know when to use the appropriate letterhead. Grabbing the wrong letterhead as Anne suggests is not much of an answer. Letters have a degree of formality. The Minister in signing it will have known which letterhead it was on.
Yes Wayne… no question she should have been more careful in her choice of writing paper. Is that a crime worthy of the outrage being promulgated by Bishop and friends? No it is not.
Are ministers and associate ministers entitled to converse about portfolio concerns and expect them to remain confidential? Of course they are.
If, and when ministers are physically unable to compare notes in person (due to external pressures and hectic timetables) are they entitled to thus communicate via letter? Of course they are.
That, as far as I'm concerned, is the nuts and bolts of the case and no amount of pontification on legal minutia around how a cabinet minister – or anyone else for that matter- should or should not communicate with a colleague is going to change it.
My argument was more to do with the insinuation that JAG had committed a serious misdemeanour and that she was guilty as charged without a trial (metaphorically speaking) and all in the name of political gain for the Nats, who were 'guilty' of similar practices when they were in government.
I think the current Government, having to their own surprise been thrust into Office by Mr Peters, are adopting the attitude attributed to Prince Otto von Bismarck. One variant of it is
"To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making."
The Parties concerned, along with Winston First are adopting this approach rather than what they said before the election. Keep the Public in the Dark is their motto nowadays. Otherwise the Public is likely to take the view of a second variant of the statement.
"Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made". Respect for the Government will become what they deserve. Nil.
If we, as the OIA intends, find out what this Government has been up to the Government parties probably fear that we will follow the admonition of the Bible
"Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth"
Of course what Miss Ardern said, before the election, is readily explained by another aphorism attributed to Bismarck.
"At no time there is more lying than before the elections, during the war and after the hunt."
Because she communicated officially with Twyford on ministerial letterhead and in her capacity as the Associate Minister of Transport. Therefore she has an obligation to release the contents of this letter.
Furthermore the main content of the letter apparently relates to regional transportation plans for Wellington and the Greens position on this and so is absolutely in the public interest (especially Wellingtonians).
It sounds like Genter may have made some sensitive comments about what she and the Greens might do if her demands re the Wellington regional transportation plan were not agreed to by Twyford and Labour. (see the Dom Post this morning).
That's too bad. She is better off to come clean. By continuing to refuse to release the letter, the issue is getting legs it wouldn't normally warrant, and Genter is beginning to squirm very uncomfortably.
And lets not even get started on the hypocrasy of Genter's stance verses the narrative promoted by Labour and the Greens on being transparent and open, especially with the public. Genter is treating us, the public, with arrogant contempt by continuing to not release the letter.
The pressure is building – maybe she'll release it today before question time in the house; where she'll likely be subject to further embaressment and loss of credibility.
the main content of the letter apparently relates to regional transportation plans for Wellington and the Greens position on this and so is absolutely in the public interest
Okeydoke Grantoc thanks it seems that everyone watches gummint like a hawk these days. The good have to be perfect and the bad.. have their errors float off on the tide.
No wonder a lot of things are not written down.
On the other hand it is interesting to see how the Greens stance is being maintained when reality confronts them, how are their promises and intentions standing up. It's hard however to progress NZ with traps laid by people in the Opposition more interested in tripping up government than serving the country.
You're likely right about the choice of paper she wrote it on. If that's the difference then Ms Genter and those she works with are very naive.
While you can't go into such jobs with an over-riding, underlying, all encompassing, pervasive 'fortress' mentality, when missionary zeal should be the driver, that is what is needed. Think and expect the worst of people needs to be the starting point. Throwing away notions of 'everyone wants what's the best for the country' out the window is critical. For god's sake, it's like they've run out on the field expecting a good game, a clean game and there and won't be eye-gouging.
That said, if the Prime Minister phones, texts or writes to someone on political business should those be public communications able to be accessed by the public? Or does it depend on the particular phone or piece of paper she uses? Or can she say, "It isn't public business, I didn't communicate as the Prime Minister but as an ordinary citizen." (The sort of situation that could arise in dealing with some third rate 'journalist' from some suspect media organisation.)
No doubt the Ombudsman will deal with the matter taking into account the nuances of the rules and their intent. I look forward to the reaction of a ruling which determines in a scholarly sagacious judge type way that parts of the communication be redacted because while there might be a certain letterhead the clear intent and context of the remarks should see them set aside.
Then Chris Bishop could have a flurry of fits from here to eternity interrupted by him, in his turn as a Minister, accusing people of playing silly games when they act as he does. Either that or he might get a life and spend his time (and our money) on something meaningful past his ego.
I am being trivial but I think Chris Bishop looks like a basset hound. And that is not right because I like basset hounds, he should impersonate something like a ferret.
That is not being trivial, it is just being plain nasty. Argue the politics or facts, keep your prurient fantasies about the physical appeal or otherwise of politicians to yourself.
Hey Peter, and lets make it retroactive. There are quite a lot of paperwork and foot maneuvering around the actual extent that National and Act parties were involved in dirty politics during their term in office. Including things like the real story behind the drive to produce the super-shitty.
Yes, there was a sort of sanctity around the Auckland convention centre dealings too because St. Steven was involved. Then again he and his boss never ever ever used the sacred words 'open' or 'transparent' so things had to be different.
Then Chris Bishop could have a flurry of fits from here to eternity interrupted by him, in his turn as a Minister, accusing people of playing silly games when they act as he does.
Earlier this week,‘Te Koiroa o te Koiora’, a Discussion Document for the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy (NZBS) was launched setting out proposals for inclusion in a new Biodiversity Strategy.
The Department of Conservation made a video promoting it (see link below), and highlighting many of the unique species that need looking after. One of them is the tuna tuwharewhare (longfin eel).
It just so happens that these tuna are exported live overseas, for about $10 or $12 an eel, often ending up in Asian restaurants where they are skinned and cooked alive.
Tuna tuwharewhare are in very serious trouble and likely to reach a stage of functional extinction within the next few years. The first thing that needs to happen is for all commercial fishing of them to end immediately
Yes I have never understood that either, I have kept eels as pets a couple of times, and keeping in mind I have kept almost every predator fish available in NZ cold and warm water, I can say that the eel is with out doubt the most intelligent fish I have had anything to do with.
Watching a big eels in their natural environment is really something, especially at night when they are out hunting.
My aunt had perhaps a dozen tame eels in the farm creeks. As kids we would follow the chooks around looking for any eggs laid outside the coop to feed the eels. Rotten was best and they were also rather keen on any blood, offal, fat, scraps etc from the killing shed.
Then we'd call the eels and they'd turn up and follow us along the bank eyeballing us, looking for a feed and a belly rub. They all had names and I'm sure some were more interested in belly rubs than food.
The National finance spokesman on RNZ this morning, great interview for talking points, little else. On the Reserve Bank's interest rate call yesterday, like a typical conservative, he would prefer the bank to only grab the wheel after the shit hits the fan. "Wait and see", repeated several times.
It's worth listening to this Q & A report from a month ago. Cameron Bagrie discussed business confidence early in this 9 min clip."Look, thow it in the bin. I ignore it as an economic indicator" and "It is politically biased"
"he would prefer the bank to only grab the wheel after the shit hits the fan."
I think everyone agrees that a feature of a capitalist economy is there are cycles and there will be recessions or a reasonably regular basis. That is undeniable.
So yes I would agree that the Reserve Bank should be keeping some powder dry for when the shit hits the fan – as it inevitably will.
We are a hostage to the global economy. If the the trade war results in a global recession, it would be very nice if the Reserve Bank had some options to help us through. Those options are now running out, at a time when the government is telling us that the domestic economy is ticking along very nicely.
Exactly right, and I would like to remind some folk, that as it is we can't even protect our own native fresh water fish today, NZ policy not only allows but encourages an apex predator, namely the rainbow and brown trout to hunt the rivers, steams and lakes of New Zealand, with the obvious catastrophic results on every single species of native fresh water animal..from Kouro through to the beautiful and majestic Banded and Giant Kokopu..why the fuck we would allow and encourage this fierce and super fast growing predator in our water ways is a complete mystery to me.
From the Fish & Game web site..
'The brown trout is an introduced northern hemisphere sports fish and can be found in most New Zealand waters excepting the very north of the North Island.'
So next time you see anyone pointing fingers at the Japanese about their appalling fishing practices, maybe remind them that we really need to be getting our own back yard in order first.
I an no an expert in removing introduced predators from native environments, but I am sure if there is a will there is a way.
I will also say that I once interviewed Rod McDonald who was by far and away New Zealand's most knowledgeable expert on our fresh water fish, at the time he told me off the record (he was working for NIWA) that large scale extinction faced our native fish by way of habitat loss, and degradation along with loss through whitebaiting and introduced predator fish.
I was friends with Bob McDowell's fishing-friend, Ian Mathieson (now deceased) and learned a lot from him about native fishes and their habitats. Ian lauded Bob as the main man when it came to native fish. Ian encouraged me to pursue the idea of purchasing a 6-hectare wetland that was about to be "dairyfied" and I did. With the help of various people, some from Fish & Game, we commissioned the creation of ponds in wetland, to encourage native fish; tuna and kokopu especially. There are fern birds and bitterns there also. Marsh crakes too, sometimes. Mostly though, harakeke and mikimiki. Thanks Ian!
Adrian T. is ever the optimist, and as much as I would love to be proved wrong I fear that Introduced fish species will never be eliminated, there are simply too many lobby groups with large financial backing. Its claimed to be atleast a 400 million dollar industry..so yet again The Economy writes the rules.
However, despite our best efforts there is no reason to claim that 'eels are largely gone', and its certainly not something we should embrace as a foregone conclusion, unless we are happy to wave goodbye to our entire ecosystem.
These two articles cover a number of relevant studies, including the feasability of making some waterways free of introduced predators and, interestingly, point to the presence of eels being required to achieve a healthy Brown Trout population…"predation by eels can facilitate a trout fishery of greater value by suppressing juvenile trout abundance and indirectly enhancing growth of larger adult trout,"
I've visited a processing plant for eels where Giant kokopu were a regular feature of the catches unloaded. Those fish, many of the huge, were released/dumped into the nearby stream, where they no doubt died. Deeply shameful, imo.
It might not be a good idea to take away a fairly cheap form of recreation from a large number of pretty ordinary NZers. Leisure is also a part of the material conditions of life that we should be looking to improve for those without a lot of money – along with liveable incomes, housing, healthcare etc. The trout fishers I know are also champions of freshwater quality.
Besides that, it's impractical – how do you selectively eliminate only salmonids from waterways where they are self-sustaining (not reliant on stocking)? Absolutely we need to protect the kokopu – reductions in the whitebait take, protection of lowland water quality, especially small coastal streams and wetlands that are too small or short to hold self-sustaining trout populations. The extinction of the NZ grayling was a tragedy that we can't allow to happen with the kokopu.
You realize that you are using the same argument and justification that the Japanese use to hunt whales..
" The extinction of the NZ grayling was a tragedy that we can't allow to happen with the kokopu."…well it is happening, today, now as we speak.
In a stream about 40 minutes out of Hasting, I have walked though the shallows one night, the water was so thick with juvenile trout that they were beaching themselves just jumping away from my feet, there were thousands of them…I have been observing rivers,streams and waterways around NZ on and off for over 20 years and I can tell I you that native fish in NZ are under extremely serious threat.
And it is also worth keeping in mind that the extinction of a fish species wether it be fresh or salt water, doesn't happen when the last couple of fish die, it happens a long long time before that sad event occurs, when a unsustainable tipping point in numbers is reached and natural recovery cannot be achieved.
Yeah love them too, I have seen them crawling up shear rock faces at night,,sneaky little guys.
I always had a couple in my big Native fish tanks, they have heaps of character but pretty hard on the plants though, and watching them eat a worm is like something out of a horror show.
Giant Kokopu like habitats that trout dislike; swampy, turgid, muddy slow-moving. Preserving those places and creating new ones would go a long way toward keeping the population of Giant Kokopu up, imo. They can survive/thrive in conditions trout cannot.
OCR cut to 1% and we are told that this is good news. For whom ??
Those in debt and with mortgages ?
How about those renters, will we see rents reduce as the landlord will have less costs (Think of Andrew King next time he is in the media standing up for landlords) ?? Yet these same renting families/individuals will be paying more for imported goods (Petrol), not a winner for them 😢
Then we have rent to buy from the Greens that will help the same subset that can afford Kiwibuild. Student fees Great policy (But benefits same subset as Kiwibuild)
Why do we pander to this subset and give lip service to the rest ???
"Then we have rent to buy from the Greens that will help the same subset that can afford Kiwibuild."
Afaik, the Greens' rent to own scheme will be for people that aren't even close to home owning, so not the same subset of people that can afford Kiwibuild.
How will these families be able to service a mortgage maintain the property, insurance, rates etc As currently it is HNZ I understand that cover these (Except Rates which I also understand HNZ do not pay) And if these families do purchase the property there will be no Accomodation Rental Supplement ? – reducing their disposable income even more ??
But I digress, low interest rates do not help many NZers. The lower down the wealth list I could imagine that they suffer not benefit 😤
I haven't looked at the detail, but what I got so far was that the govt and/or an NGO would build the house, a low income family would rent it, part of the rent would go towards a deposit, once that had accrued they could take out a mortgage to buy the house. I assume the mortgage would be in the same range as the rent, and that people receiving accommodation supplement would still get it (as TA points out, AS is available to all low income people for rent or mortgage).
I was referring to wekas comment "I assume the mortgage would be in the same range as the rent", as I cannot see any details other than below regarding the Greens announcement.
As we have seen with Kiwibuild the details are very important for a successful implementation of a policy.
AS is available to any NZer who meets the criteria (asset and income tests). It covers part of the mortgage/rent but also rates, insurance, maintenance and repairs. Repayable grants (no interest loans) are available from WINZ if people need a chunk of cash up front for maintenance or repairs.
The main issues I see with the policy are how to keep the rent and then mortgage payments low, whether houses can be owned collectively, and whether they then become part of the property market eg someone is allowed to on sell like normal. Lots of things to be worked out, but I trust the Greens have thought about this long and hard (it's not a new thing for them).
I understand the next step is to negotiate with Labour and NZF, so I see the policy announcement as a start of that process that involves the public as well.
If we allow pop. growth and that our expectations of the level of delivery in health, education, infrastructure etc are at least status quo then IMO we either need growth or technology advancements to enable these expectations to be met, or "we" need to temper our expectations, unless there is something you can add to my understanding.
And no I don't agree growth is a net good. Look at the destruction of our environment that has occurred to allow short term growth.
I wouldnt say I can offer you "understanding", that comes from the self but would suggest if your system requires growth to continue then the maintenance of growth would be considered 'good'……especially if you consider there is no possible alternative as those running things do.
If we allow immigration at 1.5% of our population (plus natural pop growth )how then do we maintain our current living standards and for govts to satisfy our expectations (refer current health and the availability of cancer treatments) unless growth or advancements in tech that allow us to do tomorrow cheaper than today ?
sure agreed growth has to be tempered with cost/damage to environment, not growth at any and all costs
'cheaper' has nothing to do with it (though the BAU crowd will cite productivity)….it is simply a question of resources and distribution…we havnt got enough (and its diminishing) and what we do have aint distributed to max benefit…all the finagling in world does not alter that
No doubt he was angry at the deliberate attempt to undermine the regular process and got emotionally charged – to him it was analogous to a hack. I imagine he dropped his precision and control of a Treasury official for a moment and let the good bloke pissed-off have a word.
Both the English Tory Party and English Labour realise the Union is finished and are strategising for a chess table that does not include Scotland and Ireland as well as the EU.
Johnson's people can count and know that the vast majority of the 59 Scottish seats at WM will aways be anti Tory. The simple solution is to let Scotland go. Loosing 45-59 anti tory seats makes them less needy for 10 DUP "friends". The DUP is only "popular" with Tory members when there is no alternative.
Labour has no seats from NI and could well have none in Scotland. They have to strategise for a future as an England/Wales party.
The best Labour can do after the forthcoming WM GE is get support from the possible 59 SNP MPs to form a government and stop the Tory madness. Then get SNP and Lib Dem support to introduce Proportional Representation, That will be the best way of making sure the Tories never have an absolute majority in the English/Wales parliament.
A hard border within the Britain instead of in Ireland – and a little England with MMP PR so the days of Tory goverment end forever. Nice.
Even better – win the election and form an alliance to stay in the customs union and single market. Then install MMP PR to prevent the Tories from being in position to try a no deal Brexit in future.
A no deal Brexit and a subsequent Tory election win would turn the UK/England into a rival to Puerto Rico as Area 51, a self governing colony taking its orders from Capitol Hill.
Politics has now moved to a post UK phase. The seat on the UN Security Council will go. The flag will be meaningless. Remainers will correctly be angry with the Leavers. The Leaver will blame everyone else but themselves. They will have their beloved Blue Passports while they join the "Third Country" lines at the airports.
After its been bad for a while it will then get worse.
Then the Queen will pass on to the Great Palace in the Sky. King Charles and Boris Johnson leading the Exceptional Ones.
It might not just be taking the St Andrews blue out of the Union Jack, but consideration given to nationalisation of the royal property in Scotland, or confiscation for the award to a Scottish throne claimant who was not English.
Here’s a couple of interesting articles from news.com. The first one is a large number of Chinese businesses and companies are using IOU’s to pay bills. Which is not a good look either way for the short term or the longer term as someone will end asking for real money and the whole thing would collapse under the weight of debt etc.
This one is also interesting over the blame game of currency manipulation in the resulting trade war and like above, it can only lead to another GFC in the medium to longer term unless someone calls a truce.
Talking about projected massive rate hikes for Wellington causes pause. Andy Foster states 'I chair the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee' and looks at the unavoidable costs arising from leaky buildings which exist, and the likely ones still being built, according to knowledgable builders around. Central government action is needed he states and I think that something has been recently announced on that. But I haven't got time to look it up.
The rates for the regional council are up 15.7%. He starts off backgrounding the situation with his Wellington city rates after recent revaluations.
I’ll use ours as a ‘modest’ example – city rates up 4.6% and regional rates up a staggering 15.7%. Overall that’s 6.2%. Other people, undoubtedly with greater proportionate rises in Capital Value in the revaluation, have even higher numbers. …
The bad news is that there is a lot more proposed. The Wellington City Council Chief Executive’s Pre-election Report shows that over the 10 years of our Long Term Plan (LTP) rates are expected to rise by 48.2%. …
It gets worse. That does not include remotely enough money for Let’s Get Wellington Moving or for Civic Square.
Based on the information to date, LGWM will cost the city and region in the order of $1.2billion in today’s money, while the Council’s placeholder in the LTP is just $120million. The annual cost seems to be (the LGWM numbers are a bit inconsistent) around $90million of which 62% appears to be expected to be paid through rates.
Signalling that people need to try to shift from cars to public transport or use their car more efficiently (have a car full of regular fellow travellers).
The Government appears to have ruled out congestion pricing, and has certainly ruled out fuel taxes. None of these things are popular but if the alternative is a massive – permanent – rise in rates then they need to be explored. Long stay parking levies and congestion pricing in particular also incentivize transport behaviour change and were built into the original LGWM transport models. Without them, and much of the roading originally proposed, of course the model needs changing.
Thinking for the future with a clear head – needed urgently around NZ.
We can only hope we get rid of the crazy Mayor and many of the Councillors we have at the moment.
One can only weep at the insane items that the Council is spending hundreds of millions on. I suppose Mayor Lester intends to be like his equally hopeless predecessor. She fled town and moved up to the Wairarapa, out of the reach of Wellington City, and Wellington Regional Council rates. There she lets scrub grow and claims an income from selling carbon credits.
Meanwhile we residents of the city have to pay for Lester's brain-farts. One was, of course, $40,000 for a few painted stripes in Cuba Street. Supplying a reserve water supply for the Hospital so that it can keep operating after an Earthquake is not on his urgent list. It would be useful and Lester doesn't do useful.
Oh piss off Winston, we all know this is a non too subtle play for conservative votes and its far too late for that
If I could choose only one thing to happen at the next election (apart from Jude being proclaimed Queen of NZ) I'd choose the utter annihilation of NZFirst
If he shows some back bone and rules out Winston he'll go up in the polls then Act can campaign on keeping National honest and take the protest votes off NZfirst (might even get an extra seat or two out of it) and everyone will be happy because the undead corpse that is NZFirst/Winston will finally be vanquished for good
… and the bells will ring out throughout the land as unicorns prance through the woods while farting rainbows and shitting gold, everyone will find their true love(s) and live happily ever after except the evil wizard who will spend eternity in a dungeon covered in leprechaun turds.
Yes. It was a very intelligent speech. We all know exactly what happened, the who the when and the why….without her having to state explicitly that at their caucus meetings she's surrounded by dinosaurs. Me? Not so subtle. Bunch of misogynist old pricks. Unless you have a womb, be guided by your female colleagues.
I really feel for her, she didn't deserve this. Appallingly misogynistic and reinforces that NZF is an old boys club. I cannot wait until Peters is out of parliament, but it's not like he is the only one.
Interesting to note Monday's police presence increase was due to a 'miscommunication between police and protestors', which brings into question the claims that kaitiaki had *actually* occupied land they had been evicted from instead of just continuing to maintain a presence on the Quarry Road. Jill Rogers getting nothing from Haumaha there.
Well, the front line that was cut off by the influx of police on Monday is on the Ihumatao Quarry Road – which is the public access road to the Otuataha Stonefields site. Some kaitiaki have camped on the adjacent field which is part of Fletchers land, but the police did not attempt to break up that campsite on Monday.
Monday was a mess for sure. I just had no idea that the camp was on the road and not on the land. Kind of mind blowing that I didn't know that, and I'm wondering if I just missed that important point of if many people don't realise this.
That time again where it's play the 'what party the local candidates support' game.
I won't vote for a non labour or green aligned candidate, but as they don't usually declare a party affiliation, and often they don't door knock these days, it's all a bit hit or miss.
Does anyone know the left leaning candidates for council and mayor in Hamilton west?
Did he pay his parents board while he was living with them? The article doesn't say does it. We can only guess that he didn't. Therefore he didn't 'do it all on his own'
The other thing of course is that all the people in the country who want their own home cannot go and work on fishing boats.
Noticed that a book of Trump's tweets had been published. Could be good Christmas present for someone who knows how to read. By Christmas it could be redundant if someone files for impeachment or something, or apricot perhaps.
The Abbotsford disaster in Dunedin is old history. And probably forgotten by most. But I see that RadioNZ has brought it forward and I just pop it in here so you can see the problems from shifting soil,. landslides can do. The problem here was that Dunedin had information about the soil instability but lost it in the files, and when they bulldozed the 'toe' away from a hill with houses on and around it, they started movement that was very frightening and destructive.
Seven years ago the impressionist Rory Bremner complained that politicians had become so boring that few of them were worth mimicking: “They’re quite homogenous and dull these days … It’s as if character is seen as a liability.” Today his profession has the opposite problem: however extreme satire becomes, it struggles to keep pace with reality. The political sphere, so dull and grey a few years ago, is now populated by preposterous exhibitionists.
This trend is not confined to the UK – everywhere the killer clowns are taking over
This trend is not confined to the UK – everywhere the killer clowns are taking over. Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, Jair Bolsonaro, Scott Morrison, Rodrigo Duterte, Matteo Salvini, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Viktor Orbán and a host of other ludicrous strongmen – or weakmen, as they so often turn out to be – dominate nations that would once have laughed them off stage. The question is why? Why are the technocrats who held sway almost everywhere a few years ago giving way to extravagant buffoons?
Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate – sent direct to you
Read more
Social media, an incubator of absurdity, is certainly part of the story. But while there has been plenty of good work investigating the means, there has been surprisingly little thinking about the ends. Why are the ultra-rich, who until recently used their money and newspapers to promote charisma-free politicians, now funding this circus? Why would capital wish to be represented by middle managers one moment and jesters the next?
Advertisement
The reason, I believe, is that the nature of capitalism has changed. The dominant force of the 1990s and early 2000s – corporate power – demanded technocratic government. It wanted people who could simultaneously run a competent, secure state and protect profits from democratic change. In 2012, when Bremner made his complaint, power was already shifting to a different place, but politics had not caught up.
The policies that were supposed to promote enterprise – slashing taxes for the rich, ripping down public protections, destroying trade unions – instead stimulated a powerful spiral of patrimonial wealth accumulation. The largest fortunes are now made not through entrepreneurial brilliance but through inheritance, monopoly and rent-seeking: securing exclusive control of crucial assets such as land and buildings privatised utilities and intellectual property, and assembling service monopolies such as trading hubs, software and social media platforms, then charging user fees far higher than the costs of production and delivery. In Russia, people who enrich themselves this way are called oligarchs. But this is a global phenomenon. Today corporate power is overlain by – and mutating into – o
The French railway network, as administered by SNCFRéseau, as of June 2007, is a network of commercially usable lines of 29,213 kilometres (18,152 mi), of which 15,141 km (9,408 mi) is electrified
As of 2015, Germany had a railway network of 33,331 km of which 19,983 km were electrified and 18,201 km were double track
The New Zealand rail network has around 4,128 kilometres (2,565 miles) of line, of which about 506 kilometres (314 miles) is electrified.
You're right New Zealand is not as populated as Europe but neither do we have the infrastructure to support such a population.
We don't even have the infrastructure to support the population we've got.
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
We've known about the consequences of John Key's “leadership” for some time. Now it looks like the rest are catching up, especially ANZ employees.
Don't embarrass John Key or you will lose your job.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114825579/anz-nz-employees-trust-in-senior-leadership-tested-after-hisco-scandal
Are you seriously arguing Hisco didn't deserve to be turfed?
[I cannot for the world tell how you can read that into that comment and thus conclude that you are twisting and distorting words and effectively putting words into another commenter’s mouth. Your twin-twister was given a week off for this and I like to be fair to you. Take a week off – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 7:52 AM.
No one's going to seriously argue that Chris T didn't deserve to be turfed.
Thanks Incognito. I'm getting tired of the propensity of a few r.w. antagonists trying to up-end reasonable comments of other contributors. I conclude they are attempting to drive these commenters away from TS.
The "twin twister" was getting close to stalking me around this site in recent weeks. 🙁
As you know, I am a strong advocate of self-moderation. I tend to wait & see, letting things run their course, before I start warning. Rather than stomping around like an elephant with a toothache, I largely rely on the TS community to self-regulate and –moderate; a (fine) balance between top-down and bottom-up moderation. This could mean commenters ignoring certain other commenters rather than giving them attention (oxygen), which literally eats into TS bandwidth. Unfortunately, this does not happen enough IMHO. That said, I hear you and I may become a little more ‘assertive’ as moderator if (my) time allows it.
Read the bolded bit, TMAB.
Why is Genter refusing to release the letter to Minister Twyford on Get Wellington Moving?
The Ombudsman will drag it out of her and she'll just look like more of a dick.
She's told you why: communications between parties aren't government documents. Neither party will want inter-party discussions exposed to their political opponents (which will also be why said opponents are making attempts to get them exposed). No doubt those opponents will complain to the Ombudsman, and it will be interesting to see if he finds her mistaken use of parliamentary letterhead outweighs the nature of the content.
She admitted yesterday she signed it as Minister.
She has no leg to stand in and must release.
I guess we'll find out if she "must" release it. Unless the Ombudsman forces her to release it, she'd be stupid to do so – it would mean voluntarily allowing her mistake to benefit the Greens' political opponents. That's something that should only happen involuntarily.
Julie Anne said, in the House, that she would release it, if asked to by the Ombudsman. She also made it very clear that her letter was describing the Green Party's view, not that of her Ministerial office. That distinction will be obscured as much as possible by National, despite them knowing it to be the truth. Using the wrong letterhead was a mistake made by an MP new to office and my expectation is that the Ombudsman will recognise that and rule accordingly. I reckon he/she will not require the letter to be released. But I'm just guessing
Agree Robert.
A storm in a tea-cup by the Opposition trying to create a sense of sinister machinations. Ministers are extremely busy people who don't always have the opportunity to discuss mutual portfolio concerns face to face so they put pen to paper. Of course the Nat minsters did the same thing when they were in government.
The current furore around the Labour Party staffer who appears to have misbehaved (it's yet to be established how serious it was) is another case in point. I recall a similar situation inside the National Party a few years ago where a National Party activist "misbehaved " at a function. The Nats dealt with the matter internally and no more was heard about it.
Now they're crying foul – or at least their media lackeys on their behalf.
It's time for Labour to remind voters about that previous incident and show up the profound hypocrisy of the Nats.
she signed as associate minister of transport,hence she is the author of her own misfortune.
I don't care if she signed it Humpty-Dumpty. So she grabbed the nearest bit of paper which happened to be a piece of ministerial stationary with the official letter head at the top and her ministerial title at the bottom. So what? That doesn't mean it is either intended for… or should be made available for public consumption.
In my view it’s a damm sight more important that ministers and co-ministers are able to keep in touch any way they choose to ensure they understand one another and are on the same page.
She has been a Green MP a lot longer than she has been a Minister. Surely she has some of those old letter heads laying around somewhere.
If she does not understand the OIA and her obligations as a Minister, then she is in the wrong job.
I can't understand why inter-government deliberations, discussions and opinions should be made available to the public and the Oppos. unless government chooses. Why should Ms Genter reveal her communications with Mr Twyford? It is unreasonable to demand this.
OMG you can't remember the PM saying we were going to have a revolution in government openness? Not awake in the election?
All political discourse between Ministers should be open. The OIA "party" exclusion is mere convention. She never not a sworn Minister.
JulieAnn should put on her ministerial pants and get it out.
Please link us to the PM saying that. I can only recall seeing rapidly-fired Minister Clare Curran saying it, once.
Better than that you moron it's in the Green-Labour Confidence and Supply agreement.
Genter has nothing to hide behind.
it's in the Green-Labour Confidence and Supply agreement
Really? Do point out where.
The closest I can see from p5 of the agreement (https://www.greens.org.nz/sites/default/files/NZLP%20%26%20GP%20C%26S%20Agreement%20FINAL.PDF) is:
This from p6 also seems relevant:
All political discourse between Ministers should be open.
In a democracy such as ours, they have the same rights as the rest of us to 'discourse' in confidence when necessary.
You don't know the law do you?
If a law is an ass then 'eff' the law.
Well this is a first. I have never before heard anyone argue, that the OIA is an ass of a law. From the lunatic right fringe, to pure social democrats, there is consensus that a functioning democracy should have open and transparent government.
That principle is crystallised in the OIA, and I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone who believes in democracy would be offended by that law.
We could move to a society where the public has no right to question what their government is up to, or just emigrate to China where that is already the case.
The law is a defence to the police theory of government.
Huxley's analysis on David Hume where he argues on the governed to see the way opinion is formed is as relevant today as 150 years ago.
As Hume says with profound truth in the fourth essay, On the First Principles of Government:—
But if the whole fabric of social organisation rests on opinion, it may surely be fairly argued that, in the interests of self-preservation, if for no better reason, society has a right to see that the means of forming just opinions are placed within the reach of every one of its members; and, therefore, that due provision for education, at any rate, is a right and, indeed, a duty, of the state.
Because we live in a democracy
That word does not mean what you want it to (though the current expression of it is not the best we can do).
What a load of rubbish. Free and frank discussion between the members of government is necessary so they understand each other's positions. They may need to adjust their own, or seek to do so with others, because of reasons that they explain but don't want to provide to their enemies who will look for anything they can to make a furore about.
People coming up with simple comments to the negative would not be able to run an open and honest committee for a cake stall.
And saying 'because we live in a democracy' – so prim and proper and saying the dogma; fatuous when we see democracy decimated every day, a little or a lot. It's an empty word when not backed up with respect and practicality to make it work for and by the people. That includes discussing the problems arising, and about what can be transparent and what should be kept as private discussion.
That's an interesting view. One I respectfully disagree with.
We should be promoting and demanding the accountability of Ministers. When one Minister writes to another Minister, Parliament has a right to know what was said.
We have an Official Information Act which is one of the cornerstones of our democracy and allows the opposition and the media (or what you have describe as "enemies"), to hold the executive and government to account.
There is a clear Principle (that you appear to disagree with) that the Executive Government’s (i.e Ministers) have responsibility to Parliament.
They should not be able to hide behind a fictitious claim that their letter written on ministerial letter head, signed as a minister, and sent to another minister, was actually written from a Green party perspective.
What you're positing comes within the realms of a police state. George Orwell's "Animal Farm" comes to mind. If the day arrives when a minister can't talk/write to another minister in confidence without revealing what was said to a populace who have no more right to know than the ministers have… to demand to know of the conversations of the populace then God help us.
No – What I am "positing" comes within the realms of the Official Information Act 1982.
Its kind of been the law for a while. Some of what I stated was in fact direct quotes from that Act.
So I suppose God better help us then right?
In the sense that it is being interpreted by some then yes… God help us.
A political discussion of this nature should always be oral. She should have simply met the relevant person and discussed her concerns.
In my view writing on Ministerial letterhead means it is ministerial. Every MP has MP letterhead, even when they are ministers. They should know when to use the appropriate letterhead. Grabbing the wrong letterhead as Anne suggests is not much of an answer. Letters have a degree of formality. The Minister in signing it will have known which letterhead it was on.
We will see what the Ombudsman says.
Yes Wayne… no question she should have been more careful in her choice of writing paper. Is that a crime worthy of the outrage being promulgated by Bishop and friends? No it is not.
Are ministers and associate ministers entitled to converse about portfolio concerns and expect them to remain confidential? Of course they are.
If, and when ministers are physically unable to compare notes in person (due to external pressures and hectic timetables) are they entitled to thus communicate via letter? Of course they are.
That, as far as I'm concerned, is the nuts and bolts of the case and no amount of pontification on legal minutia around how a cabinet minister – or anyone else for that matter- should or should not communicate with a colleague is going to change it.
The OIA carefully specifies which grounds are acceptable for redacting or refusing release of information.
Let's see what the Ombudsman rules about this example.
Sensible response. Thank-you Sacha.
My argument was more to do with the insinuation that JAG had committed a serious misdemeanour and that she was guilty as charged without a trial (metaphorically speaking) and all in the name of political gain for the Nats, who were 'guilty' of similar practices when they were in government.
Ahhh…but it's OK when the Nats do it. 😈
All they need is a couple of SirPonyboy's hats nuffynuffy.
I think the current Government, having to their own surprise been thrust into Office by Mr Peters, are adopting the attitude attributed to Prince Otto von Bismarck. One variant of it is
"To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making."
The Parties concerned, along with Winston First are adopting this approach rather than what they said before the election. Keep the Public in the Dark is their motto nowadays. Otherwise the Public is likely to take the view of a second variant of the statement.
"Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made". Respect for the Government will become what they deserve. Nil.
If we, as the OIA intends, find out what this Government has been up to the Government parties probably fear that we will follow the admonition of the Bible
"Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth"
Of course what Miss Ardern said, before the election, is readily explained by another aphorism attributed to Bismarck.
"At no time there is more lying than before the elections, during the war and after the hunt."
sausages, bismark, and God laws, oh and more sausages – thank you alwyn
Greywarshark
Because she communicated officially with Twyford on ministerial letterhead and in her capacity as the Associate Minister of Transport. Therefore she has an obligation to release the contents of this letter.
Furthermore the main content of the letter apparently relates to regional transportation plans for Wellington and the Greens position on this and so is absolutely in the public interest (especially Wellingtonians).
It sounds like Genter may have made some sensitive comments about what she and the Greens might do if her demands re the Wellington regional transportation plan were not agreed to by Twyford and Labour. (see the Dom Post this morning).
That's too bad. She is better off to come clean. By continuing to refuse to release the letter, the issue is getting legs it wouldn't normally warrant, and Genter is beginning to squirm very uncomfortably.
And lets not even get started on the hypocrasy of Genter's stance verses the narrative promoted by Labour and the Greens on being transparent and open, especially with the public. Genter is treating us, the public, with arrogant contempt by continuing to not release the letter.
The pressure is building – maybe she'll release it today before question time in the house; where she'll likely be subject to further embaressment and loss of credibility.
Totally agree on that.
Okeydoke Grantoc thanks it seems that everyone watches gummint like a hawk these days. The good have to be perfect and the bad.. have their errors float off on the tide.
No wonder a lot of things are not written down.
On the other hand it is interesting to see how the Greens stance is being maintained when reality confronts them, how are their promises and intentions standing up. It's hard however to progress NZ with traps laid by people in the Opposition more interested in tripping up government than serving the country.
But c'est la vie.
You're likely right about the choice of paper she wrote it on. If that's the difference then Ms Genter and those she works with are very naive.
While you can't go into such jobs with an over-riding, underlying, all encompassing, pervasive 'fortress' mentality, when missionary zeal should be the driver, that is what is needed. Think and expect the worst of people needs to be the starting point. Throwing away notions of 'everyone wants what's the best for the country' out the window is critical. For god's sake, it's like they've run out on the field expecting a good game, a clean game and there and won't be eye-gouging.
That said, if the Prime Minister phones, texts or writes to someone on political business should those be public communications able to be accessed by the public? Or does it depend on the particular phone or piece of paper she uses? Or can she say, "It isn't public business, I didn't communicate as the Prime Minister but as an ordinary citizen." (The sort of situation that could arise in dealing with some third rate 'journalist' from some suspect media organisation.)
No doubt the Ombudsman will deal with the matter taking into account the nuances of the rules and their intent. I look forward to the reaction of a ruling which determines in a scholarly sagacious judge type way that parts of the communication be redacted because while there might be a certain letterhead the clear intent and context of the remarks should see them set aside.
Then Chris Bishop could have a flurry of fits from here to eternity interrupted by him, in his turn as a Minister, accusing people of playing silly games when they act as he does. Either that or he might get a life and spend his time (and our money) on something meaningful past his ego.
I am being trivial but I think Chris Bishop looks like a basset hound. And that is not right because I like basset hounds, he should impersonate something like a ferret.
That is not being trivial, it is just being plain nasty. Argue the politics or facts, keep your prurient fantasies about the physical appeal or otherwise of politicians to yourself.
Ooh dear how delicate. I live in the real world Ed1 and you are a preachy sort, who will always find me unsatisfactory and low. Too bad.
Hey Peter, and lets make it retroactive. There are quite a lot of paperwork and foot maneuvering around the actual extent that National and Act parties were involved in dirty politics during their term in office. Including things like the real story behind the drive to produce the super-shitty.
Yes, there was a sort of sanctity around the Auckland convention centre dealings too because St. Steven was involved. Then again he and his boss never ever ever used the sacred words 'open' or 'transparent' so things had to be different.
I'm still curious to see how those came to be attached to this government. Got any links to share?
…he and his boss never ever ever used the sacred words 'open' or 'transparent'…
Bill English, 2014: "Mr English said Mr Key ran the most transparent Government New Zealand has ever had."
Bill English, also 2014: "Hon BILL ENGLISH : The Prime Minister is the most open and transparent Prime Minister we have ever had…"
I imagine some of the Gnat donor concealing contortions would make interesting reading – JLR certainly seemed to think so.
Thanks for the image Peter. 🙂
Some answers from the sidebar: http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2019/08/green-partys-tranparency-questioned.html
Earlier this week,‘Te Koiroa o te Koiora’, a Discussion Document for the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy (NZBS) was launched setting out proposals for inclusion in a new Biodiversity Strategy.
The Department of Conservation made a video promoting it (see link below), and highlighting many of the unique species that need looking after. One of them is the tuna tuwharewhare (longfin eel).
It just so happens that these tuna are exported live overseas, for about $10 or $12 an eel, often ending up in Asian restaurants where they are skinned and cooked alive.
Tuna tuwharewhare are in very serious trouble and likely to reach a stage of functional extinction within the next few years. The first thing that needs to happen is for all commercial fishing of them to end immediately
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=y07_O5fynGc
Do you know why are eels not protected? I've never understood this.
Yes I have never understood that either, I have kept eels as pets a couple of times, and keeping in mind I have kept almost every predator fish available in NZ cold and warm water, I can say that the eel is with out doubt the most intelligent fish I have had anything to do with.
Watching a big eels in their natural environment is really something, especially at night when they are out hunting.
I love eels, have spent a bit of time watching them in nature. How do you keep them as pets?
My aunt had perhaps a dozen tame eels in the farm creeks. As kids we would follow the chooks around looking for any eggs laid outside the coop to feed the eels. Rotten was best and they were also rather keen on any blood, offal, fat, scraps etc from the killing shed.
Then we'd call the eels and they'd turn up and follow us along the bank eyeballing us, looking for a feed and a belly rub. They all had names and I'm sure some were more interested in belly rubs than food.
That's very cool. I've done a bit of tickling, but am wary of them because of the stories of them biting people and not letting go.
The National finance spokesman on RNZ this morning, great interview for talking points, little else. On the Reserve Bank's interest rate call yesterday, like a typical conservative, he would prefer the bank to only grab the wheel after the shit hits the fan. "Wait and see", repeated several times.
It's worth listening to this Q & A report from a month ago. Cameron Bagrie discussed business confidence early in this 9 min clip."Look, thow it in the bin. I ignore it as an economic indicator" and "It is politically biased"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj-PWX7n098
"he would prefer the bank to only grab the wheel after the shit hits the fan."
I think everyone agrees that a feature of a capitalist economy is there are cycles and there will be recessions or a reasonably regular basis. That is undeniable.
So yes I would agree that the Reserve Bank should be keeping some powder dry for when the shit hits the fan – as it inevitably will.
We are a hostage to the global economy. If the the trade war results in a global recession, it would be very nice if the Reserve Bank had some options to help us through. Those options are now running out, at a time when the government is telling us that the domestic economy is ticking along very nicely.
Listen to this and try understand the need to try to control the wheels at all times.
Exactly right, and I would like to remind some folk, that as it is we can't even protect our own native fresh water fish today, NZ policy not only allows but encourages an apex predator, namely the rainbow and brown trout to hunt the rivers, steams and lakes of New Zealand, with the obvious catastrophic results on every single species of native fresh water animal..from Kouro through to the beautiful and majestic Banded and Giant Kokopu..why the fuck we would allow and encourage this fierce and super fast growing predator in our water ways is a complete mystery to me.
From the Fish & Game web site..
'The brown trout is an introduced northern hemisphere sports fish and can be found in most New Zealand waters excepting the very north of the North Island.'
So next time you see anyone pointing fingers at the Japanese about their appalling fishing practices, maybe remind them that we really need to be getting our own back yard in order first.
How do you propose we rid our rivers of introduced fish?
And are you certain their absence would help the native fish?
With eels largely gone, where's the apex predator, needed in every robust ecosystem?
I have several plump Giant Kokopu living in the spring in my forest garden. They're fascinating fish.
I an no an expert in removing introduced predators from native environments, but I am sure if there is a will there is a way.
I will also say that I once interviewed Rod McDonald who was by far and away New Zealand's most knowledgeable expert on our fresh water fish, at the time he told me off the record (he was working for NIWA) that large scale extinction faced our native fish by way of habitat loss, and degradation along with loss through whitebaiting and introduced predator fish.
Dr R. M. (Bob) McDowall
Yes that's right is was McDowall,…it was quite a few years ago.
I was friends with Bob McDowell's fishing-friend, Ian Mathieson (now deceased) and learned a lot from him about native fishes and their habitats. Ian lauded Bob as the main man when it came to native fish. Ian encouraged me to pursue the idea of purchasing a 6-hectare wetland that was about to be "dairyfied" and I did. With the help of various people, some from Fish & Game, we commissioned the creation of ponds in wetland, to encourage native fish; tuna and kokopu especially. There are fern birds and bitterns there also. Marsh crakes too, sometimes. Mostly though, harakeke and mikimiki. Thanks Ian!
Adrian T. is ever the optimist, and as much as I would love to be proved wrong I fear that Introduced fish species will never be eliminated, there are simply too many lobby groups with large financial backing. Its claimed to be atleast a 400 million dollar industry..so yet again The Economy writes the rules.
However, despite our best efforts there is no reason to claim that 'eels are largely gone', and its certainly not something we should embrace as a foregone conclusion, unless we are happy to wave goodbye to our entire ecosystem.
These two articles cover a number of relevant studies, including the feasability of making some waterways free of introduced predators and, interestingly, point to the presence of eels being required to achieve a healthy Brown Trout population…"predation by eels can facilitate a trout fishery of greater value by suppressing juvenile trout abundance and indirectly enhancing growth of larger adult trout,"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/100983463/beloved-brown-trout-damage-native-fish-insects-and-waterways
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/8480123/Trout-harming-native-fish
…despite our best efforts there is no reason to claim that 'eels are largely gone',
In fact, and insanely, the Higher Ups consider there to be sufficient eels to support a commercial industry.
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/growing-and-harvesting/fisheries/fisheries-management/commercial-eel-fishing/
I've visited a processing plant for eels where Giant kokopu were a regular feature of the catches unloaded. Those fish, many of the huge, were released/dumped into the nearby stream, where they no doubt died. Deeply shameful, imo.
It might not be a good idea to take away a fairly cheap form of recreation from a large number of pretty ordinary NZers. Leisure is also a part of the material conditions of life that we should be looking to improve for those without a lot of money – along with liveable incomes, housing, healthcare etc. The trout fishers I know are also champions of freshwater quality.
Besides that, it's impractical – how do you selectively eliminate only salmonids from waterways where they are self-sustaining (not reliant on stocking)? Absolutely we need to protect the kokopu – reductions in the whitebait take, protection of lowland water quality, especially small coastal streams and wetlands that are too small or short to hold self-sustaining trout populations. The extinction of the NZ grayling was a tragedy that we can't allow to happen with the kokopu.
You realize that you are using the same argument and justification that the Japanese use to hunt whales..
" The extinction of the NZ grayling was a tragedy that we can't allow to happen with the kokopu."…well it is happening, today, now as we speak.
In a stream about 40 minutes out of Hasting, I have walked though the shallows one night, the water was so thick with juvenile trout that they were beaching themselves just jumping away from my feet, there were thousands of them…I have been observing rivers,streams and waterways around NZ on and off for over 20 years and I can tell I you that native fish in NZ are under extremely serious threat.
And it is also worth keeping in mind that the extinction of a fish species wether it be fresh or salt water, doesn't happen when the last couple of fish die, it happens a long long time before that sad event occurs, when a unsustainable tipping point in numbers is reached and natural recovery cannot be achieved.
Sounds like defenders of urban golf courses claiming it's an everyman's sport.
Oh dear – 'pretty' ordinary NZers. Pretty has acquired a miasma since John Key began to use it.
Kouro
Got to love those glow-in-the-dark crays 🙂
Yeah love them too, I have seen them crawling up shear rock faces at night,,sneaky little guys.
I always had a couple in my big Native fish tanks, they have heaps of character but pretty hard on the plants though, and watching them eat a worm is like something out of a horror show.
Giant Kokopu like habitats that trout dislike; swampy, turgid, muddy slow-moving. Preserving those places and creating new ones would go a long way toward keeping the population of Giant Kokopu up, imo. They can survive/thrive in conditions trout cannot.
Fluoro koura?
Hot-pink crawdads?
Neon-yellow yabbies?
Nice little interview with Aaron Maté on Iran, Mueller a dysfunctioning and broken liberal media…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GZFI0GR018
OCR cut to 1% and we are told that this is good news. For whom ??
Those in debt and with mortgages ?
How about those renters, will we see rents reduce as the landlord will have less costs (Think of Andrew King next time he is in the media standing up for landlords) ?? Yet these same renting families/individuals will be paying more for imported goods (Petrol), not a winner for them 😢
Then we have rent to buy from the Greens that will help the same subset that can afford Kiwibuild. Student fees Great policy (But benefits same subset as Kiwibuild)
Why do we pander to this subset and give lip service to the rest ???
They vote.
"Then we have rent to buy from the Greens that will help the same subset that can afford Kiwibuild."
Afaik, the Greens' rent to own scheme will be for people that aren't even close to home owning, so not the same subset of people that can afford Kiwibuild.
How will these families be able to service a mortgage maintain the property, insurance, rates etc As currently it is HNZ I understand that cover these (Except Rates which I also understand HNZ do not pay) And if these families do purchase the property there will be no Accomodation Rental Supplement ? – reducing their disposable income even more ??
But I digress, low interest rates do not help many NZers. The lower down the wealth list I could imagine that they suffer not benefit 😤
Accommodation supplement is still available if you have a mortgage. It's not just for renters.
I haven't looked at the detail, but what I got so far was that the govt and/or an NGO would build the house, a low income family would rent it, part of the rent would go towards a deposit, once that had accrued they could take out a mortgage to buy the house. I assume the mortgage would be in the same range as the rent, and that people receiving accommodation supplement would still get it (as TA points out, AS is available to all low income people for rent or mortgage).
If what you say is the case, there still is other out of pocket costs that a tenant doesn't face e.g rates If rent=mortgage
I did not not know that an A.S was available to cover mortgages, thought it was only for rent, (That is my learning for the day ticked off 🧐)
Still nice to hear Andrew King come out and say that due to reduced costs he expects rents to drop 😱
You seriously think rates are not factored into rent prices? We all pay them one way or another.
I was referring to wekas comment "I assume the mortgage would be in the same range as the rent", as I cannot see any details other than below regarding the Greens announcement.
As we have seen with Kiwibuild the details are very important for a successful implementation of a policy.
https://www.greens.org.nz/home-for-life
A.S is also available to cover insurance, rates and repairs and maintenance, as part of total accommodation cost calculation.
AS is available to any NZer who meets the criteria (asset and income tests). It covers part of the mortgage/rent but also rates, insurance, maintenance and repairs. Repayable grants (no interest loans) are available from WINZ if people need a chunk of cash up front for maintenance or repairs.
The main issues I see with the policy are how to keep the rent and then mortgage payments low, whether houses can be owned collectively, and whether they then become part of the property market eg someone is allowed to on sell like normal. Lots of things to be worked out, but I trust the Greens have thought about this long and hard (it's not a new thing for them).
I understand the next step is to negotiate with Labour and NZF, so I see the policy announcement as a start of that process that involves the public as well.
snap, what Augustus said.
We are told lots of things ….many times the statement needs to be taken in the broadest possible sense as does this one.
It is good in that it (hopefully) delays the impact of recession…..and that assumes you believe growth is a 'net good'
If we allow pop. growth and that our expectations of the level of delivery in health, education, infrastructure etc are at least status quo then IMO we either need growth or technology advancements to enable these expectations to be met, or "we" need to temper our expectations, unless there is something you can add to my understanding.
And no I don't agree growth is a net good. Look at the destruction of our environment that has occurred to allow short term growth.
I wouldnt say I can offer you "understanding", that comes from the self but would suggest if your system requires growth to continue then the maintenance of growth would be considered 'good'……especially if you consider there is no possible alternative as those running things do.
If we allow immigration at 1.5% of our population (plus natural pop growth )how then do we maintain our current living standards and for govts to satisfy our expectations (refer current health and the availability of cancer treatments) unless growth or advancements in tech that allow us to do tomorrow cheaper than today ?
sure agreed growth has to be tempered with cost/damage to environment, not growth at any and all costs
'cheaper' has nothing to do with it (though the BAU crowd will cite productivity)….it is simply a question of resources and distribution…we havnt got enough (and its diminishing) and what we do have aint distributed to max benefit…all the finagling in world does not alter that
We don't want house prices to fall do we.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/396218/gabriel-makhlouf-admits-he-could-have-handled-budget-leak-better
No doubt he was angry at the deliberate attempt to undermine the regular process and got emotionally charged – to him it was analogous to a hack. I imagine he dropped his precision and control of a Treasury official for a moment and let the good bloke pissed-off have a word.
Both the English Tory Party and English Labour realise the Union is finished and are strategising for a chess table that does not include Scotland and Ireland as well as the EU.
Johnson's people can count and know that the vast majority of the 59 Scottish seats at WM will aways be anti Tory. The simple solution is to let Scotland go. Loosing 45-59 anti tory seats makes them less needy for 10 DUP "friends". The DUP is only "popular" with Tory members when there is no alternative.
Labour has no seats from NI and could well have none in Scotland. They have to strategise for a future as an England/Wales party.
The best Labour can do after the forthcoming WM GE is get support from the possible 59 SNP MPs to form a government and stop the Tory madness. Then get SNP and Lib Dem support to introduce Proportional Representation, That will be the best way of making sure the Tories never have an absolute majority in the English/Wales parliament.
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
A hard border within the Britain instead of in Ireland – and a little England with MMP PR so the days of Tory goverment end forever. Nice.
Even better – win the election and form an alliance to stay in the customs union and single market. Then install MMP PR to prevent the Tories from being in position to try a no deal Brexit in future.
A no deal Brexit and a subsequent Tory election win would turn the UK/England into a rival to Puerto Rico as Area 51, a self governing colony taking its orders from Capitol Hill.
Politics has now moved to a post UK phase. The seat on the UN Security Council will go. The flag will be meaningless. Remainers will correctly be angry with the Leavers. The Leaver will blame everyone else but themselves. They will have their beloved Blue Passports while they join the "Third Country" lines at the airports.
After its been bad for a while it will then get worse.
Then the Queen will pass on to the Great Palace in the Sky. King Charles and Boris Johnson leading the Exceptional Ones.
It might not just be taking the St Andrews blue out of the Union Jack, but consideration given to nationalisation of the royal property in Scotland, or confiscation for the award to a Scottish throne claimant who was not English.
For those who value a free press and protection for journalists and publishers, the alarm bells are ringing
And for the Assange haters on this site , whose numbers are disappointingly high…
You're just about there guys, he's all but destroyed
You must be feeling great
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/08/07/new-fears-for-julian-assange/
Here’s a couple of interesting articles from news.com. The first one is a large number of Chinese businesses and companies are using IOU’s to pay bills. Which is not a good look either way for the short term or the longer term as someone will end asking for real money and the whole thing would collapse under the weight of debt etc.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/chinese-businesses-issue-ious-instead-of-cash-amid-trade-war-slowdown/news-story/f1d13df87e52c1ec7ce19f1713d50bea
This one is also interesting over the blame game of currency manipulation in the resulting trade war and like above, it can only lead to another GFC in the medium to longer term unless someone calls a truce.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/trump-accuses-china-of-manipulating-world-into-new-gfc/news-story/129cabaa05f1e30fb9afb8be51a72a19
From SCOOP – Rates Increases – coming to a letterbox near you 5/8/2019 http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=121046
Talking about projected massive rate hikes for Wellington causes pause. Andy Foster states 'I chair the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee' and looks at the unavoidable costs arising from leaky buildings which exist, and the likely ones still being built, according to knowledgable builders around. Central government action is needed he states and I think that something has been recently announced on that. But I haven't got time to look it up.
The rates for the regional council are up 15.7%. He starts off backgrounding the situation with his Wellington city rates after recent revaluations.
I’ll use ours as a ‘modest’ example – city rates up 4.6% and regional rates up a staggering 15.7%. Overall that’s 6.2%. Other people, undoubtedly with greater proportionate rises in Capital Value in the revaluation, have even higher numbers. …
The bad news is that there is a lot more proposed. The Wellington City Council Chief Executive’s Pre-election Report shows that over the 10 years of our Long Term Plan (LTP) rates are expected to rise by 48.2%. …
It gets worse. That does not include remotely enough money for Let’s Get Wellington Moving or for Civic Square.
Based on the information to date, LGWM will cost the city and region in the order of $1.2billion in today’s money, while the Council’s placeholder in the LTP is just $120million. The annual cost seems to be (the LGWM numbers are a bit inconsistent) around $90million of which 62% appears to be expected to be paid through rates.
Signalling that people need to try to shift from cars to public transport or use their car more efficiently (have a car full of regular fellow travellers).
The Government appears to have ruled out congestion pricing, and has certainly ruled out fuel taxes. None of these things are popular but if the alternative is a massive – permanent – rise in rates then they need to be explored. Long stay parking levies and congestion pricing in particular also incentivize transport behaviour change and were built into the original LGWM transport models. Without them, and much of the roading originally proposed, of course the model needs changing.
Thinking for the future with a clear head – needed urgently around NZ.
That'll chip a few more poor folk out of their houses.
We can only hope we get rid of the crazy Mayor and many of the Councillors we have at the moment.
One can only weep at the insane items that the Council is spending hundreds of millions on. I suppose Mayor Lester intends to be like his equally hopeless predecessor. She fled town and moved up to the Wairarapa, out of the reach of Wellington City, and Wellington Regional Council rates. There she lets scrub grow and claims an income from selling carbon credits.
Meanwhile we residents of the city have to pay for Lester's brain-farts. One was, of course, $40,000 for a few painted stripes in Cuba Street. Supplying a reserve water supply for the Hospital so that it can keep operating after an Earthquake is not on his urgent list. It would be useful and Lester doesn't do useful.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114840916/winston-peters-suggests-labour-acted-in-bad-faith-over-abortion-law
Oh piss off Winston, we all know this is a non too subtle play for conservative votes and its far too late for that
If I could choose only one thing to happen at the next election (apart from Jude being proclaimed Queen of NZ) I'd choose the utter annihilation of NZFirst
I very rarely agree with you, but on this I concur 100%.
The day that NZ First leaves the better
Hopefully Simon Bridges will rule out working with NZF, and there must be a good chance that Labour / Greens would have the numbers without NZF.
If he shows some back bone and rules out Winston he'll go up in the polls then Act can campaign on keeping National honest and take the protest votes off NZfirst (might even get an extra seat or two out of it) and everyone will be happy because the undead corpse that is NZFirst/Winston will finally be vanquished for good
… and the bells will ring out throughout the land as unicorns prance through the woods while farting rainbows and shitting gold, everyone will find their true love(s) and live happily ever after except the evil wizard who will spend eternity in a dungeon covered in leprechaun turds.
Cool story, bro
You really should put that in quotation marks and give a reference shouldn't you?
That looks as if you have lifted it holus bolus from the Election Manifesto of the junior party in the CoL
Words like "equity" and "integrity" might be beyond your understanding, but that doesn't make them as imaginary as unicorns.
Yeah thanks I didn't think it was so bad either
I'm not a fan, but this was subtly done by Martin.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=208232
She was awesome in what she said, what she didn't say, and how she did. Master class speech.
Yes. It was a very intelligent speech. We all know exactly what happened, the who the when and the why….without her having to state explicitly that at their caucus meetings she's surrounded by dinosaurs. Me? Not so subtle. Bunch of misogynist old pricks. Unless you have a womb, be guided by your female colleagues.
I really feel for her, she didn't deserve this. Appallingly misogynistic and reinforces that NZF is an old boys club. I cannot wait until Peters is out of parliament, but it's not like he is the only one.
Have to say too, being a bit subtle myself, it's all depressingly familiar.
Just to be clear I don't mind if NZFirst survives as long as Winston is removed from parliament
Pretty brave of her, unfortunately shes probably put a big target on her back, Winston doesn’t seem the forgiving type…shame really
How Winston (might) a run his caucus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYZoxY3sawE
Good news from the whenua, Wally Haumaha has announced the police presence will be reduced.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/396236/police-will-reduce-presence-at-ihumatao-protest-wally-haumaha
Interesting to note Monday's police presence increase was due to a 'miscommunication between police and protestors', which brings into question the claims that kaitiaki had *actually* occupied land they had been evicted from instead of just continuing to maintain a presence on the Quarry Road. Jill Rogers getting nothing from Haumaha there.
I didn't realise that. The camp is on the road and not on the Fletchers' land?
Well, the front line that was cut off by the influx of police on Monday is on the Ihumatao Quarry Road – which is the public access road to the Otuataha Stonefields site. Some kaitiaki have camped on the adjacent field which is part of Fletchers land, but the police did not attempt to break up that campsite on Monday.
Some interesting info here from the Kaitiaki Police Liaison, https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/08/09/742193/soul-searching-fireside-following-ihumtao-gaslight about the discussion that took place on Monday afternoon.
I think the cops have miscommunicated the discussions with the camp, which has led to someone in seniority making a really really bad call.
Monday was a mess for sure. I just had no idea that the camp was on the road and not on the land. Kind of mind blowing that I didn't know that, and I'm wondering if I just missed that important point of if many people don't realise this.
That time again where it's play the 'what party the local candidates support' game.
I won't vote for a non labour or green aligned candidate, but as they don't usually declare a party affiliation, and often they don't door knock these days, it's all a bit hit or miss.
Does anyone know the left leaning candidates for council and mayor in Hamilton west?
Well done to this young man, at his age was more worried about buying piss and cigs then buying a house. https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/latest/114704069/on-the-ladder-teenager-working-two-jobs-signed-up-for-first-home-at-18
Did he pay his parents board while he was living with them? The article doesn't say does it. We can only guess that he didn't. Therefore he didn't 'do it all on his own'
The other thing of course is that all the people in the country who want their own home cannot go and work on fishing boats.
Typical msm garbage propaganda.
Noticed that a book of Trump's tweets had been published. Could be good Christmas present for someone who knows how to read. By Christmas it could be redundant if someone files for impeachment or something, or apricot perhaps.
The Abbotsford disaster in Dunedin is old history. And probably forgotten by most. But I see that RadioNZ has brought it forward and I just pop it in here so you can see the problems from shifting soil,. landslides can do. The problem here was that Dunedin had information about the soil instability but lost it in the files, and when they bulldozed the 'toe' away from a hill with houses on and around it, they started movement that was very frightening and destructive.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018707619/nga-taonga-sound-archives-the-abbotsford-disaster
For something a little bit different and if you have a spare 6 and a half hours, definately themes that will/should resonate with old school Labour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXbw9qMXsz0
the only solution is grow more acorns.
Seven years ago the impressionist Rory Bremner complained that politicians had become so boring that few of them were worth mimicking: “They’re quite homogenous and dull these days … It’s as if character is seen as a liability.” Today his profession has the opposite problem: however extreme satire becomes, it struggles to keep pace with reality. The political sphere, so dull and grey a few years ago, is now populated by preposterous exhibitionists.
This trend is not confined to the UK – everywhere the killer clowns are taking over
This trend is not confined to the UK – everywhere the killer clowns are taking over. Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, Jair Bolsonaro, Scott Morrison, Rodrigo Duterte, Matteo Salvini, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Viktor Orbán and a host of other ludicrous strongmen – or weakmen, as they so often turn out to be – dominate nations that would once have laughed them off stage. The question is why? Why are the technocrats who held sway almost everywhere a few years ago giving way to extravagant buffoons?
Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate – sent direct to you
Read more
Social media, an incubator of absurdity, is certainly part of the story. But while there has been plenty of good work investigating the means, there has been surprisingly little thinking about the ends. Why are the ultra-rich, who until recently used their money and newspapers to promote charisma-free politicians, now funding this circus? Why would capital wish to be represented by middle managers one moment and jesters the next?
Advertisement
The reason, I believe, is that the nature of capitalism has changed. The dominant force of the 1990s and early 2000s – corporate power – demanded technocratic government. It wanted people who could simultaneously run a competent, secure state and protect profits from democratic change. In 2012, when Bremner made his complaint, power was already shifting to a different place, but politics had not caught up.
The policies that were supposed to promote enterprise – slashing taxes for the rich, ripping down public protections, destroying trade unions – instead stimulated a powerful spiral of patrimonial wealth accumulation. The largest fortunes are now made not through entrepreneurial brilliance but through inheritance, monopoly and rent-seeking: securing exclusive control of crucial assets such as land and buildings privatised utilities and intellectual property, and assembling service monopolies such as trading hubs, software and social media platforms, then charging user fees far higher than the costs of production and delivery. In Russia, people who enrich themselves this way are called oligarchs. But this is a global phenomenon. Today corporate power is overlain by – and mutating into – o
What matters. Climate change. Democracy a long way second. The pricks around us , pleasant but irrelevant.
Great letter column here.
Anti immigrant bigots often claim New Zealand is 'over populated'
Yeah right
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12256098
You're right New Zealand is not as populated as Europe but neither do we have the infrastructure to support such a population.
We don't even have the infrastructure to support the population we've got.
The land isn't empty either. Filling it with people impacts on many things.
A chicken and egg problem.
It's worth seeing (and reading) the new style http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/
Broken link? Lynn has a post up about it now.
The redirects were only done a little time ago apparently. The net is still catching up.
Yes it's been a bit temperamental, but you post covers it well.
https://thestandard.org.nz/getting-rid-of-the-trash-whaleoil-site-sold-to-blomfield
Good thing I'm on holiday this week.