Matthew Hooton has been interesting lately. He alleged without evidence that Labour has engaged in attempted manipulation of Ipredict but then refused to comment on a very clear example of right wing manipulation of the market.
Yesterday on Radio New Zealand he hinted that David Cunliffe had tried to sabotage Phil Goff last week by not providing him with a briefing. Nothing could be further from the truth. The draft costings have been in existence for a while and Goff knew in general terms what the figures are. The release of the figures last Friday had been planned for a while. I thought Goff just struggled to get the information out because Key kept overtalking him.
But Hooton’s comment was picked up by the Dominion’s Andrea Vance. And David’s Ipredict stock for becoming the future leader then suddenly plunged to as low as .20c before returning to its more normal level of .50c.
Hooton knows nothing about the Labour Party or its internal workings. David Cunliffe is an extremely competent performer and the only Labour MP who has continually bested his opposition. I am certain he would have the measure of Key in a debate. Yet this does not stop Hooton from claiming that the most damaging of a variety of scenarios is the truth. And then the media pick up on it.
The technique used by the right is really subtle, work in the background, plant an idea, influence the media, affect measures of popularity then voila the opinion polls back you up. Progressives need to work out how to respond to this.
I was also p**sed that Kathryn Ryan kept saying that Labour’s figures are under scrutiny yesterday – I think during the left vs right segment yesterday. i.e. part of the media following Key’s show me the money line, and continuing not to scrutinise Nat/Key’s figures as carefully.
Yes, it does seem that he knows that he can make all sorts of unfounded assertions without any evidence.
I was astounded, last night on iPredict, at the balls of the guy to make what would be otherwise unsupportable assertions.
As a National mouthpiece he knows that the quality of debate in the NZ media means that he can get his his wildly inaccurate soundbite out and the moderator/interviewer will not have noticed because they are not listening and busy reading the next pre-prepared patsy question.
Gee I just watched it and you are right, Hooton was appalling. I was particularly interested in his comment that Labour was heading down to National’s 2002 election support levels. Then this morning Ipredict’s Labour;’a party vote was sold down to .24c. It has since rallied however.
Maybe there should be securities oversight of Ipredict because there is a strong hint of some political manipulation going on.
He has repeated this same B.S. regarding Labour falling to the nats 2002 support for as long as anyone will listen to him.
Someone needs to remind him about the result in 1993.
Nikki Kaye on Back Benches last week did not look and act like an M.P. who was safe in thier seat.
Mm, this was interesting actually. Andrea Vance forgot the jounralism part of her job and it is a clear tactic from the right to insert some sort of wedge, at least at face value between Phil Goff and David Cunliffe.
Strange comments she makes appearing to have some insight into the Labour Caucus with her claim he has no numbers, I for one don’t believe this to be true if in fact that’s what’s happening, but from what I can see there is a lot of work happening between the Labour leadership and its senior MPs to deliver costed policies, that doesn’t happen if there is something else going on. Besides, I don’t believe any senior Labour MPs are stupid enough to put a possible left-win at risk given the split between left and right is only up to 5% across a range of polls.
The media has to do a better job before buying in to this kind of rubbish because it’s not about them, it’s about the voters and voters are being informed by media articles and blogs. The problem with this particular article is that Andrea did no work, rather just drew on Hooten’s comments about leadership and that’s unfortunate for her as someone working to develop her credibility as a journalist.
Goff doesn’t release policy without it being costed, it’s clear that’s his approach. Even if there were no pressure on finances, there would still be a full costing undertaken because he is not inclined to shoot from the hip. Hooten’s assertions are very unfortunate too, but tactically you would do it to destabilise Labour.
It’s hardly subtle with that interest free taxpayer loan to mediawonks, recycling rick at TVNZ and their good mate griffin at RNZ, granny needed little help as she was already out on the right.
Hooton snipes and talk over people then backs away leaving others to take up the case….nice work if you can get it, we’ve seem the hollowmen and what he’s about.
“We have struggled to develop a comprehensive measure of social well-being. We use a multitude of statistics – like mental illness, life expectancy, and prisoner numbers. But there is an increasing body of knowledge suggesting that the best indicator of social well-being may be simply the extent of inequality within a society. “
The platitudinous conclusion is prefaced by a load of old bollocks. The piece reads more like an attempt to justify the Fourth Labour Government’s contribution to New Zealand’s current political climate and economic situation coupled with a call to do it all again.
Key on Morning Report just now says that business people who think National doesn’t have a plan need to get out of their offices and go for a drive, as National’s plan is on billboards up and down the highway.
Amazing. Key thinks a few slogans counts as a “plan”.
It’s like we’re building a house and the architect turned up with a list on a piece of card saying
Walls!
A roof on top!
Windows you can see out of!
A door to every room!
Lets have a pool!
I can’t believe how inept the questions are. They are letting Key blather on and he is not answering anything. You have to admire his ability to constantly regurgitate sound bites.
Yes. And trying to listen objectively this morning, I cannot for the life of me hear Key say anything of substance. Waffle! And he still gets a free run!
Last Sunday morning the commentary said that the persona viewed on TV trumped the audio. Nixon beat Kennedy (?) on radio by virtue of his intellect but the same debate if seen on TV had Kennedy race in because he looked better.
Is this why Key refuses to debate with Goff on radio but is willing to do so on TV? In audio what Key says is pure waffle. Compare this with Phil’s TV performance late on Sunday night.
Key was quite keen to explain how he had helped the ‘underclass’ through these difficult times. We don’t know who these people are of course because we don’t have a definition of poverty, and the increase in GST affects the wealthy more because they spend more .. but National did help the poor by … not cutting benefits!. Now there is real compassion . . .
Now I know what’s on the Nat billboards the same shit as 2008, maybe some people with a little time, petrol and a video camera and go see what they can see and post the results.
. . . Having condemned his predecessor for many years for paying off debt too quickly, English said: “I want to stress that New Zealand starts from a reasonable position in dealing with the uncertainty of our economic outlook.
“In New Zealand we have room to respond. This is the rainy day that Government has been saving up for,” he told reporters at the Treasury briefing on the state of the economy and forecasts.
English pointed to a graph of the debt track since 1972 and projected five years out from today.
The recent low was 17 per cent of GDP and the ghastly projection for 2013 is 33.1 per cent and possibly worse, under what Treasury calls a “downside scenario” – 38.6 per cent.
Unemployment is forecast to rise to 6.4 per cent in 2010 and deficits forecast to be $2.4 billion to $3.5 billion larger over the 2010 to 2013 years than forecast just before the election . . .
. . . but, hey, why would an MSM journalist want to check facts? Too many of them have spent too much time saying National Ltd™ are going to romp home so its now up to them to ensure they’re correct. “Observer bias”, I believe its called.
Thanks for that .. lying with impunity .. it’s outrageous and those sycophantic journos don’t seem to listem to what he’s saying. No challenge, no rebuttal .. I depair!
Using the WFF calculator currently if you earn minimum wage with one primary age child and work a 45hr week you get $148 with a $15 minimum wage you get $88.
Would I be right in thinking that the $60 saved there would be the money that would go towards the extension? The minimum wage rise will make this close to cost neutral? Or will WFF push up with the minimum wage?
Using before tax figures I work out that someone earning minimum wage @45 hrs gets $607.50 in wages and $148 wff, total $755.50. @ $15 , $675 in wages and $88 wff total $763.
So unless wff rises not withstanding tax free threshold etc someone classed as ‘working poor’ will be less than $10 per week better off?
Very interesting. I hadn’t given it a lot of thought but of course it makes sense.
So really minimum wage increase will only individuals or couples without children, and families will have to rely on GST off FF&V and tax-free bracket (phased in) to get much benefit.
How long until National picks this up?
Also your figures are wrong. The current minimum wage is $13/hour not $13.50. So it’s $585 before tax not $607.50 for working 45 hours.
All my calculations show that if you work 40 hours a week going from $13 to $15 minimum wage will increase your after-WFF income by $2 per hour. Similarly if you work 45 hours a week going from $13 to $15 minimum wage it will increase your after-WFF income by $2 per hour.
Italy can’t get rid of Berlusconi. They elected him as a celebrity figure and then let him demolish the controls on pan-media ownership that aided his personal interests, so that he was then free to have influence everywhere. Why should he go, he likes the publicity and notoriety. He doesn’t care too much about the stability of the Italian nation and people’s future And they didn’t take care themselves to seek out a serious-minded politician committed to policies and a direction good for the health and wealth of the country.
Health and wealth now that is a good slogan for a NZ politician to support. Will a celebrity such as smile and wave, once over lightly Key have policies advancing those for us all in his mind?
Even though 99.9% of my friends despise him! One of my friends on Facebook managed a truly impressive shite storm of abuse about SB’s government tonight! 😀
Maybe that just reflects the friends I have?
Hi Prism, there is a major bit of action going on in Europe that will impact this elections winner big time…in short winning this time is the kiss of death. The Euro crisis is unfolding in a way which will see the failure of the European single currency and the total insolvency of the banks (unless bailed out by the public purse in a m. This contagion will spread like dominoes falling into the US and Asian banks. Concurrently we see Brent Crude stubbornly staying too high which will stifle any “growth” initiatives anywhere. The Arab Spring has turned into an Arab Autumn with no resolution of the key issues i.e. food prices, there is only trouble ahead there and we can expect Saudi political turmoil when the banking crash wipes out their “investments”.
When National resume their role as government of the day they will be looking straight down the barrel of collapsing markets and prices, and contagious financial mayhem. Tax cuts wont be affordable and I predict the inability to borrow offshore will see them rolled back, along with massive welfare and health cuts. Welcome to the “shrinking” economy, permanent growth will be a thing of the past.
The failure of all parties at this election is their commitment to business as usual with growth as their universal panacea. Ill fares the land.
I’m with you Bored, and don’t know where that leaves me in terms of who I want to take Government.
On one hand, I’d rather the Nat’s took it on the chin and had to live with the consequences of their ideology. And I’d rather Labour & Green didn’t get labelled with it.
On the other hand, I believe the Nats ( but to be fair probably the whole Establishment ) possibly have more of an Authoritarian bent, so Depression and ensuing social disintegration could be even nastier in their hands.
You have a voice – vote and make sure it is heard.
Abstaining is not a protest, it is silence – a silence that will be filled with the voices of others or taken as consent.
I know… I’m just concerned with the consequences either way, I guess what I’m saying is, Labour / Green may be better not to inherit the implosion of Europe and then Wall St as a byproduct of it’s $4 trillion exposure to Euro Banks. Perhaps Key’s ideology imploding on his watch is preferable?
Bored – It’s all so cheering isn’t it. You could be interested in the interview I heard on Radionz on Russia and its businesses and economy and laws after the fall of Stalinism. (I don’t say Communism as I understand there was only a brief attempt at the real deal in Russia.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ldy87
Three businessmen tell Peter Day about doing business in Russia. William Browder was an investment fund manager in the country who campaigned, with some success, against corruption and left the country, having moved all his company’s assets out, in 2007. He tells Peter Day about his experiences. And two current directors of companies in Moscow discuss what they think they can do to improve corporate governance there.
Drying of northern wetlands has led to much more severe peatland wildfires and nine times as much carbon released into the atmosphere, according to new research led by a University of Guelph professor.
The study, published today in Nature Communications, is the first to investigate the effect of drainage on carbon accumulation in northern peatlands and the vulnerability of that carbon to burning.
“Russia, Indonesia and Canada all have abundant peatlands, but they also have been hotspots for intense peat fires in the past decade,” said Guelph professor Merritt Turetsky, who worked on the study with William Donahue of the Water Matters Society of Alberta and Brian Benscoter from Florida Atlantic University.
In pristine states, peatlands often resist fire because of their wet soils. “Our study shows that when disturbance lowers the water table, that resistance disappears and peat becomes very flammable and vulnerable to deep burning,” she said.
“The euro zone periphery was a sideshow. This stuff with Italy is the real deal. With yields at 6.7% and rising, it’s game over for the euro zone. The extend and pretend stuff ain’t gonna work.”
Key on Morning report- the easy problems are solved by others. the hard ones get to my desk
HA
SO THAT is why the hard problems are not solved or even have a plan.
Yesterday I read a comment that I’m sure was someone trying to parody the people they didn’t much like. It was excellently put together – a real collection of self-satisfied right-wing stereotypes. It even had an avatar!
Today there are people referencing talkback radio as a means of measuring poverty. It’s just too much. Between chuckling at the black humour, I’m having to second guess what I think are genuine contributions. My internet reality is getting distorted. Come on, admit it, who here is being the mischievous scallywag?
It’s good to see the fracking issue being debated in the mainstream media. Being that a poll recently showed the environment is people’s number one concern, it’s important that a proper debate consisting of the facts is presented…
“We have built a dangerous financial system in the United States and Europe,” said the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. “We must step back and reform the system.”
Professor Johnson cited alarming parallels with October 1931, when “people thought the worst was behind them, but the smart people were wrong and instead the crisis just broadened.”
As EU falls apart, the cracks will spread across the Atlantic and quickly split our largest banks asunder dragging all of the American economy down to unbelievable depths of misfunction and colossal loss of entire generations of wealth. Commodities and agricultural land will be the only safe havens for smart money. Undoubtedly, wars will spring forth from this collapse. The next decade is going to rival the worst in the last few hundred years. The only uncertainty is when. How long will kicking the can down the road be possible as an avoidance
Why are people trying to rewrite the history of the crisis? Some are simply trying to save face. Interest groups who advocate for deregulation of the finance sector would prefer that deregulation not receive any blame for the crisis.
Some stand to profit from the status quo: Banks present a systemic risk to the economy, and reducing that risk by lowering their leverage and increasing capital requirements also lowers profitability. Others are hired guns, doing the bidding of bosses on Wall Street.
They all suffer cognitive dissonance — the intellectual crisis that occurs when a failed belief system or philosophy is confronted with proof of its implausibility.
And what about those facts? To be clear, no single issue was the cause. Our economy is a complex and intricate system. What caused the crisis? Look:
The main problem, of course, is that any global financial “correction” is inevitably going to impact most on those least to blame for the crisis and least able to insulate themselves from the ensuing mess.
It is always the poorest who bear the brunt of the blunders and excessive greed of the richest. It is unfair and will, I expect, provoke serious blowback for the suits this time around.
Has anyone from a bank or financial institution ever been indicted for the fraud that led to this crisis?
“A glass tower filled with people carefully selected for the polish and self-assurance that come with having been formed in institutions of privilege, whose primary attributes are a lack of consciousness, a penchant for deception and an incapacity for empathy or remorse. The curious onlookers behind the windows and we, arms locked in a circle on the concrete outside, did not speak the same language. Profit. Globalization. War. National security. These are the words they use to justify the snuffing out of tiny lives, acts of radical evil. Goldman Sachs’ commodities index….”
Brilliant piece from Pulitzer winning writer Chris Hedges arrested outside Goldman Sacs the other day…
RadioNZ Link
On the subject of Goff’s Top 10…key says
“The reality is that we have the global financial crisis which has been swirling around now for three years, Christchurch has had earthquakes, and he seems to be in a state of denial that either of those things have happened.”
He said National had done the best it could in guiding New Zealand through the crises.
He said National had done the best it could in guiding New Zealand through the crises.
Yeah, a crisis he helped create with his trading in vapour and making money of the backs of people who work for a living!
Time to throw the money changer out of the halls of government!
WANKER WALLOPING
Liz Bowen-Cluely thrashes David Farrar live on air
National Radio “The Panel”, Tuesday 8 November 2011
Ouch! Did anyone else hear Liz deal it out to that National Party stooge a few minutes ago, calling his attack on Robyn Malcolm “balderdash” and telling him to “move on”?
The glib one (Farrar) was reduced to silence.
The other glib one (Jim Mora) was reduced to cracking a lame joke in an unsuccessful attempt to soothe the scorched sensibilities of the fat bloke.
Why did she have to be so partisan?
How dare she express herself and try to shut down the type of pseudo-debate that has made us feel so comfortable in the past!
Public displays of passion like that is just oh so unbecoming for a woman?
Back to the kitchen I say – make me some eggs!
ps. Robyn, still waiting for that call – I’m still ready to carry your babies.
I don’t know Williams in any personal way so I don’t know if he is, by nature (i.e. by continued mode of conduct and belief), a racist.
I think the use of black was a descriptor rather than a pejorative term.
He was not saying that he was an arsehole because he was black (which is racist – i.e. black people are by nature arseholes) but because of all the the arseholes in the world he is black. The use of black was to merely be descriptive (but it was unnecessary).
The world’s MSM are saying that he called Woods a black arsehole. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, which I think is a nice liberal enlightened idea, and in view of his apology and what others have said about Williams, he didn’t.
He said about his jubilation at winning was to show – “It was my aim to shove it right up that black arsehole”.
Perhaps the issue is rather about accuracy. Is his arsehole black?
The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, described the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, as a “liar” in a private exchange with Barack Obama at last week’s G20 summit in Cannes that was inadvertently broadcast to journalists….
“I cannot stand him. He’s a liar,” Sarkozy told Obama. The US president responded by saying: “You’re fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day.”…
The gaffe followed a press conference after which the two presidents retired to a private room. The conversation apparently began with Obama criticising Sarkozy for not warning the US that France would vote in favour of the Palestinians’ application to join Unesco, the United Nations agency for culture and education.
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Meridian energy has been caught manipulating the electricity market for fun and profit: Meridian Energy pushed up power prices by unnecessary spilling water from its south dams in December that could have been used for generation, the Electricity Authority has ruled in a preliminary decision. The authority said the ...
When the Christchurch murderer pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder and a number of other violent assault charges a few months ago, he effectively closed the door on what the public will know about the lead up to and commission of the event. His plea means that no evidence ...
Daphna Whitmore The Philippines is enduring one of the longest lockdowns in the world. For President Duterte the lockdown provides an opportunity to garner more powers and to push through a brazen assault on human rights. A new law called the Anti-Terror Bill has been passed under urgency and it ...
Hearing the Prime Minister castigate the Warehouse for laying off 1,000 workers after receiving $52 million in wage subsidies reminds me of the fabled frog who agreed to carry a scorpion across a river. The scorpion stings the frog halfway across, dooming both to drown. The frog cries “Why on ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, Prof Michael BakerCompared with other OECD countries NZ is a stand-out success story by ending community transmission of COVID-19. While there have been some well-publicised recent deficiencies (eg, quarantine organisation), there has still been no evidence of community transmission for many weeks. Nevertheless, ...
It’s June 30th, marked as Asteroid Day by many people of an astronomical bent around the globe. On this date in 1908, early in the morning in a remote part of central Siberia, the sky fell in. Well, not literally. What happened is a substantially-sized lump of cosmic detritus ...
There really is not much about Paula Bennett concerning her career trajectory, the policies she promoted, and most importantly, the socio-economic effect this had upon New Zealand (and particularly the most vulnerable in this, our oft-cited “egalitarian” society of this country) that can be said now that hasn’t already been ...
Don Franks Poverty, inequality – really – aren’t politicians paid to sort that stuff ? Why can’t they just get it together and come up with something fair and sensible? A cold rainy 2020 morning, a headline showed promise. “Green Party’s $8b plan would guarantee an income of $325 a ...
A guest repost by Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) staff attorney Augusta Wilson. Fundraising is not the objective of this article but readers may wish to know that CSLDF is currently conducting a summer fundraiser to support defense of research scientists and research integrity from anti-science interference by politicians and industrial interests. The COVID-19 pandemic ...
Helloy… My name is Todd Muller and I am the leader of the National Party of New Zealand. Many people come up to me on the street and ask me who I am. I’m often walking through Tauranga, or in a mall in suburban Auckland, or maybe even a farmers’ ...
The US state of Mississippi has finally voted to remove the Confederate emblem from its state flag. Good. Its appalling that it was put there in the first place, but even more appalling that it took so long to remove it. Its basicly as if a German Länder still had ...
No one could have predicted when David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill was passed by Parliament last November that the referendum required to bring the legislation into force would be held against the backdrop of a deadly global pandemic. Since then, the mounting tally of casualties around the world ...
Paul GoldsmithYou can often tell just how effective a progressive policy proposal will be by how much the right wing criticise it. The more socially beneficial, the more vitriolic and unhinged they seem to become.That was the case when the Green Party announced their Poverty Action Plan yesterday. The response ...
Back at the beginning of April, when we had much else on our minds, I wrote this post urging some caution in interpreting the results of the latest Horizon poll, conducted in February, on voting intentions in this year's cannabis referendum, which was paid for by Helius Therapeutics.I wrote that ...
Over the weekend the Greens made their first election policy announcement, and promised transformational change: a more progressive tax system, with new rates applying to incomes of $100,000 and $150,000; a new wealth tax on net wealth over $1 million; and a guaranteed minimum income to eliminate poverty. Its bold, ...
Story of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Global Warming Is Melting Our Sense of Time Satellite image of smoke from active fires burning near the ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First leader Winston Peters today scoffed at suggestions that a team of six political operatives have been dispatched to New Zealand to assist his campaign. ‘As President Ronald Reagan once said, ‘there they go again.’ ‘The clickbait journos can’t ...
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jenny Marcroft as the party’s election 2020 candidate for the Auckland Central electorate. Jenny spent years working in Auckland Central, having spent a vast proportion of her broadcasting career there. She says she, "knows the place and knows the people." Ms Marcroft says ...
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
New Zealand First MP Fletcher Tabuteau is pleased to be confirmed today as the party’s candidate for the Rotorua electorate. Speaking at the Rotorua AGM for New Zealand First, Mr Tabuteau said this is an election that is incredibly important for the people of Rotorua. “The founding principles of New ...
The Human Rights Commission’s PRISM report on the issues impacting people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) provides an excellent programme of work for future governments to follow, say the Greens. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the trans-Tasman bubble had not been jeopardised after aborder botch-upresulted in New Zealand having two active cases of COVID-19. On Friday, Mr Peters told RNZ's Morning Report he had heard from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that borders for trans-Tasman travel would open by ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said today he was pleased the army was now running the quarantine and isolation process - up until now it has been the Ministry of Health. Peters told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that the army knew how to introduce and follow protocols and instil discipline. ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing more than $7.5 million in Northland ventures to combat the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment is going to the Northern Adventure Experience and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced significant funding for Auckland’s Northcote College as part of the first wave of a new nationwide school redevelopment programme to upgrade schools over the next 10 years. The $48.5 million project brings the total investment in Northcote College to ...
The Government has opened an urgent response fund to support schools and early learning services to get children and young people back on track after the Covid-19 lockdown. “While we are seeing improvements in attendance under Alert Level 1 Ministry of Education data shows that attendance rates in our schools ...
The law to boost the economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19 by speeding up resource consenting on selected projects has passed its second and third readings in the House today. “Accelerating nationwide projects and activities by government, iwi and the private sector will help deliver faster economic recovery and ...
Five port-related projects in Whanganui will receive a $26.75 million Provincial Growth Fund investment to support local economic recovery and create new opportunities for growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This is a significant investment that will support the redevelopment of the Whanganui Port, a project governed ...
Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery will receive an investment of up to $12 million administered by the Provincial Growth Fund to support its redevelopment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The project is included in a $3 billion infrastructure pipeline announced by Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Shane Jones yesterday. ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing nearly $2.5 million into three Te Ara Mahi programmes to support Manawatū-Whanganui jobseekers and employees to quickly train and upskill, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Up to 154 local people will be supported into employment within the first year by these ...
This morning I have formally tendered my resignation as Minister of Health, which was accepted by the Prime Minister. Serving as Minister of Health has been an absolute privilege – particularly through these extraordinary last few months. It’s no secret that Health is a challenging portfolio. I have given ...
Scholarships for 57 early-career agricultural emissions scientists from 20 developing countries is another example of New Zealand’s international leadership in primary sector sustainability, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Mr O’Connor, announcing the scholarships today, says hundreds of applications were received for this fourth round of the CLIFF-GRADS programme (Climate, Food ...
A project to help rejuvenate the Horowhenua town of Foxton will receive a Provincial Growth Fund investment of $3.86 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This funding for the Foxton Regeneration project will be used to make the well-known holiday town even more attractive for visitors and ...
Moa bones and other sub-fossil remains of extinct species are set to have improved protection with proposals to prevent the trade in extinct species announced the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “We have lost too many of our native species, but these lost species, such as moa, remain an ...
The Government’s free and healthy school lunches programme moves south for the first time creating jobs for around 30 people in Otago and Southland. “Eighteen schools with 3000 students are joining the programme – 11 have already begun serving lunches, and seven are preparing to start during Term 3. This is ...
Thousands of Kiwi jobs and investment in New Zealand productions will be protected through a screen sector support package announced today by Associate Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford and Minister for Broadcasting Kris Faafoi. The package also includes investment in broadcasting ...
The Government has established a new $10 million fund for the domestic events sector to help save jobs and protect incomes as it recovers from the impacts of COVID-19, Minister of Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. This funding from Budget 2020 follows talks with the event sector designed to ...
The Government has taken another step in its commitment to making sure New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump with the introduction of legislation to improve competition in the retail fuel market, says Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods. “The fuel market study that this Government ordered ...
New Zealand has joined a global initiative that aims to enable all countries to access a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. The COVAX Facility was recently launched by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The Alliance includes the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank ...
From today new legislation takes effect to both restore the right to legal representation at the start of a Care of Children (CoCA) dispute in the Family Court, and allow parties to those proceedings to access legal aid where eligible. During a visit to the Family Court in Auckland today, ...
Home-based early childhood education (ECE) subsidised by the government will transition to a fully qualified workforce by 2025 to ensure better and more consistent quality, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. “Quality early learning helps provide children with a strong foundation for their future,” Chris Hipkins said. From 1 January ...
Claire from McLeod’s Daughters died in 2003 and Tara Ward is still not over it. The unexpected death of Claire McLeod is the most tragic event you’ll see on television. It was a miserable day when that white Brumby bolted across the road and made Claire drive off a cliff, ...
Luckily for Labour, Jacinda Ardern's leadership in the Covid-19 crisis is a much more powerful political weapon than bread-and-butter issues about the country’s future. ...
IrrigationNZ believes Government investment in the water sector is a step in the right direction – but calls for a broader strategy to encompass all water infrastructure, including storage and policy development. ...
The race relations commissioner, Meng Foon, has just sent the following letter to leaders of New Zealand political parties.Tēnā koe, Talofa, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Kia orana, 你好, Namaste.My role as Race Relations Commissioner is to promote and enhance harmonious communities in our diverse nation. As the leader of a political ...
National MP Hamish Walker's unconscionable privacy breach has already ended his career and that of a party stalwart - but his caucus colleagues may also be cursing his terrible judgment come September 19, Sam Sachdeva writes A young, promising politician gifted one of the safest seats in the country and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato The leak of the confidential personal information of COVID-19 patients by Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker and influential party figure Michelle Boag has been highly embarrassing for the National Party. In less than 24 hours ...
An extract from The Quick and the Dead, the new memoir by Palmerston North pathologist Cynric Temple-Camp.Books editor Catherine Woulfe writes: Strong recommend for this medical memoir, the second by the most excellently-named Cynric Temple-Camp after his 2017 bestseller The Cause of Death.Ostensibly a collection of yarns and case studies, after ...
National Party leader Todd Muller has spoken about the controversy around Hamish Walker at a roading announcement this afternoon, saying the National MP's exit from politics was "the only option". ...
National Party leader Todd Muller has made another roading announcement this afternoon, as the controversy around the National MP who leaked Covid-19 patient details continues to unfold. ...
"Linking funding to commitment from councils to reform the investment, planning and delivery of their water assets is a welcome move," says Infracom (New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga) Chief Executive Ross Copland, in response ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dani Larkin, Associate Lecturer in Law, University of Newcastle Gunnai-Kurnai and Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpe was recently elected by Greens party members to replace the former party leader, Richard Di Natale, as senator for Victoria. Thorpe is the first Indigenous woman to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlene Zietsma, Associate professor, Pennsylvania State University In May this year, we were convening a dream conference: 140 like-minded academics on a Greek island for three-and-a-half days to work on a topic we cared about – organising sustainably. We recognised the contradiction ...
“The Government’s long-awaited funding boost and water reform agenda is New Zealand’s best chance to create a high performing water sector for New Zealanders,” says Infrastructure NZ CEO Paul Blair. “The Government has today announced it will ...
Yesterday evening I received a letter from Leader Todd Muller, asking the National Party Board of Directors to urgently meet and consider some very serious, publicly reported, issues concerning Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker. The Board met at midday ...
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua is working with Marae, hapū, Post Settlement Governance Entities (Te Uri o Hau, Ngā Maunga Whakahī, and Ōrākei) and Fight the Tip to lead a hikoi in Tāmaki Mākaurau (Auckland) on Friday 17 July 2020. It is the position ...
The country's latest case of Covid-19 will be charged for visiting an Auckland supermarket last night, Health Minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed. Hipkins said the 32-year-old man, who arrived from India on July 3, left his managed isolation last night to go to the Countdown supermarket on Victoria Street in central ...
The Government has formally confirmed that it will not use any of the current or future serology tests to assess how widespread the Covid19 disease has been in New Zealand. In answer to an Official Information Request by the Covid Plan B group, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Yue Zhang, Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University of Technology Only 40% of students in China who previously intended to study overseas still plan to, while just under 50% of those who had studied overseas plan to return to ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) welcomes the announcement of $761 million for Tranche One funding as part of the Government’s three waters reform programme, saying it provides a measure of financial assistance to councils as they consider ...
Latest from the Beehive The government’s economic engineers were hard at work yesterday. One minister was set on establishing a base for film production in Christchurch while – much more critically for the wellbeing of the nation – a cluster of others led by the PM were unveiling their grand ...
Recent shocks to our economy have shown that when it comes to knowing how to manage our money, New Zealand still has a long way to go. Having now moved on from my first illustrious job as a graduate tax accountant, a lot of what I learnt about tax in my ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the proposed removal of water services from local councils , but says that the new ‘Rolls Royce’ drinking quality standards risk lumping communities with the enormous costs of engineers' gold plating. Union ...
Auckland Action Against Poverty is launching a campaign to build commitment from Members of Parliament seeking to be part of Government to increase incomes across the board to liveable levels. The campaign launch will be held tomorrow, Thursday ...
As the settler government did in the late 1800s, it’s high time we erected a bunch of new monuments to the great people of this country (and maybe take some of the stink ones down). Ātea editor Leonie Hayden has some suggestions. Hundreds of heroic and revered ancestors proudly adorn walls, ...
New research from Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) reveals New Zealand women are significantly more concerned than their male counterparts about the impact of COVID-19, according to the new 2020 Unisys Security Index™. ...
“The Zero Waste Network Aotearoa is extremely pleased to announce that we will host a free, international online zero waste conference in December this year. The conference is called Our Zero Waste World Digital Summit . It will highlight zero ...
The High-profile former National Party president has resigned from her campaign and electorate roles for Auckland Central MP and National deputy leader Nikki Kaye. ...
Murray Chong has been selected as the New Conservative candidate for New Plymouth for the 2020 General Election. “I’m delighted to be the New Conservative candidate for the 2020 election. Having stood for another party in 2017, only to be let down ...
Michelle Boag has stood down as Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye's campaign chair for the upcoming election and no longer has any role with the party. ...
How did the bizarre story of Hamish Walker trying to leak confidential Covid details to media all play out? Radio NZ’s Jo Moir was one of the journalists contacted by the MP, and wrote this timeline. In an extraordinary move National Party leader Todd Muller has had one of his own ...
By RNZ News The opposition National Party leader says he has written to the party’s board asking them to remove MP Hamish Walker from the party after it was revealed he leaked private health information to New Zealand media. It was revealed yesterday that former National Party president Michelle Boag ...
COMMENT:By Nasya Bahfen in Melbourne Australia’s Victorian state government told returned travellers to quarantine for two weeks. Some broke the rules. It then paid for them to stay in hotels with security guards. Some of the guards couldn’t keep their dicks in their pants. Some of the returned travellers ...
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas on ministerial resignations in the recent and middle-distant past, a new book from Judith Collins, and the reinvention of Simon Bridges.This episode was recorded on Tuesday morning, before news broke that Hamish Walker and Michelle Boag were behind the Covid-19 data leak.The Gone ...
Fonterra will be greeted by drums, cow costumes, placards and a pile of coal on Thursday morning, 9 July, as Extinction Rebellion Ōtautahi ask the question, ‘Why are Fonterra still using coal in a climate emergency?’ The group will be gathering ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bjorn Sturmberg, Research Leader, Battery Storage & Grid Integration Program, Australian National University Electric vehicles can help keep the air clean in our cities – as we’ve seen recently with the reduction of traffic through COVID-19 lockdowns – but they face two ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.Today’s contentNational Party revealed as source of Covid-19 privacy leak Audrey Young (Herald): National’s failures on patient leak from top to bottom (paywalled) Luke Malpass (Stuff): National leader Todd Muller ...
Troy Mihaka , local Wellington Conservation Volunteer, Arts Manager and LGBTQ+ Advocate announces candidacy in the 2020 General Election. Standing in the Electorate of Rongotai , Mihaka will be representing the Integrity Party of Aotearoa New Zealand . A political ...
As universities around the world slash jobs and courses in response to the pandemic, Victoria University of Wellington is signalling its intention to introduce sweeping austerity measures, a group of concerned tutors write. A response from Victoria University of Wellington is at the end of this column.So far, 2020 has ...
New Conservative is appalled by the lack of consultation provided by DOC to stakeholders in the management of the New Zealand Tahr herd by not following protocol and not allowing all stakeholders to consult on the plan proposed. DOC released its new Tahr ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security), Edith Cowan University In an age of isolation, video sharing platform TikTok has emerged as a bonding force for many. But recent headlines allege the service, owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance, is feeding users’ data ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kingsley Dixon, John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin University This article is a preview from Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and animals after last summer’s bushfire tragedy. Sign ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Shulmeister, Professor, University of Canterbury CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dallas Rogers, Associate Dean, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney A target of 70% private and 30% public dwellings is an accepted standard for public housing renewal projects in several Australian states. This level of private ownership is said ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Lacey, Senior Lecturer in International Trade, University of Adelaide When the United Kingdom completed its telecom supply chain review last year it gave a green light to Huawei by concluding that nationality-based bans did nothing to improve network security and could ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison M Joubert, Lecturer in Marketing, The University of Queensland Cancel culture — withdrawing support for public figures when they do or say something offensive — has become so widespread it was Macquarie Dictionary’s 2019 word of the year. A practice where ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Fastnedge, Lecturer in Advertising Creativity, Auckland University of Technology When the New Zealand government wanted a campaign to keep kids safe online, naturally it turned to a couple of naked porn actors to get the message across. Actually the government turned ...
A grassroots campaign has launched this week calling on political party leaders to support the implementation of a gender-balanced Cabinet with 50 percent women and 50 percent men in this year’s election. The many vital issues discussed each ...
Air NZ shares fall as quarantine capacity stops it from selling new international tickets for at least three weeks and as Melbourne goes into complete lockdown ...
A flood of Kiwis returning home from Australia has overwhelmed quarantine capacity. Bernard Hickey reports the Government is looking at bringing in cruise ships to expand supply and a quarantine booking system to further restrict demand. Meanwhile, there is now no space for new guest workers, tourists or students for the foreseeable future. ...
The National Party leader says he has written to the party's board asking them to remove MP Hamish Walker from the party after it was revealed he leaked private health information to media. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Scandal for MP after leaking confidential Covid data, new bookings for return to country put on hold, and Islamic Women’s Council release evidence of being ignored.We now know exactly how the leak of private information of all active Covid-19 patients happened. National ...
Opinion: While the investigation into the security of patient data may still find the Government wanting, a rookie National MP’s spectacular own goal has put the opposition in the firing line, writes Laura Walters Political gameplay 101: If you're trying to highlight that another political party shouldn't be trusted with ...
A new survey supports fundamental changes to the country's criminal justice system, but a parallel study shows many still believe in a punitive system, Laura Walters reports A new survey suggests strong support amongst Kiwis for fundamental changes in the resourcing and funding of the criminal justice system, as well as a ...
The Covid-19 lockdown has only confirmed how vital New Zealand’s early childhood sector is to the future of this country. Now is the time to bed in a systemic policy infrastructure to support resilient children, write three experts. The Early Learning Action Plan (ELAP), released in December 2019, was barely ...
Picked as a star by one of the great women golfers of all time, Wellington teenager Darae Chung is preparing herself mentally and physically to play overseas again. When 16-year-old Darae Chung travels around the country – and eventually around the globe again – playing golf, she will have the ...
He has been in the job less than a week, but new Health Minister Chris Hipkins is already making his presence felt on some critical Covid-19 issues, Sam Sachdeva writes When it was revealed Chris Hipkins would replace David Clark as Health Minister, some observers wondered whether the role may stretch him ...
Matteo Di Maio takes a look at New Zealand’s most expensive rare books. Anah Dunsheath from Rare Books in Auckland knows how you ought to take an old book off the shelf, and how you ought not to. Novices will just pull the book out by the top of its ...
The incoming government needs to wake up and have a critical look at the child protection monster that is Oranga Tamariki, writes Dr Ian Hyslop There is always risk of a chronic disconnect between the policy and operational arms of public service organisations. This risk is particularly acute in excessively ...
The genetic secrets of New Zealand’s predatory 'lion' have been revealed with the mapping of the stoat genome, and there's hope better, kinder ways of getting rid of the introduced killing machines might be found A stoat’s spleen, liquid nitrogen, supercomputers, and 18 months of international effort has led to the mapping ...
Auckland 'move the port' studies have averaged out to at least two per year over the last decade with almost every one of them throwing out a different option or result. ...
The Covid-19 pandemic made us see the value of a life. Now the Team of Five Million needs to take that lesson and open its eyes to the value of the lives of Maori, Pasifika and People of Colour, writes Karamia Muller. This year, 2020, is asking everyone: What is ...
Power Play - Todd Muller is dreaming if he thinks saying no comment will wash after his MP leaked the private details of Covid-19 patients to the media. ...
The leak, we discovered last night, was the work of a first-term MP and a veteran National Party operator. What does it mean for the pair, and for the party, asks Ben Thomas.The latest whodunit in New Zealand politics was solved last night in a flurry of releases, as National’s ...
The Government wants to accelerate improvements to production and sustainability on the land to almost double export earnings in a decade. But big change will be needed, Tim Murphy reports. ...
Methamphetamine - or P - is now here to stay. But addicts of the destructive drug are so ashamed, they will wait up to 10 years to get help. In 2001, William Bell murdered three people in a meth-fuelled rampage at the Mt Wellington RSA in Auckland. He was ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary-Louise McLaws, Professor of Epidemiology Healthcare Infection and Infectious Diseases Control, UNSW From midnight Wednesday, all of Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will return to Stage 3 lockdown for six weeks. There are only four reasons for residents to leave their homes: ...
After the Spinoff recounted Leave.EU heads telling Britain’s Daily Telegraph they had ‘dispatched’ a team to Auckland to work with NZ First, the party leader issued a deeply curious statement.The day began with news that the “bad boys of Brexit” were back and they were coming to New Zealand.The Daily ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Vaz, Senior Lecturer, Department of Banking and Finance, Monash University The reimposition of stage 3 restrictions on metropolitan Melbourne is, as Victorian premier Daniel Andrews says, a matter of life or death. That’s also true for small businesses. A further six ...
Open mike 08/11/2011 
79 Articles Observations & observational methods of global warming & effects Six hundred years of South American tree rings reveal an increase in severe hydroclimatic events since mid-20th century (open access) Late summer temperature variability for the Southern Rocky Mountains (USA) since 1735 CE: applying blue light intensity to low-latitude ...13 mins ago
Some are surprised at this sudden brain implosion on the part of both Michelle Boag, former National Party President, and the National Party in general, in exposing the private, confidential details of COVID patients. Others…? Let’s be blunt: not so much. Too many of that Party have long operated with ...3 hours ago
Michelle Boag - Former National Party PresidentWhen Todd Muller decided not to discipline Hamish Walker for his horribly racist press release last week, you had to wonder if his lack of proper leadership had something to do with a shared belief system? After all, the whiteness of the blue “team” ...4 hours ago
On Twitter today, lawyer Felix Geiringer asked a good question: why are MP's exempt from the Privacy Act? The Act imposes its obligations on "agencies", and s8 of the 2020 Act states that this term does not include... a member of Parliament in their official capacity The 1993 Act, ...5 hours ago
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz What was the climate and sea level like at times ...5 hours ago
So now we know, beyond all doubt. The National party has no interest in joining the “team of five million” in our fight against the pandemic but its priority is to take every opportunity it can to damage the government. The cynicism is breathtaking. It was prepared to leak the ...7 hours ago
Today’s content National Party revealed as source of Covid-19 privacy leak Audrey Young (Herald): National’s failures on patient leak from top to bottom (paywalled) Luke Malpass (Stuff): National leader Todd Muller found wanting in first real test of moral leadership Jo Moir (RNZ): How the Hamish Walker Covid-19 patient detail leak played out Mark ...9 hours ago
If the government has not lined up behind a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum the way some reformers would have liked, one entirely laudable thing it did do was commission some science around the public's choice.That science landed today, in the form of the report from an expert ...1 day ago
...2 days ago
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...5 days ago
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Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...6 days ago
When the Christchurch murderer pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder and a number of other violent assault charges a few months ago, he effectively closed the door on what the public will know about the lead up to and commission of the event. His plea means that no evidence ...1 week ago
Daphna Whitmore The Philippines is enduring one of the longest lockdowns in the world. For President Duterte the lockdown provides an opportunity to garner more powers and to push through a brazen assault on human rights. A new law called the Anti-Terror Bill has been passed under urgency and it ...1 week ago
There really is not much about Paula Bennett concerning her career trajectory, the policies she promoted, and most importantly, the socio-economic effect this had upon New Zealand (and particularly the most vulnerable in this, our oft-cited “egalitarian” society of this country) that can be said now that hasn’t already been ...1 week ago
Helloy… My name is Todd Muller and I am the leader of the National Party of New Zealand. Many people come up to me on the street and ask me who I am. I’m often walking through Tauranga, or in a mall in suburban Auckland, or maybe even a farmers’ ...1 week ago
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...1 day ago
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...3 days ago
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...6 days ago
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...1 hour ago
Claire from McLeod’s Daughters died in 2003 and Tara Ward is still not over it. The unexpected death of Claire McLeod is the most tragic event you’ll see on television. It was a miserable day when that white Brumby bolted across the road and made Claire drive off a cliff, ...23 mins ago
Luckily for Labour, Jacinda Ardern's leadership in the Covid-19 crisis is a much more powerful political weapon than bread-and-butter issues about the country’s future. ...32 mins ago
IrrigationNZ believes Government investment in the water sector is a step in the right direction – but calls for a broader strategy to encompass all water infrastructure, including storage and policy development. ...1 hour ago
Services to help those with drug and alcohol addictions are set to get an extra $32 million in funding over the next four years. ...2 hours ago
National MP Hamish Walker's unconscionable privacy breach has already ended his career and that of a party stalwart - but his caucus colleagues may also be cursing his terrible judgment come September 19, Sam Sachdeva writes A young, promising politician gifted one of the safest seats in the country and the ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato The leak of the confidential personal information of COVID-19 patients by Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker and influential party figure Michelle Boag has been highly embarrassing for the National Party. In less than 24 hours ...2 hours ago
The country's latest case of Covid-19 will be charged for visiting an Auckland supermarket last night, Health Minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed. Hipkins said the 32-year-old man, who arrived from India on July 3, left his managed isolation last night to go to the Countdown supermarket on Victoria Street in central ...3 hours ago
Latest from the Beehive The government’s economic engineers were hard at work yesterday. One minister was set on establishing a base for film production in Christchurch while – much more critically for the wellbeing of the nation – a cluster of others led by the PM were unveiling their grand ...4 hours ago
Air NZ shares fall as quarantine capacity stops it from selling new international tickets for at least three weeks and as Melbourne goes into complete lockdown ...9 hours ago
A flood of Kiwis returning home from Australia has overwhelmed quarantine capacity. Bernard Hickey reports the Government is looking at bringing in cruise ships to expand supply and a quarantine booking system to further restrict demand. Meanwhile, there is now no space for new guest workers, tourists or students for the foreseeable future. ...10 hours ago
Opinion: While the investigation into the security of patient data may still find the Government wanting, a rookie National MP’s spectacular own goal has put the opposition in the firing line, writes Laura Walters Political gameplay 101: If you're trying to highlight that another political party shouldn't be trusted with ...11 hours ago
A new survey supports fundamental changes to the country's criminal justice system, but a parallel study shows many still believe in a punitive system, Laura Walters reports A new survey suggests strong support amongst Kiwis for fundamental changes in the resourcing and funding of the criminal justice system, as well as a ...11 hours ago
The Covid-19 lockdown has only confirmed how vital New Zealand’s early childhood sector is to the future of this country. Now is the time to bed in a systemic policy infrastructure to support resilient children, write three experts. The Early Learning Action Plan (ELAP), released in December 2019, was barely ...12 hours ago
Picked as a star by one of the great women golfers of all time, Wellington teenager Darae Chung is preparing herself mentally and physically to play overseas again. When 16-year-old Darae Chung travels around the country – and eventually around the globe again – playing golf, she will have the ...12 hours ago
He has been in the job less than a week, but new Health Minister Chris Hipkins is already making his presence felt on some critical Covid-19 issues, Sam Sachdeva writes When it was revealed Chris Hipkins would replace David Clark as Health Minister, some observers wondered whether the role may stretch him ...12 hours ago
Matteo Di Maio takes a look at New Zealand’s most expensive rare books. Anah Dunsheath from Rare Books in Auckland knows how you ought to take an old book off the shelf, and how you ought not to. Novices will just pull the book out by the top of its ...12 hours ago
The incoming government needs to wake up and have a critical look at the child protection monster that is Oranga Tamariki, writes Dr Ian Hyslop There is always risk of a chronic disconnect between the policy and operational arms of public service organisations. This risk is particularly acute in excessively ...12 hours ago
The genetic secrets of New Zealand’s predatory 'lion' have been revealed with the mapping of the stoat genome, and there's hope better, kinder ways of getting rid of the introduced killing machines might be found A stoat’s spleen, liquid nitrogen, supercomputers, and 18 months of international effort has led to the mapping ...12 hours ago
Auckland 'move the port' studies have averaged out to at least two per year over the last decade with almost every one of them throwing out a different option or result. ...12 hours ago
The Covid-19 pandemic made us see the value of a life. Now the Team of Five Million needs to take that lesson and open its eyes to the value of the lives of Maori, Pasifika and People of Colour, writes Karamia Muller. This year, 2020, is asking everyone: What is ...12 hours ago
The Government wants to accelerate improvements to production and sustainability on the land to almost double export earnings in a decade. But big change will be needed, Tim Murphy reports. ...12 hours ago
Methamphetamine - or P - is now here to stay. But addicts of the destructive drug are so ashamed, they will wait up to 10 years to get help. In 2001, William Bell murdered three people in a meth-fuelled rampage at the Mt Wellington RSA in Auckland. He was ...12 hours ago
Matthew Hooton has been interesting lately. He alleged without evidence that Labour has engaged in attempted manipulation of Ipredict but then refused to comment on a very clear example of right wing manipulation of the market.
Yesterday on Radio New Zealand he hinted that David Cunliffe had tried to sabotage Phil Goff last week by not providing him with a briefing. Nothing could be further from the truth. The draft costings have been in existence for a while and Goff knew in general terms what the figures are. The release of the figures last Friday had been planned for a while. I thought Goff just struggled to get the information out because Key kept overtalking him.
But Hooton’s comment was picked up by the Dominion’s Andrea Vance. And David’s Ipredict stock for becoming the future leader then suddenly plunged to as low as .20c before returning to its more normal level of .50c.
Hooton knows nothing about the Labour Party or its internal workings. David Cunliffe is an extremely competent performer and the only Labour MP who has continually bested his opposition. I am certain he would have the measure of Key in a debate. Yet this does not stop Hooton from claiming that the most damaging of a variety of scenarios is the truth. And then the media pick up on it.
The technique used by the right is really subtle, work in the background, plant an idea, influence the media, affect measures of popularity then voila the opinion polls back you up. Progressives need to work out how to respond to this.
I was also p**sed that Kathryn Ryan kept saying that Labour’s figures are under scrutiny yesterday – I think during the left vs right segment yesterday. i.e. part of the media following Key’s show me the money line, and continuing not to scrutinise Nat/Key’s figures as carefully.
And this morning Stuff continues that line here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5923639/Labours-2-6b-plan-to-tackle-child-poverty
with the main page headline Labour’s $2.6b gamble
Yes, it does seem that he knows that he can make all sorts of unfounded assertions without any evidence.
I was astounded, last night on iPredict, at the balls of the guy to make what would be otherwise unsupportable assertions.
As a National mouthpiece he knows that the quality of debate in the NZ media means that he can get his his wildly inaccurate soundbite out and the moderator/interviewer will not have noticed because they are not listening and busy reading the next pre-prepared patsy question.
Gee I just watched it and you are right, Hooton was appalling. I was particularly interested in his comment that Labour was heading down to National’s 2002 election support levels. Then this morning Ipredict’s Labour;’a party vote was sold down to .24c. It has since rallied however.
Maybe there should be securities oversight of Ipredict because there is a strong hint of some political manipulation going on.
He has repeated this same B.S. regarding Labour falling to the nats 2002 support for as long as anyone will listen to him.
Someone needs to remind him about the result in 1993.
Nikki Kaye on Back Benches last week did not look and act like an M.P. who was safe in thier seat.
Yeah, have their own MSM channels, and implement strong public broadcasting with high journalistic standards.
We can’t expect anything different than today under a regime of corporate and money driven editorial standards.
Mm, this was interesting actually. Andrea Vance forgot the jounralism part of her job and it is a clear tactic from the right to insert some sort of wedge, at least at face value between Phil Goff and David Cunliffe.
Strange comments she makes appearing to have some insight into the Labour Caucus with her claim he has no numbers, I for one don’t believe this to be true if in fact that’s what’s happening, but from what I can see there is a lot of work happening between the Labour leadership and its senior MPs to deliver costed policies, that doesn’t happen if there is something else going on. Besides, I don’t believe any senior Labour MPs are stupid enough to put a possible left-win at risk given the split between left and right is only up to 5% across a range of polls.
The media has to do a better job before buying in to this kind of rubbish because it’s not about them, it’s about the voters and voters are being informed by media articles and blogs. The problem with this particular article is that Andrea did no work, rather just drew on Hooten’s comments about leadership and that’s unfortunate for her as someone working to develop her credibility as a journalist.
Goff doesn’t release policy without it being costed, it’s clear that’s his approach. Even if there were no pressure on finances, there would still be a full costing undertaken because he is not inclined to shoot from the hip. Hooten’s assertions are very unfortunate too, but tactically you would do it to destabilise Labour.
It’s hardly subtle with that interest free taxpayer loan to mediawonks, recycling rick at TVNZ and their good mate griffin at RNZ, granny needed little help as she was already out on the right.
Hooton snipes and talk over people then backs away leaving others to take up the case….nice work if you can get it, we’ve seem the hollowmen and what he’s about.
Excellent article by John Robertson in the Herald today
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10764414
“We have struggled to develop a comprehensive measure of social well-being. We use a multitude of statistics – like mental illness, life expectancy, and prisoner numbers. But there is an increasing body of knowledge suggesting that the best indicator of social well-being may be simply the extent of inequality within a society. “
The platitudinous conclusion is prefaced by a load of old bollocks. The piece reads more like an attempt to justify the Fourth Labour Government’s contribution to New Zealand’s current political climate and economic situation coupled with a call to do it all again.
Key on Morning Report just now says that business people who think National doesn’t have a plan need to get out of their offices and go for a drive, as National’s plan is on billboards up and down the highway.
Amazing. Key thinks a few slogans counts as a “plan”.
It’s like we’re building a house and the architect turned up with a list on a piece of card saying
Walls!
A roof on top!
Windows you can see out of!
A door to every room!
Lets have a pool!
I wouldn’t call that a plan either.
I can’t believe how inept the questions are. They are letting Key blather on and he is not answering anything. You have to admire his ability to constantly regurgitate sound bites.
Yes… a load of waffle from Key, using his down-to-earth reasonable and calm tone of voice – Mr Slippery PM of the long con.
Yes. And trying to listen objectively this morning, I cannot for the life of me hear Key say anything of substance. Waffle! And he still gets a free run!
Last Sunday morning the commentary said that the persona viewed on TV trumped the audio. Nixon beat Kennedy (?) on radio by virtue of his intellect but the same debate if seen on TV had Kennedy race in because he looked better.
Is this why Key refuses to debate with Goff on radio but is willing to do so on TV? In audio what Key says is pure waffle. Compare this with Phil’s TV performance late on Sunday night.
Key was quite keen to explain how he had helped the ‘underclass’ through these difficult times. We don’t know who these people are of course because we don’t have a definition of poverty, and the increase in GST affects the wealthy more because they spend more .. but National did help the poor by … not cutting benefits!. Now there is real compassion . . .
I though the interview was going to be gutsy from the first question AND THEY let him away with the plan being the billboards.
I honestly could not bear to listen! I spent most of the time in the bathroom… fortunately, not throwing up…
Now I know what’s on the Nat billboards the same shit as 2008, maybe some people with a little time, petrol and a video camera and go see what they can see and post the results.
Photo’s of bubbles bursting on Queen St banks – #occupyauckland Nov 5th…
Awesome – thanks AAMC
Thank you Campbell!
Key on morning report:
‘We inherited a sick set of books … deficit was 60% of GDP …’
And .. ‘1/2 of the $18b deficit is due to Christchurch’
True? or is lying again.
Lies, of course. Even Blinglish had to admit Labour left the books looking pretty good:
. . . but, hey, why would an MSM journalist want to check facts? Too many of them have spent too much time saying National Ltd™ are going to romp home so its now up to them to ensure they’re correct. “Observer bias”, I believe its called.
Thanks for that .. lying with impunity .. it’s outrageous and those sycophantic journos don’t seem to listem to what he’s saying. No challenge, no rebuttal .. I depair!
What this country needs is someone in charge who understands economics and the workings of the international financial markets . . . oh, hang on!
Half of the $18B deficit for the last one year can be attributed to Christchurch, yes.
But given that Key’s govt has run up a total of $37B in deficits since it took over, that’s a measley $9B contribution to a much larger $37B hole.
His 60% of GDP number is bullshit.
Solar…
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/11/07/362705/krugman-solar-power/
And NAct want to:-
1.) Build more farms rather than R&D and produce more valuable products
2.) Build more fossil fuelled power stations
Who are NAct working for again? Because it sure as hell doesn’t appear to be us.
Questions,
Using the WFF calculator currently if you earn minimum wage with one primary age child and work a 45hr week you get $148 with a $15 minimum wage you get $88.
Would I be right in thinking that the $60 saved there would be the money that would go towards the extension? The minimum wage rise will make this close to cost neutral? Or will WFF push up with the minimum wage?
Using before tax figures I work out that someone earning minimum wage @45 hrs gets $607.50 in wages and $148 wff, total $755.50. @ $15 , $675 in wages and $88 wff total $763.
So unless wff rises not withstanding tax free threshold etc someone classed as ‘working poor’ will be less than $10 per week better off?
Or am I missing something?
Very interesting. I hadn’t given it a lot of thought but of course it makes sense.
So really minimum wage increase will only individuals or couples without children, and families will have to rely on GST off FF&V and tax-free bracket (phased in) to get much benefit.
How long until National picks this up?
Also your figures are wrong. The current minimum wage is $13/hour not $13.50. So it’s $585 before tax not $607.50 for working 45 hours.
Ok, I used the IRD tax calculator and either you got your numbers completely wrong, or you’re deliberately lying.
http://www.ird.govt.nz/calculators/keyword/wff-tax-credits/calculator-wfftc-estimate-2012.html
All my calculations show that if you work 40 hours a week going from $13 to $15 minimum wage will increase your after-WFF income by $2 per hour. Similarly if you work 45 hours a week going from $13 to $15 minimum wage it will increase your after-WFF income by $2 per hour.
40 hours @ $13: $16.70 inc WFF
40 hours @ $15: $18.70 inc WFF
45 hours @ $13: $16.29 inc WFF
45 hours @ $15: $18.29 inc WFF
The WFF benefit of $148/week stays fixed under all these scenarios.
Italy can’t get rid of Berlusconi. They elected him as a celebrity figure and then let him demolish the controls on pan-media ownership that aided his personal interests, so that he was then free to have influence everywhere. Why should he go, he likes the publicity and notoriety. He doesn’t care too much about the stability of the Italian nation and people’s future And they didn’t take care themselves to seek out a serious-minded politician committed to policies and a direction good for the health and wealth of the country.
Health and wealth now that is a good slogan for a NZ politician to support. Will a celebrity such as smile and wave, once over lightly Key have policies advancing those for us all in his mind?
Another example where unbridled corporate MSM as frakked the political system.
Even though 99.9% of my friends despise him! One of my friends on Facebook managed a truly impressive shite storm of abuse about SB’s government tonight! 😀
Maybe that just reflects the friends I have?
Hi Prism, there is a major bit of action going on in Europe that will impact this elections winner big time…in short winning this time is the kiss of death. The Euro crisis is unfolding in a way which will see the failure of the European single currency and the total insolvency of the banks (unless bailed out by the public purse in a m. This contagion will spread like dominoes falling into the US and Asian banks. Concurrently we see Brent Crude stubbornly staying too high which will stifle any “growth” initiatives anywhere. The Arab Spring has turned into an Arab Autumn with no resolution of the key issues i.e. food prices, there is only trouble ahead there and we can expect Saudi political turmoil when the banking crash wipes out their “investments”.
When National resume their role as government of the day they will be looking straight down the barrel of collapsing markets and prices, and contagious financial mayhem. Tax cuts wont be affordable and I predict the inability to borrow offshore will see them rolled back, along with massive welfare and health cuts. Welcome to the “shrinking” economy, permanent growth will be a thing of the past.
The failure of all parties at this election is their commitment to business as usual with growth as their universal panacea. Ill fares the land.
I’m with you Bored, and don’t know where that leaves me in terms of who I want to take Government.
On one hand, I’d rather the Nat’s took it on the chin and had to live with the consequences of their ideology. And I’d rather Labour & Green didn’t get labelled with it.
On the other hand, I believe the Nats ( but to be fair probably the whole Establishment ) possibly have more of an Authoritarian bent, so Depression and ensuing social disintegration could be even nastier in their hands.
Contemplating not voting…
You have a voice – vote and make sure it is heard.
Abstaining is not a protest, it is silence – a silence that will be filled with the voices of others or taken as consent.
I know… I’m just concerned with the consequences either way, I guess what I’m saying is, Labour / Green may be better not to inherit the implosion of Europe and then Wall St as a byproduct of it’s $4 trillion exposure to Euro Banks. Perhaps Key’s ideology imploding on his watch is preferable?
Bored – It’s all so cheering isn’t it. You could be interested in the interview I heard on Radionz on Russia and its businesses and economy and laws after the fall of Stalinism. (I don’t say Communism as I understand there was only a brief attempt at the real deal in Russia.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ldy87
Three businessmen tell Peter Day about doing business in Russia. William Browder was an investment fund manager in the country who campaigned, with some success, against corruption and left the country, having moved all his company’s assets out, in 2007. He tells Peter Day about his experiences. And two current directors of companies in Moscow discuss what they think they can do to improve corporate governance there.
Drying intensifying wildfires, carbon release ninefold.
Drying of northern wetlands has led to much more severe peatland wildfires and nine times as much carbon released into the atmosphere, according to new research led by a University of Guelph professor.
The study, published today in Nature Communications, is the first to investigate the effect of drainage on carbon accumulation in northern peatlands and the vulnerability of that carbon to burning.
“Russia, Indonesia and Canada all have abundant peatlands, but they also have been hotspots for intense peat fires in the past decade,” said Guelph professor Merritt Turetsky, who worked on the study with William Donahue of the Water Matters Society of Alberta and Brian Benscoter from Florida Atlantic University.
In pristine states, peatlands often resist fire because of their wet soils. “Our study shows that when disturbance lowers the water table, that resistance disappears and peat becomes very flammable and vulnerable to deep burning,” she said.
Related: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-07-largest-tundra-yields-scientific.html
Italy! Italy! Italy!
“The euro zone periphery was a sideshow. This stuff with Italy is the real deal. With yields at 6.7% and rising, it’s game over for the euro zone. The extend and pretend stuff ain’t gonna work.”
http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2011/11/italy-italy-italy.html
Key on Morning report- the easy problems are solved by others. the hard ones get to my desk
HA
SO THAT is why the hard problems are not solved or even have a plan.
Well, now we know how we ended up with a cycleway producing ~200 back office jobs.
So he’s saying his Ministers aren’t up to solving problems? Way to get behind your people there, John.
Are some of the commenters here real people?
Yesterday I read a comment that I’m sure was someone trying to parody the people they didn’t much like. It was excellently put together – a real collection of self-satisfied right-wing stereotypes. It even had an avatar!
Today there are people referencing talkback radio as a means of measuring poverty. It’s just too much. Between chuckling at the black humour, I’m having to second guess what I think are genuine contributions. My internet reality is getting distorted. Come on, admit it, who here is being the mischievous scallywag?
Fracking Earthquakes
It’s good to see the fracking issue being debated in the mainstream media. Being that a poll recently showed the environment is people’s number one concern, it’s important that a proper debate consisting of the facts is presented…
hey mickysavage. ipredict that kweewee will lose the election and ipredict that hooton will not get the vacant brt job.
Former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson says: ‘We Are Looking Straight Into The Face Of A Great Depression’
“We have built a dangerous financial system in the United States and Europe,” said the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. “We must step back and reform the system.”
Professor Johnson cited alarming parallels with October 1931, when “people thought the worst was behind them, but the smart people were wrong and instead the crisis just broadened.”
Previously: The Standard 8 April 2009
And as one of the comments states:
Europe’s leaders explain: “We don’t want elections. We want to govern.”
What caused the financial crisis? The Big Lie goes viral.
Why are people trying to rewrite the history of the crisis? Some are simply trying to save face. Interest groups who advocate for deregulation of the finance sector would prefer that deregulation not receive any blame for the crisis.
Some stand to profit from the status quo: Banks present a systemic risk to the economy, and reducing that risk by lowering their leverage and increasing capital requirements also lowers profitability. Others are hired guns, doing the bidding of bosses on Wall Street.
They all suffer cognitive dissonance — the intellectual crisis that occurs when a failed belief system or philosophy is confronted with proof of its implausibility.
And what about those facts? To be clear, no single issue was the cause. Our economy is a complex and intricate system. What caused the crisis? Look:
The main problem, of course, is that any global financial “correction” is inevitably going to impact most on those least to blame for the crisis and least able to insulate themselves from the ensuing mess.
It is always the poorest who bear the brunt of the blunders and excessive greed of the richest. It is unfair and will, I expect, provoke serious blowback for the suits this time around.
Has anyone from a bank or financial institution ever been indicted for the fraud that led to this crisis?
“A glass tower filled with people carefully selected for the polish and self-assurance that come with having been formed in institutions of privilege, whose primary attributes are a lack of consciousness, a penchant for deception and an incapacity for empathy or remorse. The curious onlookers behind the windows and we, arms locked in a circle on the concrete outside, did not speak the same language. Profit. Globalization. War. National security. These are the words they use to justify the snuffing out of tiny lives, acts of radical evil. Goldman Sachs’ commodities index….”
Brilliant piece from Pulitzer winning writer Chris Hedges arrested outside Goldman Sacs the other day…
http://www.truth-out.org/finding-freedom-handcuffs/1320678254
Some more thoughts for today
I’ve got a goodie that would compliment your offering, but no flicker account… any way to disseminate you can suggest…
I don’t know if you can submit it to the Standard boffins and they can forward it on?
Oh dear, I’m sure it’s an innocent mistake.
Goff’s top ten list of government failings, which the Herald lists two of links to a video of John Key and Nick Smith talking about employment.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10764588
RadioNZ Link
On the subject of Goff’s Top 10…key says
He said National had done the best it could in guiding New Zealand through the crises.
Yeah, a crisis he helped create with his trading in vapour and making money of the backs of people who work for a living!
Time to throw the money changer out of the halls of government!
WANKER WALLOPING
Liz Bowen-Cluely thrashes David Farrar live on air
National Radio “The Panel”, Tuesday 8 November 2011
Ouch! Did anyone else hear Liz deal it out to that National Party stooge a few minutes ago, calling his attack on Robyn Malcolm “balderdash” and telling him to “move on”?
The glib one (Farrar) was reduced to silence.
The other glib one (Jim Mora) was reduced to cracking a lame joke in an unsuccessful attempt to soothe the scorched sensibilities of the fat bloke.
I guess she’ll be banned!
I guess she’ll be banned!
Sadly, you could be correct. It’s a pity, as principled and eloquent confrontation is what that programme sorely needs much more of.
Why did she have to be so partisan?
How dare she express herself and try to shut down the type of pseudo-debate that has made us feel so comfortable in the past!
Public displays of passion like that is just oh so unbecoming for a woman?
Back to the kitchen I say – make me some eggs!
ps. Robyn, still waiting for that call – I’m still ready to carry your babies.
Anyone got the file??? I need a good laugh.
Bring back Bomber! but nice to hear the simpering gargoyle got a serve.
CV & Prism
‘Recreating Full Employment’ by Paul Dalziel – the most recent Bruce Jesson
Foundation lecture is now online:
http://www.brucejesson.com/lectures
Thanks Campbell L. Now I just have to get my adobe reader going and I’ll be away.
Yeah chur dude, most appreciated.
This is good:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/07/one-per-cent-wealth-destroyers
What is it about the Kiwi psyche that whenever one of us is under scrutiny for our actions that we immediately go in to defend for that person.
The latest is this Williams-the-professional-golfer’s-caddy.
Seems we cannot bear to think that his actions might have been wrong. As always. it’s the other party’s fault.
I don’t know Williams in any personal way so I don’t know if he is, by nature (i.e. by continued mode of conduct and belief), a racist.
I think the use of black was a descriptor rather than a pejorative term.
He was not saying that he was an arsehole because he was black (which is racist – i.e. black people are by nature arseholes) but because of all the the arseholes in the world he is black. The use of black was to merely be descriptive (but it was unnecessary).
The world’s MSM are saying that he called Woods a black arsehole. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, which I think is a nice liberal enlightened idea, and in view of his apology and what others have said about Williams, he didn’t.
He said about his jubilation at winning was to show – “It was my aim to shove it right up that black arsehole”.
Perhaps the issue is rather about accuracy. Is his arsehole black?
Microphones on – priceless.